"Back in the day, I fought for my life on the battlefield! I broke more bones than I can count, and I barely survived long enough to join the Akatsuki Ninja Village so you could sit in a warm classroom and study in peace!"
"And what do you do? Sleep in class every day and bring home a failing grade! Was that what I broke all those bones for? Huh?!"
"I was wrong, waaah! I'll never sleep in class again!"
The boisterous Kaguya Clan father looked at his son's swollen eyes, and tears welled up in his own.
The young boy had never seen his father like this. Usually, the worst his father did when angry was give him a beating. But the grief in his father's eyes shattered his defenses. He threw his arms around his father's waist, his face smeared with tears and snot, and sobbed his heart out.
That first cry was like the first domino falling.
Cries rose all around them, spreading like a contagion.
Dozens of little troublemakers who normally bounced off the classroom walls were now bawling.
The whole hall descended into chaos.
Uchiha Makoto watched from the stage. The emotions had reached their peak, and the atmosphere was just right. He lifted the loudspeaker again, his voice suddenly soaring with a fervor that brooked no argument.
"Children! Look at the parents crying for you! Now... bow to your great fathers and mothers!"
"Kneel! Thank them at the top of your lungs! Thank them for bringing you into this world! Thank them for shielding you from the blades of the Ninja World with their blood and scars!"
The children below had cried themselves senseless. Their defenses had completely collapsed, and they could no longer think for themselves.
All they had left was the instinct