The first rule Yamashiro Takuma wrote on the blackboard was: Listen before answering.
When Kiyo saw those four words, it was like seeing Teacher Mine standing at the blackboard in a different shell.
He turned to look at Che, his eyes saying: See? Even the ninja academy is targeting us.
Che did not laugh out loud. He merely tapped the paper lightly with the tip of his pen. The ordinary pen left a small dot on the page, reminding him that he was bound by this rule too.
Yamashiro Takuma turned around. "The ninja academy does not only teach you ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is important, but before ninjutsu comes listening to rules, listening to your companions, and listening to whether you are being hasty."
Listening to whether you were being hasty.
That sentence made Che's fingers pause.
The words on the blackboard were simple: Listen before answering. Yet they were like a thread, pulling him back through the Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique, the evaluation questions, his reply beneath Hokage Rock, and the conflict with Keisuke. Too many times, before someone had even finished speaking, he had already constructed an answer in his head.
Yamashiro Takuma began calling on students.
"If a teacher asks you a question whose answer you know, what should you do?"
A Konoha child immediately raised his hand. "Answer!"
Yamashiro Takuma nodded. "And before answering?"
The child froze.
Kiyo muttered, "Pause for half a breath."
Yamashiro Takuma looked at him. "Kiyo, go ahead."
Kiyo stood up, clearly a little nervous. "Listen until they finish, pause for half a breath, then answer. Don't let your mouth be faster than your ears."
Someone in the classroom laughed.
Kiyo's ears turned red, but he did not sit down.
Yamashiro Takuma nodded. "Very good. Sit."
After Kiyo sat down, he