Meanwhile, in the small woods beside the restroom.
"Heh~"
"Haha~"
Mizuki, dragged forcefully out of the toilet, shouted in fear, "What do you guys want to do?!"
A delinquent cracked his knuckles and stepped forward with a grin. "Nothing much—just let you experience our little initiation ritual for newbies."
"W-What ritual?"
"Just some good senior guidance from us upperclassmen. And then, naturally, a small token of appreciation in return."
Mizuki could clearly sense their ill intent but still asked, half-hoping, "So… I don't actually need any guidance, right?"
The group laughed mockingly. "How can that be? We third-year seniors are your finest senior brothers! When we say guidance, that means *guidance!*"
Mizuki's heart sank as he discreetly scanned for an escape route using the corner of his eye, trying to distract them with conversation. "Why me? There are plenty of other first-years!"
"Of course because you're the easiest target! Who told you not to have any friends?"
Mizuki's mind suddenly flashed with Seiki's repeated invitations.
But immediately afterward, he recalled his family lost during the war. "*Friends? Friends are unreliable! Family dies, friends die—only yourself is worth trusting!*"
"*Those who have nothing to lose aren't afraid of losing anything at all!*"
Seeing Mizuki fall silent, the bullies grew bored—they wanted drama, not quiet resistance.
"You bastard, give us some kind of reaction already!"
"Yeah, staying quiet like that thinking you look cool..."
Before the sentence ended, Mizuki suddenly sprinted toward the girls' restroom.
He knew he had no hope of outrunning these third-years, but bet they wouldn't dare chase him there lest they be labeled perverts.
"Darn it! How dare you run!"
However, Mizuki hadn't taken more than a few steps before someone kicked him into the air.
"With such weak strength, you still dare to resist?" Shuunen declared coldly from the edge of the woods.
Normally, he wouldn't go through this much trouble, but today was different—it was for the honor of Uchiha!
Witnessing this, the gang broke into wicked grins as they surrounded him.
"What? Why aren't you running now?"
"Not even listening to your seniors—you first-years think you're so high and mighty too?"
Seemingly triggered by old memories, rage burned in Mizuki's eyes as he charged forward. "Damn it—I'll fight you to the end!"
One of the delinquents easily caught Mizuki's punch and sneered, "Heh, full of spirit... ahh!"
Mizuki, a veteran street brawler since childhood, struck straight into the guy's groin without hesitation.
The hit delinquent clutched his legs together, staggering down onto his knees with a twisted posture, tears of unbearable pain pouring from his eyes.
The others instinctively flinched at their own groins before charging in fury.
"That damn brat—beat him up!"
"Don't hold back anyone!"
Mizuki was obviously outmatched and could only curl up on the ground shielding himself.
"I will take revenge!"
"I will definitely kill them!" Mizuki roared inwardly, his iron will the only thing keeping him from slipping into unconsciousness.
But gradually, even his awareness started to fade.
"Am I going to die? No, I don't want to die yet!"
Suddenly, the beating stopped.
"Finally done?" Dazed, Mizuki forced his swollen eyes open.
In his blurry vision, those arrogant and brutal third-years had all stepped aside, staring behind him with expressions filled with horror and fear.
"What's going on?" The thought flickered through Mizuki's dazed mind when he heard a familiar voice inquire from behind.
"Mizuki, can you hold on a bit longer? Bear with it, I'll heal you right away!"
Actually, even Seiki himself felt somewhat puzzled. According to his estimation, Mizuki shouldn't have suffered such severe injuries.
Could it be that he did something particularly bad to these third-years?
"But this situation might actually benefit me more!" Seiki narrowed his eyes slightly. His hands flashed through hand seals at full speed as multiple plans quickly took shape in his mind. A pale green glow enveloped Mizuki, making him feel so comfortable he almost moaned aloud.
Meanwhile,
Seeing Mizuki's miserable state, even some classmates who previously didn't like him very much felt a twinge of sympathy, then turned their glares toward the third-years.
Stared down by so many furious gazes, the group of third-years trembled with fear, their legs going weak beneath them. At the same time, they inwardly blamed Shuunen and that idiot advisor.
Weren't we promised no one would care about these minor guys?
Shuunen gathered his nerve and stepped forward. "First-years, what do you plan to do?"
Seeing Seiki healing Mizuki, Asuma pushed to the front without thinking twice. "Shouldn't be hard to guess—attacking someone!"
Shuunen's momentum faltered momentarily. These words used to be theirs to say. What annoyed him even more was that the speaker was none other than Sarutobi Asuma—the one person he most wanted to defeat.
Taking a deep breath, Shuunen continued, "You guys must also dislike this Mizuki a lot, right? There's no need for everyone to become enemies over someone like him."
Asuma looked displeased. "I only know one thing—you touched someone from our first-year class! Seiki said anyone who dares to harm our people will regret it!"
Shuunen twitched slightly at the corner of his eye. He originally assumed that as the son of the Hokage, Asuma would be unhappy about getting shown up like this. However, judging from current events, it seemed nothing like that at all.
At that moment, the earlier idiot advisor stepped out again. "Fine then, let's follow the rules and challenge each other fairly!"
Asuma widened his eyes in disbelief. "Third-years fighting against us first-years—do you even dare call that a fair challenge?"
Without even slight embarrassment, the advisor waved his hand dismissively. "How about two-on-one then?"
Asuma hesitated slightly, glancing toward Seiki.
Seiki had finally stabilized Mizuki's condition and now stood up.
Instantly, every pair of eyes focused on Seiki—expressions filled with expectation, jealousy, fear, and admiration among others.
"Even though he's just a first-year ninja student, the way he stirs up trouble is really enviable!"
"Wow, I wish our second-year class had someone as strong as him too!"
The senior ninja students from other grades who arrived with the crowd also started getting excited seeing this scene.
Seiki didn't answer directly. Instead, he first looked toward Shizune. "Shizune, you can use Medical Ninjutsu too, right?"
"Eh?" Unprepared for Seiki calling her out in front of so many people, Shizune nervously lowered her head. "I-I know a little."
"That's good." Seiki nodded. Then his sharp gaze turned toward Shuunen and the others. "We're all ninjas. And ninjas... don't believe in fair fights!"
Hearing Seiki's words, the freshmen all wore friendly smiles on their faces.
Seeing what was happening, the third-year bullies panicked. "Wait, don't come over here... Stop!"
Before their words finished, the group that had been holding back their anger already rushed forward.
In an instant, screams, wails, and pleas for mercy rhythmically echoed through the forested mountains.
Students from other grades watched in horror and firmly decided they'd never provoke the freshmen again!
After about ten minutes of beating, Seiki finally called a stop to these rampaging freshmen.
"Shizune, come help me treat them."
"O-Okay!"
Though somewhat confused, Shizune wasn't someone with strong opinions of her own. As soon as she heard Seiki's request, she obediently agreed and followed him.
Raising his puffed-up face, Shuunen stubbornly declared, "Hmph! Don't think this means we'll ever forgive you!"
Looking puzzled, Seiki raised his head. "Forgive? For what?"
A sudden ominous feeling surged in Shuunen's heart, but he still asked, "You aren't trying to reconcile with us?"
Seiki shook his head with a smile. "I just thought, after healing you guys, I'd beat you up again!"
The other bullies were completely stunned. At this moment, Seiki's image in their eyes became even more terrifying than a demon's!
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Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!