The Third watched Ebara's performance, dumbfounded.
The Ebara before him—boldly confronting him with righteous indignation—was a far cry from the slacker caught sleeping in class yesterday.
Mitokado Homura's mind was reeling.
This wasn't the story he'd heard.
Ebara's aggrieved act was so convincing it seemed impossible to fake.
Koharu Utatane, however, was unmoved, her bias set.
She was determined to believe Ebara was a failure, ruining students at the Ninja Academy.
While performing, Ebara kept an eye on their reactions.
The Third was surprised but clearly didn't buy it.
Homura seemed swayed.
As for Koharu, that stubborn woman? Ebara didn't need to look to know she wouldn't believe him.
But he didn't care.
His biggest fear was the Third not backing him.
As long as the Third was on his side, everything would work out.
"Enough with the act," Shimura Mahaya snapped, defending himself. "Your class is full of prodigies, and everyone can see what you've turned them into."
"What's there to see?" Ebara shot back. "Under my teaching, they're growing strong and healthy. Their skills are soaring."
"Bullshit!" Mahaya scoffed. "Under your incompetent leadership, their skills are soaring? That's the biggest joke in the world! Most laughable of all, you made a commoner the class leader to oversee future clan heirs. Don't you find that ridiculous?"
"Commoner?" Ebara sneered at Mahaya. "He's the most talented kid in the class!"
"Haha, you said talent?" Mahaya laughed mockingly, his face full of arrogance. "Of course, coming from a commoner family yourself, how could you understand what talent is? Let me enlighten you."
"The Hyuga clan, with one of the three great dojutsu, the Byakugan—that's talent!"
"The Aburame clan, with their unmatched insect control—that's talent!"
"The Nara clan, manipulating shadows like it's nothing—that's talent!"
"The Yamanaka clan, controlling minds—that's talent!"
"That kid named Minato Namikaze? He's got no talent at all!"
Mahaya was insufferably smug.
He didn't take Minato seriously.
How could a commoner-born kid have any remarkable talent?
"You won't get it until I show you," Ebara said, shaking his head with a smile.
"Oh, I'd love to see just how great your so-called genius is!" Mahaya sneered.
"Then let's have a match," Ebara proposed.
"Exactly what I had in mind."
Mahaya nodded eagerly, thrilled by Ebara's suggestion.
He'd been itching to prove Ebara's incompetence and get him rightfully kicked out of the academy.
Now, Ebara was banking on a commoner?
Mahaya was practically cackling inside.
"Fine, let's go see," the Third said cheerfully, standing up and leading the way.
Homura followed silently.
Koharu shot Ebara a disdainful glance. "What a confident fool!"
"The results will show who the real fool is," Ebara retorted, unyielding.
Koharu glared at him and stormed off.
The moment she left, a system prompt sounded in Ebara's ears.
[Choice successful! Reward obtained: Wind Style: Vacuum Great Bullet!]
Reward secured, Ebara didn't linger, leaving Mahaya alone in the meeting room.
Watching Ebara go, Mahaya smirked darkly. "Ebara, I'll show you and your useless student what cruelty looks like!"
…
Ten minutes later, Ebara and Mahaya's classes gathered on the training field.
"Shikaku, what's going on?"
"Simple. Teacher Ebara stirred up trouble again… What a hassle."
"Can't he just chill for once? We just had a pop quiz yesterday."
"If he chilled, he wouldn't be Teacher Ebara."
"His motto is: Life's about stirring things up, and he'll keep stirring till he drops."
Ahem.
Ebara cleared his throat. "All of you, stop slandering me."
Hearing him, the students shot him looks of disdain.
Slander? That word had nothing to do with Ebara.
"Minato, do your best out there," Ebara said, patting Minato's shoulder.
Seeing Ebara's expectant expression, Minato had a bad feeling.
"Ebara, are your students ready?" Mahaya swaggered over. "Mine are all set, just waiting to start."
He glanced at Minato beside Ebara.
Confused expression, fumbling hands, obnoxious yellow hair.
Trash!
"Minato's been ready," Ebara said proudly.
"Teacher Ebara, ready for what?" Minato whispered, completely in the dark.
"Oh, you know… to take on ten guys!" Ebara shouted, loud enough for the whole field to hear.
Minato: "???"
Good grief, a kid who barely had his adult teeth was saying he'd fight ten opponents?
"That Minato guy's not crazy, is he?"
"Probably. No sane person would say they're fighting ten people!"
"His teacher's not normal, so it makes sense he's not either."
Even the Third widened his eyes.
He hadn't seen anything special in Minato yet.
But now he did.
Like Ebara, the kid's brain was special.
Minato was on the verge of tears. He never said anything like that, okay?
"Good grief, I thought only Ebara was nuts," Mahaya said. "Looks like he's infected his students too. How can someone like that keep teaching?"
"You'll see soon enough if we're nuts or not," Ebara shot back.
Minato was losing it. In just a moment, he'd somehow become Ebara's disciple?
"Teacher Ebara, please stop talking!" Minato whispered desperately.
"What? You said you'll make them shut up?" Ebara continued, playing deaf.
Minato: "…"
I'll shut up myself!
Seeing Mahaya about to explode, Ebara was secretly delighted.
Hyping someone else up… felt so good!
Best of all, if it flopped, it wasn't his problem!
The one hyped up was Minato Namikaze—what did it have to do with Ebara?