章 32: Chapter 32: Conflict
Recently, Natsuro had been feeling quite uneasy because Naruto's progress was accelerating at an incredible rate. With his guidance, Naruto was fully utilizing his strong recovery abilities.
Every training session pushed Naruto to surpass his limits, leading to remarkable improvements in his physical condition.
He wondered if he had inadvertently unleashed a monster. However, Naruto's progress soon began to slow down. The effects of the previous sessions had been too dramatic, and while the results were still good, the rate of improvement had decreased.
Even with the slowdown, Naruto's development was still much faster than the average person.
Naruto's physical condition was significantly better than Lee's. Natsuro clicked his tongue, realizing that Naruto was becoming quite strong in terms of physical skills.
With this in mind, he decided to check on Naruto. He noticed that Naruto's usual empty seat and guessed he might be late again.
Suddenly, a figure rushed into the classroom and headed straight toward Natsuro.
"Ino, what's wrong?" he asked, surprised to see Ino, who was out of breath. Her usual composed demeanor was replaced by a flustered appearance.
"Natsuro… something's wrong. I just went to the bathroom and found out that Naruto is being bullied by older students." Ino said, panting.
Natsuro's expression changed. Since he was currently using a Shadow Clone, he couldn't directly help, but he still asked, "Tell me where."
"Behind the school's sports field, in the small woods." Ino quickly replied.
There? Natsuro was puzzled. Why would Naruto be there? Then he realized that Naruto was probably trying to cut through to school and had been spotted by those troublemakers.
"Natsuro, should we go find a teacher?" Ino suddenly remembered and suggested. She had thought of him immediately and ran to him first.
"Yes, you go find Iruka-sensei." he said after a moment's thought. He then stood up and dashed out of the classroom.
Ino, thinking Iruka-sensei would be in his office since it wasn't his class period, ran toward the office.
Shikamaru, who had been slumped over his desk, straightened up with a frown. He had heard Ino's words—Naruto was being bullied?
And by older students, no less. That could be a problem.
Fortunately, Ino was already on her way to find Iruka-sensei. Shikamaru sighed and decided to go check things out himself.
"Choji, Kiba, our classmate is being bullied." Shikamaru called out to Choji and Kiba.
Choji, munching on snacks, didn't react much, but Kiba, with his fiery temper, slammed his hand on the desk and shouted, "What?! Someone dares to bully my classmate? Where is it? Who's doing this?"
"Probably over by the sports field. It seems Naruto is the one being bullied." Shikamaru said calmly.
"Naruto…" Kiba hesitated. He wasn't particularly close to him and had been advised by his family to keep a distance.
"Oh, it seems you're not very close to him." Shikamaru said in a slightly irritating tone.
"Even if we're not close, I can't just let him get bullied! Let's go!" Kiba shouted, suddenly clear-headed and charged out first.
Shikamaru glanced around the classroom, clicking his tongue. Kiba's loud shout had likely already spread the news through the class, but most students still seemed indifferent, showing no interest in helping. Shikamaru's plan to rally more support through Kiba had failed, but at least Kiba was going.
"Choji, let's go too." Shikamaru said, dragging Choji toward the exit.
Choji didn't resist much. He didn't have any ill will toward Naruto and often stood in detention with him, so he felt he should help. Although Naruto's detention was usually due to tardiness and Choji's was for snacking during class…
Unbeknownst to Shikamaru, as they left, Sasuke glanced at the empty seats and, after some thought, walked out of the classroom at a leisurely pace with his hands in his pockets.
Not only Sasuke, but also Shino, who wore sunglasses and had part of his face covered, silently followed.
Hinata, nervously twirling her fingers, was also worried about Naruto. Noticing no one was paying attention to her, she stood up and, almost invisibly, slipped through the classroom and ran toward the sports field.
Natsuro, however, was unaware of these events. As soon as he had burst out of the classroom, he dispelled his Shadow Clone and sent the message about Naruto being bullied back to his main body.
Although the Shadow Clones provided a bit more chakra to the main body, and the chosen training location was nearby, some time was still required.
Fortunately, Natsuro clenched his fists, his eyes gleaming. He had just finished warming up and wasn't yet fatigued, so his combat readiness was at its peak.
Anyone daring to bully his dear friend—no, his good friend—was simply asking for trouble. He sprinted toward the school at incredible speed.
...
Having trained late into the night, Naruto woke up feeling tired and drowsy. By the time he got up, it was already quite late.
Hastily grabbing a piece of bread and a drink of milk, Naruto ran toward school.
Despite his efforts, he couldn't avoid being late, so he had to cut through a shortcut. As he was about to burst through the small woods to reach the main road, he almost collided with someone.
Although he managed to avoid a collision, both Naruto and the other person were startled.
"Sorry." Naruto quickly apologized and, realizing he was running out of time, tried to move on.
The person he almost hit, having recovered from the scare, saw Naruto's familiar face and let their anger flare.
"What? I thought it was someone important causing trouble. It's just you, the monster." The person sneered, looking at Naruto with disdain.
Naruto froze, turning to glare at the person with fire in his eyes. "I'm not a monster!"
"Haha, you're not a monster? You haven't noticed that even the adults call you a monster?" the person continued, laughing.
His companions, who had clearly heard such things before, also laughed.
Monster, monster…
The laughter and taunts from the bullies made Naruto's teeth grind. He knew he shouldn't act out, but he couldn't hold back.
Even if he was late and might get beaten again, he couldn't swallow his anger without fighting back!
So Naruto charged at them, but he was alone and younger than his opponents.
Even with Natsuro's training, Naruto couldn't match the older students who had developed for two or three more years than him.
In no time, he was knocked to the ground and surrounded, mocked.
"So this is all the so-called monster can do? Not impressive at all!"
"Everyone, come see! This is the monster from our village, defeated by me!"
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