“This isn’t just my opinion.
It’s the opinion of the entire village.
Naruto is a walking calami—”
“How long are you going to keep talking as if you know everything?!”
Iruka’s gaze sharpened as he stared coldly at the chubby man before him.
“I don’t care how you view Naruto, and I have no intention of interfering with your opinions.
But in my eyes, Naruto is an excellent student—perhaps even the best of them all.
As a teacher, my responsibility is to give my students appropriate guidance, not to pass judgment on their lives.
I’m grateful for your advice, but I’m sorry—I can’t agree with your way of thinking.”
With that, Iruka ignored the man and turned to leave.
Just as he was about to reach the corner of the hallway, he suddenly heard a startled cry.
When he rounded the corner, he found Naruto and Ayame standing up while rubbing their heads.
The moment they saw him, both looked as though they had been caught doing something they shouldn’t have.
Their eyes darted everywhere except toward Iruka.
Noticing that Naruto’s eyes were slightly red, Iruka immediately understood what had happened.
The brat must have been hiding here and heard what I said.
Being eavesdropped on didn’t sit well with Iruka, and he shot Naruto an irritated glare before turning to Ayame reproachfully.
“Your ankle hasn’t healed yet.
Why are you fooling around out here with this brat?”
“I…
I…”
Ayame looked so delicate and helpless that she mumbled for quite some time without managing to say a complete sentence.
Beside her, Naruto stared at Ayame as if he had seen a ghost, countless question marks appearing in his mind.
Is this gentle big sister really Ayame?
Normally, Ayame was a strong-willed beauty who could verbally destroy four or five grown men without breaking a sweat.
What was with this soft and gentle act?!
Seeing Ayame looking as though she might burst into tears at any moment, Iruka couldn’t bring himself to say anything more to her.
Instead, he turned toward Naruto and glared at him fiercely.
“Naruto, this was your doing again, wasn’t it?
Honestly, why can’t you ever behave yourself?
Even when you’re fooling around, you need to know when to stop!
Ayame’s ankle hasn’t healed yet.
How could you drag her around like this?”
“Huh?
Huhhhhh?!”
Naruto was utterly dumbfounded.
It had clearly been Ayame who said she wanted to see what Iruka was like when he was teaching.
She had even threatened that if Naruto didn’t help her, he would never see another piece of chāshū in his ramen again.
Naruto had no way to resist and could only do as she asked.
They hadn’t even made it very far before class ended, and just as they were about to head back, they ran into Iruka.
Still reeling from the impact of Iruka’s earlier words, Naruto hadn’t had time to react before being caught red-handed.
And now Ayame had so decisively abandoned her partner in crime and dumped all the blame on him!
Naruto felt wronged beyond words.
“What’s with that ‘huh’?!
Hurry up and help Ayame back to the teachers’ office!
The moment I take my eyes off you, you’re causing trouble again.
Can’t you give me a moment’s peace?!”
“But…
Iruka-sensei!
That’s not—ah!
It hurts!!!”
Naruto had barely begun to defend himself when a sharp pain suddenly shot through his waist.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, and he couldn’t get another word out.
The next moment, while Iruka had his back turned to them, Ayame quickly leaned close and whispered into Naruto’s ear.
“Cover for me, and I’ll treat you to ramen tomorrow.
You can eat as much as you want!”
Naruto’s eyes immediately lit up.
Just then, Iruka turned around.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, nothing!
It just hurts a little from when I fell earlier.
Iruka-sensei, let’s hurry up and get Ayame back to the teachers’ office so she can rest.”
“Well, well.
So you do know what pain feels like.”
Iruka teased Naruto for a few moments before bringing the two of them back to the teachers’ office.
Since it was break time, most of the teachers who shared the office with him were there.
After giving Naruto another scolding while the boy wore an aggrieved expression, Iruka casually asked a female teacher who had no classes and was heading in the same direction to escort Ayame home.
As Ayame was leaving, she gave Iruka a rather resentful look.
However, Iruka, who understood absolutely nothing about a young girl’s feelings, completely failed to grasp its meaning.
Assuming she was simply thanking him for taking care of her, he gave her a look indicating that there was no need to be so polite.
Then he took Naruto to the training field.
By then, all the students under his supervision had gathered there.
Iruka took out two forms and casually handed one of them to a boy named Satō before giving him his instructions.
“Satō, this lists the training exercises you need to complete today.
You’re responsible for recording everyone’s results.
Put the completed record on my desk before school ends.
I have other things to take care of, so I won’t be training with you.”
Satō acknowledged him and took the training record.
Then he turned around, a smug expression suddenly appearing on his young face as his eyes swept maliciously over Sasuke and the others whom Iruka had singled out for recognition during yesterday’s test.
Clearly, he was already plotting something.
Unfortunately for him, he was destined to be disappointed.
Holding the other sheet in his hand, Iruka called out, “The following students will come with me to the training ground.”
Sasuke and the others instinctively exchanged glances.
Sure enough, the names Iruka called were exactly those of the nine students who had earned results in yesterday’s test.
For some reason, all nine of them—including Naruto—were suddenly seized by an ominous feeling.
It seemed that being taken aside for private training by that violent teacher wasn’t necessarily a good thing…
At that moment, Satō suddenly threw his training record onto the ground.
His small face was filled with indignation as he glared at Iruka and shouted, “Sensei, I object!
Why do they get to train with you separately while we have to train on our own?!”
Satō’s words were like a spark thrown into a powder keg.
The others, who had already been dissatisfied with Iruka’s obvious preferential treatment, immediately erupted.
“Yeah!
That’s right!
Sensei, you’re discriminating against us!
We won’t accept this!”
“I’m going to tell my dad that you’re discriminating against us!”
“Sensei, why are you treating us differently?!”
“I’m going to ask Lord Hokage to judge who’s right!”
“…”
This was probably what it meant for public outrage to boil over.
Iruka had long expected that his actions would upset children whose sense of fairness was so easily thrown off balance.
Yet even in the face of their accusations, his expression didn’t change as he replied coldly.
“You want to be treated fairly?
You want my recognition?
Stop dreaming!
If a person can’t even take responsibility for themselves, how can they expect someone else to take responsibility for them?
Go ahead and complain wherever you want.
If the Third Hokage believes I’ve done something wrong, then it only means my principles aren’t suited to being a teacher—and I’ll gladly quit.
A bunch of unrealistic little brats like you aren’t worth my time.”
Faced with Iruka’s forceful response, the students immediately lost their momentum.
They began to stammer, their earlier confidence nowhere to be found.
Even Satō, who had started the confrontation, had somehow retreated into the crowd.
“Of course, I’m only human.
I can be wrong about people too, and I’m not claiming that my beliefs are necessarily always right.”
Iruka gradually calmed down, and his tone softened.
“Since you refuse to accept my judgment, then prove me wrong.
Prove that you’re no worse than they are—or even better.
Prove that my choice was a mistake.
If you can do that, I’ll offer every one of you a formal apology in front of everyone and resign voluntarily.
“So now, I’ll only ask you this once.”
A gentle breeze passed through the training field, stirring the bangs Iruka had deliberately left hanging over his forehead.
At that moment, the long scar across his face carried an indescribable air about it—wild and fierce, yet strangely calm.
Everything about him was impossible to read.
“Can you prove it?”
It was a simple question, yet it stirred an unprecedented fighting spirit within the students.
Not to satisfy their parents.
Not to satisfy their teachers.
Not even simply to satisfy themselves.
But to prove themselves to everyone who cared about them—to prove their own worth!
Aside from Sasuke and the others whose names had been called, nearly every student stared at Iruka with a serious expression.
Their voices rang out with a determination unlike anything before.
“WE CAN!!!!”
Iruka could have sworn he saw flames igniting in their eyes.
The corner of his mouth curved upward as a meaningful smile appeared on his face.