"In the next class, the teacher will explain how to refine chakra, and I will definitely be the first one to successfully do it!" Izumo Kamizuki said with absolute confidence.
"Good brother, then I won't fight you for first place. I'll just be second," Kotetsu Hagane immediately chimed in.
Hearing this, Izumo looked at his good buddy with eyes full of deep emotion, gazing affectionately at his partner.
Just as the two of them were staring lovingly into each other's eyes, a discordant voice suddenly rang out.
"Hah, and you two expect to rank in the top two? I wouldn't even dare guarantee I'd make the top three."
Hana Inuzuka had been chatting animatedly with her best friend about the handsome guys in the school, but upon hearing such overconfident nonsense from the boys in front, she couldn't help but scoff in derision.
"Totally, right?!"
Reiko Yamanaka, sitting right beside her, immediately stood up to back up her best friend.
Seeing that the surrounding classmates had all been drawn to their conversation, Izumo shouted back defensively at Hana:
"Hmph, you'll see how awesome I am in a minute!"
Hana was about to retort when she saw Teacher Shinichi walking in from outside the classroom, leaving her with no choice but to sit down in frustration.
Yet her expression still clearly showed that she didn't believe a word of what certain people had said.
"Alright, everyone. I could hear our class making a ruckus all the way down in the hallway."
Shinichi started with his usual opening remarks before diving straight into the lecture.
This time, Shinichi didn't waste any time and went straight to explaining how to refine chakra.
The introductory hook had thoroughly piqued the students' interest, and now that the core lesson had begun, every single student gave two hundred percent of their focus.
"Before refining chakra, we need to concentrate our minds, sense a certain energy within our bodies, and slowly guide it. This process can be quite tedious and dry."
I hope everyone can stick with it, he added, before sharing a few quick tips and tricks for chakra refinement.
As he lectured, Shinichi kept a close eye on the students below.
Just as he expected, many students from the various shinobi clans were already able to refine chakra with ease, while the common students were still struggling to sense the chakra within their bodies.
Seeing that the students in the classroom had all quieted down to focus on chakra refinement, Shinichi appraised every single one of them.
【Name: Gekko Hayate】
【Potential: A】
Seeing Gekko Hayate's potential, Shinichi nodded inwardly.
Gekko Hayate had died in his early twenties, yet he was already able to fight on par with Baki, an elite Jonin.
If not for his own underlying health issues, he probably wouldn't have perished at Baki's hands.
【Name: Izumo Kamizuki】
【Potential: B-】
...
【Name: Kotetsu Hagane】
【Potential: B-】
After checking the potential ratings of the two comedic duos, he turned his attention to the rest of the class.
True to Shinichi's expectations, aside from Hana Inuzuka who was rated B-, none of the other students exceeded B, and that even included clan students like Reiko Yamanaka.
"Teacher Shinichi, I did it! I did it!"
An excited shout broke the quiet of the classroom.
"Ah, it's Izumo. Looks like you're the first in our class to refine chakra."
"That's very impressive, but try not to disturb the other students, okay?"
After hearing Shinichi's praise and noticing the focused expressions of his surrounding classmates, Izumo instinctively quieted down, though he couldn't wipe the wide grin off his face.
Before long, the afternoon classes came to an end.
【Lecture completed. Calculating rewards...】
【Rating: Good+】
【Rewards obtained: Chakra +20, Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction】
"Looks like the rewards are getting scarcer."
Compared to his previous rewards, this one was practically pathetic—just a D-rank ninjutsu and a tiny bit of chakra.
Shinichi didn't feel any disappointment, however. Ever since he obtained this system, he had been pondering what determined the quality of the rewards.
This latest reward merely served to further validate his hypothesis. Since he had anticipated it, naturally he didn't feel any adverse emotions.
Remembering that he was supposed to go out for dinner with the office teachers after school, Shinichi packed up his things and headed toward the staff room.
......
......
After dining at the Akimichi Barbecue Restaurant, Inoue dragged several of the male teachers to an izakaya for a few drinks.
"Teacher Shinichi, I want to apologize to you for what I said back in the office."
With that, Inoue picked up his mug of beer and downed it in one go.
"Haha, it's nothing, don't worry about it."
Shinichi didn't put on airs. He picked up his own mug, filled with beer, and raised it in a toast to return the gesture.
Seeing Shinichi act so cordially, Inoue let out a sigh of relief before pouring his heart out to his old friend.
"Tanaka, why must there be such a thing as war?"
"I honestly thought that once I became a teacher, I'd never run into this kind of thing again. You know I used to be stationed on the front lines—who would've thought!"
He muttered before downing another mug of beer.
Hearing Inoue's lament, Tanaka didn't know what to say either.
Even though the front lines were currently just experiencing minor skirmishes, anyone with half a brain could see that a full-scale war was bound to break out, just like the Second Shinobi World War before it.
When that time came, no one could guarantee their own survival.
"War, huh..."
Although Shinichi knew the Shinobi world was chaotic, having never experienced it firsthand, he hadn't felt the gravity of it very deeply.
He hadn't expected that within just a few days, such a reality would land right on his doorstep, sparking a sudden sense of urgency to grow stronger.
"By the way, Inoue, now that you're leaving, has your class been sorted out?"
Fujiyama, the eldest of the teachers, chimed in at just the right moment.
"As for them, I've already spoken to the director about going to the battlefield. The director has probably already made arrangements."
"I'm afraid the director himself is having a hard time arranging this!"
"Our academy is so short on teachers, and every single one of them already has their own responsibilities. Now that he suddenly has to reassign an entire class, he must be getting a headache over it."
"How about this, I'll take them!"
Fujiyama, who had just been making casual conversation, was somewhat surprised when he heard Shinichi's offer.
For teachers, whether they took charge of one class or multiple classes, the academy paid a fixed salary with zero chance of a raise.
Hearing someone suddenly volunteer to take on an extra class without any additional pay naturally came as a shock.
"Shinichi, are you serious?"
"Handling two classes is exhausting, and most importantly, there's no pay increase."
Fujiyama thought for a moment before offering some advice.
"Well, Senior Fujiyama, if no one steps in, Teacher Inoue's class probably won't be assigned a homeroom teacher at all."
Hearing this, Inoue looked at Shinichi with eyes brimming with gratitude.
While he didn't have overwhelmingly deep attachments to the class he taught, he still didn't want to leave them completely neglected after his departure.
And the fact that Shinichi was willing to take over was surely out of consideration for him.
If Shinichi knew what Inoue was thinking, while he might not say anything out loud, he would definitely be thinking: *You're overthinking things.*
Shinichi's motivation for taking over the class was simple: to grow stronger so he could survive.
"Splendid, Teacher Shinichi! You are a steadfast inheritor of the Will of Fire. I will report your proposal to Director Ishikawa tomorrow."
Fujiyama said, stepping forward to pat Shinichi on the shoulder, his gaze filled with admiration.
"Senior Fujiyama flatters me. I just feel this is our responsibility as teachers."
"A teacher's responsibility?"
The other teachers in the private room fell into deep thought upon hearing this. Concepts they hadn't managed to comprehend after years of teaching had actually been put into practice by a junior. They couldn't help feeling a bit ashamed!
"Haha, looks like our Teacher Shinichi has a strong sense of responsibility. How about we all have a toast?"
【Lecture completed. Calculating rewards...】
【Rating: Excellent】
【Rewards obtained: Earth Release Chakra Nature Transformation Mastery】
In an instant, Shinichi felt a flood of strange memories pour into his mind. He now felt as though he were a veteran ninja who had spent his entire life exclusively practicing Earth Release ninjutsu.
"Does this count as giving a lecture too?"
Though Shinichi couldn't understand how merely voicing a teacher's sense of responsibility could yield such a generous reward.
"Perhaps the system's rewards are tied to the quality of the lecture, and the potential or strength of the listeners?"
Although he had no solid proof, Shinichi boldly ventured a guess.
If this hypothesis held true, he could figure out a way to exploit loopholes in the system, allowing his strength to skyrocket in no time.
"Teacher Shinichi, let me fill you in on the basic situation of Class 3-4."
Ever since he heard that Shinichi was willing to take over Class 3-4, Inoue's gaze toward him had softened considerably. Now, upon hearing Fujiyama's guarantee, he pulled Shinichi aside to brief him on the class's current state.