The next day, life at the Ninja School was as dull as ever.
Hyuga Arima and Kushina had entered the school at the same time last year, and in this year, besides messy theoretical knowledge and political education, they had only been taught Chakra extraction and the simplest Three Body Technique.
Before analyzing Kushina's Substitute Technique, Hyuga Arima couldn't even extract Chakra, let alone learn the Three Body Technique.
Fortunately, there were no Ninja battles in the first academic year, otherwise he would have been a complete failure, a dead last.
This body was simply incompatible with the Ninja profession; apart from Taijutsu, he couldn't learn anything else, and even Ninja tool throwing was a mess.
Others practicing Shuriken throwing would at most miss the target, but he could even have them bounce back and hit himself... it was really hard!
"Arima , what's wrong with you and Kushina?"
After class, Hyuga Arima silently watched Kushina's back as she walked out of the school alone.
At this moment, a blond young man suddenly appeared beside him, with a naturally gentle smile on his face.
"Nothing, same as before."
Hyuga Arima glanced at Minato Namikaze.
The three of them were deskmates in class; originally, Kushina sat in the middle, but later Hyuga Arima firmly swapped places with her.
The early bird catches the worm; prevent fire, prevent theft, prevent Minato.
This guy was Kushina's incredibly popular official match...
However, he and Minato Namikaze didn't develop any love rival relationship; instead, under the latter's super affinity, they became close friends.
In the end, Hyuga Arima looked at Minato Namikaze as a love rival, and Kushina also looked at Minato Namikaze as a love rival...
"Don't lie to me, you two haven't spoken all day," Minato Namikaze pushed his non-existent glasses, as if possessed by Shinichi Kudo, "If it were usual, you two wouldn't be this quiet; whispering and getting called out by the teacher to stand in the corner is the norm."
Hyuga Arima 's face was expressionless: "Too much talking, need a day to recover."
"Also," Minato Namikaze said, "Ever since you praised her red hair as beautiful, she stopped caring if people called her a tomato or Bloody Red Pepper, but today, the classmate who called her that got a beating..."
"Girls have a few days each month when they're not in a good mood," Hyuga Arima pulled up his sleeves, continuing to spout nonsense.
"Nonsense, how old is Kushina, she hasn't even started yet!" Minato Namikaze retorted angrily.
Hyuga Arima turned his head in surprise: "Minato, you know a lot too!"
"Too?"
Minato Namikaze casually punched him: "Don't try to change the subject, what's really going on with you and Kushina? You clearly like each other, don't hurt each other."
Hyuga Arima suddenly fell silent, tilting his head slightly, the evening glow in the sky reflecting in his eyes.
He whispered: "Perhaps being with me really isn't a good choice..."
It was destined to end from the start, and even if they got back together, it would become a battlefield of multi-party games; being with someone like him, who had a scumbag script, the future didn't look good at all.
"How could that be?" Minato Namikaze smiled, his eyes narrowing warmly, "Although you often speak carelessly, you are actually a gentler person than I am!"
"Let's not talk about this, let's go fencing!" Hyuga Arima said, hooking Minato Namikaze's shoulder.
"What fencing, just say Shuriken throwing, I always feel like your expression is off when you say that word..."
Minato Namikaze was led away from the school.
That evening's Shuriken throwing once again ended with Hyuga Arima 's complete defeat...
The next day, a bright and sunny morning.
Kushina stood gracefully at a bustling street intersection in Konoha, wearing a knee-length orange-red dress.
The cool breeze lifted a few strands of her hair, carrying a hint of fragrance.
"Tap tap..."
Urgent footsteps came from behind, as if someone was approaching.
But Kushina not only didn't turn around, she even moved aside, intending to let the person pass.
Because she was too familiar with Hyuga Arima 's footsteps and knew he wouldn't make such a messy rhythm.
"Brother! She's the one who hit me yesterday!"
But the boy's sharp cry came, and Kushina frowned, as if she had heard it somewhere before.
She turned around and saw a boy's face, like a pig's head.
"It's you?"
She raised an eyebrow, remembering the classmate she had severely beaten yesterday.
"You're the one who hit my brother?"
A sturdy young man, a head taller than her, blocked her in front, casting a shadow over her.
Kushina looked up, impatiently saying: "He swore at me first, so he deserved to be hit. I have things to do, and I don't want to fight today."
But her gaze unexpectedly fell on the forehead of the other party, and she froze for a moment.
It was a forehead protector engraved with the Konoha symbol.
"See? My brother has already graduated and become a Genin!" The boy looked at Kushina triumphantly, "Hurry up and kneel to apologize, or my brother will beat you!"
The older brother also cooperated by pulling out a kunai and casually waving it in front of Kushina: "See? This is a weapon only Ninja can use. Do you believe I'll carve a few marks on your face?"
If Kushina hadn't seen Arima casually throw a kunai, she might have believed him.
The so-called 'only Ninja can use' was just for ordinary people.
"Ninja cannot casually attack ordinary people. Do you want to be arrested by the Uchiha Police Force?"
If they were in a secluded spot, Kushina might have worried, but in such a bustling area, no Ninja would dare to violate the Police Force.
"You just reminded me," the older brother took off his forehead protector and put it in his pocket, "As long as I don't wear a forehead protector, those arrogant Uchiha guys definitely won't be interested in watching two kids fight."
"You! You're shameless!"
Kushina didn't want Arima to see her in a sorry state, so she turned and ran.
"Trying to run?!"
The older brother sneered, suddenly reaching out and grabbing Kushina's long red hair.
"Ah!"
Running halfway, she was stopped by her hair being pulled, and Kushina was in so much pain she almost cried.
That's why, in the Naruto World, those with long hair are generally very strong, and the longer the hair, the stronger they are, like Uchiha Madara, and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Otherwise, the consequence of long hair is like Kushina's, being directly pulled...
"Let go of my hair!"
She didn't even care about the pain in her scalp; she was eager to save her long hair.
Because she knew that Arima liked her long red hair the most. For this, she had washed her hair to make it fragrant before leaving home that morning, so how could she bear to have it ruined by others?
"I won't let go, what can you do?"
The more anxious Kushina became, the more excited the young man got, and he pulled even tighter.
"Hmm?"
Seeing Kushina turn around without hesitation and punch him in the face, the sturdy young man's eyes narrowed.
He turned his head to dodge the punch, while simultaneously stepping back, and the hand pulling her hair applied more force, causing Kushina to cry out in pain.
Then he kicked the back of Kushina's knee, trying to make her kneel.
"You won't make me kneel!"
Kushina's eyes were filled with fury, and she was about to endure the kick.
"Bang!"
But just then, a figure suddenly inserted itself between the two.
The young Ninja felt as if his foot had kicked a pillar, and at the same time, his wrist, which was pulling her hair, was grabbed by a fair hand.
"Let go."
The newcomer's voice was not loud, but the chill made the two brothers shiver involuntarily.
"Arima !"
Kushina cried out in surprise.
"Hmm."
Hyuga Arima responded, his gaze fixed on the young man in front of him and the hand that was pulling Kushina's hair.
The older brother, seeing that Arima was a young man shorter than himself, immediately relaxed his nervous heart, then became furious: "What are you, daring to order me?!"