The nameless nobodies who called themselves the Five Tigers surrounded this generation's Ino-Shika-Cho.
This might have been the peak of their lives.
The gap between civilian ninja and clan ninja wasn't just a matter of how many techniques they knew.
Without exception, the chakra extraction techniques of the major ninja clans were better than what they taught at the Ninja Academy.
The various tricks for using and training in ninjutsu were also important clan inheritances.
Not to mention the many secret techniques that clans never passed on to outsiders.
And in this world, where bloodline was everything,
The children of shinobi were also more talented in ninjutsu than the children of civilians.
When the five scrubs calling themselves the Five Tigers surrounded them, Shikamaru wasn't afraid, but he was still a little nervous. There were more of them, after all.
He turned to look at Kimura Takuya.
To his surprise, Kimura Takuya was still sitting there eating, and had even held back someone else who'd tried to help.
Damn it, did he not care about what was going on here at all?
Ino Pig actually liked someone like him.
What a pain.
Shikamaru's little brain whirred, and he shouted,
"What are you going to do? Someone like you is no match for my big brother Tuoye! He could take on ten of you by himself!
There are only five of you. Big brother Tuoye could deal with you with one hand!"
"Yeah, that's right!"
Ino thought Shikamaru was absolutely right and agreed wholeheartedly.
Choji nodded along, too. Whatever. As long as they didn't try to steal his chips, it was fine.
The five scrubs—no, the Five Tigers—turned to look at Kimura Takuya.
He was still eating, and was even holding Lee back to stop him from coming over.
"Hahaha! That loser doesn't dare come out himself, so he's holding someone else back. This is hilarious! Hahaha!"
"Hahaha, that's right! What a loser. And he's an orphan, too. A loser orphan."
Shikamaru saw that Kimura Takuya still hadn't reacted and was continuing to eat.
So he taunted them again.
"Hmph. That's because you're so useless that you can't even interest big brother Tuoye.
My big brother Tuoye will take you all down in a second!
He won't even need to lift a finger to deal with you."
"That sickly-looking weakling? I'll beat him up first and show you just how useless your big brother Tuoye is!"
The plan had worked. They'd taken the bait!
The corners of Shikamaru's mouth lifted slightly, then quickly settled as he continued to egg them on.
"You guys, don't! Don't go over there! Big brother Tuoye hasn't said a word this whole time. He must be angry. If you go over now, you'll die! Hurry back!"
"Brat, how dare you look down on us! Hey, Kimura Takuya! Come out and fight us!"
"Burp!"
He was full. Chinese food he'd cooked himself really was the best.
What kind of food was a little girl's lovingly prepared lunch anyway? Sushi and rice balls—was that stuff even fit for people to eat?
Kimura Takuya looked up at the charging scrubs and thought, That was a failure.
What a failed disguise.
He shouldn't have exposed his strength that day by saving that little girl.
"One soon-to-be graduate was so afraid of getting a shot that he wet his pants."
One of the Five Tigers looked panicked, while the other students in the class pricked up their ears.
"One person was so scared of thunder while staying in the hospital alone that he hid under his blanket in the middle of the night and almost suffocated himself."
"Another person ate so much that he got diarrhea and soiled his pants."
"Another went skinny-dipping, got bitten on the privates by a turtle, and came to the hospital for help."
"And there's one last person who wants to know if still wetting the bed at twelve is a medical condition."
With each thing Kimura Takuya said, one of the Five Tigers grew more flustered.
Seeing them look at their classmates' curious, teasing faces and start to seem ready to lash out, Kimura Takuya stopped revealing their secrets.
"Oh dear, I can't remember all their names. Maybe if someone knocked me on the head, I'd remember.
I heard that's how you can treat amnesia. Come on, help me out. Give me a knock on the head!"
"Uh, how can you say that? We're classmates. How could we hit you on the head?"
"Yeah, exactly. These things aren't important anyway. If you've forgotten, just let them go!"
As the scrubs nervously tried to persuade him, Kimura Takuya secretly laughed at what a bunch of little kids they were. He kept it off his face and only furrowed his brow.
"No, I feel awful if I can't remember! If you won't hit me, I'll do it myself."
With that, he picked up his chopsticks and pretended he was about to hit himself on the head.
The others hurriedly grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Don't! Takuya, you can't hurt yourself! Just forget about it. We have an exam this afternoon.
Once it's over, we'll graduate. We all have wonderful futures ahead of us!"
"That's right! We have wonderful futures waiting for us!"
Kimura Takuya nodded and put down his chopsticks.
"Yeah, you're right. But I suddenly feel like I might remember without hitting myself. If someone insults me and I get angry, I might remember, too. Why don't you insult me?"
"H-how could we insult someone? I hate people who insult others more than anything. It's so uncouth. You two were insulting him just now, weren't you? Hurry up and apologize to Takuya!"
"Uh, sorry, sorry, Takuya. We were just joking with you."
"It's fine. I forgive you."
Kimura Takuya found it a little funny to see them forced to lower their heads in front of him.
He might not have become a full-fledged medical ninja yet, but he'd been doing odd jobs at the hospital to make ends meet for years.
Everyone got a headache or caught a cold now and then, didn't they?
He'd naturally run into these guys at the hospital.
While Kimura Takuya joked around and made the five back down,
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.
He's no ordinary person. He dealt with them without breaking a sweat.
Was someone like this really a cowardly loser who didn't dare get into trouble?
Could Ino have been telling the truth? Could there really be a strong fighter in this dead-last class who could take on ten people at once?
Or had she just made it up because she thought he was handsome and had a crush on him?
"Takuya, you're amazing! You solved the problem without even fighting!"
Ino ran over to Kimura Takuya, starry-eyed, and set the lunchbox in her hands down in front of him.
She carefully opened it. Inside were heart-shaped sushi and heart-shaped rice balls.
"Takuya, look! I made you a lovingly prepared lunch. I even brought ketchup."
"Burp. Ah, thanks. You're a little late. I've already eaten, sorry. I, burp, can't eat any more."
"That's okay, Takuya. You can take it home for dinner. Here, have some water."
Tuoye took the water bottle Ino offered, thanked her, and declined the lunchbox.
But he took the packet of ketchup inside it.
"Thanks, but this won't stay fresh until tonight, will it? It'll go bad. That classmate over there eating chips doesn't look full yet. Why not give it to him? They're your friends, too, right?"
"Ah, yes, they're just ordinary friends. Don't get the wrong idea, Takuya. We only became ordinary friends because our parents know each other. Don't get the wrong idea!"
"Mm-hm. Hello, everyone. I'm Kimura Takuya, and this is my good friend Rock Lee."
As soon as Lee heard the words "good friend," he was so moved that tears streamed down his face.
"That's right! I'm Takuya's good friend. Takuya's friends are my friends, too. Nice to meet you!"
After they introduced themselves and got acquainted,
Shikamaru watched the Five Tigers, who had returned to their seats, and spoke quietly to Kimura Takuya.
"Senior Kimura, those guys backed down after you talked them down, but they don't look like the sort to let this go. This could be trouble."
Before you continue