The afternoon sun warmed the training ground until it felt pleasantly toasty.
The entire grade had gathered there, chattering noisily as if the place were about to explode. Four tables had been set up along the edge of the field, with one teacher seated behind each.
Those were today's judges.
Teacher Ibuki stood at the very front, holding a stack of slips of paper.
"Quiet down. We're starting the lottery now. These slips show your group and number. There are four groups total. Each group will produce the top two, and then those eight will compete for the final top three."
"Then the top three have to fight a lot of matches," someone muttered perceptively.
"That's right." Teacher Ibuki nodded. "So this isn't just about strength. It's also about tactics, endurance, and willpower. Alright, line up and draw."
The children immediately started crowding forward.
Shin-chan stood on tiptoe too, peering desperately at the teachers behind the four tables.
Sure enough.
Behind the third table sat the teacher with the high ponytail.
Yuunagi Asagi.
Shin-chan's heart started pounding faster and faster. He clasped his hands together and prayed devoutly, "Please, please, please let me end up in Teacher Asagi's group."
Kakashi, standing beside him, glanced at him once and quietly moved a little farther away.
The line slowly shuffled forward.
When it was Shin-chan's turn, he reached into the lottery box, closed his eyes, and kept muttering under his breath, "Teacher Asagi... Teacher Asagi..."
Then he pulled out a slip and opened his eyes.
Group Three!
Shin-chan's eyes lit up instantly, and he looked toward the third table. "Group Three is..."
Teacher Asagi was smiling and nodding in this direction.
Shin-chan's heart nearly jumped out of his throat.
"Teacher Asagi, here I come." Hugging the slip to his chest, trembling with excitement, Shin-chan was just about to rush over—
"Nohara Shinnosuke." Teacher Ibuki's voice sounded from behind him. "Read what's written at the bottom of the slip."
Shin-chan froze for a second and looked down.
Judge: Ibuki Tōru.
His smile instantly stiffened.
"Group Three..." Shin-chan slowly raised his head. "It's Teacher Ibuki?"
"Yes." Teacher Ibuki's face was expressionless. "I'm in charge of Group Three. Teacher Asagi is handling Group One."
Shin-chan's expression visibly collapsed at once.
"How can this happen?"
He looked at the slip in his hand, then at Teacher Ibuki's plain, unremarkable face, and finally at Teacher Asagi's gentle, beautiful one.
"Teacher." Shin-chan suddenly raised his hand.
"What?"
"Can I switch groups?"
Teacher Ibuki's eyebrow twitched.
"Once the lottery's decided, it's decided."
"But I want to be in Teacher Asagi's group."
"No."
"Just for a little bit."
"No."
"There are fewer people over there."
"I counted. It's the same number."
Shin-chan's whole face scrunched up in misery.
At that moment, Uchiha Toru walked over after drawing his own lot.
"Shin-chan, what group are you in?"
Shin-chan weakly held up his slip. "Group Three."
"I'm in Group One."
Shin-chan's eyes snapped wide open. "Group One? Teacher Asagi's group?"
"Yeah."
Shin-chan stared at him, his gaze full of complicated feelings.
Envy.
Jealousy.
"Toru." Shin-chan suddenly grabbed Uchiha Toru's hand.
"What?"
"Let's switch."
Uchiha Toru froze. "Huh?"
"You switch with me." Shin-chan tried stuffing his slip into Toru's hand. "You go to Group Three. I'll go to Group One."
"T-That... that's not allowed, is it...?"
"Why not? It's all still competition."
"But—"
"Nohara Shinnosuke!" Teacher Ibuki's voice exploded from behind him. "No switching."
Shin-chan turned around and met Teacher Ibuki's dark-lined face.
"Teacher, I'm just switching a little."
"No. The draw is final. Give up already."
Shin-chan wanted to say more, but when he saw Teacher Ibuki's terrifying expression, he swallowed the words back down.
Standing in the Group One area, Uchiha Toru looked at Shin-chan's utterly lifeless face and suddenly felt a little guilty.
But there was nothing he could do.
A lottery was a lottery.
The matches began.
All four groups started at the same time, and the field was as lively as a festival.
Over in Group Three, the first few matches went by quickly.
Some kids got so nervous the moment they stepped up that they forgot how to move. Others fought fiercely but had no real structure at all.
Shin-chan squatted at the very back of the line, propping up his chin, his eyes constantly drifting toward Group One.
"Teacher Asagi smiled..."
"Teacher Asagi is writing something down..."
"Teacher Asagi's hair got blown by the wind..."
Shin-chan was completely lost in his own world and didn't even notice the number of people in front of him getting smaller and smaller.
"Nohara Shinnosuke!"
Teacher Ibuki's voice yanked him back to reality.
Shin-chan looked up and found everyone staring at him.
"You're up." Teacher Ibuki pointed into the ring. "Get on the field."
Carrying his wooden sword, Shin-chan slowly got to his feet and walked out.
Standing opposite him was a boy slightly taller than him, with a senbon needle in his mouth and a cool expression.
Shin-chan remembered him—Shiranui Genma, from Class B. Supposedly pretty strong.
"Begin," Teacher Ibuki announced.
Shiranui Genma bit down on the senbon, took his stance—
Then his vision blurred.
A red shadow flashed past.
The wooden sword was already stopped beside his neck, less than a centimeter from his skin.
Genma froze.
"So... fast..."
That was the only thought that flashed through his mind.
The sidelines went silent for one second.
Then exploded.
"What just happened?" someone shouted, eyes wide.
"What happened just now?" another kid asked blankly.
"Shiranui Genma lost?"
"It ended in one move?"
"That was Shiranui Genma!" a Class B student blurted out. "I didn't last three moves against him!"
Teacher Ibuki opened his mouth, but for a long moment, no words came out.
"Nohara Shinnosuke wins."
At the edge of the field, Kakashi narrowed his eyes.
Obito's mouth hung open for ages, unable to close. Shin-chan was actually this strong?
Guy was trembling all over with excitement. "This is youth!"
Meanwhile, Shin-chan lowered his wooden sword and looked at Teacher Ibuki.
"Teacher, can I go back now?"
"Y-Yes... you can."
Shin-chan turned and left. After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped and turned to look toward Group One.
Teacher Asagi was smiling slightly as she recorded Uchiha Toru's match, completely unaware of what had just happened over here.
Shin-chan's face immediately collapsed again. With his head lowered, he slowly walked back to the end of the line, squatted down again, and started drawing circles on the ground.
Some of the other students had wanted to congratulate him, but seeing him like this, they had no idea what to say.
"Shin-chan," someone asked quietly, "you won. Why aren't you happy?"
Shin-chan looked up and sighed.
"So what if I won?"
"You advanced!"
"But Teacher Asagi didn't even see it." Shin-chan's voice was full of disappointment. "She kept watching Group One."
The other child fell silent.
Looking at Shin-chan's face, practically stamped with life is hopeless, he suddenly had no idea what to say.
In the distance, after finishing Uchiha Toru's match record, Teacher Asagi looked up toward Group Three.
A tiny red figure was squatting in the corner, looking as if a little dark cloud was floating over his head.
Teacher Asagi tilted her head, puzzled.
That child won his match—so why did he look so unhappy?