What Makes You Think You Have the Right to Know

At the podium, Ikkaku Umino continued teaching.

Kushina felt a little worried.

She had only just arrived in Konoha, and already there had been such a huge explosion.

Were living conditions in Konoha really this dangerous?

She looked at Minato beside her. "Minato, aren't you worried?"

"I? I'm just a clone."

The clone chuckled. "Don't worry. If there's really any danger, the original will come right away."

Besides, even without considering the original, the chakra in this Wood Clone was enough to overpower some weak Chunin.

Most Chunin weren't much stronger than Genin, really. They just had better combat skills.

That was also why, among Naruto's class, Shikamaru was the only one who successfully advanced to Chunin.

Besides, under normal circumstances, the Chunin Exams weren't as difficult as they'd seemed in the original story.

Konoha held the Chunin Exams twice a year, and they were internal village assessments. If every exam were as intense as the joint exams in the original story, hardly anyone in the whole village would ever become Chunin.

The original had given him a limited amount of chakra, but it was enough to unleash Deep Forest Emergence and deal with some cannon fodder.

Seeing how confident the clone looked, Kushina felt a little more at ease.

Sure enough, class ended with the village still peaceful and no sign of an enemy attack.

Kushina returned to her usual lively self.

The students in class chattered among themselves, discussing what the earlier explosion had been about.

"I bet it was an enemy attack! Some ninja from another village attacked, but the Third Hokage drove them off."

"Idiot. The explosion was on the outskirts of the village. My dad spends all day in the Hokage Office Building. By the time he got there, the enemy would've already made it into the village."

Shinnosuke propped his chin on his hand, cutting off his classmate's blind worship of his dad.

"Minato, what do you think happened?" Kushina asked quietly.

"I don't know..."

Minato shook his head. "But it probably wasn't an enemy attack. Konoha has emergency procedures for that. The moment an attack happens, Anbu will notify the school, and the teachers will lead the students to evacuate."

"Only after all the civilians have reached the shelters will they organize a counterattack."

"So that's how it works?"

Kushina's big eyes filled with admiration. "Minato, you know so much!"

"Hmph. You're just making stuff up again to show off, aren't you?"

Nearby, Kotai scoffed, not believing a word Minato said.

Before, he'd only been a little jealous of Minato. But after Minato had called over a teacher yesterday and gotten him stuck copying lines as punishment, he'd come to hate him.

"If what you're saying is true, how come I've never heard of it?"

Heh...

The clone chuckled to himself, then looked at Kotai in confusion.

"What makes you think you have the right to know?"

"What did you say?"

Kotai's face twitched violently, and a burst of anger flared in his chest.

He'd been trying to act superior and nonchalant, putting the show-off blond in his place. But one sentence from the other boy had made him lose his composure.

"I mean, the emergency procedures are sent directly to Anbu and the ninja forces."

The clone scratched his head, wearing an awkward yet polite smile. "Um, sorry, but... are you some really important person?"

At that, Kushina burst out laughing.

The students around them also roared with laughter.

As the laughter rang in his ears, Kotai's face turned bright red. "You're talking nonsense! If what you're saying is true, how do you know about it?"

"Of course my teacher told me."

The clone looked completely baffled. "My teacher is Tsunade, and her teacher is the Third Hokage. Is it really so strange that I know this?"

Kotai looked at Shinnosuke, who shrugged. "He's right. My dad told me that if something unexpected happens, I should follow the teacher's instructions and evacuate right away."

"See? I wasn't lying, was I?"

The clone spread his hands innocently, looking completely honest.

"Damn it..."

Kotai's face flushed as his blood boiled.

He really wanted to punch Minato, but before he could act, Shio grabbed him.

"Calm down. We're in class."

Shio warned him quietly. "Don't forget what happened yesterday when you got stuck copying lines. And that guy's pretty popular..."

"Tch..."

Kotai sat back down with a dark expression. "That guy really gets on my nerves. And he's Tsunade's student, too. What do we do?"

Shio pursed his lips. "What's there to be afraid of? Tsunade's his teacher, not his mother. The Hokage's son is in our class, and nobody treats him specially."

Being a ninja was a violent profession. Anyone who went crying to their parents would get laughed at. It was an unspoken rule.

"Then let's teach him a lesson!"

Kotai clenched his fist. "We'll show him what we can do!"

"Easy to say, but we can't find the right opportunity," Tetsuo said hesitantly. "I saw a pretty older girl pick him up after school. That must've been Tsunade, right?"

"Hmph. There'll be a time when he's alone, won't there?"

Kotai snorted and unconsciously clenched his fist, as if he could already see it crashing into Minato's face.

At the back of the classroom, the clone glanced toward the three of them.

They were only a few meters away. To him, their plotting was no different from shouting aloud, so he'd heard every word.

But he was always happy to help others, and he didn't want to disappoint his three classmates after all their planning.

So the clone decided he might as well let his guard down a little and give them an opening.

Soon, school was out for the afternoon.

The clone and Kushina walked side by side toward the classroom exit.

As they passed the three boys, Minato casually said, "Tsunade-sensei might be home a little late today. I was planning to pick up some groceries on the way. Want to come with me, Kushina?"

"Mm-hmm, let's go together!"

Kushina nodded eagerly, her eyes full of anticipation.

Going grocery shopping together... It was practically like a date...

No, like a married couple!

At the thought, Kushina's cheeks warmed, and she unconsciously cupped her little, round face in both hands.

Even though the Minato before her was only a Wood Clone, his memories would sync with the original once he returned.

Realizing this, Kushina decided that when they went shopping, she'd show Minato how capable she was at keeping house and make a deep impression on him!

As soon as the two were gone, Kotai and the others exchanged glances.

"Now's our chance!"

Kotai gritted his teeth. "I'm going to teach him a lesson he won't forget!"

"Yeah!"

The three of them stormed out of the classroom.

Watching them go, Shinnosuke couldn't help shaking his head. "Idiots."

He didn't know exactly how strong Minato was, but he knew a thing or two about Tsunade.

If the granddaughter of the First had taken him on as a student right after he enrolled, how could he be ordinary?

Three useless nobodies who couldn't even use ninjutsu...

Heh~