A Gaze from a Mortal Enemy

"Senju Nawaki!"

"Here!"

"Uchiha Mikoto!"

"Here!"

"Namikaze Minato!"

"Here!"

In the Leaf Village school classroom, the ninjutsu instructor named Kato Taka was calling roll. Zhou Duan watched this familiar scene and couldn't help but complain to the turtle on his desk:

"Hey, Mizuken, this is so boring. You've already got Chunin-level strength, and anyone absent is obvious at a glance—why do we still need roll call? Does playing teacher really make him that happy? And what's with his unfortunate name, Kato Taka? Why not Kato Dan or Kato Mei?"

"Huh?"

The red turtle, the size of a washbasin, slowly poked its head out from where it lay on the desk and spoke shyly:

"W-Well, even though Kato Taka-sensei has that kind of strength, I think roll call is a very important step. It subtly reinforces the teacher's authority among students, making them more confident in teaching and the students more attentive to what they say. Our superior Ninja Turtles also implement this practice, and besides..."

Mizuken's timid personality made it stammer in front of Zhou Duan, whom it had only just met:

"I-I think the name Kato Taka is great. A hawk is a sharp and proud animal. His parents must have hoped he'd become a strong, resilient ninja like a hawk! Huh? W-What's wrong?"

"Tch!"

Zhou Duan glared at the cowardly Ninja Turtle with a look of pure malice, scaring it so much it retracted its head into its shell:

"A timid little thing like you dares to lecture me? Looks like you're not as simple as you seem..."

Zhou Duan roughly shoved his hand into the shell and grabbed Mizuken by the head:

"Don't get too cocky, you low-level Ninja Turtle! Believe me, I'll give this enhancement slot to another turtle!"

"P-Please stop!"

"You're dreaming!"

"D-Don't do this!"

"As if!"

"Y-Yamete!"

"Heh, since you've fallen into my hands, there's no way I'm letting you off easy for making a mistake..."

Zhou Duan sneered coldly at Mizuken, his right hand gripping the turtle's head, pulling and releasing it in a relentless rhythm. The brutal motion, the demonic behavior, the hellish actions—it made his seatmate, Uzumaki Kushina, blush furiously!

"Bang!"

"Zhou Duan, have you had enough?!"

At the podium, watching Zhou Duan's increasingly outrageous behavior, Kato Taka couldn't suppress his bulging veins:

"Zhou Duan, just because you entered the advanced class in only two years doesn't mean you actually have Genin-level strength. And what I'm about to discuss is the content of the Genin exam—this is the real core. Getting into the advanced class so quickly shows your talent is recognized by everyone. Don't waste it by getting eliminated at the Genin graduation. Now, immediately, right this second, get up here and stand in front of the podium!"

Zhou Duan watched the teacher at the podium deliver this speech with full righteousness and momentum. For a moment, he was stunned—a natural fear of the teacher rooted in every student froze him in place. Then, "trembling," he flipped Kato Taka the middle finger!

"Wow, Zhou Duan's got some nerve!"

"Yeah, talking back to the teacher—doesn't he know Kato Taka-sensei was once a famous ninja in the Leaf?"

"Right, even if he never made Jonin, he's still one of the top Chunin!"

"Sensei's signature move—Kato Taka's Forbidden Finger—can take on three Chunin at once! Is Zhou Duan asking for death?"

Listening to his classmates' awestruck chatter and watching Kato Taka's face darken on the podium, Zhou Duan showed no sign of remorse. Instead, he pulled the turtle faster and faster. Kushina had already covered her eyes, peeking only through the gaps in her fingers!

Just as the tension peaked, Kato Taka's face grew more strained, and the classmates waited for him to unleash the terrifying aura of a Chunin, he gave a light cough:

"Alright, class, let's move on to the details of the upcoming Genin exam."

"Huh? He's just letting it go?"

"Sensei's memory can't be that bad."

"Last time, Akimichi Choza got stuck standing for a whole morning!"

"Are you people really that bored?!"

Zhou Duan sighed helplessly at his idle classmates. Do you all love watching drama this much? Didn't you notice Kato Taka's clenched right fist hidden behind his back? The Genin qualification exam is in a bit—aren't you even a little worried?

Of course, there were three reasons Zhou Duan showed Kato Taka so little respect. First, the guy had been rambling about the Genin exam content for over a month—it was maddening. Second, even though Zhou Duan had advanced to the advanced class, he'd already mastered everything Kato Taka taught. Since he needed to stockpile some medical experience, he didn't want to graduate early and head to the front lines. So every class was painfully boring, and Kato Taka kept calling him out when he was doing his own thing, driving him crazy. Third... after Kato Taka had fun with too many ladies, his little brother couldn't rise again. Zhou Duan happened to witness this and successfully treated him. Kato Taka was endlessly grateful, and Zhou Duan thought to himself: turning a one-time cure into a long-term phased treatment—on one hand, it showed his medical skills were improving; on the other, having leverage over the homeroom teacher was just too damn great!

Maybe it was exam day, or maybe it was the sting of Zhou Duan's defiance, but Kato Taka quickly wrapped up the exam details the whole class already knew by heart and waved his hand:

"It's about time. The ninja assigned to test you should be here. Everyone follow me to the training ground. But since this is your last time leaving this classroom, I've decided..."

"Crash!"

The sound of shattering glass rang out:

"We're going out the window!"

As a teacher at the Leaf Village school, Kato Taka was genuinely protective of his students. Despite knowing he'd be criticized and fined for breaking the window, he resolutely led them crashing through it. The effect was immediate—over sixty restless brats howled as they smashed through the glass and leaped out, their pre-exam anxiety replaced by surging excitement. Even Zhou Duan, who found the name Kato Taka cringeworthy, had to praise the teacher for this move.

But before Zhou Duan could react, a gaze full of endless malice made every hair on his body stand on end—Moshang Shizhen, clad in a green pervert's bodysuit and covered head to toe in Explosive Tags, was staring coldly at him!

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