Ino's words once again made everyone in the classroom tense up.
A few even looked at her with respect — after all, after witnessing Naruto's brutality, she was the only one brave enough to question him like this.
And she was a girl.
But Naruto didn't react as everyone had imagined.
Instead of striking back, he actually cast Ino a look of appreciation and said,
"Not bad. You've got guts."
With just a simple compliment, Naruto then withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes, as if meditating.
It was like nothing had ever happened.
Ino was a little stunned.
At that moment, Iruka pushed the door open and stepped in.
The heavy silence in the classroom made him pause.
Then he followed everyone's gaze straight to Naruto — and to Sakura, whose face was swollen like a steamed bun.
What happened?
A huge question mark popped up in Iruka's mind. He turned to a boy sitting in the front row and asked,
"What just happened?"
The boy being questioned pulled a bitter face.
He snuck a nervous glance at Naruto behind him, stammering but failing to get a single coherent sentence out.
Iruka grew impatient. Judging from that reaction alone, he could already tell that whatever had just happened must have involved Naruto.
So he called out directly,
"Naruto, what did you do just now?"
Naruto opened his eyes.
But to everyone in the room, he suddenly seemed like a completely different person.
The oppressive aura from before was gone, replaced by a blank, almost foolishly innocent look.
Blinking, Naruto said in confusion,
"Iruka-sensei? I… I think I just fell asleep. I didn't do anything…"
Iruka was startled.
From what the Hokage had told him yesterday, the Nine-Tails inside Naruto really did exist — and it could take over his consciousness.
Could it be that the Nine-Tails had taken control just now?
Sakura finally couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears.
"Iruka-sensei! Naruto hit me!!"
Hearing Sakura's sobs, Iruka's brow furrowed deeper.
So it really was Naruto who'd done it.
No—more accurately, it was the Nine-Tails.
Anyone could see how much Naruto liked Sakura. He would never lay a hand on her himself.
Sakura was crying too hard for him to get a clear explanation of what had happened, so Iruka turned to Ino, who sat beside her.
Ino explained the situation objectively, without adding or twisting anything just because Sakura was her friend.
As Naruto listened, his eyes grew wider and wider.
Nani?! He'd actually hit Sakura??
Looking at the weeping Sakura, Naruto slowly raised his hand to stare at his palm, his expression blank, as if the sky had fallen.
Iruka had a splitting headache.
Logically speaking, even though Sakura had tried to hit him first, she hadn't actually succeeded — and she was a girl.
Naruto's counterattack had clearly been too heavy.
He should punish him for that.
But the one who'd struck wasn't Naruto himself.
It was that damned Nine-Tails.
And the beast's danger level was so high that even the Hokage had to handle it with caution.
For a humble academy teacher like Iruka, this was a situation he had no idea how to handle.
The classroom atmosphere froze.
Everyone's eyes turned to Iruka, waiting for his decision.
In the end, Iruka had no choice but to bite the bullet and order Naruto to stand in the hallway as punishment.
Naruto lowered his head and obediently complied.
Seeing that he showed no signs of resisting, Iruka secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
At least the boy in front of him was still the same kind-hearted kid inside.
But the more Naruto behaved like this, the heavier Iruka's heart felt.
Because this wasn't Naruto's fault at all...
...
Naruto stood facing the wall, speaking with Carl in his mind.
"Carl, why did you hit Sakura just now…?"
"Idiot. She was about to hit you. You've never heard of striking first?"
"B-but taking a couple of hits from her isn't a big deal. I'm used to it…"
"Pathetic. And you wanna become Hokage like this? A Hokage who gets smacked around by a girl?"
"She's different…"
"What's so different about her? That she's uniquely ugly?"
"..."
Naruto wanted to cry but had no tears.
He wasn't Carl's match in a war of words.
He stole a glance over his shoulder at Sakura and found her looking back at him.
Their eyes met for a brief moment — Sakura immediately let out a sharp yelp, like a mouse seeing a cat, and buried her face in Ino's arms.
Seeing her reaction, Naruto felt his heart sink.
So much for ever talking to Sakura again.
Carl's voice echoed in his mind again.
"Still hung up on that big forehead? Can't you wake up already? Haven't you noticed that white-eyed girl behind you? The way she looks at you could melt steel."
"Eh? Carl, you mean Hinata?"
"Yeah, Hyūga Hinata."
"Uh… she never even talks to me."
"She's shy, idiot. Not every girl is like that big-forehead one, with zero feminine charm."
"That's what makes Sakura cute though…"
...
By then, Iruka had already started the lesson.
Today's topic was the Clone Technique — one of the Three Basic Techniques.
And it happened to be the one Naruto dreaded most, since he always embarrassed himself when trying it.
Iruka explained for a while, then as usual, picked a few students to demonstrate their Clone Technique.
Sasuke was one of them.
His clone was perfect, indistinguishable from the real thing.
Iruka didn't call Naruto up this time — he knew it was best not to provoke him further right now.
But just after Sasuke's demonstration, he suddenly spoke up.
"Sensei, can we have Naruto try?"
Iruka looked at him helplessly.
"Sasuke, Naruto is being punished. He doesn't need to come up."
Sasuke shook his head firmly.
"Yesterday, Naruto showed an impressive level of combat ability. I believe his Clone Technique must also be exceptional. I'd like to see it."
Hearing that, Naruto nearly jumped in anger.
Sasuke was just as annoying as ever.
He knew full well Naruto's Clone Technique was a joke — and he still called him up?
He just wanted to make him the class clown!
Naruto was racking his brain for a way to dodge it when Carl's voice rang in his head again.
"Go. Hold your head high. It's just a Clone Technique."
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+100 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg