Chapter 43
Just before class started, Naruto and Sasuke finally rushed into the classroom.
The moment they stepped inside, every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward the doorway.
The students—who had been gathered in little clusters, chatting excitedly—fell silent for a full second.
Their gazes mixed awe, curiosity, and excitement.
"They're here! The legendary duo has arrived!"
In the back row, where the largest group had gathered,
Hibachi—who had been passionately holding court—jumped up onto his chair, rolled his textbook into a makeshift megaphone, and launched right back into his self-created and self-propagated "legend" of Naruto and Sasuke.
"You guys didn't see it with your own eyes!"
"Iruka-sensei was surrounded, protecting us. Just when the enemy raised his huge sword to strike—Uzumaki Naruto descended from the sky!"
"Golden chakra waves surged around him like a god coming down to earth. With one kick, he sent that two-meter-tall enemy flying deep into the forest, smashing through who-knows-how-many trees along the way!"
"Real or fake? You're still talking about the Uzumaki Naruto we know?"
Inuzuka Kiba held Akamaru, face full of barely-contained disbelief: "That's way too exaggerated."
"This is what I personally asked Iruka-sensei yesterday—how could it be fake?!"
Hibachi glared at Kiba, then dramatically shifted tone: "And Uchiha Sasuke—that was truly terrifying."
"He just stood there, didn't even lift a finger. One glare from him…"
"The remaining enemies dropped to their knees like they'd seen the Grim Reaper, begging for mercy…"
At the doorway, Naruto and Sasuke—who had just stepped in—heard every word. Their mouths twitched uncontrollably.
"Heaven-descended god? Super taijutsu? Golden chakra waves?"
Naruto stared at his own hands in disbelief: "How come I didn't know I had that ability?"
Sasuke walked expressionlessly toward his seat and coldly uttered two words: "Boring."
That single, utterly unimpressed remark echoed clearly through the entire classroom.
The girls who had been cheering along instantly went quiet.
When Sasuke's deep, pitch-black eyes swept over the room, everyone instinctively shrank back a little.
But it was Sasuke—his cold indifference somehow made the story feel even more believable.
In truth, Hibachi's tale was wildly exaggerated—but not completely made up out of thin air.
He hadn't witnessed the fight himself. After being found, he was first taken to the vicinity of the battlefield to regroup.
Later in the hospital, he heard Iruka's account and felt how dangerous the situation had been.
Details like Sasuke's Sharingan, Naruto nearly dying, and the intelligence were omitted as inappropriate.
The remaining fragments were "artistically enhanced" by his imagination,
turning into this completely different version of the "Naruto-Sasuke legend."
Probably only the characters and location were accurate.
But Iruka-sensei being hospitalized from injuries was an ironclad fact—news had already spread among the students yesterday.
Combined with Hibachi—the eyewitness—vouching for it,
it meant Naruto and Sasuke really had made huge contributions during yesterday's crisis and still returned to class unharmed today.
The students exchanged glances, once again struck by the sheer gap.
The strength distribution in this class now had an even more dramatic chasm:
—the Naruto-Sasuke level, and everyone else.
The two returned to their seats one after the other.
Hyūga Hinata—from the row behind—immediately greeted Naruto.
"Naruto-kun… you weren't hurt yesterday, right?"
Though Hinata was shy and reserved by nature, years of sparring and training together had made her comfortable initiating conversation with him.
Naruto stretched lazily, leaning back so his head hung upside-down toward Hinata behind him.
"Don't worry, Hinata—look, I came back perfectly fine, didn't I?"
The classroom sliding door opened again.
It definitely wasn't the injured Iruka.
Entering was a male teacher with silver-blue hair and a gentle smile on his face.
He wore a standard chūnin vest and carried lesson plans, looking refined and scholarly.
Even more than Iruka, he gave off the aura of a patient educator.
"Alright, everyone back to your seats—class is starting."
At once, all the students stopped messing around and hurried to sit properly.
Mizuki walked to the lectern, set down his lesson plans, and continued with a full smile:
"Iruka-sensei is hospitalized due to injury, so for the next while, I'll be temporarily taking over as your homeroom teacher."
A small wave of excited cheers rose from the girls in the class.
Not all classes in the academy were taught by Iruka—he handled most of them, but other teachers occasionally covered the rest.
So the students were already familiar with Mizuki.
And visually, Mizuki was indeed much more "handsome and refined" than Iruka, and his tone was even gentler.
He naturally drew more favor from the students on appearance alone.
Except for Naruto, sitting by the window.
Under Xuanming's guidance, Naruto cultivated sensitivity to natural energies and perception.
Iruka might be hot-tempered and shouty sometimes,
but when he taught, he felt like pure flame—simply spreading light.
But on this Mizuki-sensei…
Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly.
That bright smile seemed only surface-deep.
As though he were still wearing an invisible mask, and beneath it leaked an aura like the damp undergrowth where cold-blooded creatures lurked—filled with an uncomfortable strangeness.
Mizuki's gaze swept the classroom and finally landed—seemingly casually—on Naruto.
In that instant, deep in his eyes flashed a nearly imperceptible trace of contempt.
But the next second, his smile grew even brighter: "That must be Uzumaki Naruto-kun, right?"
Mizuki stepped down from the lectern and walked to Naruto's desk. In front of the whole class, he loudly praised:
"I heard from Iruka that you were extremely brave this time—not only protecting your classmates and your teacher, but also safeguarding vital village intelligence."
"That's a perfect example of possessing the Will of Fire. Everyone should learn from Naruto-kun."
As he spoke, he reached out as though to pat Naruto's head in a show of closeness.
Naruto instinctively leaned back, subtly avoiding Mizuki's hand.
"Ah, thank you, Sensei."
Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly: "It really wasn't much. Mostly thanks to Iruka-sensei's good teaching—and Sasuke helped a lot too."
Mizuki's hand hung awkwardly in mid-air for a second before he smoothly withdrew it: "What a humble good kid."
He turned toward Sasuke beside him. Remembering the boy's identity, a flicker of wariness passed through his eyes.
But he quickly masked it: "Of course, Sasuke-kun is also a genius of Konoha. I heard you played a decisive role this time too."
Sasuke had one hand propping his chin, staring out the window. At the words, he didn't even turn his head—just gave a faint "mm."
He hadn't sensed anything deeper; he simply didn't like this teacher because Naruto didn't.
And personally, he didn't feel anything particularly good about the man either.
Mizuki's attempt at friendliness fell flat. The corner of his eye twitched slightly.
But to maintain the "gentle good teacher" persona, he didn't snap. He simply returned to the lectern and began the lesson.
"Alright, let's start class. Today we'll cover…"
The entire period, Mizuki lectured in an extremely gentle—almost saccharine—tone.
The class atmosphere stayed fairly lively, mostly thanks to the girls, who seemed to like this handsome, soft-spoken substitute style very much.
Naruto lay on his desk, propping his textbook up to hide his face.
He twisted around and whispered to Sasuke: "His lectures are so boring. He just reads straight from the book—no passion like Iruka-sensei at all."
Finally the end-of-class bell rang.
Mizuki closed his lesson plans—never dragging the lesson over time—and smiled: "Class dismissed."
As the students cheered and rushed out, Mizuki slowly began gathering his things.
Watching the backs of Naruto and Sasuke leaving side by side,
in the now-empty classroom, the fake smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a gloomy, cold indifference.
"Hmph. As expected of the demon fox… and the arrogant Uchiha."
Mizuki pushed up his forehead protector, covering the venomous look in his eyes: "Little brats like that can be heroes? How laughable."
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