"Hmm, it's still crush trauma, but this time much more severe than the last incident. Fortunately, the doctor treating him once studied under Lady Tsunade, so the child's injuries were healed successfully."
In the hospital room, the doctor explained the situation to Uchiha Yowan's parents, who had rushed over in distress.
"Will this affect his future fertility? After all, that area has been damaged twice now..." Yowan's mother asked with concern.
While they discussed the injuries, Uchiha Wada also arrived at the hospital and spotted Fugaku at the main entrance.
"Fugaku, look at this! Because of your concessions, the Uchiha have once again been trampled underfoot. What does the Hyūga clan think they are, daring to treat our younger generation this way?!"
Without even inquiring about what had transpired, Uchiha Wada immediately began berating Fugaku upon seeing him. His domineering attitude greatly displeased Uchiha Yashiro and the others standing behind Fugaku.
"Uncle Wada, as soon as this incident occurred, Yashiro immediately rushed over with his team. After investigation, it was confirmed that the Hyūga boy acted carelessly during the exercise—this has been acknowledged by the Hyūga clan as well."
Though Fugaku, as clan leader, was also irritated by Wada's attitude, he maintained appearances by suppressing his anger and explaining patiently.
"The Hyūga clan is evil by nature—they've always harbored hostility toward us Uchiha. How could this possibly be accidental?!"
Wada completely ignored Fugaku's explanation, determined to make the Hyūga clan pay a price.
"The Third Hokage has already characterized this incident—it was negligence on the teachers' part. He'll personally visit Yowan's parents to apologize later. Besides, don't incidents sometimes occur in our own clan school when children lose control during training?"
Seeing Wada's nearly unreasonable attitude, Fugaku's tone immediately became stern.
Hearing that the Third would personally apologize, Wada's momentum slightly diminished, but he still stubbornly protested: "Our clan school would never strike so precisely. Even among ninja, I've never heard of anyone's... that area... suffering two severe impacts. If you ask me, this must be the Shimura brat conspiring with the Hyūga kid to orchestrate this deliberately."
"The ninja world always produces events beyond our expectations—just as no one anticipated the Second Hokage would perish during peace negotiations with Hidden Cloud Village. Fate is inherently unpredictable, and many things are most likely mere coincidences, Uncle Wada."
Although Fugaku privately also believed such coincidences were impossible, Yashiro was his trusted subordinate. Since even he hadn't uncovered any evidence, it proved the situation was exactly as the Third described—a coincidence.
"Hmph! Do as you please!"
Seeing Fugaku had no intention of pursuing the matter further, Wada threw out this parting remark and departed angrily.
"Sigh..." Watching Wada's retreating figure, Fugaku sighed helplessly, adjusted his mindset, and turned toward the hospital room to inform Yowan's parents of the situation.
Compared to the unreasonable Wada, Yowan's parents, though also harboring grievances, accepted Fugaku's explanation and asked him to relay a message to the Third—that a personal apology visit was unnecessary, as long as the school could prevent such incidents in the future.
...
"In summary, this matter concludes here. The exercise is postponed until next week, with groupings remaining unchanged." Itō Makoto, deeply moved by the Third's words, wiped away his tears and entered the classroom to announce this news.
Hearing that exercises would continue next week, Class Two remained calm, but Class Three—especially the male students—erupted in wails of despair.
Now the entire Ninja Academy knew Class Two harbored a terrifying "Exploding Ball Kid" capable of targeting a man's "second brother" from a hundred meters away. How could the Class Three boys, who had witnessed Yowan's tragic condition firsthand, accept this?
However, upon learning the original groupings would remain unchanged and that the first group wouldn't participate in the upcoming exercise, the male students finally unclenched their tightly pressed legs and relaxed.
As long as they didn't have to face that Exploding Ball Kid, everything would be fine.
Hmph, they might even defeat those so-called geniuses Kakashi and Feng Bai.
The ninja world was so unfair—not only were those two called geniuses, but they were also handsome, constantly attracting the class girls' attention while completely ignoring everyone else.
They absolutely had to teach them a lesson, especially those adorable faces—they needed to be thoroughly trampled!
The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and knowing Hyūga Iroha wouldn't participate in combat, the Class Three boys felt confident again.
"Let's go, Exploding Ball Kid—come eat dango with us." As dismissal time arrived and Feng Bai's group prepared to depart for the dango shop, Feng Bai—a key figure in the group—extended an invitation to Hyūga Iroha.
"Who's the Exploding Ball Kid? Get lost!" The usually well-mannered Hyūga Iroha rarely used profanity, demonstrating just how furious he currently was.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk—can't even take a joke. Look at Obito over there—I torment him daily, yet he's never been as hostile as you." Feng Bai pointed toward the somewhat innocent Obito in the distance.
"Ha! If Obito could beat you, he'd have pinned you down and ground you into the dirt long ago." Hyūga Iroha rolled his eyes and replied irritably: "Thanks to you, now the entire school knows I'm the Exploding Ball Kid. Are you satisfied, Young Master Shimura?"
At this moment, Hyūga Iroha remained completely unaware that his reputation had already spread throughout the entire village.
Had he known, he would have rushed forward to bite Feng Bai to death.
"Alright, alright—I'll treat you to dango as my apology, okay?" Feng Bai casually draped his arm around Iroha and forcibly dragged him toward the exit.
Thus, under Feng Bai's persistent pestering, Hyūga Iroha followed them to the dango shop.
"Auntie, the usual order—add one more portion. I'm treating today." Arriving at the dango shop, Feng Bai immediately called out to the proprietress, emphasizing that he was paying.
"Oh, it's Feng Bai! Please sit—you brought a new companion today?" The proprietress smiled warmly upon seeing Feng Bai and noticed Hyūga Iroha beside him.
After giving Iroha a friendly smile, the proprietress returned to her work.
"Hey kid, move aside—that's my seat." Seeing Hyūga Iroha instinctively about to sit beside Feng Bai, Anko quickly pushed him away and claimed the spot herself.
"Tch, fine, fine—who wants to compete with you anyway." Hyūga Iroha muttered quietly, then, at Asuma's invitation, sat beside Kakashi.
Hmm, one brooding type paired with one poker-faced individual—perfect.
Observing the two rather taciturn boys, Feng Bai smiled, then chatted with Asuma and the others as usual, exchanging various rumors they'd heard and occasionally sharing training insights.
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