Naruto: Freeloading is Great! 2 [3]

From the “Ino–Shika–Chō” trio to that chuuni brat, Hoshino had already figured it out—there weren’t many normal people in this class. Before he could even analyze which wires in everyone’s brains were crossed, a young man walked in, a long scar across his nose, roll book in hand.

The instant he entered, the classroom fell silent. Sure, the brats were just quiet out of curiosity, but Iruka still smiled in satisfaction, walking to the podium to write his name on the board.

“Umino Iruka. From today, I’m your homeroom teacher. Just call me Iruka-sensei.”

The moment his words fell, the classroom exploded like a market.

“Umino Iruka? Never heard of him. Must be weak, totally unworthy of my genius.”

“A guy with such a huge scar across his face can be a teacher? Isn’t he, like, some ex-gangster? Scary…”

“Tch~ It’s a guy. And not even handsome.”

If not for the fact that this was his first day meeting the students, Iruka’s face might have gone green. He probably would’ve stormed down and slapped each of those brats.

Obviously, this was not the time to play hero. But Hoshino couldn’t hold back—he raised his hand and stood.

“Sensei! May I ask your age?”

“…Oh? You remembered to raise your hand first. Good. I’m seventeen.”

“…”

“What’s wrong? No follow-up? If anyone else has questions, feel free to ask.”

Thinking he’d found a model student fit for class monitor, Iruka basked for a moment—until he noticed the silver-haired brat glaring at him with suspicion.

“Seventeen, and already a homeroom teacher… you sure you didn’t get this job through connections?”

Iruka turned his head, stammering:

“O-of course not! I advanced through… through talent, and years of teaching experience.”

Bullshit class, bullshit teacher—!

Not just Hoshino—even the rest of the kids could tell something was off. This teacher’s background stank. The classroom broke into buzzing whispers, everyone sharing their own “reliable guesses.”

Hoshino didn’t care what anyone else thought. He’d already had enough.

“…I wanna switch classes!”

“Denied.”

“Why the hell reject me without even thinking!?”

“Because I’m the boss. Anyone not satisfied, I’ll call your parents right now and have them drag you home for a beating.”

Iruka might’ve been a rookie teacher, but he didn’t act like one. He went straight for the nuclear option. The phrase “notify your parents” slammed the class into silence.

Clearly, some high-level master had coached him.

Once things quieted down, there was no cheerful round of introductions. Iruka just opened the roll book and started calling names, confirming who was here and who wasn’t.

Hoshino, slouched and bored, mumbled his name when called. But then he noticed something strange—Sasuke and Gorilla Sakura weren’t on the list at all.

Odd. But he didn’t dwell. For someone like Sasuke, second son of the Uchiha, switching into this class would be child’s play. A single word at home, done.

By the way—through the roll call, Hoshino figured out who’d stolen the “protagonist’s seat.” That chuuni brat was Inuzuka Kiba.

No wonder those face markings looked familiar. One of the future Twelve, huh.

Worth noting, maybe, but the rest could wait.

After finishing roll call, Iruka led the whole group out to the schoolyard for the entrance ceremony.

Once everyone had gathered in the yard, Hoshino still didn’t see Sasuke anywhere. Could it be…?

Skipping school to get private tutoring at home from clan elites?

Damn. Crafty bastard.

While Hoshino seethed with envy—resenting that Sasuke didn’t have to crawl out of bed early every day to come to school—a figure in a red ceremonial hat appeared at the front center of the teachers.

“No need for introductions, I’m sure you all know who I am. Today, I’ll just say a few brief words.”

Here we go. The cursed ‘just a few words’ speech. Even in another world, the higher-ups can’t resist this trope?

Sure enough, Hiruzen’s “two brief words” dragged on for over twenty minutes.

Then, a stranger Hoshino had never seen before stepped up. Balding, hair like a Mediterranean crescent, he introduced himself as the school principal.

“Thank you to the Third Hokage-sama for his wonderful speech. Though the Hokage only said a few short words, he rekindled the dreams of my youth. I’m sure you all feel the same, wishing to hear more. But the Hokage has pressing duties. So let’s give him the warmest applause as he departs—!”

“Ahem. Quiet now, quiet… quiet I said! You can stop clapping, he’s long gone! Save your strength for applauding me when I finish my speech. I’m your principal, so my applause should be the loudest!”

Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. Not just the class, not just the homeroom teacher—even the damn principal’s an idiot. What kind of garbage world is this!?

“Before I say three brief words, first, I need everyone to look at these two.”

Hearing the clearly brain-damaged principal announce three words, Hoshino nearly fainted. Seriously? Every damn teacher here wants to ramble half an hour?

What is this, hell itself?

While Hoshino was silently cursing, wishing they’d at least hand out stools if they expected him to stand through all this, the balding principal dragged out two kids from behind the teachers.

One black-haired, one pink-haired.

…Why the hell are those two over there!?

“Today, on our very first day of school, an extremely serious and vile incident occurred! I imagine most of you don’t know what happened before the ceremony began. So allow me, your highly respected principal, to explain—!”

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T/N: no one is normal here...

This is a fan translation of 火影之软饭真好吃 by 肾亏能力者 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!