“Where’s that guy?”

  Early in the morning, Horikita Suzune arrived at Css B’s camp for reconnaissance.

  Her sharp eyes scanned the area, searching through the busy students of Css B, trying to spot Uesugi Gen.

  “Uh… him?”

  Ichinose scratched her cheek awkwardly, offering a sheepish smile.

  “Well, a lot of things happened… Long story short, he’s hiding in his tent and refuses to come out.”

  “…Hah?”

  Horikita narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms.

  “What the hell is he up to now? We just agreed yesterday to have a proper showdown.”

  “Um…”

  Ichinose struggled to put the situation into words.

  “…Anyway, Horikita-san, you should try talking to him. I’ve been trying for ages, and he won’t respond. He’s in that tent over there.”

  Although she wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, Horikita still strode over to Uesugi’s tent.

  Standing before it, she could feel her irritation rising.

  Fine. She’d given him her css’s points. That was part of the deal.

  But with such a massive advantage, he was just sitting around doing nothing? That was downright frustrating.

  “Hey, what the hell are you doing in there? Weren’t we supposed to compete? What’s this? Are you raising a white fg already?”

  Silence.

  “…Oi, Uesugi.”

  No response.

  “Uesugi Gen!!”

  Still nothing.

  A vein popped on Horikita’s forehead. Without another word, she yanked the tent fp open.

  “I’m not like Ichinose—I’m not gonna coddle you. Get the he—”

  “Mortal. You dare trespass upon the throne of God without divine permission?”

  A deep, solemn voice echoed from the darkness, halting Horikita’s movement.

  “……”

  Horikita turned back toward Ichinose, who had followed her.

  “…Did he hit his head yesterday?”

  “Ehehe…”

  Ichinose didn’t know how to respond. She couldn’t exactly admit that she was the reason Uesugi had spiraled into this mess.

  “And also—”

  Horikita turned back, pointing at Uesugi as he gradually emerged from the shadows.

  “What the hell is this ridiculous cospy?”

  Uesugi was still wearing his usual sportswear—except for the hood he had fashioned from a mix of leaves and clothing.

  “Uesugi-kun, you’re…”

  “Do not call me Uesugi.”

  Uesugi cut Ichinose off before she could finish.

  “The name Uesugi Gen has long been abandoned, discarded along with my tragic past.”

  “I am now Pain! Ko no shin jidai no kami da!”

  At that moment, a beam of light shot from behind him, blinding both girls.

  “One sack of rice, how many floors?”“One sack of rice, carry it to the second floor.”“One sack of rice, so exhausting.”“Koko ni—”

  PAH!

  Horikita swiftly moved behind Uesugi and switched off the fshlight.

  “This is the extra fshlight you wasted our css points on, isn’t it?” she growled through clenched teeth.

  “Mortal! Who permitted you to y hands upon the divine property of God? This is a sin beyond redemption.”

  “……”

  Horikita could not deal with this.

  She turned back to Ichinose.

  “Think of something. We need to snap him out of this—he’s impossible to talk to like this.”

  But Ichinose’s priorities were elsewhere.

  “Uesugi-kun, more importantly, aren’t you hungry? Let’s get some food first.”

  She took a step toward him.

  Uesugi, however, took two steps back.

  “You dare approach a god without divine consent? How bold.”

  “Uesugi—”

  “Do not call me Uesugi. The one known as Uesugi Gen returned to the M78 Nebu this morning.”

  “I am the one who transcended time-space ninjutsu, the savior of the Shinobi World—Pain. Kami-da.”

  …A new script?

  This guy is completely hopeless.

  Horikita and Ichinose sighed simultaneously, both holding their foreheads in exhaustion.

  “Fine, whatever. Just tell me—why are you acting like this?”

  “I come to bestow upon you the ultimate despair.”

  Uesugi gestured toward Horikita.

  “As a benevolent god, I shall grant you entry into my divine realm. Mortal, gaze upon the glory of my kingdom.”

  That’s it.

  Horikita’s patience snapped.

  Before, even when Uesugi was being annoying, he still spoke with some level of normalcy.

  Now?

  Now he was throwing around words like mortals and divine decrees.

  If this continued, it wouldn’t be long before he straight-up decred himself her ruler.

  “…Can I hit him?”

  Horikita turned to Ichinose.

  “Nope, you can’t. He’s just pying around a little,” Ichinose said, quickly stepping between them.

  “How utterly uncultured. To think you would dare raise a hand against the sacred vessel of God—it is beyond ughable.”

  With Ichinose shielding him, Uesugi smirked from behind her, continuing to taunt Horikita.

  “Alright, alright, let’s just step outside, okay?”

  “Horikita-san wanted to check out our camp, right? Let’s do that now.”

  Ichinose desperately tried to defuse the situation, pulling the two along before Horikita’s temper could boil over.

  As they walked through the camp, she started pointing things out.

  “We have everything set up—hammocks, cooking supplies, the works. Over here, you’ll see—”

  Uesugi scoffed.

  “Useless struggles.”

  “Uesugi—”

  “It’s not Uesugi—it’s Pain! I have already forsaken my memories from st night to this morning. In their pce, I have returned from the Naruto world as a god!”

  The Css B students nearby exchanged gnces.

  …How the hell did he come up with yet another version?

  Ichinose and Horikita sighed again.

  “This is bad. If we don’t stop him now, with his personality, he will escate things. We need to bring him back to reality before he does something irreversible.”

  Horikita tried reasoning with Ichinose once more.

  “…That’s true,” Ichinose murmured, watching Uesugi.

  Then, an idea struck her.

  “Actually… Uesugi-kun promised me yesterday that he wouldn’t go overboard during this exam.”

  She turned toward him.

  “Uesugi-kun, what’s our next move?”

  Without hesitation, Uesugi spread his arms wide and decred—

  “LET THE WORLD FEEL PAIN!!”

  …

  Yeah. Nope.

  Ichinose gave up.

  “Uesugi-kun, come here for a sec.”

  She pulled him aside to a quiet corner.

  “…Hey, Uesugi-kun, you do realize…”

  She leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

  “…I know your gaming ptform password.”

  “God is omniscient. Of course I—”

  “I also know…”

  “…Know what?”

  “…That if you don’t drop this act right now, I’m going to log in and delete your entire account.”

  Uesugi’s expression froze.

  His mind processed her words.

  Then—

  "?"

  DEAD.

  ---

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