Gold

"Oh, I've struck gold this time."

Through the fisheye lens, I saw something unbelievable. The guy that tried so hard to be intimidating... was reading Icha-Icha. And with a straight face at that.

More than the fact that he was reading it, I was surprised that Jiraiya's work had international reach. Being a wanderer must have its perks.

Now now, how can I capitalize on this information... Should I reveal it now? That would be useless. What about using it for blackmail? Yes, that's it.

With an evil smile, I started rejoicing about the new bargaining chip that I had in my hand. I can basically use him as a slave now.

Laughing maniacally, I made the eye scatter. It then reappeared in front of Jun's paper, while he was distracted with the sand in his eyes.

"Oh god..."

I thought out loud...This guy is next-level stupid. All of his answers made no sense and were plain incorrect. He had a few things right in the ninjutsu section, but not much. He even got seven plus nine wrong.

Deciding to not try and comprehend how someone could be that dumb, I made the eye scatter once more and repeated the same process with the rest of the class.

Their answers were all so-so apart from Shijiro and Sumire. Especially Sumire, I think she only got about two questions wrong.

Soon enough, they were all getting frustrated.

"Is there a sandstorm outside? Why are we all getting sand in our eyes?! And why are Gaara and Tadao-Sensei the only ones unaffected!"

Shijiro was livid. He was so angry that if looks could kill, I'd be dead right now. While the rest were confused, it seems like he had connected the dots.

I shrugged, and the teacher told him to shut up. When the rest were done with their papers, Raccoon-Sensei gathered them all and placed them in his bag.

After the test, we did some more studying... Soon after, the bell rang and Raccoon-Sensi left the room in a hurry.

Suddenly, Shijiro rose from his seat and walked over to mine. His eyes were burning with determination as our gazes crossed.

The tension in the room increased visibly, and everyone looked our way. What a hassle... I don't like having so many eyes on me.

"Gaara. I challenge you to a battle! Do you accept?!"

As he spoke, I could see his eyes shift towards Sumire every now and then. She had a blank look on her face as if she didn't know what was going on.

Oh, I see what's going on here... A five-year-old trying to impress his crush, huh? He has some guts to ask me of all people.

[System notification: Quest available.

Description: Defeat Shijiro in a way where he will never disrespect you again.

Reward: 400 EXP and 5 points.]

A quest! The first one! With four-hundred EXP... I'll level up! Awesome!

I felt my heart racing, and my breathing started to quicken. Has the time finally come?

I've been itching for a fight ever since I was born... All I can think of right now is how I'm going to crush my opponent.

"Hihihi..."

A small, deranged laugh escaped my mouth... Scaring the crap out of Shijiro and the rest of the class.

"Accepted. Where shall we... Fight?"

My voice was almost cracking... and with the dopamine rush... It was hard to articulate my thoughts.

"L-let's go to the school's training area! I'll show you who's boss here!"

Although he looked scared, Shijiro straightened his expression and spoke with more confidence than before.

With that, he turned around and started walking away. I slowly followed. As we walked, I could hear whispers from the rest of the class.

"Is he crazy?" Was the main thing they were saying. Yeah, this guy has some guts. The proud twin, Saori, was looking at Shijiro with contempt while her sister looked troubled.

Shortly after, we finally got there. The whole school had apparently heard of the news. Everyone was there... Everyone.

If I had focused, I maybe would have seen Temari and Kankuro, but my head was focused on the fact that I was going to fight!

A fight! I've been itching for one for so long... I can't even describe the rush that I'm feeling.

My whole body was hot, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. I know that I'm fighting a five-year-old, but it's a fight nonetheless.

"Relax, Gaara."

As I was looking towards my opponent, the soothing voice of Yashamaru resounded in my head. I have to calm myself down. I'm letting Shukaku influence me again.

Crossing my arms, I willed the sand in the vicinity to hover around me. Everyone's surprise was apparent.

"That's Gaara-Sama's sand!"

"So scary... I want to see my mommy..."

I could here mixed reactions, but the main one was fear. As I analyzed my surroundings, Shinjiro started speaking from the other side of the field.

"Okay! Sumire, you be the referee! Everything is permitted except for weapons, do you agree?"

He shifted his gaze towards me with his last words, and I nodded in approval. I don't have any weapons anyway.

Sumire was shaking a little, and she looked at me worriedly. I ignored her completely. Looking even more worried, she got in between us and raised her trembling arm

"F-Fight!"

With a shout, she jumped away, and Shijiro aimed a punch at my face while shouting.

"RAAA!"

Useless.

Raising my hand, I willed the sand to wrap around his arm. He looked at it in confusion and tried to break free. His efforts were futile.

"Why is this sand so damn hard?!"

"You lose."

While moving my hand gracefully, I controlled some more sand to wrap around his ankles and had it lift him up in the air. He started screaming in shock.

Everyone looked baffled, and I slowly rose him higher and higher, until the height was no longer safe. I could see his lips trembling, and a few tears came out of his eyes.

"Surrender."

I looked straight into his eyes, showing no emotion. This had been a very boring fight. Well, it's my fault for expecting more.

"I SURRENDER! PLEASE LET ME GO!"

"Okay, I'll let you go."

I lowered my hand, and the sand softened. Shijiro's face paled as he started free-falling. His shrill screams of horror filled the air.

"SAVE ME! SOMEONE! PLEASE!"

Smirking, I controlled some more sand and cushioned his fall. Once I lowered him on the ground, he was unharmed, but he had passed out from the fright.

Everyone was quiet. They all looked at me blankly for a while, before one of them started clapping. The rest soon followed.

"Hmph. He was asking for it."

Kankuro was smirking, and he looked at Shijiro's passed out body with contempt. Temari didn't know what to say. Her head was getting filled with her own thoughts.

Was Gaara always this strong?

As everyone was still taking in what had happened, I rejoiced at the jingling sound resounding in my head. The system's holographic interface appeared in front of me with a message.

[Congratulations. Quest completed. Rewarded with 400 EXP and 5 points.]

[Congratulations. The host has reached level two. Do you wish to open the shop?]

Yes!