The Shimura Actually Has Ice Release

"Hmm, still a crushing injury, but it's far more severe than last time. Fortunately, the doctor in charge of treatment this time once studied under Tsunade-sama, so he was able to heal the child without much trouble."

In the hospital room, the doctor was explaining the situation to Uchiha Yōwan's parents, who had rushed in anxiously.

"Will it affect his fertility in the future? That part has already been crushed twice..." Yōwan's mother asked worriedly.

While the others were discussing his injuries, Uchiha Wada also arrived at the hospital, and at the entrance, he saw Fugaku.

"Fugaku, look! Because of your concessions, the Uchiha have once again been trampled underfoot. What is the Hyūga clan even worth? How dare they treat one of our juniors like this?!"

Without even asking what had happened, Uchiha Wada immediately started berating Fugaku upon seeing him. His overbearing attitude made the others behind Fugaku, like Uchiha Yatsushiro, visibly unhappy.

"Wada-san, right after this happened, Yatsushiro led a team over immediately. After investigating, it's confirmed that it was the Hyūga kid who accidentally caused this during training. The Hyūga clan has also acknowledged this."

Although Fugaku, as clan head, was displeased with Wada's tone, he still kept up appearances and patiently explained.

"The Hyūga are a naturally evil clan. They've always harbored hostility toward us Uchiha. How could this possibly be accidental?!"

Wada ignored Fugaku's explanation, determined to make the Hyūga pay.

"This matter has already been officially concluded by the Third Hokage. It was deemed a case of teacher negligence at the academy. He'll personally visit Yōwan's parents later to apologize. And honestly, haven't there also been incidents at our own clan school where children were injured because someone went too far?"

Seeing Wada becoming increasingly unreasonable, Fugaku's tone grew stern.

Hearing that the Third Hokage himself would come to apologize, Wada lost a bit of his momentum, but still retorted stubbornly:

"The clan school never hits with such precision. Even among shinobi, I've never heard of someone getting hit there twice. If you ask me, this was definitely a setup by that brat from the Shimura clan colluding with the Hyūga brat."

"There are always unpredictable things in the shinobi world. Just like back then—who would've thought the Second Hokage would die during peace talks with Kumogakure? The world is full of uncertainty. Some things really are just coincidences, Wada-san."

Even though Fugaku privately also found the whole thing suspicious, Yatsushiro was someone he trusted. Since even he couldn't find anything suspicious in his investigation, that meant the Third's conclusion—an accident—was likely accurate.

"Hmph, whatever!"

Seeing that Fugaku wasn't going to pursue it further, Wada threw out one last line and stormed off angrily.

"Sigh..." Watching his retreating figure, Fugaku let out a helpless sigh. After adjusting his mood, he turned toward the hospital room to inform Yōwan's parents about the situation.

Compared to the unreasonable Wada, Yōwan's parents were much more composed. Though they had some complaints, they accepted Fugaku's explanation and even told him to inform the Third that a visit wasn't necessary. As long as the school improved its safeguards going forward, they would let the matter go.

...

"In summary, this matter is closed. The training exercise is postponed until next week, and the groupings will remain unchanged."

Moved nearly to tears by the Third Hokage's words, Ito Makoto wiped his eyes and entered the classroom to deliver the news.

Hearing that the exercise would continue next week, Class 2 didn't react much—but in Class 3, especially among the boys, a wave of groans erupted.

Now the entire shinobi academy knew about the terrifying Exploding Marbles Kid in Class 2—who could snipe someone's family jewels from a hundred meters away. How were the Class 3 boys supposed to handle that, especially those who had seen Yōwan's tragic state firsthand?

But upon hearing that the groupings wouldn't change and that Group 1 wouldn't be participating, the boys immediately relaxed their clenched legs and sighed in relief.

As long as they didn't have to face that Byakugan monster, they'd be fine.

Hmph, maybe they could even beat that so-called genius Kakashi and Takeshi.

The shinobi world was so unfair. Not only were those two labeled as geniuses, but they were also absurdly good-looking, stealing all the girls' attention in class. No one even looked at the rest of them.

They had to teach them a lesson—especially that cute face! It deserved to be stomped on a few times!

The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and now that Hyūga Iroha wouldn't be participating in battle, the Class 3 boys felt confident again.

"Let's go, Exploding Marbles Kid. Let's get some dango."

As school ended, Takeshi's small clique was heading out for snacks, and the ever-prominent Takeshi turned to invite Hyūga Iroha.

"Who're you calling Exploding Marbles Kid? Screw off!"

The usually composed Hyūga Iroha actually cursed out loud—rare for him, and a clear sign of just how angry he was.

"Tsk, can't even take a joke. Look at Obito over there—gets bullied by me every day, and he doesn't brood like you do."

Takeshi pointed at Obito, who looked confused and innocent not far away.

"Hah. If Obito could beat you, he would've already ground your face into the dirt."

Hyūga Iroha rolled his eyes.

"Thanks to you, the entire school now calls me 'Exploding Marbles Kid.' You happy now, Shimura?"

At this moment, Hyūga Iroha had no idea his nickname had already spread through the entire village.

Otherwise, he would've already pounced on Takeshi and bitten him to death.

"Alright, alright, I'll treat you to dango. Think of it as an apology, yeah?"

Takeshi slung an arm around him with natural ease and dragged him along.

And just like that, under Takeshi's relentless pestering, Hyūga Iroha followed them to the dango shop.

"Auntie, the usual! Add an extra portion—my treat today!"

At the shop, Takeshi shouted to the owner as they walked in, especially emphasizing that he was paying.

"Oh, Takeshi, come on in! Bringing a new friend today, huh?"

The shop owner came out smiling upon seeing Takeshi and took notice of Hyūga Iroha behind him.

She gave him a friendly smile and turned back to her work.

"Hey, kid—move. That's my seat."

Seeing Iroha instinctively trying to sit next to Takeshi, Anko quickly shoved him aside and claimed the seat first.

"Tch. Fine, I'll move. No one's trying to steal your seat anyway."

Hyūga Iroha muttered and took a seat next to Kakashi, invited over by Asuma.

Hmm. A gloomy narcissist and a deadpan stoic. Perfect match.

Looking at the two who barely spoke, Takeshi chuckled and then went back to chatting with Asuma and the others, swapping stories they'd heard or talking about their training experiences.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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