Ninja Classroom Under Anbu Surveillance

"Chiba, did you not sleep well again last night?"

Iruka had just walked into the classroom when he saw Chiba slumped in the back row, his cuffs stained with unwashed mud.

"I heard someone on the roof."

Chiba lifted his head, dark circles lingering under his eyes from the sleepless night.

"They have been staring at me the whole time."

The chatter in the classroom died down.

Iruka walked to the desk, blocking the gazes cast by the other students.

"The people the Hokage arranged are for your protection; they will not hurt you."

"That is what everyone in a mask says."

Chiba buried his face back into his arms, leaving only half an eye to observe the window.

A squad of Anbu was hidden in the tree canopy, and another was behind the school building.

The third squad was hidden further away, their chakra control better than those Root ninja from last night, yet they avoided the line of sight of the first two squads while repositioning.

Two squads belonged to the Third.

The remaining one came from Root.

"The old man Third assigned so many people to you?"

Naruto turned around, leaning over Chiba's desk with a face full of envy.

"Why don't they protect me? I want an Anbu escort too."

"Because you are too loud."

"What kind of reason is that!"

Iruka picked up a piece of chalk and tapped the blackboard.

"Naruto, turn back around. Today we are discussing chakra refinement. If you interrupt the class again, you can go stand outside the door."

Naruto pouted and sat straight, but Inuzuka Kiba leaned over from the other side.

"Hey, Chiba, that punch yesterday doesn't count. I didn't let Akamaru enter his state at the time."

Akamaru, tucked inside Kiba's jacket, barked twice at Chiba.

"Is your hand still hurting?"

Chiba glanced at the bandage wrapped around Kiba's right wrist.

Kiba shoved his hand under the desk.

"What is a little injury like this? I didn't continue because I was afraid of putting you in the hospital."

"Weak."

"You just wait!"

"Inuzuka Kiba, do you want to go stand outside the door too?"

Iruka put down the chalk, and Kiba immediately shut his mouth, while Akamaru retreated back into the collar.

The general layout of human meridians was quickly drawn on the blackboard.

"Chakra comes from physical energy and spiritual energy. You must maintain a balance during refinement; any excess on either side will result in waste."

Iruka picked up a leaf and stuck it to the center of his forehead.

"Today, we will first practice maintaining chakra. Keep the leaf on your forehead. Whoever lasts the longest has better control over their chakra."

"Teacher, what if there is too much chakra?"

When Chiba spoke, many people in the classroom turned to look.

Iruka thought for a moment and swapped the leaf for another.

"A large amount of chakra is an advantage, but the difficulty of control also increases. You should learn to reduce your output for now."

"How do I judge the total amount?"

"Refine it repeatedly and record how many times your body can handle it. However, you are all still young; you must not exhaust your chakra."

Chiba caught the leaf handed to him and pressed it against his forehead.

He sent chakra along his meridians. The leaf did not fall, but its edges curled up after a moment.

Excessive output.

He immediately cut it by more than half, and the leaf flattened against his skin again.

The chakra recovery speed brought by his Sage Body far exceeded that of the others in the class; the portion consumed last night had already been replenished.

If calculated based on the amount Iruka used in his demonstration, the chakra he could mobilize now was at least five times that of his peers.

And this was only his Sage Body before its second awakening.

"Mine fell, Teacher! There must be something wrong with this leaf!"

Naruto picked up the leaf that had landed on the tip of his nose and raised his hand in protest.

"There is nothing wrong with the leaf. You poured in too much chakra at once."

"Then I will use a little less."

The leaf was pressed to his forehead again, only to be flicked onto Sasuke's desk by an excess of chakra.

Sasuke removed the leaf and tossed it back casually.

"Idiot."

"Sasuke, who are you calling an idiot?"

"Whoever answers is the idiot."

Naruto rolled up his sleeves, intending to pounce, but Iruka grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back to his seat.

The class resumed practice, but Chiba voluntarily let the leaf on his forehead fall.

His duration was in the middle of the class—not enough to look useless, but not enough to make the Anbu raise their guard.

The branches outside the window swayed slightly once.

The Anbu squad belonging to the Third recorded the result.

Before lunch, a ninja wearing a Medical Corps armband arrived at the classroom door.

"Senju Chiba, the attack last night may have left hidden injuries. The Hokage has arranged for a physical examination."

Chiba recognized that face.

The person had stood behind the reception staff on the day he entered Konoha, and there had been a fixed strap inside the cuff to hide the identity of the Root organization.

"Where is the examination?"

"The Medical Department. It will be over quickly."

The man reached out, wanting to pull him from his seat.

Chiba recoiled, knocking over his chair. The commotion brought Iruka from the hallway.

"Don't touch me. You said the same thing last night—that you were just taking me away."

The ninja withdrew his hand.

"You misunderstood. I belong to the Konoha Medical Corps."

"Please present the Hokage's examination documents."

Iruka stood in front of Chiba and held out his palm to the man.

"Since this involves a student leaving school, I need to verify the paperwork."

"The documents will be sent later."

"Then we will conduct the examination later."

Their gazes met across a half-step distance, and a real Anbu soon appeared at the end of the hallway.

The medical ninja did not continue to argue and turned to leave the school building.

Chiba gripped the corner of Iruka's shirt, only letting go once the man was far away.

"Teacher, will he come back?"

"Without the proper paperwork, I will not let anyone take you away."

Iruka righted the chair and crouched down to check Chiba's arm.

"In the future, if you encounter something like this, come to me first. Don't try to tough it out alone."

"Can you beat them?"

Iruka's hand paused in mid-air, then he rubbed Chiba's hair firmly.

"A teacher will always put you behind them first."

Chiba did not dodge.

The words were not particularly clever, and they could not solve the prying eyes of Root, but they sounded better than the calculated concern from the higher-ups.

During lunch, he bypassed the playground, intending to return to the classroom from the edge of the training ground.

The sound of shuriken pinning into wooden targets came from behind the woods, the interval between each throw kept consistent.

Chiba pushed aside the drooping branches and saw Sasuke practicing his throws alone in the clearing.

Three shuriken left his hand in succession; two hit the bullseye, while the last one veered to the edge.

"Have you seen enough?"

Sasuke did not turn around, his hand already gripping new shuriken.

"Your shoulder lifted when you released."

"I didn't ask you."

"That is why the last one missed."

Sasuke reset his stance, this time deliberately lowering his shoulder. The shuriken grazed the edges of the first two and pierced the bullseye.

He turned to look at Chiba.

"You didn't use your full strength in that punch yesterday."

"You were hiding things, too."

"Want to fight?"

"As you are now, you aren't enough."

Sasuke gripped the shuriken tight, the cold indifference on his face finally cracking.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you are in a hurry to prove yourself."

Chiba walked past him without stopping.

"When the person you truly need to kill is standing right in front of you, being in a hurry will make you die first."

The woods were quiet for a moment, then the sound of throwing resumed behind him.

This time, every shuriken hit the mark.

Chiba walked out of the training ground, his peripheral vision sweeping over the roof of the school building.

The Root monitor was signaling to his companion, but the direction he pointed was not the classroom.

That direction was the Senju compound.