Under the gaze of the entire class, Ye Wudi flicked his black hair back, and with Hinata in his arms, narrowly dodged Iruka's incoming pointer stick.
"Iruka-sensei, don't be so rough. You'll scare my wife, Hinata."
"You little punk…"
Iruka's face darkened. That stick strike hadn't been casual and yet Ye Wudi had dodged it with ease, all while holding someone.
As for Sakura, Ino, and the others nearby, their expressions were already filled with shock.
"Ye Wudi hasn't even passed the graduation exam. How did he just dodge Iruka-sensei's strike like that? Am I hallucinating?"
Gulp gulp
"The craziest part is that, unlike Sasuke and the rest, Ye Wudi doesn't come from some famous clan with bloodline limits or secret techniques. He's just a regular civilian!"
While the boys were stunned, the girls were practically sparkling as they looked at Ye Wudi.
If Iruka weren't standing right there, and if they weren't outmatched by Ye Wudi, they would've already swarmed him and eaten him up figuratively... probably.
"I don't care anymore! Tonight I'm staking out Wudi-nii's house. I'm going to tie the knot, one way or another!"
"Bestie, count me in! We'll go together!"
"Me too! Me too…"
Uh… what the hell is going on?
While the girls were whipped into a hormonal frenzy, Iruka's expression turned awkward not because of the girls, but because his pointer stick had missed Ye Wudi and smacked dead-on into
Naruto.
SMACK!
"AAAHHHHHHHHH-!!"
A scream like a pig being slaughtered tore through the training grounds.
"Uh, Naruto… are you okay?"
"Iruka-sensei… with a smack like that, did you really think I'd be okay? You tell me!"
Naruto looked at Iruka with the face of a broken man. With one finger, he pointed at the pointer stick still plastered across his face.
Iruka let out a dry, awkward laugh and quickly pulled the stick off Naruto's face.
"Well, uh… sorry, Naruto. I didn't mean to. Tell you what how about I treat you to a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen after class?"
"Ichiraku Ramen?!"
The mere mention of it lit up Naruto's eyes like a festival. His whole face filled with excitement.
"I want a full meal! As much as I can eat!"
"Alright, alright…"
With Naruto pacified, Iruka finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But when he turned back to Ye Wudi, his face darkened again, even more than before.
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Iruka began to walk toward Ye Wudi, each step heavier than the last, casting a long, dark shadow behind him.
"Ye-Wu-Di! Put Hinata down right now, and get back to class!"
"Back to what? Theory class on combat? If it's combat, then just fight. Why even bother with theory?"
"Practice is the only true test of truth."
…Wait. That almost sounds reasonable.
Hold up! Why am I letting this brat twist my logic?
Iruka stood frozen, silently grinding his teeth. After a pause, he raised his pointer again.
"Even if you're right, you still have to attend theory class!"
"Boring! I'm taking Hinata to the woods to have some fun. You all go have your theory class. Bleh!"
Body Flicker Technique!
Whoosh!
In a flash, Ye Wudi vanished from sight with Hinata in tow, right in front of everyone's eyes.
Iruka stared at the now-empty training field, stunned. Then he exploded.
"YE-WU-DI!!"
(The voice crack was very real.)
"The young lady's been taken! Get after them!"
"The Hyuga guards are already on him! Perfect we'll follow them straight to that little punk!"
"I'll bring Ye Wudi back myself. Mizuki, keep an eye on the others! I'll be back soon!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...
As Iruka and a few others took off, Mizuki glanced at the chaos around him students chatting and running wild and his eyes darkened.
"Tch. What a pain."
Ding! Congratulations, host. You've gained 666 points of negative emotion from the Hyuga Clan's guards!
Ding! Congratulations, host. You've gained 999 points of negative emotion from Mizuki!
"Oh?"
Mizuki, huh…
Might be worth paying him a little visit sometime soon. With 999 points right out the gate, if I mess with him for a full day and night…
I could hit jackpot by tomorrow!
Brilliant.
Meanwhile, as Ye Wudi and Iruka vanished into the golden glow of the setting sun, sprinting like madmen...
Back on the training ground, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Naruto all had stars in their eyes.
In the next second, they exchanged looks and without a word, scattered in four different directions, their hearts filled with glee.
"Hahaha! That's our boss! Even Iruka-sensei couldn't catch him!"
"If that's the case, then the Four Slackers of Class Escape can't fall behind! Move!"
"Let's go! Time for snacks!"
"Akamaru, it's up to you now! We ride!"
"One! Two! Three! Run!"
"These guys… such idiots…"
Shikamaru watched the others bolt, feeling a mix of exasperation and disbelief.
Running was fine, but why yell it out loud?
Still, in the end, he just quietly tiptoed back to the classroom for a nap.
After all, now was the perfect time to slack off.
Why the classroom, though?
Because the most dangerous place… is often the safest.
Who'd ever guess he'd go back to class?
Crash!
Just as Shikamaru settled in, every window in the classroom suddenly shattered without warning.
And then, Ye Wudi still carrying Hinata appeared right in front of him.
For a long beat, they just stared at each other.
"..."
"..."
Then, Shikamaru's face completely drained of color. He went monochrome on the spot.
Because behind Ye Wudi, a swarm of burly men were hot on his heels.
There were… so… many.
Ding! Congratulations, host. You've gained 999 points of negative emotion from Shikamaru!
"Eh? What're you doing back in class, Shikamaru? That's got nothing to do with me! Blame the Hyuga guards for being clingy!"
"Oh well, no time to chat. Gotta run!"
Ding! Congratulations, host. You've gained 666 points of negative emotion from the Hyuga guards!
"..."
Ye Wudi, could you please be a decent human being?
All I wanted was a quiet nap away from the drama…
Was that really too much to ask?
Ding! Congratulations, host. You've gained 666 points of negative emotion from Shikamaru!
"Ye Wudi, huh…"
At that moment, far away in the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was watching the whole debacle through his Telescope Jutsu.
He frowned slightly.
Taking a long drag from his pipe, he tapped the stem thoughtfully against the desk, then exhaled a curling ring of smoke as he muttered to himself.
"That kid's clones... they don't have substance but when he used them to bounce off the trees, they were solid…"
This technique…
It's just like Shisui's Body Flicker Technique!
Could it be that Shisui didn't actually die?
No the ages don't match. More likely, Ye Wudi just happened to stumble upon the training method where Shisui had his accident.
"Looks like it's time to start keeping an eye on this boy. Ye Wudi… will you bring peace to this village? Or chaos?"
"But that song he played on the way to school earlier… kind of catchy."
"Might be worth using Transformation Jutsu to visit a brothel and have the girls sing and dance to it."
I've worked my ass off my whole life. Can't I have a little fun?
Step. Step. Step.
As he mused, Hiruzen began tapping his foot to the beat of "Gokuraku Jodo" utterly unstoppable.
Ding! Congratulations, host. You've gained 666 points of negative emotion from Hiruzen Sarutobi!