Training Turmoil

This place was equipped with countless targets, making it convenient for Shuriken practice. Since it was in the woods, there were rivers nearby as well, allowing for Water Release and Fire Release training.

When Sasuke practiced the Great Fireball with Itachi, they did so by the river here as well.

"Let's see which blind fool dares to cause trouble for Team 7!"

Ye Liang stormed over angrily.

Several ninjas around his age had Rin Nohara and the others tightly surrounded. From the looks of it, if Kakashi had not been there, they would have already made their move.

"What happened?"

Ye Liang walked over.

"Teacher Ye Liang, they were already surrounding this place when I arrived."

Ye Liang turned his gaze toward Rin Nohara, but she avoided his eyes and did not answer him.

Looks like this little girl is angry with me.

"Sorry, sorry, it was the teacher's fault. There was suddenly an emergency at home, so I couldn't make it to our appointment in time. You have to believe your teacher!"

Ye Liang spoke solemnly, but Rin Nohara still ignored him.

"Rin! A person should stand on their own and strive to become strong. Your teacher failing to make it on time was actually meant to teach you this lesson. Only when you learn to be independent can you become truly strong!"

Ye Liang added.

"Stand on my own and strive to become strong?"

Rin Nohara suddenly reacted. She looked at Ye Liang suspiciously. Could that really have been what Teacher had intended?

Seeing Rin Nohara wavering, Ye Liang immediately pressed his advantage.

"That's right. Only once you have the will to strengthen yourself can your teacher proceed with the next stage of your training. Rin, you didn't disappoint me. Even though your teacher wasn't here, you still persisted in practicing at the training ground!"

"Your teacher is very pleased!"

"So that's how it was! Teacher had been testing me all along! I didn't notice at all, and I nearly wronged Teacher. I'm so stupid!"

Rin Nohara immediately grew remorseful. She looked hard at Ye Liang, her eyes filled with guilt.

"Rin! It's good that you understand!"

What the hell does standing on your own and striving to become strong have to do with anything!

Ye Liang's skin was already so thick that no one could rival him.

He looked at Rin Nohara with complete seriousness, speaking tenderly of the bond between teacher and student. He did not even crack a smile, as though every word were true.

"Hey! Are you done talking yet? You've been yapping on and on. Do you think we don't exist?"

That group of chunin suddenly spoke up.

The moment Ye Liang arrived, he started rambling to the girl. They had no idea what he was saying, but they had still been forced to watch an unbearably sweet scene.

"You're this team's teacher, right? We're chunin who were just promoted this year. With the war about to begin, this little girl is hogging our training targets. It's seriously affecting our training!"

"So you attacked my team members?"

Ye Liang's expression turned cold.

Rin Nohara was unharmed, but Ye Liang clearly spotted a scorch mark on Kakashi's wrist.

It was obviously a burn caused by Fire Release!

"What do you mean? From the sound of it, you don't intend to make way for us?"

"I'm telling you, pre-war training is perfectly reasonable! You're nothing but worthless genin. You have no right to occupy such precious training equipment. Move aside now, or don't blame us for taking action!"

"Worthless genin?"

Ye Liang's expression darkened further.

"Haha, someone who can't even throw a Shuriken accurately—what else would they be but worthless genin?" The group immediately burst into laughter.

Ye Liang suddenly noticed that Rin Nohara's eyes had turned red.

He understood at once.

They must have been talking about Rin Nohara. He did not believe Kakashi could miss with a Shuriken, and his anger flared.

They could insult him, but they could not insult Rin Nohara!

Ye Liang was not the type to coddle his students, but he was the type to protect girls. Besides, he did feel somewhat sorry toward Rin Nohara over what had happened today.

If he had not made up that excuse on the spot, Rin Nohara would not have suffered this kind of bullying.

"Since you say genin can't throw Shuriken accurately, then let's have a Shuriken contest!"

"A Shuriken contest? With whom? You?"

"With her!"

Ye Liang suddenly grabbed Rin Nohara's arm and raised it high.

"Ah, Teacher, what are you talking about? I'm terrible with Shuriken!" Rin Nohara immediately cried out.

"It's fine. If your teacher says you can do it, then you can. Don't you trust your teacher?"

"No, no! Of course Rin trusts Teacher."

Rin Nohara hurriedly explained, but the chunin burst into laughter.

They had seen Rin Nohara's skill just now. Saying she could hit one out of ten would have been flattering; she could only hit the target once after throwing more than twenty Shuriken!

"Teacher, are you joking? I might believe it if you were competing, but you want her to do it? Haha! Have you gone stupid?"

"Hmph. Are you competing or not?" Ye Liang snorted coldly.

"Of course we're competing. But it would be boring to compete like this. How about we wager something?"

"A wager? What do you want to bet?" Ye Liang asked irritably.

"I still have ten thousand ryo from the mission I just completed in my pocket. You're a teacher, so you can wager however much you want, but there has to be some stake."

"Fine, I accept! We'll wager ten thousand ryo!" Ye Liang said boldly.

He had just completed a mission and still had some spare money in his pocket, but Rin Nohara beside him immediately became unhappy.

"Teacher! I really can't do it!" She frantically signaled to Ye Liang with her eyes.

It would have been fine if there were no stakes and they were just competing for fun, but ten thousand ryo was far too much. It would take several B-rank missions to earn that much!

"It's fine. If I tell you to go, then go." Ye Liang gave Rin Nohara a push.

Since he dared to have Rin Nohara compete against a chunin in Shuriken throwing, he naturally had some confidence.

Otherwise, how could a nouveau riche who valued money as much as his life possibly gamble half his wealth?

Ye Liang secretly rejoiced. He already had a complete plan.

"Good! Since it's settled, let's begin!"

The chunin immediately got into position and walked over to one of the targets.

"We'll start from here!"

He stood a hundred meters away and casually threw a Shuriken.

"Fourth ring!"

The blade landed beside the center, only one ring away from the bullseye!

"Good! Hitting the fourth ring from a hundred meters away is already an extremely high score!" The chunin immediately began to gloat.

"Then keep going."

Ye Liang spread his hands at him.

This contest consisted of ten throws, with the higher final score winning.

It was a test of endurance, because throwing Shuriken consumed a great deal of concentration and placed heavy demands on one's stamina.

"Don't panic. Just do as I say, and you'll naturally surpass him." Ye Liang whispered a few words into Rin Nohara's ear.

At that moment, Rin Nohara's palms were covered in sweat. She was clearly extremely nervous.