To think that after crossing over into another world, I would still have to stay up late working overtime—what was even the point of crossing over? Teacher Shinichi found himself sinking into a deep state of bewilderment as he worked overtime.
After resting at his desk for a while, Shinichi went back to work. After all, he couldn't afford to let his current persona slip at this stage.
......
For once, Shinichi was late, but fortunately, he had no classes scheduled for the morning.
After a quick breakfast, Shinichi dropped off the promotional work plan for the Will of Fire in Ishikawa's office, then set off to patrol the two classes under his charge.
Class 1-3 was currently having a math class, and Shinichi silently approached the classroom door.
Inside, the math teacher was writing complex formulas on the blackboard. The students below wore blank expressions, and the entire classroom was permeated with an atmosphere of "who am I, and where am I?"
Seeing the students' expressions, Shinichi sighed inwardly.
He remembered his own painful struggles with learning math back in the day. It seemed that no matter which world you were in, math remained a formidable challenge for a certain segment of students.
He shook his head. Not wanting to interrupt the teacher and students in the middle of class, he hurried on to the next class.
Seeing Obito listening attentively, Shinichi was surprised for a moment.
Given Obito's three-minute attention span, being this focused today came as quite a surprise to Shinichi.
"Hyuga Kagami, stop sleeping already! Teacher Shinichi is calling you up to answer a question!"
Hyuga Kagami, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly heard the name "Teacher Shinichi." Still in a daze, he subconsciously walked toward the podium.
His eyes were half-open and his steps were a bit unsteady, making him look just like a sleepwalker.
"Hyuga Kagami, what do you think you're doing? I want you to go stand outside right now, immediately, this instant!" Fujiyama scolded with a frown.
He had been hitting his stride in the lecture, only to find someone completely ignoring him. Looking at Hyuga Kagami's sleep-deprived appearance, a surge of irritation welled up inside him.
This was a classroom! How could anyone be so slack?
Only then did Hyuga Kagami snap completely out of it. Realizing he had made a huge mistake, his face turned bright red. Not daring to meet Fujiyama's eyes, he lowered his head and slowly turned to walk out of the classroom.
Shinichi had no intention of disturbing them and was just thinking of slipping away quietly when he hadn't expected such an amusing scene to unfold.
"Obito, you come out too."
With Shinichi's sensory perception, he naturally knew that the remark teasing Hyuga Kagami had come from Obito.
"T-Teacher Shinichi."
Obito, who had been secretly gloating, turned pale the moment he heard Shinichi's voice, stammering phrases like "I'm done for, I'm totally done for."
After giving Fujiyama an apologetic look, Shinichi led the two boys to his office.
Looking at the two students before him, Shinichi's expression turned stern.
"I checked both of your past grades recently and found that your academic scores are an absolute mess."
"And you two were acting like that while Teacher Fujiyama was giving a lesson? Do you think you're invincible or something?"
Shinichi knew very well that sometimes he had to be strict; otherwise, there was simply no managing these mischievous students.
"Teacher Shinichi, we were wrong!"
The two chorused together. As frequent offenders, they naturally knew what was expected of them in a situation like this.
Seeing their good attitude in admitting fault, Shinichi pondered for a moment and said:
"If your academic scores pass in the next monthly exam, I will give you a reward."
"A reward? What kind of reward, a piece of candy?" Obito asked curiously.
"Well, I can teach you Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. How about that? Not a bad reward, is it?" Shinichi replied.
"Really?"
Both boys cried out in astonishment at the same time. Never in their wildest dreams had they expected to receive such a reward after getting into trouble.
"Of course it's real. But all of this hinges on you passing the next monthly exam," Shinichi cut short their pleasant fantasies.
"Passing the exam... isn't that way too hard?"
Obito, who had been so excited just moments ago, felt as though a basin of ice-cold water had been dumped over his head.
Hyuga Kagami also wore a deeply conflicted expression.
As a member of the Hyuga clan, he didn't want to remain at the bottom of the class either, but he simply couldn't get those theoretical concepts into his head.
"Does the teacher have some kind of Ninjutsu that can pump knowledge directly into our brains?" Obito looked at Shinichi with hopeful eyes.
"Thwack!"
Shinichi raised a hand and gave Obito a light rap on the head.
"Ow, that hurts!"
Obito yelped dramatically, making Shinichi's mouth twitch slightly.
Still, seeing the pitiful looks on both of their faces, Shinichi thought it over and said:
"Starting today, you will come to my house every day after school. I'll test you personally until you meet my standards."
"What? We have to go every single day?" The two immediately dropped their unhappy protests.
"If I go with you, what about my Rin?" Obito muttered.
"What, you aren't willing?"
"Obito, don't you want to see the look of admiration in Rin's eyes when she looks at you?"
"And you, Hyuga Kagami—don't you want to see the astonished looks your classmates give you?"
Hearing the rosy picture Shinichi painted, the two boys practically envisioned their own success, and longing smiles bloomed on their faces.
"Teacher Shinichi, we agree!" the two shouted in response.
"Since you agreed to this yourselves, don't go backing out later!" A meaningful smile surfaced on Shinichi's face.
Lost in their excitement, the pair completely failed to notice Shinichi's expression, plunging headfirst into the euphoric mindset of "we are about to succeed."
"Then it's settled. We start tomorrow, and Obito, make sure you have a good birthday today." With that, Shinichi patted Obito on the shoulder.
"Then Teacher Shinichi, it's settled. We're going back to study now."
"Alright, go on back. Make sure you properly apologize to Teacher Fujiyama—you really went too far just now." Seeing how impatient they were, Shinichi consented.
"Goodbye, Teacher, then."
With that, the two hurried back toward their classroom.
"Obito, you haven't apologized to me yet! If it weren't for you, how could I have gotten chewed out by Teacher Shinichi?"
"Hmph, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be shaking off your loser status either. Hyuga Kagami, you should be thanking me."
"You—you're just looking for a beating!"
Watching the two bickering before they even made it out of the office, Shinichi didn't know whether to call them naive, or simply naive.
Shinichi let out a helpless sigh. Right now, he could only hope that through this agreement, the two of them would put a little effort into their studies and manage a passing grade on the next monthly exam.