Konoha Notes.

Chapter 487 Victory and Defeat

Chapter 487 Victory and Defeat

As someone with a remarkably high intelligence, Shikamaru learns everything very quickly. After personally experiencing the treachery of adults, he sensed an opportunity to put it into practice and used it without hesitation.

He had already figured out the core elements of the matter.

Shikamaru was quite certain that as long as Iruka took care of things, all that remained for him to do was the final small part. Given this, there was no need to expend extra energy.

Only those who have always taken on the work can understand this feeling.

It turns out that getting rid of the work that's been weighing you down is such a comfortable thing.

Today he truly understood Choji's culinary philosophy.

The same thing, like lying on a table, feels completely different when you're supposed to be working versus when you're being lazy and not working.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, intending to savor the lingering aftertaste while it was still there.

"A huge victory!" Fu burst into the classroom, holding up a piece of paper covered in signatures. "We've collected so many signatures!"

Naruto followed closely behind her: "These are only a portion; there are still many people who haven't signed yet."

"Well done, Naruto, Fu. Run a little more, cover a few more classes." Shikamaru silently encouraged him.

There was only a lukewarm response in the classroom.

Naruto and Fu exchanged a glance, and then Naruto announced, "Midori-sensei has also joined our ranks!"

'

Shikamaru, who had been lying down, sat up straight.

"Which green teacher?"

"Mr. Green from the Secretariat? Why would he also—"

"You're kidding, right?"

Several voices emerged simultaneously.

Naruto, hands on hips: "Because those names are just cool."

Fu mimicked the gesture: "Good ideas always get approved, right, Naruto?"

"That's right!"

Some people are also pouring cold water on the idea.

"Maybe Teacher Green is just being enthusiastic."

"Yes, he really takes good care of everyone."

Fu wasn't angry at those words. With a little time before class started, she took the paper and wandered around the classroom, asking everyone if anyone else wanted to sign it.

She was never annoying, and in no time, she got two more people to sign their names.

Naruto approached Shikamaru with a mischievous grin, his eyes clearly fixed on him: "If Shikamaru continues like this, he'll really have no chance left."

Shikamaru propped his chin on his hand, his eyes still looking sleepy: "Really? Then you guys better keep it up, Naruto."

Naruto chuckled smugly, wanting to talk to Shikamaru again, and even planning to bring Choji over.

But another dissenting voice emerged.

"Do you know how much of a burden such a long title adds to the workload of other people?"

His right hand was still wrapped in bandages, but that didn't stop him from doing his usual pose—both arms on the table, fingers together and pressed against his face.

Most of his face was covered by his arms and hands, and only his black eyes could be seen.

"This system will be applied to every Chunin in the future. Even the name of a badge might not be able to be written on a single line."

Naruto immediately replied, "In that case, wouldn't it be better to use a larger piece of paper?"

"Or write the words smaller."

Sasuke lowered his eyelids: "That's something only someone who's never been involved in the work would say."

"Do you understand how much trouble such arbitrary changes will cause in the end, Naruto?"

Naruto frowned and squinted.

Sasuke rarely said anything that seemed to make sense to him, but also didn't seem to have any major problems.

"Brother Shuji also supports this name," Naruto countered with a new character.

These are the people he can think of who have indeed done a lot of work.

Sasuke's fingers tightened unconsciously.

If Iruka hadn't said yesterday that Shuuji would be stationed at the Ninja Academy permanently, he would have gone to the West Suburbs Experimental Building to ask in person what that man had said about him outside.

Even so, he almost went to ask his brother if that person had spread any strange rumors again.

After this lingering resentment resurfaced, Sasuke's voice turned colder: "I don't know why Mr. Shuji supports this. But this length is completely unnecessary."

Anyway, that man has his moments of erratic behavior. Maybe this was an endorsement he made during one of those erratic moments.

Naruto couldn't find a suitable reason to refute. But he had already promised Minato he would do his job well, so he simply raised his hand and pointed his index finger directly at Sasuke.

"Anyway, I will definitely get this done. Just you wait and see, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't say anything; he saw the reactions of the other students in the class.

The presence of a popular mentor doesn't carry much weight. While the students think Green Kui is a nice person, they're not going to change their stance just because he's joined.

But the other person's agreement completely changed the course of events.

A large crowd quickly gathered around Fu.

"I'll sign one too. I was just about to sign it, but I didn't have time."

"Since Lord Shuji has agreed, he must have his reasons."

"Wait a minute, let's line up!"

Some students pulled out new autograph sheets from their bags, folded them into small pieces, and handed them to the students in the front row. Others, unable to squeeze in, simply called out their names from outside, asking Fu to write them down for them.

Seeing this, Naruto immediately perked up. He was about to seize the opportunity to give chase when he heard Sasuke fire again.

"We still have no idea why Mr. Shuji agreed."

"If it is truly his will, there is no need for you to seek other people's opinions."

Iruka, who had just entered the classroom, overheard this.

He was first surprised to see the crowd surrounding Fu, then immediately seized on the pretext given by Sasuke.

"I was there at the time." Iruka walked quickly to the podium. "Captain Shuji didn't necessarily want the current long name. He was just expressing his personal preference."

Preferences.

As soon as the word was uttered, Karin immediately pulled a pen from her pencil case, squeezed into the crowd surrounding Fu, and signed her name.

Sasuke looked at Iruka.

A few days ago, he encountered teammates who had a negative impact for the first time: Uchiha Yakumi and his group.

Today, he encountered his teammate who was dragging him down for the second time—his homeroom teacher.

Iruka felt a little embarrassed by Sasuke's gaze. He cleared his throat and, using the excuse of starting class, announced that the students should leave Fu's side.

The crowd reluctantly dispersed amidst several cries of "Mistake—".

Fu sat back down in her seat, not forgetting to hold up the consent form with even more names added, and wave it at Iruka.

She was smiling so smugly.

Could it be that we're really going to lose?

Professor Umino involuntarily swallowed.

He couldn't help but look inquisitively at his student, and Shikamaru, his teammate who had taken on the same mission.

Shikamaru turned his face away.

He had the same thought as Sasuke. Reliable adults were a rare breed in this village, and Iruka Umino clearly didn't belong to that breed.

Without official confirmation from the opposing teacher, even if Naruto and his friends' arguments are lively, they can only bring the situation to a state of balance at best.

To gain a complete advantage, Shuji himself needs to make a public statement.

But Iruka's extra comment only solidified Shuuji's stance.

If things continue like this, Naruto's side will truly be completely outmatched. At that point, his mission will be a total failure. He had no desire to find out if the wicked adults would use this as an excuse to do something else.

Shikamaru turned to Sasuke's position.

The Nara and Uchiha children's eyes met. They confirmed each other's current stance.

The lecturer was bored, and the students were uninterested.

When the bell rang, Sasuke and Shikamaru stood up and walked out together. Iruka followed closely behind.

The three of them arrived at the corner of the corridor and, after confirming that there were no people around, Shikamaru spoke first.

"The Hokage's office's plans and Shuji-sama's personal inclinations are two different things. This difference must be made clear to every teacher. If possible, please go and confirm it now and bring back their statements."

"It's unlikely that everyone would be so—" Iruka said, somewhat incredulously. The other Chunin instructors weren't students; how could they be swayed by a casual remark from Shuuji?

Shikamaru rubbed his temples.

"In short, please don't go to anyone else to confirm Shuuji-sama's thoughts. Just focus on explaining the impact of the crest."

He paused, having already mentally considered several times how to minimize the spread of the phrase "Lord Shuji likes it".

But when facing Iruka, he chose to use simpler wording.

"As long as the other Chunin teachers remain steadfast, at least the direction of each class won't completely turn against us. We can still find a way to deal with the rest."

After Shikamaru finished speaking, he turned to Sasuke.

"To counter Lord Shuji's influence, we can only use the influence of more people to offset it. Even if each individual's influence is far less than his, we can at least influence a few people and make them stand firmly on our side."

"Ino, Sakura, and the others, as long as they can listen to our reasoning and think our arguments are more convincing, they will speak up for us."

"Each of them will then influence a group of people around them."

Sasuke didn't immediately respond, but instead asked, "Is there any other inside story about this?"

Nara Shikamaru met his gaze.

"We need to debate with Naruto and the others properly and achieve a good result. That's what we need to do. That's also the village's wish."

Sasuke nodded, turned around, and walked back to the classroom.

He walked through rows of tables and chairs. After the class, fewer people were gathered around Fu and Naruto than before. But it wasn't because their enthusiasm had waned; rather, many had already signed their names and were now starting to tell Naruto and Fu about the advantages of having long names.

Sasuke ignored them and walked straight up to Sakura and Ino.

The two women hadn't signed yet, seemingly hesitating about something. Karin and Shion stood to the side, one having clearly taken sides, the other still observing.

Upon seeing Sasuke approach, Sakura immediately looked up, hesitating about how to express her opinion.

If it were just Fu and Naruto playing around, we could ignore it, but now it involves two people.

Furthermore, she had already accepted Sasuke's request to help observe Midori Aoi's actions. She hoped to use this opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings. Midori Aoi didn't seem like a bad person at all.

But now that Green Aoi has sided with Naruto and the others, will making a different statement affect their future actions?

The pink-haired girl was in a bit of a dilemma.

Sasuke looked at them.

He originally wanted to reiterate those principles again. Those principles about work efficiency, about practical operation,

He had already gone over the issue of system load in his mind several times, confirming that every point he made was valid.

But he paused before speaking.

During the break between the previous classes, when he argued with Naruto, he hadn't truly realized who the influence he was fighting against came from.

That was the name that had been surrounding him since before he even enrolled in school.

The elder brother respected him as a senior, the person his father mentioned in a special tone, the village hero, and the creator of this world.

Now, a certain inexplicable emotion has arisen within me.

So when he spoke, he didn't utter the reasons he had prepared beforehand.

"If this is something that can be decided without considering one's own needs, why should Naruto and Fu do it?"

"The reason why Mr. Shuji doesn't directly intervene is to carefully consider the implications and make a judgment based on the actual situation."

"Because he doesn't want people to ignore what they really need to see just because of their own preferences."

These were not words he had prepared beforehand. But after he said them, he realized that this was what he wanted to say.

"If we just follow things because we like them, we'll miss out on what we really need to see."

After saying that, he didn't offer any further explanation or advice, but simply stood there watching them.

Sakura stood there, stunned.

This was the first time she had heard Sasuke say something like that.

She sensed that Sasuke wasn't just talking about the present moment.

My mind went blank for a moment.

That concludes our discussion of the previous request.

Sasuke didn't explicitly say what it was, but Sakura and Ino both understood.

Then Sasuke walked over to Naruto.

The classmates who were originally surrounding Naruto and Fu saw him coming and instinctively made way for him.

Sasuke stopped and looked at Naruto: "I will go and tell the others my thoughts. Let them know what the choice should be."

Naruto looked at Sasuke. His expression was unusually serious, lacking his usual confrontational tone.

"I have a reason why I can't lose, Sasuke."

Sasuke let out a soft snort through his nose.

"Let's see who wins then."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the classroom door.

Fu looked up from the autographed paper, glanced at Sasuke's back, and then at Naruto.

She felt that the atmosphere between the two of them was different from usual for a moment just now. But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different.

"We should get going, Fu." Naruto also stood up.

Fu carefully put away the autographed paper: "You seem to be more motivated than at the beginning, Naruto."

Naruto grinned and said, "Since Sasuke has already declared war, how can we not accept?"

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