Early in the morning, Hagane Kotetsu quickly washed up, finished his breakfast, and hurried toward the Ninja Academy.
"You woke up pretty early today. Why are you in such a rush?" his mother asked curiously.
"Of course I'm going early to study at school," Kotetsu replied without even turning his head.
That answer was merely a lie to brush off his mother.
Kotetsu didn't hate school, but he didn't particularly love it either. After all, not every teacher taught as vividly and interestingly as Makoto.
The real reason he was rushing to school was that he desperately wanted to know whether his good friend Kamizuki Izumo had taken the first step in his romantic plan.
Kotetsu had given Izumo the idea on Thursday, but on Friday, Izumo said he hadn't dared to do it yet—he still needed time to "build up courage."
Kotetsu figured two whole days over the weekend should have been enough preparation.
When Kotetsu arrived at the classroom, only a few students were there. Izumo hadn't arrived yet.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long.
About seven or eight minutes later, Izumo walked in, looking completely drained.
"Izumo, did you not sleep well last night?" Kotetsu asked.
Izumo shook his head.
"Did you give her the flowers over the weekend?" Kotetsu asked excitedly.
"Ugh… don't even mention it," Izumo sighed, his expression becoming even gloomier.
"She wasn't looking at our flower garden because she liked flowers. It's because she's allergic to pollen and was worried it might blow into her yard."
Kotetsu fell silent for a moment after hearing that.
"…So did you give her the flowers or not?"
Izumo didn't answer.
But the silence and the resentful look on his face had already answered the question.
Kotetsu patted Izumo on the shoulder to comfort him.
"It's fine. I remember there's a girl who hangs out with Mei Hui—she's pretty cute. How about we all hang out together sometime so you can meet her?"
"That would be amazing, Kotetsu !" Izumo said instantly, his gloomy mood vanishing as he broke into a wide grin.
"I also came up with another brilliant plan over the weekend to help you deal with your cousin."
"That's great! Hurry up and tell me what the plan is!"
"Class begins!"
Makoto's voice reached their ears.
Only then did the two realize class had already started. They had been chatting so intensely that they hadn't even noticed the bell.
They quickly sat up straight and began listening to the lesson.
After two days without Makoto's class, they had actually missed it quite a bit.
Makoto didn't disappoint them.
The lesson flowed smoothly and comfortably. Before they knew it, their minds were filled with new knowledge.
[Lecture Complete]
[Evaluation: A]
[Reward Obtained: Water Release: Water Severing Wave]
When Makoto saw the reward, his eyes immediately lit up.
Water Release: Water Severing Wave was no ordinary technique.
It had been developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
The technique fired an extremely high-pressure stream of water, powerful enough to slice through even the roots of the God Tree.
Makoto was already in a good mood after getting such a valuable reward, but another piece of good news arrived immediately afterward.
"Makoto-sensei, I remember you don't have classes this afternoon. Could you cover a class for me? I have a ninjutsu lesson with Class 2 of the fourth year."
In the staff office, Hayashi Yu walked over and asked Makoto for help substituting.
"No problem covering a class, but are you feeling unwell, Hayashi-sensei?" Makoto asked with concern.
Even though he was happy about the extra reward opportunity, he still had to maintain his persona.
"I'm fine, thank you for the concern, Hosokawa -sensei," Hayashi Yu replied.
"It's actually about my previous blind date. She asked me to go out with her this afternoon."
"Then why not pick a day when you have fewer classes?" Aya Ueda complained.
"I'd like to, but she said today afternoon is the only time she's free," Hayashi Yu explained.
If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to trouble Makoto either. Makoto was just too kind—it made Hayashi feel guilty.
Aya Ueda had already given up lecturing him. In her opinion, this relationship probably wouldn't end well.
If the woman truly cared, she would also consider Hayashi's situation instead of making him trouble his colleagues.
"Well then, good luck, Hayashi-sensei," Makoto said with a smile.
More work meant more rewards, after all.
"Thank you so much, Hosokawa -sensei! If this works out, I'll treat you to a meal at the most expensive restaurant in Konohagakure!"
After thanking him repeatedly, Hayashi hurried out of the office—he still had to go home to change clothes and tidy himself up.
"See? Didn't I say this before, Hosokawa -sensei? If you keep doing this, people will always ask you to substitute whenever they're busy," Aya Ueda sighed.
"Helping others brings joy. Colleagues should support each other," Makoto said righteously.
"You're just too nice. That makes it easy for people to take advantage of you," she replied.
Makoto only smiled and said nothing, quietly practicing calligraphy.
Watching him write with such focused calmness, Aya Ueda couldn't help thinking about the difference between people.
If Hayashi Yu were even a quarter as outstanding as Makoto, he probably wouldn't still be single without ever having had a relationship.
When the time felt about right, Makoto put down his brush, cleaned up his desk, and headed toward Class 2 of the fourth year.
He arrived at the classroom just as the bell rang.
"Hayashi-sensei had something to attend to, so I'll be teaching the ninjutsu class this afternoon," Makoto explained.
He glanced around the room.
Everyone was present except Obito Uchiha.
About three minutes into class, Obito suddenly burst into the classroom, panting.
When he saw Makoto standing at the podium, he froze.
Did I run so fast that I somehow ended up in Makoto-sensei's class?
That was the first thought in Obito's mind.
For a moment, he even wondered if he had entered the wrong classroom.
But seeing his familiar classmates quickly confirmed that he hadn't.
Without even taking time to catch his breath, Obito hurriedly explained:
"Makoto-sensei, I wasn't late on purpose. On the way here I ran into—"
"An old lady who needed help, so you got delayed."
Before Obito could finish, someone in the class completed his sentence, triggering a burst of laughter.
"I'm telling the truth! If I had known it was Makoto-sensei teaching this afternoon, I would've arrived half an hour early!" Obito said anxiously.
He was afraid Makoto might think he wasn't serious about studying—and then stop teaching him.
"Go back to your seat," Makoto nodded, accepting the explanation.
But he added another sentence:
"You shouldn't be late for Hayashi-sensei's class either."
At the Ninja Academy, ninjutsu classes began from the first year.
However, students were only taught three techniques:
Transformation Technique
Clone Technique
Substitution Technique
Although spending several years learning just these three techniques seemed like a waste of time, it actually made sense.
After all, geniuses like Shisui Uchiha were extremely rare.
For many ninja whose ceiling might only be Chūnin, mastering these three techniques was already quite difficult—especially alongside all their other classes.
Even though they had attended the Three Basic Techniques lesson countless times before, Makoto's class still felt refreshing.
"So that's how it works… No wonder my clone never looked like the original before!"
One student immediately made progress.
"I wish Hayashi-sensei had more things to do in the future so we could attend more of Makoto-sensei's classes," another student joked.
The surrounding students all voiced their agreement.
Makoto didn't comment on it.
He simply sighed inwardly at how useful the system skill was.
[Lecture Complete]
[Evaluation: A]
[Reward Obtained: Lightning Release: Lightning Clone]
Makoto instantly gained knowledge of Lightning Release chakra nature transformation, along with all the experience related to Lightning Release: Lightning Clone Technique.
It wasn't an especially powerful technique, but unlocking another chakra nature was still a nice gain.
After all, he had already gotten a big reward earlier that morning.
For the next half month, Makoto maintained this rhythm.
If no one asked him to substitute, he stayed in the office studying ninjutsu theory.
If someone needed a substitute teacher, he accepted without hesitation.
At home, he trained Shisui, Obito, and Might Guy , while also cultivating his own Chakra.
Perhaps because his substitute classes were so good, students who attended them kept hoping to have him teach again.
Combined with his excellent relationships with the other teachers, Makoto quickly became a well-known teacher at the Ninja Academy.
Among students, he was seen as a perfect teacher:
His lectures were interesting
His personality was gentle
And he was handsome
Among teachers, he was known as a sincere and friendly colleague.
As the center of all this attention, Makoto didn't think much about it.
He had simply successfully established the persona he wanted.
At that moment, however, he was more curious about something else—
Why had a masked ninja appeared in his courtyard?