"Senju Nawaki!"
"Here!"
"Uchiha Mikoto!"
"Here!"
"Namikaze Minato!"
"Here!"
In a Konoha Academy classroom, a ninjutsu teacher named Kato Taka was taking attendance. Watching the familiar scene, Zhou Duan couldn't help speaking to the turtle on the desk in front of him:
"Hey, Mizuken, this is so boring. You're already as strong as a chunin, so you can tell at a glance who's absent. Why do they still need to take attendance? Does playing teacher really make him that happy? And what's with that ridiculous name of his, Kato Taka? Why call himself Kato Taka? Couldn't he have picked a different name? Kato Dan or Kato Mei would've worked!"
"Huh?"
The red turtle, about the size of a washbasin, was sprawled across the desk. It slowly poked its head out and spoke shyly:
"Th... This... although Teacher Kato Taka is so capable, I... I think taking attendance is a very important part of being a teacher. It subtly strengthens the teacher's standing among the students, making... making the teacher more confident while teaching and helping the students pay closer attention to what the teacher says. Our superiors, the Ninja Turtles, do it too, and..."
Mizuken's shy nature made him stammer in front of Zhou Duan, whom he'd only recently met:
"I... I think Kato Taka is a great name! Hawks are fierce and proud animals. Tea... Teacher's parents must have hoped their child would become a tough, formidable ninja, just like a hawk! Huh? Wh... What's wrong?"
"Tch!"
Zhou Duan stared at the timid Ninja Turtle in front of him, looking thoroughly displeased. The sheer malice in his gaze scared Mizuken so badly that he pulled his head back into his shell:
"You're such a coward, yet you dared to lecture me like that. Looks like there's more to you than meets the eye..."
Zhou Duan roughly shoved his hand into the turtle's shell and grabbed Mizuken by the head:
"You're just a low-ranking Ninja Turtle. Don't get too cocky, or I'll give this reinforcement slot to another Ninja Turtle!"
"P... Please stop!"
"In your dreams!"
"D... Don't do that!"
"Not a chance!"
"A... Yamete!"
"Heh. Now that I've got you, there's no way I'm letting you off easy after what you did..."
Zhou Duan sneered at Mizuken, gripping his head with his right hand and repeatedly pulling it out and pushing it back in. The brutal motions, the demonic behavior, the hellish treatment made his seatmate, Uzumaki Kushina, blush furiously!
"Bang!"
"Zhou Duan, have you had enough!"
At the front of the classroom, Kato Taka watched Zhou Duan grow more and more outrageous, his veins practically bulging:
"Zhou Duan, you made it into the advanced class in just two years, but that doesn't mean you're already strong enough to be a genin. Besides, what I'm about to discuss is the genin exam, and that's the real important part. The fact that you got into the advanced class so quickly means everyone recognizes your talent. Don't get into the advanced class only to fail the genin graduation exam and waste your potential. Now, immediately, right this instant, get up here and stand at the front of the classroom!"
The teacher at the front of the classroom spoke with such righteous authority that Zhou Duan was momentarily stunned. The instinctive fear students felt toward their teachers left him rooted to the spot. Then, "trembling," he gave Kato Taka the middle finger!
"Good grief, Zhou Duan's got some nerve!"
"Yeah, talking back to the teacher like that! Doesn't he know Teacher Kato Taka was once a famous ninja in Konoha?"
"That's right. Even though he never made it to jonin, he was one of the strongest chunin!"
"Teacher's signature move—Kato Taka's Forbidden Finger—can take on three chunin at once. Is Zhou Duan trying to get himself killed?"
Listening to his classmates act like they'd never seen anything before and watching Kato Taka's face grow darker by the second, Zhou Duan showed not the slightest sign of guilt. If anything, he pulled the turtle faster and faster. Kushina had already covered her eyes with her hands, peeking through the gaps between her fingers!
Just as the atmosphere grew more tense, Kato Taka's face became harder to save, and the other students waited for him to unleash the terrifying power of a mid-level ninja, Kato Taka gave a light cough:
"Class, let's go over the details of the genin exam we'll be taking shortly!"
"Huh? He's just letting it go?"
"Can the teacher's memory really be that bad?"
"Last time, Akimichi Choza had to stand at attention for the whole morning!"
"Do you guys have nothing better to do?"
Zhou Duan looked helplessly at his classmates, who were all bored out of their minds. Did they really love watching the drama unfold that much? Hadn't they noticed Kato Taka's right fist clenched tightly behind his back? The genin qualification exam was coming up, and they weren't worried at all?
Of course, Zhou Duan had three reasons for showing Kato Taka so little respect. First, the man had been going over the genin exam material for more than a month. It was getting unbearable.
Second, although Zhou Duan had moved up to the advanced class, he'd already mastered everything Kato Taka taught. Since he still needed to build up some medical experience, he didn't want to graduate too early and get sent to the front lines. As a result, he found every lesson excruciatingly dull, and Kato Taka kept calling on him whenever he tried to do his own thing. It drove Zhou Duan crazy every time.
As for the third reason... After Kato Taka had enjoyed himself with quite a few young ladies, the little brother in his pants had stopped standing at attention. Zhou Duan happened to discover it. After Zhou Duan successfully treated him, Kato Taka was immensely grateful. Zhou Duan, meanwhile, thought to himself that turning a condition he could've cured in one go into a long-term, staged treatment showed how much his medical skills had improved—and that having the homeroom teacher in his pocket was so damn great!
Maybe it was because today was exam day, or maybe Zhou Duan's defiance had gotten under his skin. After briefly rattling off a few exam details that everyone in class already knew by heart, Kato Taka waved his hand:
"Time's about up. The genin assigned to test you should be here soon. Everyone, follow me to the field. But since this is the last time you'll be leaving this classroom, I've decided..."
"Crash!"
The sound of glass shattering rang out:
"We're going out the window!"
As a teacher at Konoha Academy, Kato Taka had to be commended for how much he looked after his students. He braved the consequences of leading them in breaking the windows—criticism and a fine—and led them outside anyway. The move had an immediate effect. More than sixty rowdy kids, all in their rambunctious phase, howled as they smashed the glass and leaped out the windows. Their anxiety over the genin exam was instantly replaced by unbridled excitement. Even Zhou Duan, despite finding Kato Taka's name so ridiculous, couldn't help praising the teacher for what he'd done.
But before Zhou Duan could say anything, a gaze filled with boundless malice made every hair on his body stand on end. Moshang Shizhen, dressed in a green, skin-tight suit and covered from head to toe—even his face—with Explosive Tags, was staring coldly at him!
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