Why are you so devoid of temper?

"A mere tomato, yet you dare to shout at a human!"

Kotai pointed at Kushina: "From now on, your name is Tomato! Do you have a problem with that?"

Staring at the arrogant Kotai before her, Kushina actually calmed down.

The hope of making new friends she had harbored before sleep last night was shattered; she finally realized that not everyone was as friendly as Minato.

"I said before class started, my name is Kushina. Are you deaf?"

Kushina's gaze gradually turned dangerous.

Upon learning that Minato's kindness wasn't reserved solely for her, Kushina had indeed felt a bit disappointed.

But Minato's defense of her hadn't been a pretense, and that gave her plenty of confidence to deal with the provocations of Kotai and his two lackeys.

Besides, when it came to fighting, she had never been afraid of anyone!

Her chakra was significantly stronger than that of her peers, and to support such vast and high-quality chakra, her physique naturally wouldn't be lacking either.

Kushina clenched her fists, her red hair fluttering as she resembled a little tiger ready to pounce, her dark eyes locked firmly onto the three of them.

If these three blind fools dared to make a move, she would definitely make them regret it!

Unfortunately, little brats just starting their first year didn't understand what crisis awareness was.

Seeing that Kushina wasn't afraid, but instead looked ready to brawl, Kotai felt he was losing face and reached out to grab Kushina's hair.

Just as Kushina couldn't hold back the urge to smash her fist into that annoying face, a figure suddenly appeared at the corner of the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Ikkaku Umino barked.

Hearing this voice, Kotai was startled, hurriedly pulling back his hand and turning toward the source of the sound.

Ikkaku Umino was seen walking quickly toward them, with Minato following unhurriedly behind him.

Before Ikkaku Umino could say anything further, Minato arrived at Kushina's side and said without concealment: "I saw the three of them following you out looking like they were up to no good, so I went to get Teacher Ikkaku. Sure enough, they were giving you trouble."

Damn it, this meddlesome guy!

Hearing Minato's words, Kotai and his two lackeys looked on with resentment.

"Bullying a new student, using numbers to overwhelm someone, and picking on a girl..."

Ikkaku Umino's expression was extremely ugly; with his overly upright personality, this was the kind of thing he despised the most.

"The three of you, get back to class immediately! Copy the school rules ten times as punishment! If even one character is missing, I'll have your parents come in to process your withdrawal!"

"Yes..."

The three responded listlessly, and before leaving, they didn't forget to shoot a threatening glare at Minato.

Minato returned a sunny smile and quietly flashed them a peace sign.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault for not teaching those three better."

Ikkaku Umino looked at Kushina and Nonō, his tone softening slightly: "Are you two hurt?"

"No, we've caused you trouble, Teacher."

Kushina and Nonō thanked him politely.

Not until Ikkaku Umino left did Kushina indignantly wave her small fist: "Damn it, those three jerks! If it weren't for Teacher Ikkaku, I would have definitely taught them a lesson! Why did you call the teacher, Minato? That's not very manly at all!"

Hearing this, Minato gave a simple, honest smile: "I just think that classmates should get along well."

That was a lie!

As a modern person who had experienced over a decade of school life, Minato knew very well that as long as a conflict happened on school grounds, even winning was meaningless; all such actions were nothing more than "minor disputes between students."

Teachers, who were accustomed to such things, usually resolved these matters by smoothing things over, and it wasn't even rare for them to be biased toward the bullies.

Even if they scolded the bullies, it was nothing more than a painless slap on the wrist.

And regardless of the outcome, for the victim of the bullying, it solved absolutely nothing.

In other words, playing by school rules against bullies only made one the weaker party and could never truly teach the other side a profound lesson.

Even if one had the ability to kill or cripple the opponent, that was merely a desperate, self-destructive strategy.

But if one stepped outside the circle of the school, things became much simpler...

"How can you have no temper at all?"

Hearing Minato's words, Kushina looked at him in disbelief.

"Alright, don't be angry anymore. How about I make you something delicious tonight?"

Minato chuckled: "Sweet and sour pork tenderloin?"

"Mm—"

Kushina was clearly tempted, holding up a slightly chubby finger: "I also want to eat cola chicken wings!"

"Deal!"

Minato nodded and turned to look at Nonō: "Sorry, Nonō, I caused you trouble just now."

"It's alright, I just didn't expect you to be able to cook, Minato. That's amazing!"

Nonō exclaimed in admiration; she genuinely felt that boys who could cook were exceptional.

"You flatter me."

Minato nodded gently, and immediately after, he felt a force from behind as Kushina pushed him toward the classroom.

"Alright! Let's hurry back to the classroom!"

Seeing Minato treat Nonō with the same gentle demeanor, Kushina became even more convinced of what Nonō had just said, her small face tightening involuntarily.

Watching Minato's bewildered expression, Nonō couldn't help but chuckle softly.

As expected, only a lively and cheerful girl like Kushina was truly suited to be close to Minato, right?

She suddenly recalled what Danzo had said to her before.

Perhaps there really were dark qualities within her.

The proof was that just now in the restroom, when she said those things to Kushina, it hadn't been out of duty, but out of jealousy—a completely subconscious act.

Upon realizing this, Nonō felt a deep sense of disgust toward herself.

Especially at the moment when Kushina had shielded her without a second thought, she suddenly felt how ugly she was.

In the blink of an eye, evening arrived.

As soon as Nawaki returned home, he smelled a fragrance filling the entire house.

Realizing Minato was cooking something delicious again, he kicked off his shoes and rushed into the living room: "This scent... is it Cola Chicken? Didn't you just make that last night?"

"That's a long story!"

In the living room, Kushina was reading the manga Nawaki had lent her; hearing this, she recounted the events of the day to him.

When she reached the crucial part, she couldn't help but flare up again: "Tell me, isn't Minato's temper a bit too good? People were being so excessive, yet he still said classmates should get along well!"

"Get along well... huh?"

Hearing this, Nawaki's expression looked somewhat strange.

Everyone said Minato had a good personality, a point Nawaki didn't deny; Minato was the gentlest and most considerate boy he had ever met, bar none.

But if anyone claimed Minato had a good temper, Nawaki felt that was open to debate.

Just think, he had only called him a koala, and he'd been scared into hanging from a tree, too afraid to come down.

Whether Minato had a good temper or not, he didn't know, but he knew all too well whether he was broad-minded or not!

Minato Namikaze was the type of person whose temper never showed on his face.

He would even dare to swear on his own brother's life that this matter wasn't over; those three punks were definitely going to have a miserable time later!