Shikigami Summoning in Konoha

Chapter 37: Daily Life at the Ninja Academy

"A pair of queens! I'm down to one card!" "Beat that! A pair of twos!"

Inside Naruto, where the sealed entity, a human and a tailed beast, sat together, they held cards made of ice, crafted by Katsuragi using Yuki-Onna's abilities.

"Kurama!!!" The Three-Tails paused, glaring at Kurama with furious eyes within the seal, shouting, "What are you doing? Katsuragi is the dealer! I was about to win!"

"Humph! I don't need your advice!"

Kurama sneered at the Three-Tails, arrogantly playing his card: "An ace!"

"Err… a two! I win!"

Katsuragi was bewildered as he watched Kurama play his winning card, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Don't you have a two in your hand?"

Kurama froze, staring blankly at the Three-Tails, seemingly shocked that the Three-Tails didn't have a two.

"I'm done!" The Three-Tails, frustrated, threw down her ice card and glared at Kurama, "There's no teamwork with you, it's always a loss when paired with you."

"Cough, cough!" Katsuragi coughed twice, wanting to point out that he occasionally won when teamed with Kurama.

"Pfft! Boring game!" Kurama tossed his cards aside, his tone haughty but his gaze at the Three-Tails carrying a slight hint of apology.

"Hmph! Katsuragi! Let's go! I'd rather go back and train with Yuki-Onna than play cards with this guy! Too dumb!"

The Three-Tails stood up, agitated, and told Katsuragi, glaring fiercely at Kurama, still upset about the game.

"You said the same thing last time, and you only lasted two days…"

Katsuragi shrugged helplessly, not taking her words to heart.

"This time I mean it!"

"Yeah! You said that last time too!"

Katsuragi replied earnestly, which only worsened the Three-Tails' mood. She swished her three tails and glared at Katsuragi, "Katsuragi, whose side are you on?"

"Of course, I'm on your side, Vixen!"

Katsuragi was just joking, but seeing that the Three-Tails was genuinely upset, he quickly made amends with a smile: "Next time we'll invite Yuki-Onna, and we won't bring Kurama!"

"Hmph! Don't bother me so much!"

Hearing Katsuragi's words, Kurama couldn't resist responding, his pride still intact despite some regret.

At that moment, Katsuragi felt something urgent, abruptly returning to the courtyard with the Three-Tails before quickly returning to his own body.

"Katsuragi Kotori!!!"

Just as he returned to his body, Katsuragi heard Iruka's shout from the podium, and he quickly stood up, looking puzzled at Iruka, "Yes, Iruka-sensei! What is it?"

Seeing Katsuragi's serious face, Iruka was speechless, "Don't think I didn't see you sleeping just now. Go stand at the back and wake yourself up!"

"Iruka-sensei! I was just thinking with my eyes closed! I wasn't sleeping!"

Katsuragi widened his eyes and spouted a white lie, trying to deceive Iruka.

"Go now!"

However, Iruka wasn't naive enough to believe such a tale, certainly not when it came to Naruto, maybe.

With no room for argument from Iruka, Katsuragi sighed resignedly—after all, the teacher's word was law. He reassured Hinata with a look and obediently walked to the back of the classroom to stand.

"Shikamaru, you go stand with Katsuragi too!"

Before long, Shikamaru joined him, and Katsuragi greeted him with a smile, "Shikamaru, you're here too!"

"Ah, what a drag!" Shikamaru sighed deeply upon seeing Katsuragi, then responded, "Yeah!"

Perhaps because they often ended up standing together, Katsuragi and Shikamaru became good friends. Katsuragi thought the main reason was that Shikamaru, unlike the other troublemakers, wasn't annoying.

"Shikamaru, you know, Iruka-sensei really is something else. Choji keeps eating snacks over there and he doesn't care, but we just closed our eyes for a moment and got punished!"

Bored, Katsuragi started chatting with Shikamaru, quietly complaining after noticing Choji's actions.

Just as he finished speaking, whether Iruka heard him from the podium or finally noticed Choji, he shouted again, "Choji, no eating during class! If you eat again, you'll join those two at the back!"

"Oh!"

Choji was startled, then obediently picked up his chips and walked out from his seat to join Shikamaru, continuing to eat.

"Pfft!" Katsuragi couldn't help but laugh as he watched Iruka's stern face from the podium, dealing with such problematic students certainly wasn't easy for Iruka.

"You guys…"

Iruka, trembling with irritation, looked at the smiling Katsuragi, the resigned Shikamaru, and the perpetually eating Choji, finally shouted, "You three, stay after school to clean the training grounds!"

"Eh!" Katsuragi's smile froze, and he looked at his two companions and then at Iruka, who was nearly bursting with rage on the podium. He eventually kept quiet, fearing that any further argument might extend their punishment to a week.

As the sun set, casting long shadows over the training ground, the day quietly slipped by, and several figures stood side by side.

"Next week is the monthly exam. Hurry up and clean the training grounds; we'll need it then!"

Iruka stared at the few in front of him and sternly said, "Especially you, Katsuragi Kotori, no slacking!"

"Uh!" Watching Iruka single him out, Katsuragi felt somewhat awkward, then pretended to be pitiful, "Iruka-sensei, I was just napping for a little bit! Isn't that too harsh a punishment?"

"Just a little while!?"

Iruka scoffed, folding his arms and staring at Katsuragi, "From the first day of class I've been watching you. Since then, you haven't been paying attention in class. In these past months, you've averaged about seventy to one hundred and twenty minutes of attentiveness per day. The rest of the time, you're either disturbing Hinata from listening or you're sleeping! Am I wrong?"

"Uh..."

Katsuragi stared dumbfounded at Iruka, not realizing the extent to which his actions were observed, wondering if Iruka had some special hobby. Shivering slightly, he instinctively stepped back.

"Katsuragi!" Unaware of what Katsuragi was thinking, Iruka continued earnestly, "I know you're talented and strong, and you've been first in all the exams so far, but if you don't work hard, Sasuke will surpass you someday, and then your grades will drop to Naruto's level!"

"..."

Katsuragi looked at Iruka speechlessly, feeling it was highly unlikely for his performance to plummet from first to last place, no matter how little he tried.

End of Chapter 37