Torifū scratched his head and said, "Ah, no, it's not that. I learned this a long time ago. It's just that everyone has a different understanding of chakra, so I wanted to listen more."
Of course, Torifū wasn't trying to put on some ridiculous genius act. He was genuinely absorbing others' experiences. After all, his development of Cloud Release wasn't progressing smoothly, so he figured listening to different interpretations might give him some inspiration.
Hearing Torifū's response, Uchiha Naori suddenly realized that she had been too quick to make a judgment about him. She felt ashamed of her carelessness—how unbecoming of her!
"I apologize, Torifū. I shouldn't have judged you so casually."
Torifū waved his hand dismissively, indicating that it wasn't a big deal.
"Did the teacher's lecture help you?"
"A little, but not much."
"That means you're really talented, Torifū."
In truth, Torifū was only saying this to avoid undermining the teacher's credibility in front of the class. In reality, the lecture had been far too basic and completely useless for his development of Cloud Release.
Once he confirmed that the lesson wasn't of much use to him, Torifū stopped paying too much attention and instead struck up a casual conversation with Naori. The two quickly became familiar with each other.
To his surprise, this genius of the Uchiha Clan had no arrogance whatsoever. Instead, she was humble and open-minded, without the usual Uchiha obsession with showing off at every opportunity.
This left Torifū with a very positive impression of her.
As they chatted, the first lesson came to an end. Judging from the expressions on his classmates' faces, most of them had already grasped the basics of chakra refinement.
Sarutobi Suiga announced that the rest of the day would be dedicated to trying to extract chakra, a standard practice in every class. This process would separate the geniuses from the average students. Generally, it took about a full day to refine chakra for the first time, though more talented children could accomplish it within a few hours.
As soon as class was over, Kosuke came over: "Torifū, you should have extracted chakra a long time ago, right?"
"Actually, no. I only extracted chakra last month."
Kousuke looked puzzled. "Aren't clan children supposed to start learning about chakra much earlier?"
Torifū chuckled. "My clan follows a single-line inheritance. I'm the only one left. My parents passed away two years ago."
Kousuke was about to apologize, but Torifū interrupted him before he could.
He truly didn't care about these things, and besides, Kousuke hadn't said anything malicious—there was no need for an apology.
"Enough about me. How about you? Did you understand what the teacher taught?"
Kousuke scratched his head and grinned. "More or less. I understood the chakra refinement part. The rest I can make up for by reading."
Torifū nodded. All the information was recorded in books anyway, so reading more was never a bad idea.
Just then, an arrogant voice rang out at the wrong time.
"Hah! As expected of a commoner—you can't even grasp such simple knowledge. You might as well give up on being a ninja."
The room fell into dead silence. Torifū didn't even need to lift his head to know.
It had to be one of the evil Uchiha.
"What did you say?!"
Kousuke slammed the table in anger and shouted.
"Uchiha Kyo! Just because you're from the Uchiha Clan doesn't mean I won't beat you up! I'm not afraid of you!"
Rolling up his sleeves, Kousuke stormed toward Uchiha Kyo, ready to teach him a lesson.
However, Kyo showed no fear at all. Instead, he watched Kousuke with a mocking expression.
Just as the confrontation was about to escalate, Umino Ikkaku and Yuhi Shinku quickly held Kousuke back.
Seeing this, Kyo burst into laughter. "Hahaha! See? Even your poor little friends know the truth. In Konoha, the Uchiha Clan is untouchable!"
Kousuke struggled in the grip of his friends, seething with frustration. "Shinku! Ikkaku! Let me go! I'm going to teach this guy a lesson!"
Watching Kousuke tremble with rage, Kyo sneered. "A mere commoner dares to speak to me this way? The Uchiha Clan is one of the founders of Konoha. What are you?"
With those words, the expressions of every civilian in the room darkened. They wanted to argue back, to put this arrogant brat in his place.
But they hesitated. The Uchiha were simply too powerful. No one wanted to provoke trouble that might bring disaster upon their family.
Only those from prominent clans had the confidence to speak up on behalf of the civilians.
Truthfully, while most clans in Konoha carried a certain level of pride, they rarely looked down on civilians like the Uchiha did. This was likely why the Uchiha were so despised—and why they ultimately met their downfall.
"The Uchiha Clan certainly contributed greatly to the founding of Konoha," Torifū suddenly spoke up. "But what does that have to do with you?"
Kyo froze.
As someone who wasn't particularly talented within the Uchiha, he had hoped to assert dominance over the civilians at school. But now, someone had turned the tables on him.
Kyo looked Torifū up and down. While Torifū's clothes were refined, the crest on his back wasn't one Kyo recognized. He had never heard of any 'Kumotsuru Clan,' so he assumed Torifū was just another civilian.
"Oh? And who do you think you are? You think putting on some fancy clothes makes you part of a noble clan?"
Torifū wasn't angry either. He just felt that this little kid in front of him was a bit too arrogant! Did this young master want some face slaps?
As someone who had a system, how could he allow anyone to be more arrogant than him?
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that you're unbelievably full of yourself."
"In the end, when Konoha was founded, you weren't even a single cell yet. Throwing around your clan's name while belittling others background—is that how you seek validation?"
"This won't make people respect the Uchiha. You're just tarnishing your clan's reputation."
Kyo's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. What infuriated him the most was that every word Torifū said struck directly at his insecurities! Being lectured by a so-called 'civilian' was utterly unbearable!
"Nonsense! This world operates under the law of the strong ruling over the weak! You civilians were born to be ruled by us! If not for—"
"Shut up, Kyo! You are disgracing our clan."
Torifū had been prepared to verbally spar with this brat for as long as necessary, but unexpectedly, Naori cut in and put an end to it.
"Naori-sama, I—!"
[T/N: If it's feasible, consider supporting me on at: p@treon . com / claychampion, i recently started it]