Conflict

Chapter Thirty-Two: Conflict

Recently, Ayato had been feeling a bit stressed. Naruto's progress was simply too fast. With Ayato's guidance, he had fully taken advantage of his strong recovery ability.

Every training session, he basically had to push past a limit before he would stop. As a result, Naruto's physical abilities had improved by leaps and bounds.

Watching Naruto's progress, Ayato could not help wondering if he had accidentally unleashed a monster.

However, Naruto's rate of improvement soon slowed down. The first few sessions had been too effective. Once his body had caught up in all aspects, the training was still effective, but the gains were no longer as dramatic.

Even so, his progress was still far faster than that of an ordinary person.

Naruto's physical condition was much better than Rock Lee's. Ayato smacked his lips, feeling that at this rate, Naruto would become rather formidable in taijutsu alone.

Thinking that, Ayato could not help wanting to see Naruto. Then he noticed the seat beside him was still empty. He was more or less used to it by now. Naruto was probably late again. When it came to being late, Naruto was a repeat offender.

Suddenly, a figure rushed into the classroom and ran straight toward Ayato.

"Ino, what is it?" Ayato looked at the panting Ino in surprise. Usually, Ino was quite the "lady," completely unlike the sight before him, with both hands braced on the desk as she gasped for breath.

"Ayato... Ayato, this is bad. When I went to the restroom just now, I saw Naruto being bullied by some upperclassmen," Ino said between breaths.

Ayato's expression changed. He was currently a Shadow Clone and could not really help, but he still asked, "Tell me where."

"In the Small Woods Behind the School Playground," Ino quickly replied.

There? Ayato was somewhat puzzled. Why would Naruto be there? Then he suddenly realized Naruto was probably late again and had tried to take a shortcut, only to be spotted by those delinquent students.

"Ayato, should we go find a teacher?" Ino suddenly remembered that she had not told a teacher yet. The moment she saw it, she had thought of Ayato and run straight over.

"Mm, go find Iruka Sensei," Ayato said after thinking for a moment. Then he stood and rushed out of the classroom.

Ino thought about where Iruka Sensei might be. First period was not Iruka Sensei's class, but he should still be in the office, right?

With that thought, Ino ran toward the office again.

Shikamaru also lifted his head from the desk and frowned. Naturally, he had heard what Ino said. Naruto was being bullied?

And by upperclassmen, too. That was troublesome.

Still, Ino had already gone to find Iruka Sensei. As for now... Shikamaru frowned and let out a sigh. It looked like he still had to go take a look.

"Choji, Kiba, one of our classmates is being bullied," Shikamaru called to Choji and Kiba beside him.

Choji continued eating his snacks without much reaction, but hot-tempered Kiba slammed his hand on the desk and roared, "What?! Someone actually dares bully my classmate? Where is it? Which guy is being bullied?"

"Probably near the playground. It seems like Naruto is the one being bullied," Shikamaru said calmly.

"Naruto..." Kiba immediately hesitated. He did not seem to have much of a relationship with him, and his family had even warned him to stay away from Naruto.

"Oh, it seems you and that guy aren't on very good terms," Shikamaru said in a rather irritating tone.

"Even if we're not close, I can't let outsiders bully him! Let's go!" Provoked, Kiba suddenly felt much clearer-headed. He shouted and rushed out first.

Shikamaru swept his gaze over the classroom again and clicked his tongue. Kiba's loud voice had likely carried through the entire room, yet few people were willing to stand and follow. Once they heard it was Naruto, most of them acted as though it had nothing to do with them.

Shikamaru sighed. The plan was a small success, at least. He had originally wanted to use Kiba to rally more people, but that did not seem possible. Still, at least Kiba was going.

"Choji, let's go too." Shikamaru grabbed Choji and headed outside.

Choji did not resist much. He had no ill feelings toward Naruto, and Naruto often stood punishment with him, so he should help. Of course, Naruto was usually punished for being late, while Choji was punished for eating snacks during class...

What Shikamaru did not know was that after they left, Sasuke also glanced at the empty seat in the back. After considering it for a moment, he slipped his hands into his pockets and leisurely walked out of the classroom.

It was not just Sasuke. Shino, wearing dark glasses with half his face hidden beneath his clothes, silently followed as well.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata Hyuga twisted her index fingers together, deeply worried about Naruto. Seeing that no one around seemed to be paying attention to her, she stood up and, like an unnoticed little shadow, slipped through the classroom and ran toward the playground.

Naturally, Ayato knew nothing of this. The moment he rushed out of the classroom, he dispelled his Shadow Clone and sent the news of Naruto being bullied back to his main body.

Although Ayato had chosen a training ground not far from the school so that he could recover more Chakra after dispelling his Shadow Clone, it would still take some time to get there.

Fortunately, Ayato clenched his fists, his eyes flashing. He had only just finished warming up and had not trained himself to the point of exhaustion yet. His fighting strength was at its peak.

They dared bully his precious son... no, his good friend. They were practically asking to die. Ayato sprinted toward the school at top speed.

After training all night yesterday, Naruto felt a little tired and sleepy. When he woke up, he discovered it was already very late.

Naruto stuffed a slice of bread into his mouth, gulped down his milk in a few swallows, and raced toward the school.

But that alone could not prevent him from being late, so he had to take a shortcut. Just as he was about to reach the school, burst out of the woods, and dash onto the main road, he nearly ran into someone.

Though he did not actually hit them, both Naruto and the other person were startled.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized first. Then, seeing he was short on time, he wanted to leave immediately.

The person Naruto had nearly hit patted his chest and let out a relieved breath. He had almost been struck. When he recognized Naruto's familiar figure, malice suddenly rose within him.

"What? I thought someone was charging around recklessly. So it's you, you monster. Well, that's no surprise."

Naruto froze mid-step. He turned and glared at the person, fury rising in his eyes. "I'm not a monster!"

"Heh heh, if you're not a monster, then who is? Haven't you seen all the adults calling you a monster?" the person continued, breaking into laughter.

His companions had obviously heard the same thing before, and they laughed as well.

Monster, monster...

The smiles on their faces and the words from their mouths made Naruto clench his teeth tighter and tighter. Perhaps he should not fight, but he could not hold it in.

Even if he was late, even if he got beaten up again, he could not swallow this anger without fighting back!

So Naruto charged at them. But he was alone, and he was younger than they were.

Even though Naruto had trained for several days under Ayato's guidance, there was no way he could surpass upperclassmen who had developed two or three more years than him.

Before long, he was knocked to the ground and surrounded as they mocked him.

"So this is all you've got, monster? You're not that impressive!"

"Everyone, come look! This is the monster in our village. I knocked him down~"