Unexpected

"Whew—whew—"

The cold winter draft slowly swept in from the left side of the crude wooden hut, charging all the way through before howling out from its right side.

Uh...

Why had it turned out like this?

Looking at Yukina, whose face was expressionless but whose eyes were full of blame and anger, Chiba blinked and could not help shivering.

How had he... forgotten to calculate the force? After shuddering, Chiba was filled with regret.

His plan had actually been perfect. The other side had not noticed, and the farcical sparring match had ended in a way that exceeded their expectations.

Moreover, because the two Anbu had been there afterward, the medical team had been notified promptly and arrived quickly. Since they had been in the forest, most of the trees' roots had absorbed the bulk of the force, so the crowd's injuries were minor. Only a few of the boys and girls standing at the front, due to their weaker physiques, had suffered injuries requiring a day or two of hospitalization, but none were life-threatening or disabling. There was no real problem.

As for Kakashi and the others within the range of the Monster Strength, they were more or less in the same condition as the crowd. They had been prepared, after all. Kakashi had not even been hurt while carrying Hyuga Yukyō. Only Might Guy, Asuma, and Hirohiko had suffered minor injuries, but they were nothing serious. They did not even need bandaging; a little spit would do.

And just as Chiba had calculated, even with so many people injured, neither the Third Hokage nor the two Anbu at the scene had tried to arrest or blame him.

After all, he had deliberately thrown that punch into empty space. This had been a sparring match, and the crowd