A Little Drama at the Ninja Academy

"Everyone, step back."

Kakashi shouted, his vest already soaked with cold sweat, but he still gritted his teeth and stared straight at the attackers.

Those few changes in that instant were enough to make a lot of things clear.

These missing-nin were targeting him, so he couldn't retreat; if he did, it could very likely affect the other students.

"Ice Release, blowing snow."

However, the moment Kakashi finished speaking, a white snowstorm filled the classroom, and the previously stuffy air suddenly dropped by ten degrees. The girls of the Yuki family still retained the ruthlessness they had developed in the Land of Water.

If you can take action, don't just talk.

The wind and snow successfully obscured everyone's vision, blurred their hearing, and even weakened their sense of smell to the extreme. This move was comparable to the Mist Ninja's signature Hidden Mist Technique, and might even have the advantage.

After all, fog can't form if the temperature is too low.

The students in the class reacted in unconventional ways. Asuma, who was bold enough, deftly pulled out Explosive Tag from his pocket, attached it to Kunai, and threw it out as instructed by Kuyue. Rin, who was not good at fighting, quickly slipped out of the back door of the classroom to find someone.

The Explosive Tag with a deafening roar, bursting into large clusters of Kakkō. The blast waves toppled the surrounding crumbling walls, and head-sized boulders whistled past Kakashi's ears, crashing through the inner wall of the classroom and rolling into the school courtyard.

Kakashi stared blankly, wondering what the hell these bastards were doing. He couldn't quite grasp the situation for a moment. He had so righteously tried to attract the enemy's attention... but not many people were buying it!

Moreover, Asuma, that audacious guy, actually carried so many Explosive Tag with him; he just threw out about twenty of them—he's incredibly ruthless.

"Damn it! Asuma, how dare you bring Explosive Tag to school?"

The simple and straightforward Might Guy was stunned.

The Ninja Academy has very strict control over weapons. Even sharpened Shuriken and Kunai are not allowed to be brought into the school. They are issued uniformly during regular practical training. Explosive Tag, which have great destructive power, are first-order prohibited items.

"Why worry about so much? As long as it comes in handy, that's all that matters."

Asuma shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.

Aside from Kakashi narrowly escaping death several times, almost being killed by the attackers, the others, like Asuma, remained completely calm.

This is Konoha, and they don't believe that a few missing-nin can cause trouble at the Ninja Academy. Even though it's the weekend and most of the teachers aren't at school, they still believe that these three small fry can't make a fuss.

The villagers of Konoha have the highest sense of security in the Shinobi World.

However, Asuma began to rack his brains about how to explain bringing Explosive Tag into the school. Even if his father was the Hokage, he couldn't erase this serious violation of rules and regulations.

"You damned brats, you all deserve to die!!"

The attackers were nearly driven mad; the current situation was so different from what they had expected that their anger was about to explode.

According to the original plan, it was just a kid; with their skills, they could easily take down the target and then escape the village as quickly as possible.

The result... the result was that these little devils were completely different from the little devils he knew.

None of the three of them are weak! They were already Special Jonin when they fled the village, and over the years they Anbu, making them much stronger than before. But they still couldn't take down these brats in one fell swoop.

Instead, they were blown up by the Explosive Tag and ended up covered in dust and dirt.

If it weren't for the fact that all three of them were quite skilled in Hardening Technique and hadn't quickly created several layers of rock walls to shield themselves, they would probably have perished from this barrage of attacks.

"Earth Release, Ant Hell..."

The attackers were, after all, seasoned veterans who had fought their way through blood and fire. When the time came, they acted without hesitation. Seeing that things were hopeless and that further delay would likely lead to their demise, they immediately abandoned their plan to take the heads of the attackers and instead sought only to annihilate Kakashi and his companions.

With a single move, he altered the terrain beneath his feet, displaying a distinct Stone Ninja style.

"Earth Release, Solidifying Mud Technique."

A somewhat weak sound rang out, and the earth, which had been rapidly softening and spinning, instantly froze. The soft, mushy soil hardened again, and when tapped, it made a clanging sound, like a steel plate.

Lin and Hong, two girls, walked in through the front door of the classroom, one on each side, following the unsteady Katsuki.

"... Hey you guys, I was just a little late, why did you tear the classroom down?" Katsuki rubbed her temples, letting out a painful groan.

"... Can anyone tell me why Asuma was carrying Explosive Tag?"

As chaos erupted in the classroom, in the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage sat in his chair staring at the crystal ball on the table, with Orochimaru and Minato standing to his left and right respectively.

Faced with the Third Hokage's questioning, and seeing Asuma's nonchalant expression in the crystal ball, the Hokage's Assistant and the Root leader exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to answer the Lord Hokage's question. This should be considered a family matter, right? They had no way to respond.

Fortunately, the Third Hokage did not pursue the matter further, because the scene inside the crystal ball had changed, and the figure of Katsuki appeared within it.

"Hmm! Katsuki has appeared... This charade is over. Quickly clean up this mess and find out why Asuma brought Explosive Tag to the school."

Minato's eyes twitched, but he didn't say anything.

"Teacher, we'll handle it." Orochimaru said with a smile and a nod.

The attack on the Ninja Academy was a farce from beginning to end; the infiltration of three Iwagakure missing-nin from Iwagakure was no secret from the start.

The Konoha of today is not the leaky, dilapidated Konoha that was held together by a group of old men. It is Konoha teeming with experts and powerful figures, where every move of the invaders is under the dual surveillance of Root and the Anbu.

This includes the intruders using various underhanded tactics to stir up trouble throughout the village, attracting the attention of the Police Force and the Anbu; the brawl that Yuki Yashuo handled was one such example.

Orochimaru chose to let these actions run their course, merely controlling the scale of the incident to prevent loss of life, and then observing what these guys wanted to do. Konoha hadn't seen such arrogant intruders in a long time, which made the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Minato very curious.

"And one more thing, find out all about these guys, why they're targeting Kakashi."

The Third Hokage added a sentence at the end.

"Minato, could you please go clean up this mess first? Don't let Katsuki- kun kill our tongues."

As soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, a golden light flashed, and Minato disappeared.

Minato's figure appeared inside the crystal ball.

"The Flying Thunder God Technique... how enviable!"

Orochimaru glanced at the crystal ball, shook his head, and quickly left the office.