At some point, Bo-chan was suddenly standing next to Shin-chan. The long strand of snot under his nose was swaying slowly in the air.
He looked down at the two boys on the ground and said in his flat voice,
"Don't touch him."
"What are you all standing there for?" Yamashiro Taiga's voice was cracking now. "There are only three strong ones on their side."
"Then why don't you go first? You said there was only one strong one before, so why are there three now?" someone behind him muttered under their breath.
Taiga choked on his own words. He gritted his teeth and tried to take a step forward, but the sight of that swaying strand of snot made him instinctively shrink back.
Just then, a commotion broke out inside Class A's group.
"We're going too!"
Several students gritted their teeth and stepped forward, moving to stand beside Uchiha Toru and the others.
"We can't let just a few of you carry this."
"Yeah, we're in the same class too."
A few more students stepped out. Their hands were still shaking, but they stood up straight.
One after another, more people came out of the crowd.
Uchiha Toru froze for a second and glanced back.
Those classmates who usually did nothing but chatter were now standing beside him one by one, all tense, but not a single one of them retreating.
The corner of his mouth twitched faintly.
"Yeah."
Kakashi looked back too. He didn't say anything, but he was clearly a little more relaxed.
Across from them, the upperclassmen looked even worse now.
Three troublesome ones had already been bad enough, and now a whole bunch more had stepped out too?
Sure, these little brats didn't look that strong, but who knew whether there were more freaks hiding among them.
And when they looked at that scorched crater on the ground, then at the strand of snot still swaying in the air—
Who wanted to be the first one to get burned or have snot slapped across their face?
At the back of the crowd, Guy and Obito were still on the ground, grimacing.
"Ow ow ow," Obito groaned, clutching his stomach, his face scrunched into a mess.
Guy was still smiling somehow, though it looked pretty twisted. "Youth... youth is supposed to hurt..."
"Will you shut up already?" Obito glared at him. "You're still talking about youth at a time like this?"
Nearby, a few girls were crouched beside them, helping in a flurry of hands.
"Don't move, don't move, let me see the wound."
"This part looks bruised..."
"Does anyone have a handkerchief? Press it here first to stop the bleeding…"
Rin was crouched at the very front, holding a handkerchief and gently pressing it against the scrape on Obito's arm.
Obito's face turned faintly red.
"I... I can do it myself..."
"Don't move." Rin's voice was soft.
Obito didn't dare move again.
He lowered his head and looked at Rin's fingers pressing lightly through the handkerchief against his arm, and suddenly his heart started beating a little faster.
Rin's brows were furrowed, but from time to time her gaze drifted forward.
Toward that silver-haired figure.
Kakashi was standing at the very front of the group. He hadn't said a single word, but just having him standing there made people feel safe.
Rin pulled her gaze back and looked down at Obito's injury again.
If only she knew medical ninjutsu.
If only she could heal wounds like this.
Not just pressing down on them.
Not just waiting for someone else to save the day.
But...
"Rin?" Obito's voice pulled her back to reality. "What's wrong?"
"I was thinking about the future." Rin paused, and her eyes turned serious. "Maybe I should become a medical ninja."
Obito froze.
"A... medical ninja?"
"Yeah." Rin nodded. "That way, if someone gets hurt next time, I can help them."
She looked toward the figure standing in front.
"I wouldn't have to just stand in the back and watch."
The wind swept across the training ground, lifting her hair.
Obito looked at Rin's profile, at those determined eyes, and suddenly felt like he had to say something too.
"Then... then I..."
"Then what?"
"I..." Obito struggled for a long time, then finally blurted out, "I'll be your bodyguard! Medical ninja all need someone to protect them!"
Rin froze for a second, then smiled and nodded.
"Okay."
Guy leaned over from the side. "What about me? What about me?"
"You can talk after your injuries heal." Obito shot him a glare.
"Youth doesn't need recovery time!"
"Shut up."
At the front of the crowd, the standoff was still going on.
Taiga's face had gone as black as it could get.
He didn't dare advance.
But backing down would be humiliating.
Right when he was stuck between the two, a soft sound suddenly broke the tension.
"Woof."
Everyone froze.
At the very back of the crowd, Shin-chan looked down at his feet.
A little white dog was nudging at his shoe with its nose. Then it suddenly lifted its head and sniffed in a certain direction.
"Shiro?" Shin-chan tilted his head. "What's wrong?"
Shiro ignored him, kicked off with his four little legs, and shot toward the bushes at the edge of the field.
"Shiro, don't run!"
Shin-chan jumped up and chased after him.
Everyone watched that little red figure go tearing after the white dog toward the bushes.
Taiga froze for a second, then suddenly thought he saw an opening.
"Hey, that brat ran off. You're one person short now."
Uchiha Toru turned to look, his mouth twitching, but before he could say anything, Shin-chan had already reached the bushes and scooped Shiro up.
Then Shin-chan lifted his head—
And found himself staring straight into two pairs of eyes hidden in the bushes.
Shin-chan blinked.
Teacher Ibuki and Yamaue Kazuumi blinked too.
Eight eyes met.
Silence.
After two seconds, Shin-chan lifted one of Shiro's paws and waved it at them.
"Teachers, what are you doing hiding in here?"
The bushes fell silent for another two seconds.
Then Teacher Ibuki let out a sigh, pushed the branches aside, and stepped out.
Yamaue Kazuumi followed behind him, looking more than a little complicated.
The whole training ground went dead quiet.
Taiga's face went from black to white. "T-Teacher..."
Yamaue Kazuumi walked right up to him and looked down at him.
"You've got guts, huh? Luring the teachers away and bringing a whole class to gang up on first-years?"
Taiga opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
Yamaue Kazuumi didn't even look at him again. He turned toward Uchiha Toru and the others.
His gaze paused on Uchiha Toru and Kakashi for a moment, then landed on Bo-chan.
The strand of snot was hanging obediently beneath his nose now, perfectly still.
Yamaue Kazuumi's mouth twitched. "Your class is pretty interesting."
Teacher Ibuki stood beside him, looking at his own students. A moment ago they had all been crammed together in fear, but now every one of them had stepped out.
He was silent for two seconds before finally nodding and saying,
"Back to class."
"Ahh!" A fresh wave of groans rose instantly.
"We still have class?!"
"Teacher, we worked really hard just now!"
"There are injured people here! Injured people!"
Teacher Ibuki kept a straight face. "The injured can go to the infirmary. Everyone else goes back to class."
Shin-chan and Shiro trailed behind the group at the very end.
"Shiro, how did you know the teachers were hiding there?"
"Woof."
"Yeah." Shin-chan nodded. "We really are amazing."
"Woof."
Shiro's tail wagged furiously.
Watching the backs of all those little brats as they walked away, Yamaue Kazuumi suddenly said,
"Your class really does have quite a few talented ones."
Teacher Ibuki didn't say anything. He just looked at the little red figure in the distance.
He hadn't really done anything at all, and yet somehow, he was the one who had dragged both teachers out into the open.