"Why?"
In the darkness, Second Pillar's gaze suddenly shifted away from the figure behind Uzumaki Naruto. He glanced at the foot in ordinary ninja sandals that had hooked across and stopped his kick, then frowned tightly and looked down to his side.
The spiky-haired youth crouching beside him, his foot extended to block him, spoke.
"Take a careful look at Naruto."
Shikamaru Nara's face was already grave, and a bead of sweat even rolled down from his temple.
"Hm?"
The moment Shikamaru Nara said that, Second Pillar's expression changed slightly. He abruptly turned to look at Uzumaki Naruto.
He let go? The thought flashed through his mind.
With that thought, he slowly withdrew his fist with some hesitation, as well as the foot that had been caught.
"What—!"
But the next second, once he had pulled back his hands and feet, his eyes flew wide open and a low cry escaped his lips.
His gaze locked onto Uzumaki Naruto, unable to move even an inch.
"Be careful. This isn't the time to act rashly."
Noticing Second Pillar's movements, Shikamaru Nara frowned and spoke in a low voice.
At this moment, the front of the classroom was somewhat dim because the lights had been destroyed. However, those lights had only provided supplementary illumination. The classroom had few windows and was on the shaded side, which was why lights were needed to brighten it. Without them, though, it was not so dark that one could not see anything; it was merely relatively dim.
Therefore, if they looked carefully, the two could still make out Uzumaki Naruto ahead of them. And now, they could clearly see a Ninja Sword resting against his neck.
A black Ninja Sword.
A drop of blood was gathering at its tip, seemingly about to fall at any moment!