Early in the morning, Koutetsu Hagane got up, quickly washed up, scarfed down breakfast, and rushed out the door toward school.
"You're up early today. What's the rush?" his mom asked, a bit surprised.
"Of course I want to get to school early and study," Koutetsu replied without even turning his head.
It was a total lie, of course. He didn't hate school, but it wasn't exactly thrilling either—not every teacher was as engaging and fun as Takuya.
No, the real reason he was in such a hurry was because he was dying to find out if his best friend, Izumo Kamizuki, had finally taken his first step in the love department.
He had given Izumo some advice last Thursday, but by Friday Izumo admitted he hadn't done anything—said he needed more time to build up courage.
Koutetsu figured the weekend would've been enough time to do that.
When he arrived at the classroom, it was still mostly empty. Izumo hadn't shown up yet either.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. Seven or eight minutes later, Izumo walked in looking completely drained.
"You didn't sleep well last night?" Koutetsu asked, puzzled.
Izumo shook his head.
"So? Did you give her the flowers over the weekend?" Koutetsu asked eagerly.
"Ugh, don't even bring it up," Izumo groaned. His mood visibly worsened at the question.
"She wasn't admiring our flower bed because she likes flowers—she's actually allergic and was worried the pollen might blow over to her place."
Koutetsu went quiet for a few seconds. Then he asked, "So… did you give her the flowers anyway?"
Izumo didn't respond, but the silence and the deeply bitter expression on his face told Koutetsu all he needed to know.
Koutetsu patted his friend on the shoulder and offered comfort.
"It's all good. I remember there's this cute girl who hangs out with Miharu. Wanna hang out sometime and maybe meet her?"
"Dude, that sounds perfect!" Izumo instantly brightened, his whole demeanor flipping from gloom to excitement.
"Oh—and I thought of a new trick to help you get back at your cousin."
"That's awesome! What is it?"
"Class is starting!"
Takuya's voice cut through their conversation, and only then did the two boys realize they were so engrossed in talking they hadn't even heard the bell ring.
They quickly straightened up in their seats. After missing two days of Takuya's classes, they'd actually started to miss them.
And, as always, Takuya didn't disappoint. The lecture was smooth, enjoyable, and full of subtle insight. Before they knew it, their heads were filled with new knowledge.
『Lecture complete』
『Rating: A』
『Reward: Water Style – Severing Wave』
When Takuya saw the reward was Severing Wave, his eyes lit up. Now that was a serious technique.
This was a water-style ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, capable of firing a high-pressure water jet in a straight line. The destructive power was incredible—strong enough to cut through the roots of the Divine Tree.
Takuya was in a great mood, and it was about to get better.
"Takuya-sensei, you don't have class this afternoon, right? Mind covering for me in Class 4-B's ninjutsu class?" Ikeya Isamu asked, walking over in the teacher's office.
"Sure, no problem. Is something wrong, Ikeya-sensei?" Takuya asked with genuine concern—gotta maintain that good persona, after all.
"No, nothing wrong, thank you for your concern, Hayashi-sensei," Ikeya said gratefully. "It's just... I have a date with that woman I was set up with. We're going out this afternoon."
"Couldn't you pick a time when you don't have classes?" Ayaka Ueda said with a hint of annoyance.
"I wanted to, but she said this afternoon is the only time she's free," Ikeya replied. Truthfully, he didn't want to trouble Takuya, but he also knew how kind he was—it made him feel a bit guilty.
Ayaka just sighed, having already given up on Ikeya. She honestly didn't think the relationship would go anywhere. If the woman really cared, she wouldn't be making him skip work or rely on coworkers to pick up his slack.
"Well, good luck, Ikeya-sensei," Takuya said with a warm smile. He didn't mind—another chance to get rewards.
"Thanks a ton, Hayashi-sensei! If this works out, dinner at the most expensive place in Konoha is on me!" Ikeya called out as he rushed out of the office to clean up and change.
"I told you before, Hayashi-sensei," Ayaka said with a sigh. "Keep this up and everyone's just going to keep dumping their sub lessons on you."
"Helping others is part of being a good colleague," Takuya replied seriously.
"You're too nice. People will take advantage of that," Ayaka muttered.
Takuya just smiled and didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled out his brush and began practicing calligraphy.
Watching him so focused and elegant, Ayaka couldn't help but think: The difference between people really is huge. If Ikeya were even a quarter as good as Takuya, maybe he wouldn't still be single.
When the time was right, Takuya set down his brush, tidied up his desk, and headed to Class 4-B.
As he stepped into the classroom, the bell rang.
"Ikeya-sensei had something come up, so I'll be covering your ninjutsu class this afternoon," he explained to the class.
A quick scan showed that everyone was present—except for Obito.
Roughly three minutes into the lesson, Obito burst in, clearly out of breath. His eyes locked onto the teacher's podium—and froze.
Wait what? Obito was stunned.
He had run here and ended up seeing Takuya-sensei standing at the front of his classroom.
For a split second, he thought he'd walked into the wrong room. But the familiar faces around him told him otherwise.
Without pausing for breath, he blurted out, "Sensei, I wasn't trying to be late! I ran into—"
"An old lady who needed help and lost track of time?" someone from the class finished for him, triggering laughter all around.
"I swear it's true! If I knew it was you teaching today, I'd have been here half an hour early!" Obito said quickly. He was terrified that Takuya might think he wasn't taking his studies seriously and stop teaching him.
"Take your seat," Takuya nodded, acknowledging his excuse. Then added, "But don't be late for Ikeya-sensei's class either."
Ninjutsu classes at the academy started from first year, but they only taught three techniques: Transformation, Clone, and Substitution.
It might sound slow to spend years on just these basics, but it made sense—geniuses like Shisui were rare. For most students, even mastering these foundational skills was tough. And they had plenty of other subjects too.
Even though they'd had more lessons on the "Three Techniques" than they could count, Takuya's lecture still felt fresh and insightful.
"So that's why my clones always looked off!" one student exclaimed as understanding clicked.
"I wish Ikeya-sensei had more personal errands," another student joked. "That way we'd get more of Takuya-sensei's classes."
The surrounding students all nodded in agreement.
Takuya said nothing, but inside, he was once again amazed by how useful his Teaching skill was.
『Lecture complete』
『Rating: A』
『Reward: Lightning Style – Lightning Clone』
A rush of knowledge entered Takuya's mind—how to shape lightning chakra, and the mechanics of the Lightning Clone technique.
It wasn't a particularly powerful jutsu, but it did give him access to yet another chakra nature. Not bad, considering he already got a reward earlier that morning.
The next two weeks followed this rhythm.
If no one needed a substitute, he stayed in the office, researching ninjutsu theory.
If someone asked him to cover a class, he happily accepted.
At home, he trained Obito, Shisui, and Guy.
And he steadily worked on his own chakra development.
Maybe it was because his substitute lessons were so effective, or because he was just well-liked among the faculty—but Takuya quickly became one of the most talked-about teachers at the academy.
To the students, he was the perfect teacher: fun, kind, and good-looking.
To the other staff, he was a warm-hearted, reliable colleague.
Takuya didn't think much of the attention. He was just playing the role he'd chosen for himself—establishing the persona he wanted to be seen as.
Now, as he stood in his yard, his gaze fell on a masked ninja watching from the shadows.
He couldn't help but wonder—what does this guy want?