Chapter 37: Iruka Umino

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Hearing the teacher’s voice, Hinata stopped complaining as well, and Naruto turned his attention toward the podium.

The homeroom teacher was wearing a standard shinobi vest. His hair was tied into a ponytail toward the back of his head, and a horizontal scar ran across the bridge of his nose.

"I’ll be your homeroom teacher for the next six years. My name is Iruka Umino."

Seeing that the entire class had finally quieted down, Iruka turned around and wrote his name on the blackboard. He then turned back and swept his gaze across the students.

"You can call me Iruka-sensei."

"Iruka-sensei!"

The civilian students were still quite intimidated by their teacher, so they all called out in unison.

Naruto and Hinata followed along.

As for some of the clan heirs...

Some were resting their chins on their hands, while others were already lying facedown on their desks.

Most outrageous of all, Choji was eating potato chips.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The sound was exceptionally loud in the quiet classroom.

At least Akamaru was willing to give Iruka some face and barked once.

A large vein bulged on Iruka’s forehead.

When he had accepted the mission to teach this class, he had been under considerable pressure.

But he had never expected to be completely ignored on the very first day!

He slammed the attendance book onto the desk.

Slap!

"Everyone, pay attention! Akimichi clan, no eating potato chips during class! Inuzuka clan, keep your ninja hound under control and make sure it doesn’t make any noise during class! Now, I’m taking attendance!"

"Student A!"

"Here!"

"Student B!"

"Here!"

...

"Haruno Sakura!"

"Here!"

The only civilian student with a proper name, Sakura, answered energetically.

Everything had gone smoothly so far.

Iruka nodded in satisfaction.

Next came the clan heirs...

He’d start with the girls. Girls were usually more well-behaved.

With that thought in mind, Iruka called out,

"Yamanaka Ino!"

Ino, who had been resting her chin on her hand, glanced at Iruka.

"Here~!"

Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it was perfectly acceptable.

"Hyuga Hinata."

"Here~."

Hinata’s voice was soft and gentle, probably because of her personality.

Iruka didn’t mind at all. He gave Hinata an encouraging nod.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Here..."

His voice was weak and listless, like he couldn’t care less about anything.

Iruka’s mood immediately soured.

"Akimichi Choji."

"Here!"

Choji’s energetic response eased some of Iruka’s irritation.

Looks like he’s a good kid as long as he isn’t eating.

"Aburame Shino."

"Here."

The response was perfectly ordinary.

But where had the voice come from?

Iruka looked around in confusion.

Where was the kid?

"Which one of you is Aburame Shino?"

"I am..."

A student wearing a high-collared jacket and sunglasses raised his hand.

Only then did Iruka realize who he was.

He gave Shino a long look, committing his appearance to memory, before continuing the attendance.

"Inuzuka Kiba."

Kiba, who was lying facedown on his desk, glanced at Iruka before turning away again.

He showed absolutely no intention of answering.

Not giving me even a little face, huh?!

Grinding his teeth, Iruka called out again.

"Inuzuka Kiba!"

"Woof!"

Akamaru barked on Kiba’s behalf.

Another vein bulged on Iruka’s forehead.

His grip tightened around the attendance book as he enunciated every word.

"Inuzuka Kiba!"

Kiba finally spoke with an impatient expression.

"You’re so annoying. Here."

Iruka’s anger was rapidly approaching its limit.

Don’t get angry. Don’t get angry.

They’re just children. Just children.

He suppressed the rage rising in his chest and slowly exhaled.

Then he gave Kiba a deep look, as though committing this problem child to memory.

He continued with the attendance.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Here."

Sasuke’s response was perfectly ordinary as well.

The survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre didn’t seem to have too many problems.

Iruka stared at the final name on the list for a moment before calling out,

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Here."

Naruto, who had no desire to draw attention to himself, answered immediately.

But aside from Shikamaru muttering something under his breath, the other clan heirs all turned their attention toward Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Three years ago, he had raided the Cloud Shinobi camp, becoming a key figure in the victory that ended the war.

The news that Naruto had been controlled by the Uchiha had never spread.

But there was no way to conceal the fact that Naruto was the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.

Any spy who came to Konoha and made even the most basic inquiries could put the pieces together.

The previous two jinchuriki of Konoha had both been members of the Uzumaki clan.

Now another Uzumaki had appeared, and people were calling him a fox demon.

A little investigation was enough to confirm the truth.

By now, practically the entire shinobi world knew.

Even ordinary villagers in Konoha knew.

There was even less chance that these clan heirs would be unaware.

Choji nudged Shikamaru beside him and asked in a low voice,

"Shikamaru, is he the jinchuriki from the Cloud battlefield?"

His voice was low, but in a classroom so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, it was still exceptionally clear.

Several clan heirs who were still having trouble believing it immediately looked toward Shikamaru.

Shikamaru muttered, "What a drag..."

Then he nodded.

"Whoa!"

The entire classroom erupted.

"No! I don’t want to be in the same class as a fox demon! Fox demons eat people!"

Several civilian students looked terrified.

Some even burst into tears.

In contrast, Ino simply stared at Naruto as though she were thinking about something.

Her face even turned slightly red.

Iruka slammed the attendance book onto the desk.

Slap!

"Quiet!"

Only after Iruka shouted at the top of his lungs did the classroom finally settle down.

Even then, faint sobbing could still be heard.

Naruto, sitting at his desk, gave a bitter smile and lowered his head, his expression filled with loneliness.

Ever since class had started, he had vaguely felt as though someone was watching him.

However, his sensory abilities hadn’t detected anything unusual.

There were no ANBU nearby monitoring him.

Naruto quickly came to a conclusion.

It had to be the Third Hokage’s Crystal Ball.

The Telescope Technique.

That was why he had maintained the persona he had deliberately created.

Hinata, sitting beside him, seemed worried.

Under the desk, her hand reached out and took Naruto’s.

Naruto’s heart stirred.

There’s actually a benefit like this?

Hinata is even bolder than I thought.

Although he was thinking that, his expression became even more despondent.

Hinata, who had been watching Naruto closely, noticed the change.

Her hand, which had been holding his, gently began stroking the back of it.

While Naruto enjoyed the gentle touch of Hinata’s hand, his head remained lowered in loneliness.

Yet his eyes flickered.

The Telescope Technique is going to be a problem eventually.

At that moment, Iruka spoke.

"In half an hour, the Third Hokage will be coming to the school for the opening ceremony. If you need to use the restroom, go during break. Everyone must be back in the classroom in ten minutes. Class dismissed!"

The classroom immediately erupted into noise.

Some students began chatting, while others hurried toward the restroom.

Those who had originally been sitting near Naruto quickly gathered their belongings and moved elsewhere.

Without saying anything, they all maintained a certain distance from him.

Hinata looked at Naruto worriedly.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

Naruto shook his head and forced a smile.

"I’m fine. Thank you, Hinata."

After a brief pause, Naruto felt the sensation of being watched disappear.

He continued,

"The Hokage Grandpa is coming soon. I’ll go to the restroom first."

With that, he ran out of the classroom.

Inside the restroom, the civilian boys from his class all stepped aside when they saw Naruto.

Naruto entered a stall and closed the door.

He activated Kagura’s Mind’s Eye.

After confirming that there was no problem, he formed a series of hand seals.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

The moment two shadow clones appeared, they used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished.

A short while later, Naruto walked out of the restroom with the same expression as before.