A Reckless Teacher

"Shuyuan, what does the quiz mean? Is it special?"

Suzuran looked at her classmates in disarray and asked softly.

"This quiz... is something Teacher Hitomi came up with herself. It's basically a practical assessment. There are three people in each group, and then they compete in a group battle. The teacher will score each group based on factors such as the outcome of the battle and their performance."

"It doesn't sound like anything's wrong, so why is everyone... so... nervous?"

Suzuran paused, her fear turning into nervousness.

In fact, it wasn't just nervousness; some people were frowning, some were sighing, and of course, some remained unmoved and as steady as a rock. However, most people looked uneasy.

"This... is because of the rules set by Teacher Hitomi." Shuyuan gave a wry smile, "Those who fail the quiz have to... have to go to the lower reaches of the Naka River to clean up the piles of household garbage in those river bends..."

Shuyuan's face turned quite grim when she mentioned this bizarre form of punishment; it was nothing short of a nightmare.

"Suzuran, do your best to perform well; you absolutely must pass."

He said it solemnly.

Suzuran blinked and asked, "Is that job cleaning up the trash hard work?"

"Hard work?" Shuyuan's eyes twitched. "If it were just hard work, that would be fine. Being a little tired is nothing. The usual training isn't easy either. The truly terrifying thing about those river bends downstream of the Naka River is the smell."

"The village's household garbage was washed away by the river and piled up in those river bends. The stench of decay was enough to kill a black bear. Flies swarmed everywhere like dark clouds, and the carcasses of dead animals were covered with fat, white maggots..."

Naruto leaned closer and vividly described the terrifying scene.

Suzuran turned pale; she was disgusted.

"Shut up!" Shuyuan grabbed the idiot by the neck and smacked him hard on the head. "Speaking of which, didn't you go to get something? Where is it?"

"The things are here."

Naruto rubbed his head and pointed, "Teacher Hitomi is supervising Ino and Sakura as they write notes."

The so-called "props" were actually just a box, the kind of open box used for drawing lots.

The three-person group division was achieved through this method, with each person facing off against the other in a best-of -Third Shinobi War format. This prevented strong teams from teaming up and also avoided one person being too strong, as it would have been boring if the same group of people lost every time. The uncertainty of drawing lots brought great joy to this little game/quiz.

Of course, this is just one person's joy.

Shuyuan also lost because the two teammates he was paired with were really bad, resulting in a despairingly low group score. As a result, he went to the lower reaches of the Naka River and had a dark period in his life.

After explaining the rules to Suzuran, the girls had all written down their numbers, but a small problem arose.

"Teacher, our class originally had 27 students, which made up 9 groups, but now there's one more person. How should we divide them up?"

Sakura asked the question.

Shuyuan looked up and saw that this was indeed an issue she couldn't avoid.

"Why?"

Tong tilted her head and let out a puzzled exclamation.

Hey, hey, could it be that you haven't noticed?

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Shuyuan's face darkened, and the urge to complain swelled within him, but he held back. He wasn't Naruto, who loved to court death.

"There's one more person... Hmm, okay, let's do it this way!" Tong thought for a moment and had an idea. "Shuyuan, you come and be the referee and help me maintain order. Now, let me count the number of participants... Twenty-seven, is that alright?"

Under the oppressive power of an unreliable teacher, Shuyuan withdrew from the quiz and unexpectedly became a referee.

The next task was quite simple, and apart from Suzuran, none of the others were taking this nasty little test for the first time. They lined up in an easy manner and took turns drawing lots. With the help of the referee, Shuyuan, Suzuran also completed her lot-drawing safely.

"Group Six..."

The Suzuran unfolded the paper ball, revealing a large six on it.

She looked up and glanced around, trying to find someone else in the sixth group.

Who's in group six?

Ino held up the note in her hand and waved it, secretly praying that she would have two reliable companions. She had absolutely no desire to go downstream of the Naka River to clean up garbage.

After she went there once, she burned her clothes and stayed home for three whole days instead of going to school.

"Here~~~"

Shikamaru listlessly raised his hand, a six on a piece of paper held between his two fingers.

"... Shikamaru? Thank goodness!"

Ino of relief.

In Iruka's class, if ranked by strength, Shikamaru is definitely in the top ten. Moreover, he's very quick-witted, and if he performs well, even Shuyuan and Sasuke would suffer at his hands.

"Who else is in Group Six? Let me know!"

Ino's imposing gaze swept around, Suzuran shrank back, but still gritted her teeth and walked over, holding up the note in her hand.

"It's me! I'm also from Group Six."

"Huh?"

Ino froze, staring intently at the somewhat timid Suzuran.

Nine groups. I never expected that the new student who just transferred here today would be in the same group as her. That's quite lucky... although I'm not sure if it's good luck or bad luck.

"Hey, Ino, what are you spacing out for?"

Shikamaru waved his hand in front of Ino, then turned to Suzuran, "Um, I'm Shikamaru Nara- Suzuran, nice to meet you."

While striking up a conversation, Shikamaru was inwardly cursing Shuyuan. Asking him for help with something so troublesome was practically a miracle...

"Hello, this is you. Nice to meet you. Um, Shikamaru."

Suzuran nodded, sensing Shikamaru's goodwill, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"Ahem!" Ino tossed her hair, cleared her throat, and said with great confidence, "Ino Yamanaka, just call me Ino. From now on, we'll be a team, let's do our best together."

"Ino- san?"

"No need to add me as a classmate, just call me Ino. There aren't many girls here, so there's no need to be so formal." Ino grabbed Suzuran's hand in a very familiar manner and started whispering in her ear. A few minutes later, they were chatting and laughing, looking extremely affectionate.

As expected of the girl with the best social skills in the class, she had excellent relationships with all the girls and was very popular among the boys. Moreover, since Ino's family owned a flower shop, she keenly noticed Suzuran's hobby, and the two easily found common ground, establishing a friendship instantly.

At this point, the lottery was completely over, and the nine groups were divided into teams of three, each group clearly separated from the others. (To be continued)