Bathed in the morning's bright sunlight, Veigar hurried toward the Ninja Academy.
It was his first day of school—there was no way he was going to be late.
Before he even stepped through the school gates, he spotted Tomohisa Ishikawa standing by the entrance. Approaching him, Veigar greeted warmly,
"Good morning, Tomohisa-sensei!"
"It's been a while."
Tomohisa Ishikawa greeted Veigar with a cheerful smile. "Come with me, Veigar. I'll take you to meet your new homeroom teacher."
"Yes, sir." Veigar nodded.
As he followed Tomohisa, Veigar asked curiously, "Sensei, you're not our homeroom teacher this semester?"
Tomohisa glanced back at him with a smile. "Due to a reassignment, I've been appointed by the Hokage to teach a first-year class."
"Your new class will be taught by another instructor."
"As per the Hokage's orders, you've been assigned to Second Year, Class 1. I'm taking you to meet Teacher Kaoru now."
Veigar pressed on, "Which first-year class are you teaching, Sensei? If I run into any difficulties in my training, can I still come to you for guidance?"
"Of course!" Tomohisa chuckled.
"I'm in charge of First Year, Class 1. Feel free to drop by anytime."
His expression grew even warmer as he continued, "Veigar, I'm actually really grateful to you."
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had this opportunity."
Feigning innocence, Veigar tilted his head. "Why would you be grateful to me, Sensei?"
Tomohisa merely shook his head without answering.
But Veigar understood. The class Tomohisa was assigned to this time was an elite class, not an ordinary civilian class like last year.
For Tomohisa, this was an opportunity worth seizing.
Following Tomohisa Ishikawa into the teachers' office, Veigar finally met his new homeroom teacher—Kaoru Iwabe.
"Kaoru-sensei, this is Veigar. I'll be leaving him in your care from now on," Tomohisa said with a polite smile.
Standing before Kaoru Iwabe, Veigar bowed slightly and introduced himself, "Good morning, Kaoru-sensei. I'm Veigar Koshima. Please take care of me."
Kaoru returned his smile. "Thank you, Ishikawa-sensei."
"If you run into any difficulties with your new class, feel free to discuss them with me."
Then, turning to Veigar, he said, "I'm Kaoru Iwabe. I'll be your homeroom teacher from now on. Let's do our best together, Veigar."
After exchanging a few more words about work, Koshima took his leave, leaving Veigar alone with his new teacher.
Kaoru Iwabe spoke with Veigar for a while, familiarizing him with the class. Then, as the school bell rang, he led Veigar toward the classroom.
Before they even reached the door, a commotion could be heard inside.
Kaoru stopped Veigar outside the door and stepped into the classroom first.
"You lot—get back to your seats this instant!" he barked at a group of rowdy students.
Among them was the class's dead last, a boy from the prestigious Uchiha clan—Obito Uchiha.
Startled by the sudden outburst, Obito scrambled back to his seat. The classroom quickly fell silent.
Standing at the podium, Kaoru fixed Obito with a sharp gaze.
"Obito, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"It's the first day of school, and you're already causing trouble?"
The rest of the class chuckled quietly, while Obito's face turned beet red in embarrassment.
"Alright," Kaoru said, shifting gears. "Today, I have a new student to introduce to you all."
He turned toward the door.
"Come in."
Veigar walked in with composure, scanning the faces of his new classmates.
Kaoru nodded toward him. "Introduce yourself so everyone can get to know you."
Veigar gave a slight nod before speaking.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Veigar Koshima. My goal is to become a shinobi who can protect the peace of the village."
"I hope we can all get along."
A round of applause followed.
Kaoru clapped first, then pointed to an empty seat. "Veigar, you can sit there."
"Thank you, Sensei."
Veigar responded politely before taking his seat.
Kaoru addressed the class again, "Now, let me tell you a bit more about Veigar."
"Some of you might have already guessed—Veigar was ranked first in last semester's academy-wide exams, achieving a perfect score in all subjects."
"I hope you will all learn from him."
At these words, several students turned to steal glances at Veigar. Though no one dared to act out with Kaoru present, their curiosity was evident.
Since it was the first day of school, there were no formal lessons. Instead, Kaoru took a few students with him to collect the new textbooks.
As soon as he left, the girl sitting next to Veigar greeted him confidently.
"Veigar, nice to meet you. I'm Shizune Katō. Looking forward to studying together."
Veigar responded immediately, "Likewise. Just call me Veigar."
Before Shizune could reply, a loud voice interrupted.
"Veigar! I'm Might Guy. Let's have a match!"
Guy grinned widely, radiating enthusiasm.
Veigar replied politely, "Guy, nice to meet you. Let's do our best together."
Shizune, slightly annoyed at being interrupted, frowned at Guy. "Guy, sit down already! Sensei will be back soon."
But Guy ignored her, still fixated on Veigar. "Come on, let's spar!"
"I'll prove to everyone that even if I specialize only in taijutsu, I can defeat so-called geniuses like you!"
Seeing the fire in Guy's eyes, Veigar forced a wry smile and declined.
"We're classmates—there's no need to fight."
If it had been anyone else, they might have been angered or taken Guy's words as a challenge.
But Veigar wasn't.
He understood Guy well—this bowl-cut boy, who once sought to join the Anbu but was rejected by Hiruzen Sarutobi... who even tried to enter Danzo Shimura's Root, only to be deemed "too pure of heart" for the darkness.
The boy who, in the future, would become Konoha's Green Beast, recognized worldwide for his mastery of taijutsu.
The same Guy who—one day—would nearly kick his way to the end of the world.
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