Chapter 33: SKIPPING CLASS

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Yuhi Kurenai didn't finish her sentence, but Yuichi Yuu and Kakashi Hatake knew exactly what she meant.

Yuichi Yuu waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine."

"At most, we'll just get scolded again."

If there was something new to learn, they wouldn't skip class. Umino Ikkaku should be used to this by now.

Yuichi thought, glancing toward the other ninja descendants sitting in the back of the classroom. There's no way these second-generation ninjas haven't skipped class before.

Training was tough, but compared to sitting through lessons he had already mastered, he much preferred to spend his time improving. Though he had the system to rely on, he wasn't the type to wait passively for its rewards.

While Yuichi was mulling this over and Kakashi was still hesitating, Sarutobi Asuma came over, "You guys skipping class today?"

"Huh?" Yuichi blinked, then turned to face the second-generation ninja who had an almost monkey-like appearance.

Without hesitation, Sarutobi Asuma declared, "If you guys are skipping, I'm coming too."

"Class is boring. We already know all of this stuff," Asuma clenched his fists, a fiery determination burning in his eyes. "Instead of wasting time, I'd rather train! I want to get stronger!"

Yuichi immediately agreed. "Alright! Let's go now!"

Sarutobi Asuma was momentarily stunned, then pointed outside. "Right now?"

"Of course! If we wait for the teacher to arrive, we'll just waste more time."

Yuichi looked at Yuhi Kurenai. "Kurenai, are you coming too?"

"Huh?" Kurenai blinked, surprised. "Me?"

"Yeah," Yuichi nodded.

Kurenai hesitated. "Isn't that a bad idea? Dad said not to cause any trouble at school."

"Don't worry, Uncle Shinku won't care," Yuichi said confidently.

After thinking for a moment, Kurenai nodded and smiled brightly. "Alright then."

Seeing her agree, Yuichi took her hand, opened the window, and they both jumped out.

Asuma quickly followed, and Kakashi, still on the fence, gritted his teeth and joined them. Whatever. I'd rather get scolded than sit through another boring class.

Not long after they left, Umino Ikkaku entered the classroom with a textbook in hand, smiling. He was sure Kakashi would share what he'd learned from the previous lesson. He wanted to get through literacy and chakra refinement as soon as possible, so the students could start their real training.

But as he set the textbook down and glanced around, he noticed something odd. A few desks were empty.

Ikkaku narrowed his eyes, realizing what had happened.

Moments later, his voice rang through the classroom, "Yuichi Yuuki! Hatake Kakashi! Uchiha Obito!"

Meanwhile, out on the streets, Sarutobi Asuma was surprised to see Uchiha Obito sprinting ahead of them, out of breath.

"Is that Obito?" he asked.

Yuichi smiled and called out, "Good morning, Obito."

Kurenai followed suit, "Good morning, Obito."

Kakashi said nothing, just gave him a tired look.

Obito was startled to see the group, but when they greeted him, he relaxed and smiled. "Good morning, everyone."

Seeing them all, he felt less nervous about being late. If they're late too, I'm not in trouble alone.

There's comfort in numbers, after all. If he'd been the only one late, he'd be panicking, but with Yuichi and the others, it wasn't so bad.

Asuma glanced at Obito, thinking he was also skipping class, and extended an invitation, "Wanna join us?"

"Join you?" Obito thought he was being asked to walk to school together, so he nodded eagerly. "Sure!"

Yuichi gave them a strange look but said nothing as he led the group forward.

As they walked, Obito, still catching his breath from running, began chatting, "Hey, I saw a cat that could do a backflip yesterday on my way home. If you want, you can come to my house and see it."

After a pause, he added, "My house is pretty big."

"No thanks, I don't want to see it," Kakashi muttered, moving away slightly.

Though Obito had been talking to everyone, he kept glancing at Kakashi, which made Kakashi feel uncomfortable.

Obito, seeing Kakashi pull away, stomped his foot in frustration. "Damn mask man! One day I'll show you!"

"I guess you could call him the Mysterious Mask Man," Yuichi teased.

"Hey!" Kakashi turned to Yuichi, "Stop giving me weird nicknames!"

"What about Dark Kakashi?" Yuichi suggested, barely holding back a laugh.

Asuma burst out laughing. "Dark Kakashi? That's hilarious! So edgy!"

Kakashi fell silent, clearly regretting his life choices.

Yuhi Kurenai looked sweetly at Yuichi, feeling happy. Yuichi has made more friends again.

Yuichi had never had many friends before. Although he'd spent time with Guy outside of school, Kakashi was someone he had met just a few days before classes started. Now, seeing Asuma and Obito chatting and laughing, Kurenai felt genuinely glad. Even Yuichi's smiles seemed to have increased lately.

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