"W-hh… hhh…" Yoshiki tried to speak but failed spectacularly, he felt as if his lungs were burning as he gasped for air.
Right now, the entire class was running ten laps around the Academy grounds.
What kind of torture is this…? Yoshiki cried internally. Just one more lap…
After dragging himself through that final stretch of huffing and panting, he finally completed his quota for the day.
He looked around for his friends, but everything was blurry. His head spun, vision swimming as if he was underwater.
Through the haze, he noticed someone waving at him.
He couldn't make out who it was, but he staggered toward the figure anyway.
As he got closer, the blur slowly sharpened. It was Isamu.
And beside him was Isao.
Yoshiki reached them and promptly collapsed into a sitting position.
Moments later, another figure slogged toward them like a defeated soldier.
It was Makoto.
The four of them sat together in silence, too busy trying to breath.
Yoshiki glanced around at the rest of the class.
Most were in similar condition — sprawled on the ground, clutching their sides, wheezing dramatically.
Except a select few.
The least worn out were, unsurprisingly, Sasuke and Misato.
What the hell? Yoshiki thought. It's like that was just a warm-up for those siblings.
Yes. Siblings.
That had to be it.
Because aside from a bond like that, there was no logical way Itachi would have spared her.
He slaughtered the entire clan — parents included.
The only reason Sasuke survived was because he was his little brother.
So the only way Misato could have lived… was if the same rule applied to her.
Otherwise?
Then she would be something far worse — someone capable of surviving both Itachi and Obito.
One of them had space-time ninjutsu.
But even if she only survived because she was Itachi's little sister didn't mean she was to be looked down upon, keeping pace with Sasuke was enough to classify her as a monster in Yoshiki's book.
His eyes shifted again.
Naruto was clearly exhausted — but noticeably less exhausted than Yoshiki.
Well… Uzumaki blood only carries you so far without proper training.
The rest of the Konoha Nine were in similar condition to Naruto — except Hinata and Shino.
The Hyūga clan's taijutsu training was clearly showing results. Hinata wasn't first, but she still had plenty of energy left in reserve.
As for Shino…
Yoshiki wasn't even sure if he had run at all. The boy stood calmly under a tree's shade, unreadable as ever.
Yoshiki shuddered slightly. The thought of all the bugs crawling inside his skin was simply terrifying.
"Alright everyone, break's over. Time for hand sign-weaving exercises," Iruka announced.
A chorus of groans rose from the field.
"Well," Iruka continued calmly, "if you don't want to, I suppose we can't force it."
"Really, Iruka-sensei?!" Naruto and several others perked up instantly.
"Of course," Iruka smiled. "We'll just do a few more laps with the remaining time."
The entire class performed a synchronized mental 180.
Within seconds, they were lining up like disciplined soldiers.
Yoshiki almost laughed.
No matter the era… teachers use the same psychological warfare.
It reminded him painfully of his past life — when exhausted students would complain about a lighter exercise, only for the teacher to "persuade" them otherwise.
Nostalgic? Yes.
Enjoyable? Absolutely not.
Haven't I suffered enough from PE in my past life? Yoshiki internally wailed. I was a sickly kid! Skipping a few classes was survival, not laziness!
"Ram!" Iruka shouted.
The students formed the seal.
"Tiger!"
Fingers locked and rose.
As the sequence continued, Yoshiki silently thanked his past self.
During the two days he'd stayed home after reincarnating, he'd gone through the Academy books to avoid for getting into trouble.
Right now, remembering all twelve basic seals was saving him from humiliation.
But just because he remembered them didn't mean he was having a walk in the park. He remembered the signs yes but changing his hand signs so fast when he had barely learnt them was by no means easy for him.
First running ten laps. Yoshiki screamed internally. Now this weaving exercise under the scorching sun.
Couldn't we do this inside? What's the point of melting out here?
"Alright, that's enough," Iruka finally said. "Normally we'd continue with hurdles, but there won't be any classes in the second-half today. So physical training ends here. As we have to make some time for the second-half, Now everyone return to the classroom."
As Iruka ordered everyone started heading toward the class.
Yoshiki dropped onto his seat, his muscles protesting, one thought lingered.
Why are there no classes in the second half?
"Don't you think Iruka-sensei's been increasing our PE lately?" Makoto muttered beside him.
"We're fourth years now," Isamu replied. "Isn't that normal?"
"Huh. It's not that bad," Isao shrugged.
"That's because you two get trained by Isamu's dad," Makoto pointed out.
"Don't you have a tutor?" Isao shot back.
"I do. But he's just a genin. Uncle Takeshi is a chūnin."
"At least you train regularly," Isao muttered. "I only get sessions with Uncle Takeshi once in a while, when he's free."
Before the conversation could continue—Iruka entered the class.
"Everyone, take out your books and turn to where we left off." Iruka said with a firm voice.
The classroom quieted instantly.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. It was no different from the regular school days Yoshiki had experienced in his previous life.
This is supposed to be a shinobi academy… in other words, a military school, Yoshiki thought.
And yet, after the morning's physical training, everything felt like an ordinary classroom.
Students got distracted and secretly played games under their desks. Iruka would eventually notice and scold them. Then came the usual dull mathematics and history lessons.
And that was precisely what Yoshiki found unsettling.
I suppose this is the influence of the First Hokage, Yoshiki thought.
The man had wanted to create a place where children wouldn't be forced to go to war like he and his siblings once had. A place where kids could laugh without a care in the world.
The academy itself had been founded later by the Second Hokage, but it seemed he had designed it in a way that honored his elder brother's wishes.
At least until the students graduated.
Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the final class.
Iruka stood at the front of the room.
"Alright everyone. As you know, we won't be having classes in the second half today as the academy graduates will be assigned to their instructors this afternoon."
Oh… Yoshiki realized.
How did I forget about that? I literally talked about it with Makoto this morning.
Then another thought surfaced.
Wait… why are they doing it in the afternoon? Didn't Naruto's batch have theirs in the morning?
He frowned slightly.
Well… things change over time. I suppose they changed it later down the line.
The bell rang again, officially ending the school day.
Yoshiki closed his book and instinctively glanced toward the front of the classroom at the Uchiha girl.
As Misato placed her belongings into her bag, her eyes briefly met the brown-haired boy sitting near the back.
Yoshiki froze as he quickly looked around as if searching for something else.
Only after a moment did he realize she had been looking directly at him.
Without another glance, he turned to his friends and started chatting, pretending the awkward moment had never happened.
"Is something wrong?" the boy beside her asked.
Misato blinked and shook her head.
"No… I was just wondering if he's alright. He was absent on Saturday. I was thinking maybe I should go talk to him."
"Let it go," Sasuke replied calmly. "Iruka-sensei already said it was nothing serious. He just fainted. It's not your fault."
"Yes… but maybe if I had rejected him more gently, he wouldn't have run off like that."
Sasuke frowned slightly.
"It's not like you could have known he'd run away and hide somewhere and get bitten by a snake. Stop blaming yourself. And if you go talk to him now, he might think he still has a chance."
Misato hesitated.
"I guess…"
She thought about the several times she had noticed Yoshiki glancing at her during class.
Sasuke, meanwhile, hadn't noticed anything at all.
He really needs to pay more attention to his surroundings instead of brooding all the time, she thought.
"Let's go," Sasuke said, standing up. "We'll be late for training."
Misato looked at him.
"We're going home first. We'll have lunch, and then you can go train."
"Is that really necessary?" Sasuke replied. "We could just eat outside. It'd be faster."
"No," Misato said firmly. "We're having a proper lunch at home. I already prepared everything this morning."
Sasuke sighed.
"Fine. But make it quick. I don't want to be late."
Misato crossed her arms.
"What's the rush? Your training ground isn't going anywhere. And if you're so eager to train, maybe you should work on your chakra control for once."
She gave him a pointed look.
"All you ever practice is ninjutsu, taijutsu, and shurikenjutsu. You should focus more on your basics."
"We already practice the basics in the academy," Sasuke replied as he walked toward the door. "I need to work on more advanced techniques. The academy only teaches the fundamentals."
Misato watched him leave, irritation flickering across her face.
Has he forgotten what father used to say? she thought.
Even though they were old enough to learn stronger techniques, this was the best time to strengthen their chakra network.
Their father had always insisted that mastering the basics early was crucial.
But as the thought of her father surfaced, Misato's expression dimmed.
She pushed the memory away and quietly followed Sasuke out of the classroom.