Uchiha Gen arrived at Class Nine, Fifth Grade. The moment he stepped into the classroom, every gaze turned toward him.
Among them, one glare in particular stood out — sharp, filled with resentment.
Tracing it, Gen found Uehara Yu, the same boy who had provoked him earlier.
Uehara Yu stared daggers at him, his round face twisted in hostility. To his left and right, a few other students wore the same expression.
Just then, a young man stepped forward, frowning.
"Uchiha Gen," he said coldly, "to think you'd gang up on your classmates with your clansmen. You've really disgraced our family's honor."
"So this is the so-called noble Uchiha Clan?" another muttered. "All they know is how to bully others."
"As expected of the Uchiha — arrogant and violent as always."
"The Uchiha have always looked down on everyone else," someone else added. "Who in the Academy hasn't been picked on by them?"
"My brother's class has one too," a girl said bitterly. "That Uchiha injured several of his classmates already."
Then another voice spoke — colder, more venomous:
"Hmph, I heard that when the Nine-Tails attacked, the Uchiha Police Force didn't even show up. If they had, maybe the Fourth Hokage wouldn't have died!"
"Yeah! They hid while the village burned! It's outrageous that the Hokage didn't punish them."
"No wonder my father curses their name. Only three of their Police squads survived that night!"
The words spread like wildfire. Whispers rippled through the class, each gaze toward Uchiha Gen growing heavier — a mix of fear, suspicion, and scorn.
Gen's expression didn't change, but inwardly he sighed.
This was the Uchiha Clan's reality — hated and isolated. Ever since the Nine-Tails attack, distrust toward the Uchiha had only deepened, fueled by rumors and half-truths.
And the proud Uchiha, with their innate arrogance, refused to explain themselves to anyone.
The boy confronting him was from the Hyuga Clan. His pale Byakugan eyes gleamed with disdain.
After the Senju Clan's decline, only the Hyuga had the standing to challenge the Uchiha's title as Konoha's "noble family."
And recently, whispers had begun circulating — claiming the Hyuga were the true number one dōjutsu clan.
Naturally, the Uchiha disagreed. The Sharingan was, and always would be, the strongest eye.
Thus, a subtle rivalry simmered between both clans — one that often spilled into the Academy classrooms.
Gen could tell someone was deliberately trying to sow conflict between the Uchiha and the Hyuga. Still, he couldn't deny that some of the Byakugan's abilities were worthy of respect.
The Hyuga, for their part, had never accepted living in the Uchiha's shadow.
So it wasn't surprising that their children constantly tried to outshine the Uchiha at the Academy.
Looking at the Hyuga youth before him, Gen frowned in confusion.
What's going on? What did I even do?
Then realization struck. He turned his gaze toward the back — where Uehara Yu sat smirking. Clearly, the coward had twisted the story.
Gen's sharp eyes swept across the room, silencing the murmurs instantly.
"Hyuga Kagami," he said evenly, "I don't know what you think you saw, but it isn't the truth."
"To say I bullied a classmate with my clanmates… how ridiculous."
"Don't bother denying it," a girl near the window snapped. "We all saw it."
Gen's tone hardened.
"What you see and what's true aren't always the same thing. Sometimes, your eyes deceive you."
Then he pointed straight at Uehara Yu.
"The Uchiha won't tolerate slander from cowards. Uehara Yu — after class, meet me at the training grounds."
With that, Gen walked to the back and sat down.
The classroom went silent. A few students exchanged uneasy glances but said nothing more.
In the front row, a boy with face paint leaned toward Uehara Yu and whispered, "Hey, you didn't lie about it, did you?"
When Uehara Yu had come running back earlier, he'd claimed Gen and several Uchiha ganged up on him. In truth, he had fled out of fear, but pride wouldn't let him admit it.
Now, staring at Gen — smaller, thinner, and unnervingly calm — Yu sneered.
"Hmph. If it's just him, I'll crush him easily."
"I'll make sure everyone sees that the Uchiha aren't so special after all."
The Academy classroom was shaped like a fan, its seats tiered toward the back. Gen settled into his place in the highest row, quietly scanning the room.
Each class had around thirty students. The lower the class number, the higher the prestige and the better the instruction.
By contrast, the upper-numbered classes were often filled with underperformers — students unlikely to graduate as genin.
Students were split between clan-born and civilians. Clan students wore their family crests proudly, while civilians underwent aptitude tests before enrollment.
In Gen's class, seven students came from ninja clans; the remaining twenty-three were civilians.
Uehara Yu, the troublemaker, was from a small civilian ninja family.
Even so, Gen could sense that Yu's chakra — or "life energy" — was unusually strong, rivaling that of clan students.
As he finished surveying the room, Gen turned to his side. Sitting one seat away was a quiet boy with silver-white hair.
Gen paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.
So I'm sitting next to him, huh…
The crest on the boy's clothes was unmistakable — the Hatake Clan.
At the mention of that name, one couldn't help but think of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo — the legendary shinobi once praised above the Sannin themselves.
Even among the Uchiha, who rarely admired outsiders, Sakumo Hatake had earned genuine respect.
But the Hatake Clan had been small to begin with, and after Sakumo's tragic death, its influence vanished.
Only his son, Kakashi, now upheld the name — the prodigy who'd already earned renown as a jōnin and Fourth Hokage's student.
The boy beside Gen was Hatake Seiko. Perhaps sensing Gen's gaze, Seiko turned slightly, his expression wary and guarded.
After the White Fang incident, the Hatake family had become pariahs in the village.
While Kakashi's fame protected him, the rest of his family endured whispers, ridicule, and quiet contempt.
Even here, at the Academy, Seiko was treated as if he didn't exist — ignored, isolated, and alone.
Gen and Seiko had been classmates for five years, yet they'd barely exchanged a word.
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