Teacher Ibuki looked over the students who had finally settled down and nodded in satisfaction.
"Come in."
The air in the classroom tightened. One by one, the students sat up straight, their eyes all fixed on the door.
A red figure walked in. "Yo, Teacher Ibuki. Long time no see."
The corner of Teacher Ibuki's mouth twitched. That greeting tone was exactly the same as the one from seven years ago, when this boy had stood in front of him and said, "Teacher, you're so lame."
"Introduce yourself first."
"Hello, everyone." Shin-chan stood on the podium. "I'm the person you were all looking forward to seeing the most."
The classroom was silent for a full three seconds.
Hima slowly lowered her head and buried her face in her palms.
Beside her, Suzune sucked in a breath. "So... so unique..."
Teacher Ibuki stood beside him expressionlessly, already looking like he regretted inviting this person.
"Ahem." Teacher Ibuki cleared his throat. "Your self-introduction?"
"Self-introduction?" Shin-chan tilted his head in front of the podium. "Didn't I already introduce myself?"
"You only said you're the person we were most looking forward to seeing."
"Isn't that the best self-introduction?" Shin-chan said. "It lets everyone know who I am while increasing anticipation."
"No one knows who you are."
"You know."
"I mean the students."
"Oh." Shin-chan nodded. "Then I'll formally introduce myself."
He straightened his body. "My name is Nohara Shinnosuke. I'm twelve years old. My hobbies are looking at pretty big sisters. Unmarried."
Teacher Ibuki closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Hima did the exact same thing, her toes curling furiously against the floor.
"senpai." Yamada from the back row was the first to react. "You just said unmarried, right?"
"Yamada." Teacher Ibuki's voice squeezed out from between his teeth. "What was the third rule I just said?"
"Don't ask strange questions."
"Do you think that question is strange?"
"It's not strange. It's important information."
Teacher Ibuki opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Shin-chan spoke first.
"This student has a promising future." He raised one finger. "Good judgment."
"Thank you, senpai!"
"No need to thank me."
"senpai, do you really not have a girlfriend?"
"Not at the moment."
Hima pressed her forehead against the desk, unwilling to lift her head and face this scene.
Beside her, Suzune could no longer sit still. Stars were practically shining in her Byakugan. "It's him. It really is Nohara-senpai himself!"
Hima turned her head slightly and glanced at her.
Suzune's cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly parted, as if she had seen an idol.
"Alright." Teacher Ibuki clapped his hands. "For the next segment, demonstrate the Clone Technique for everyone."
The classroom stirred.
"Clone Technique? Isn't that one of the basic Three Techniques?"
"We're all learning that."
"Isn't it just making a few copies of yourself? There's nothing special about that, right?"
Teacher Ibuki turned around and looked at the students below. "Do you know how long it took him to learn this technique back then?"
The students looked at one another.
"Three days?" a girl guessed.
Teacher Ibuki shook his head.
"One day?"
"Less than ten minutes."
The classroom exploded.
"Ten minutes?"
"No way. I practiced the Clone Technique for a month before I could make one decent clone."
"Isn't that just bragging?"
The classroom gradually quieted down.
Shin-chan stood on the podium, looking completely unconcerned about the praise from earlier. In fact, he even seemed a little distracted.
"Clone Technique, huh," he said. "It's just whoosh, and then pop."
Everyone froze.
"Um." A girl wearing glasses raised her hand. "senpai, what does 'whoosh and then pop' mean?"
"It means you think in your head, 'I want to make a clone,' then chakra whooshes out of your body, and beside you, pop, it turns into another you." Shin-chan explained very seriously. "It's very simple."
Hima's head was still pressed against the desk.
She heard the sound of Suzune writing furiously in her notebook beside her and couldn't help turning her head to glance again.
Suzune wrote a large line in her notebook: "Whoosh, then pop." She even added three exclamation marks after it.
"What are you writing down?"
"senpai's insight." Suzune did not lift her head. "This is very valuable experience."
"Are you sure that counts as experience?"
"Of course it does." Suzune's expression was extremely serious. "senpai explained the core of the Clone Technique in the simplest language. The release and condensation of chakra. Whoosh means release, and pop means condensation."
Hima opened her mouth.
It was over.
Suzune had completely fallen into it.
"Alright, I'll demonstrate." Shin-chan stood in the middle of the podium and raised both hands to form seals.
Everyone in the classroom focused their eyes on him.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu."
With a bang, the white smoke dispersed.
Five Shin-chans stood on the podium and raised their hands at the same time. "Hello, everyone."
"That isn't the Clone Technique." A boy wearing glasses pushed up his glasses. "That is the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, an A-rank ninjutsu."
Shin-chan scratched his head. "Oh, right. I've gotten used to using it, so I didn't react for a moment."
"Gotten used to using it?" The boy's voice changed. "Multiple Shadow Clone is a forbidden jutsu."
"I think it's pretty useful."
Suzune raised her hand and asked, "senpai, can the 'whoosh and then pop' you mentioned just now also be used for Multiple Shadow Clone?"
"Yes."
"Um." Yamada in the back row raised his hand. "senpai, your theory is a little different from what our teacher taught us."
"How did your teacher explain it?"
"Teacher said that the amount of chakra controlled is directly proportional to the number of clones, and you also have to maintain the stability of each clone..."
Shin-chan listened for a while. His expression changed from serious to confused, then from confused to blank, and finally into a look that said, What are you talking about?
In the end, he simply nodded. "What your teacher said is also right, but my method is simpler."
"Simpler?"
"You just think, 'I want two of me,' and then the chakra divides itself. You don't need to calculate so much. If you calculate too much, your brain gets messy."
The classroom was silent for several seconds.
Suzune started writing in her notebook again, murmuring under her breath.
"Alright." Teacher Ibuki clapped his hands and gave up on the idea of having Shin-chan teach. "Next, we're going to the training field."
"The training field?" The students froze for a moment, then their eyes began to shine.
"What's the use of just watching a demonstration?" Teacher Ibuki pointed at Shin-chan. "Try it yourselves. He'll give you practical guidance."
The cheers in the classroom nearly lifted the roof.
Suzune shot to her feet. "Hima, did you hear that? Nohara-senpai is personally giving guidance."
"I heard." Hima lay on the desk, feeling as if her life was sliding in a direction completely beyond her control.
"Why aren't you excited at all?"
"I'm excited." Hima squeezed out a smile. "Especially excited."
Suzune completely failed to notice the stiffness in her expression and grabbed her hand, rushing toward the classroom door.
"Let's go, let's go! I want senpai to see me first!"
~~~
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