Hagane Kotetsu woke before sunrise, splashed water on his face, inhaled breakfast in record time, and sprinted toward school like a man possessed.
His mother blinked at him from behind her tea cup."You're unusually energetic. What's the rush?"
"To study! Obviously!" Kotetsu shouted without slowing.
A lie delivered with the confidence of a man chasing destiny.
He didn't hate school, but there was only one class he genuinely loved—Hanyū Yuuma's.
And that wasn't why he was running.
He needed to know if his bro, Kamizuki Hayato, had succeeded in taking the first step on the battlefield of love.
Kotetsu burst into the classroom. Almost empty.Hayato wasn't here yet.
Seven minutes later, Hayato trudged in like a dying soldier returning from war.
Kotetsu stared."You look terrible. Didn't sleep?"
Shake of the head.
"You gave her the flowers, right?!"
Hayato winced like he'd been stabbed.
"She wasn't staring at our flower garden because she liked flowers… she's allergic to pollen. She was checking wind direction so the pollen wouldn't blow toward her."
Kotetsu froze.A full ten seconds passed before he whispered:
"…Did you send the flowers anyway?"
Hayato didn't speak.His dead-fish eyes answered everything.
Kotetsu sighed and patted his shoulder."Bro… look, I know a girl who hangs out with Meihui. She's cute. I'll introduce you sometime."
Hayato brightened instantly—from tragic NPC to festival fireworks.
"Really?! Tie-ge, you're the best!"
"I even thought up a brilliant plan to deal with your cousin problem too—"
A calm voice sliced the air.
"Class is starting."
Both boys snapped upright like soldiers caught by a general.Two days without Yuuma's class already felt too long.
Yuuma began teaching with that same effortless rhythm—light tone, sharp content—and knowledge sank into their heads like water drawn into dry soil.
[Lecture completed][Evaluation: A][Reward Granted: Water Style — Water Breaker Wave]
Yuuma's eyes sharpened.Water Breaker Wave.
A Second Hokage technique capable of slicing tree roots—even the sacred tree's roots.A straight-line water cannon with absurd pressure.
Yuuma exhaled slowly.Good pull.
And the day only grew better.
In the office, Iketani Isamu approached Yuuma with his hands clasped like a man begging a god.
"Teacher Hanyu… you don't have classes this afternoon, right? Can you substitute for me? It's Ninjutsu Class for 4th-year Class 2."
Yuuma widened his eyes with perfect polite concern."Of course I can help. Are you feeling unwell?"
"No, no! It's my blind date—she's free this afternoon."
Ueda Aya rubbed her temples."So she only gave you one timeslot and didn't even consider your class schedule? She's not interested, Iketani."
Isamu ignored her and bowed repeatedly."Mr. Hanyu, if it works out, I'll treat you to the most expensive restaurant in Konoha!"
Yuuma smiled innocently.
Please let it fail so you keep asking me to substitute.I need the EXP.
When he went to class that afternoon, the bell rang exactly as he stepped in.
"Teacher Iketani is busy. I'll be teaching your ninjutsu class."
The students perked up instantly—except for one empty seat.
Three minutes later—
Obito crashed through the door, panting.His eyes widened as he saw Yuuma standing at the podium.
"Teacher Mu Yue—I mean, Teacher Hanyu! I—uh—I wasn't slacking! I really met an old woman who needed help—"
A voice in the class finished mockingly for him:"—and he spent ten minutes helping her cross the street!"
Laughter erupted.
Obito slapped his desk."I'm serious! If I knew you were teaching, sensei, I'd have been here half an hour early!"
Yuuma nodded."Go sit. And don't be late to Teacher Iketani's class."
Obito froze, processing the second sentence—so I'm allowed to be late for others but not him?—and then bolted to his seat.
Yuuma began the lesson.
Three Body Technique—Transformation, Clone, Substitution.Techniques they'd done countless times.But Under Yuuma's teaching?
It felt entirely new.
Students gasped as he corrected their chakra alignment in clean, clinical detail—the way a surgeon handles a scalpel.
"I get it now! No wonder my clone always looked… wrong.""I wish Teacher Iketani could be busy more often…"
Yuuma pretended not to hear, though inwardly—
Yes. Be busy every day.
[Lecture completed][Evaluation: A][Reward Granted: Lightning Style — Lightning Clone]
Lightning nature flowed into him—crisp, sharp, electrifying.
In the following half month, Yuuma settled into a perfect rhythm:
Teach.Substitute if called.Train disciples at home.Grow chakra at night.
The more he substituted, the more students requested him.The more he taught, the more teachers loved him.
Soon, the Ninja School whispered one name with admiration—
A perfect teacher:Interesting lectures.Kind personality.Handsome appearance.
Hanyū Yuuma became…the school's rising legend.
Yuuma maintained his serene, gentle façade.
Good. The persona works.
But that night, as he returned home—
A masked figure stood silently in his yard.
Watching him.
Waiting.
Yuuma's eyes narrowed.
Trouble had arrived.