Chapter 37: The Blooming Flower of Hope

"Hinata," Shinho Aburame called out softly.

"Sh... Shinho-kun," Hinata Hyuga immediately stepped out from behind the tree, stopping in front of him and greeting shyly.

Even after activating her Byakugan, she's still like this? Shinho pondered. Should I give her another strong push? But would that lead to unintended consequences? Maybe it's better to leave it be.

He preferred her the way she was now.

The three of them walked toward the classroom.

With ten minutes left before class, the room was already filled with students.

Shinho scanned the room, his gaze landing on Naruto Uzumaki, who was resting his head on the desk.

No doubt, he had just finished his morning training.

There was no question about the strength of Might Guy's Eight Gates Technique. After all, he almost single-handedly decided the outcome of the war.

But the idea that hard work alone creates a genius is absolutely a lie.

Rock Lee worked so hard, yet by the end, he had only opened up to the Sixth Gate.

This shows that the Eight Gates required extremely high talent.

Looking across Japanese anime, the theory of bloodline inheritance is mainstream.

Take, for example, Monkey D. Luffy from another series.

As for Naruto Uzumaki, with his protagonist's aura maxed out, there's a high chance he'll learn the Eight Gates.

Shinho definitely wouldn't learn it.

Might Guy's training could be considered ultimate torture.

Shinho walked over and knocked on Naruto's desk.

Seeing that he hadn't woken up, he said, "The teacher is here, Naruto."

"Teacher!" Naruto jumped up, startled. "I didn't mean to sleep... wait, where's the teacher?" he rubbed his eyes, looking up at Shinho.

"Here," Shinho handed him Minato Namikaze's cookbook.

"A cookbook?" Naruto instantly perked up.

"Pick a few dishes you're interested in; when there's time, I'll teach you," Shinho paused and added, "You can also try them yourself."

He had looked through the cookbook; it was written in great detail—practically a foolproof guide.

Thinking that this was a gift from Kushina Uzumaki to Tsunade made it quite interesting.

"Minato Namikaze?" Naruto saw the signature on the second page and was stunned.

He felt he'd heard the name somewhere but couldn't recall immediately.

"The Fourth Hokage," Shinho reminded him.

Naruto's eyes widened like saucers.

His dream was to become Hokage, and now he'd suddenly received the Hokage's cookbook. He was instantly overjoyed.

"I've decided! I'm going to make dishes that surpass the Hokage's!" Naruto clenched his fist and declared.

Good thing you didn't say you wanted to become the God of Cooking, Shinho thought.

He nodded slightly and returned to his seat.

"Shinho," Choji Akimichi leaned over and asked, "Are we going fishing after school?"

Shinho instinctively glanced at his bag of chips.

He recalled the legend of the last chip.

In the original story, Choji's first outburst was because Jirobo ate his last chip.

In his previous life, Shinho suddenly realized that Choji wasn't the "pig" in the "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio—he was the "butterfly~"

"Do you want some?" Choji's chubby face showed hesitation.

But thinking about Shinho's delicious grilled fish, he finally relented.

"Just don't finish them all; leave me the last chip," Choji handed the bag of chips to Shinho, showing an expression of noble sacrifice.

Shinho slowly reached out, and under Choji's nervous gaze, took one chip.

Seeing this, Choji breathed a sigh of relief.

It couldn't have been more obvious.

Shinho tossed it into his mouth and then reached out again.

Choji's expression immediately changed dramatically, looking extremely uneasy but didn't voice any objection.

Since he had agreed, there was no reason to back out halfway.

"Not bad," Shinho smiled slightly, not taking any more of his chips.

Choji was so nervous that sweat appeared on his forehead.

Watching the whole process, Shino adjusted his sunglasses.

This sly guy is so mischievous, Shino thought.

He had understood this a long time ago.

Poor Choji is being toyed with without mercy.

"See you at the usual place after class," Shinho continued.

"Okay!" Choji didn't mind his teasing.

As long as he got good food, he was a good friend.

And Shinho only took one chip; he was actually quite nice.

At that moment, the class bell rang.

But the one who walked in wasn't Iruka Umino; it was a female teacher.

Her name was Haruna Yamanaka, and she taught flower arrangement.

She was from the same clan as Ino Yamanaka but not directly related.

Following her were two male teachers.

They moved the lectern and brought in flower stands, neatly arranged with various fresh flowers.

"We've had a few classes already, but they've all been theoretical," Haruna Yamanaka smiled slightly. "Today, we'll have some hands-on practice."

"Yay!" The classroom erupted in excitement.

Ino Yamanaka was thrilled.

This was her specialty.

She instinctively glanced at Shinho, who wore a calm expression.

Because he was so versatile, she had never found an opportunity.

Now, she could interact closely under the guise of offering guidance.

"Flower arrangement focuses on aesthetics and emotion. You can't just place flowers randomly; you need to find the right positions," Haruna clapped her hands and said, "I'll give you fifteen minutes to think about your themes and the flowers you need. You can discuss among yourselves."

"Shinho-kun," Ino asked somewhat proudly, "Do you have any ideas? I can help you."

Her family ran a flower shop, so she was naturally knowledgeable about flowers.

"Hope," Shinho thought for a moment and said.

"Hope?" Ino pondered slightly and provided an answer, "Sunflowers, complemented with purple and green accessory flowers, would be suitable."

"Thank you," Shinho said softly. "I'll consider it."

"No problem," Ino tried to suppress her joy but couldn't help the corners of her mouth turning up.

"I think cosmos flowers would suit you," Shinho said, looking at her radiant smile.

Ino was slightly taken aback.

Due to her professional training, the flower language of cosmos flowers immediately popped into her mind: a maiden's true heart, freedom, joy, and positivity.

So, in his mind, he thought of me like that?

Ino suddenly turned her head, her face slightly red, and said, "Thank you."

From a distance, Hinata looked over and couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

She now deeply regretted not choosing a seat next to Shinho when they enrolled because she was too shy.

Hinata collected her thoughts and looked at the flowers on the stand.

She didn't know what to choose.

Suddenly, she remembered her encounter with Shinho—the courtyard full of moon orchids.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly.

"Students, please come up in order and arrange your flowers," Haruna Yamanaka said, holding a vase.

"I chose moonflowers," Hinata said softly, her head lowered. "The theme is warm beauty."

Shinho was slightly surprised; he roughly understood her thoughts.

Sasuke Uchiha chose balsam flowers.

In the Uchiha clan's signature Fire Release techniques, there's one technique called 'Phoenix Sage Fire Technique'. Since the top of the balsam flower resembled a phoenix and its color was red, he chose it.

Naruto Uzumaki also chose balsam flowers.

Because he thought they were very red, symbolizing the Hokage.

"Sunflowers," it was Shinho's turn. He walked up and said calmly, "The blooming flower of hope."

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