It was the first time both Kimimaro and Suigetsu had been to a ninja school.
Suigetsu at least knew a little about what schools were like—Mangetsu had talked to him about it from time to time.
But for Kimimaro, it was the first time he'd ever seen so many people sitting in one room. He looked around curiously.
The two of them pressed their faces to the classroom window to peek inside. Hatake Satoru was at the front, smiling as he talked about something.
Ninja school wasn't like a regular school. Other than some basic math, most of the lessons focused on real combat training.
So Hatake Satoru usually just taught a few basic subjects in the morning—stuff like solving physics and math problems.
Suigetsu and Kimimaro listened at the window, frowning. They could understand every word, but once it all came together, it made no sense at all.
"Big bro actually understands this stuff?"
Suigetsu frowned seriously. He remembered seeing Mangetsu practicing something called the "quick kill line."
He could shoot out a line of water in an instant, but the full name was long and weird. Mangetsu explained it a few times, but Suigetsu only remembered the last three characters.
Suigetsu had trained a bit with Mangetsu too, but the best he could do was break a few wooden boards.
In the end, his brother said, "Isn't this just like Water Wall? What's the point?"
That comment really hit Suigetsu hard, and ever since, he'd been dying to see how Mangetsu's teacher actually taught.
But now that he was here, it seemed like no matter who the teacher was, his chances of learning that technique were pretty slim.
"Whatever. Why don't you ever talk? Come on, let's go look around somewhere else."
"This place is big, but that's about it. There's nothing interesting here."
Suigetsu turned around, grabbed Kimimaro's cheek, and dragged him off toward the open space outside the classroom.
"I don't really mind where I stay… everything feels interesting to me."
Kimimaro frowned as Suigetsu squished his face.
It was his first time meeting someone his age who wasn't scared of him.
Even though he was getting pulled around everywhere, he actually kind of liked it.
As for Suigetsu, he'd always followed Mangetsu around back at home.
Now, seeing Kimimaro acting like everything was new and exciting made Suigetsu feel like he finally had a little brother of his own.
Hatake Satoru didn't really care what those two were up to. After all, asking ninjas to sit down and do math? Eight out of ten would probably drop dead on the spot.
Otherwise, why would there have been so much cheating during the Chunin Exams?
Those two kids sneaking out because they couldn't take it anymore was the most normal thing in the world.
Toward the end of class, Hatake Satoru started noticing the students glancing toward the window, like something outside was really grabbing their attention.
That had never happened before.
Even Shisui seemed unsure about coming in, standing at the door looking left and right like he was glitching.
As soon as the bell rang, the students rushed out in a big crowd.
The noisy group kept whispering to each other as they went.
"Whoa!!! Did they really pull it off?!?"
"Won't you die doing that?!"
"That looks terrifying."
Shisui was almost knocked over by the stampede of students. He let out a helpless breath and waved at Hatake Satoru.
"You should come take a look too. I'm not sure if there's anything special to watch out for with the Hydration Technique."
"You're more familiar with Hozuki Mangetsu, so maybe you'll notice something strange."
"Hm?"
Hatake Satoru tilted his head, a bit confused, then used his height to peek over the crowd. He and Shisui stood out like two tall cranes in a flock of birds.
Once he saw what the two kids outside were doing, he couldn't help tugging at his eye mask in disbelief.
Good grief. Just—good grief.
Hozuki Suigetsu had set his water bottle on the ground. From the neck down, his body had already split and started moving on its own.
"Eh—you don't look scared at all."
"This is actually a really cool technique."
Suigetsu was holding his own head in both hands, waving it around in front of Kimimaro.
There wasn't any blood at the open neck; it just rippled like water.
"Well then! I can make a ball too, but mine's a bit different from yours."
Kimimaro's eyes lit up as he pulled up one of his long sleeves.
Bones poked through his palm, joining together. They pushed out from inside his body, still slick with clear goo.
Before long, he had made a round ball out of short bones.
It was lumpy and covered in sharp bone spikes in all the wrong places. Looked like it would really hurt to touch.
"Compared to throwing your head, this seems like a better option, right?"
Kimimaro held up the bone ball and placed it next to Suigetsu's head.
What the hell kind of cursed scene is this?
Sure, these two kids looked cute with their pale skin and soft features, but this was way too weird.
One could take off his own head like it was nothing, and the other could grow bones out of his body to make a ball.
The Hydration Technique felt perfect for some creepy ghost story—like a kid spirit who suddenly takes his head off to play with it.
What kind of normal person takes off their own head and uses it as a soccer ball?!
And that bone ball—if you tried kicking it, you'd definitely get hurt, right? Right?!
The students gathered along the classroom edge, whispering quietly to each other.
Sure, they'd seen Hozuki Mangetsu use the Hydration Technique in a terrifying way before.
And they'd heard all about how dangerous and battle-crazy the Kaguya clan's bone powers were.
But with these two kids, all that deadly vibe was gone—replaced by something that just felt... kind of stupid in a funny way.
"Eh, I guess this counts as a way for them to practice Water Release and their own Kekkei Genkai."
"Isn't that great~"
Hatake Satoru casually waved it off like it was nothing to worry about.
They get to have fun, and at the same time, they're getting better at using Ninjutsu without even noticing.
This is the perfect example of learning through play.
"...Is that really the case?"
Shisui frowned slightly and looked uncertainly at the two kids outside, happily kicking bones and each other's heads like it was the most fun in the world.
Uchiha kids usually don't awaken their Sharingan that young, or even if they do, no one would use Genjutsu on each other just to play around.
The whole thing just felt weird.
While the two of them stood at the classroom door watching Suigetsu and Kimimaro's strange little game...
A soft noise suddenly came from around the corner in the hallway. It wasn't the same kind of noise the kids were making—it sounded more like a bunch of girls whispering together.
Before Shisui or Hatake Satoru could walk over to ask, a head wearing an Anbu mask peeked out from around the corner.
A gentle but slightly nervous voice came from behind the mask.
"Hatake-sensei? Do you mind coming over for a second?"
---
Read 30 advanced chapters on my patreon
patreon.com/GustinaKamiya
---