On the way to the Ninja Academy, Tendo finally understood why his female boss had shown up at dawn.
It turned out that after Mizuki picked a fight and got beaten yesterday, he hadn't swallowed the insult. Instead, he'd gone straight to the top, reporting the incident to Tendo's superior, Inuzuka Akita.
In Mizuki's version, he was a pure white lotus. He claimed that despite Tendo's endless provocations, he had swallowed his pride, and even when struck, he had refrained from fighting back out of respect for Inuzuka Akita.
The only reason he had come to complain, he alleged, was his fear that Tendo's arrogance would one day bring real disaster. I, Mizuki, am simply worried sick about Tendo-kun that was the gist of it.
His plan was to drive a wedge between Inuzuka Akita and Tendo. Even if Akita shielded her subordinate and threw Mizuki out, he could still spread the story to ruin both of their reputations.
What Mizuki never expected was that the brute-strength Inuzuka family had produced an oddity like Inuzuka Akita.
The woman was big-hearted both literally and figuratively sharp-minded, and brilliant.
She didn't swallow Mizuki's one-sided tale, but she still courteously showed him the door, promising to visit the Academy the next day to clear things up.
Only after hearing the truth from Tendo did she curse aloud: "That schemer, such sinister motives…"
"He even said he wanted to invite you to the latest Ninja Academy graduation ceremony to fight the top student, Hyuga Neji.
I actually thought he had some misunderstanding with you and wanted to make amends now it's obvious he's up to something else."
[New Quest: Accept the challenge and defeat the Hyuga prodigy, Hyuga Neji.]
[Reward: Byakugan (Purity: Common)]
Tendo looked at the quest with a complicated expression. He felt he ought to curse Mizuki along with his boss, but the man kept throwing quests his way.
He knew a bit about Hyuga Neji: the Ninja World's famous Cupid's arrow. In the early days, he had a genius reputation equal to Sasuke, yet later he became a well-known background character and died in obscurity born wronged, dying stifled.
Mizuki had his reasons for picking him for this fight. At this stage, Neji, a Hyuga prodigy freshly graduated, already stood a cut above the likes of Mizuki those Chunin who had crawled up the ladder by seniority.
And even if Tendo won in the end, Neji was still from the Hyuga Clan and carried the title of the new generation's top genius. Slapping the Hyuga in the face would still land Tendo in hot water.
Such was Mizuki's chain trap; as a villain, he did have some brains.
Tendo's attitude was simple: let the Hyuga come. It was the perfect chance to test the system's limits.
He smiled faintly, the expression carrying three parts disdain, three parts confidence, and four parts arrogance.
"Going by your usual style, I thought you'd refuse outright. I didn't expect you to accept," Inuzuka Akita said meaningfully, glancing at Tendo. "Tendo-kun, it seems you still have secrets I don't know."
She didn't press him, though; secrets make a woman more attractive, and the same holds true for men.
A woman as wise as Inuzuka Akita knew you can't push a man too hard; you need rhythm tight and loose, fast and slow so he'll willingly spill every secret.
The Ninja Academy.
It was an educational institution founded by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, meant to train civilian ninja and break the clans' monopoly on knowledge one of the few good deeds ever attributed to him.
Tendo's feelings about Tobirama were mixed. The policies inherited from him kept the Uchiha Clan from ever merging into Konoha and ultimately led to their extermination.
But then again, if the Uchiha hadn't been wiped out, the system inside Tendo might never have awakened.
Seen that way, Tobirama wasn't Tendo's enemy he was practically a benefactor.
Which meant all of Konoha's higher-ups were Tendo's benefactors. Yes, all benefactors, no enemies.
Soon, Tendo met another benefactor.
Yesterday, Tendo had struck with no mercy. Though bandages covered the injury, Mizuki's winces while speaking showed he was still in pain.
But nothing spurs action like ill intent. The instant he heard Tendo had accepted the fight against Hyuga Neji, Mizuki seemed to forget the pain.
Fearing Tendo might back out, he hurried the pair to the school training ground.
Konoha valued the Ninja Academy; it had been built right next to the Hokage Building, ringed by vital installations so students could be protected or evacuated quickly in an emergency.
Even in land-scarce central Konoha, the Academy's training ground was vast.
Right now, two classes were using it: Neji's class, already graduated and on free time, and Iruka Umino's class.
"Hey! Aren't you the guy who caught me yesterday?" Tendo had barely stepped onto the field when a loud voice rang out. It was Uzumaki Naruto, whom Tendo had tackled to the ground the day before.
"Hello, Naruto-kun," Tendo greeted with a grin, then swept his gaze around.
Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino… in one go, he had seen all twelve of Konoha's future "little powerhouses.
The twelve looked and acted different; some returned his glance with polite smiles, some shyly tried to hide, some cared only for their snacks, and some simply swooned.
"Sakura, look, look the new guy is super hot!"
The blonde Yamanaka Ino stared wide-eyed. She'd thought Uchiha Sasuke or Hyuga Neji were top-tier, but someone had outdone them.
"No way, Ino-pig, Sasuke-kun is still the coolest," pink-haired Haruno Sakura muttered, though she lacked any real conviction.
"Kiba, seeing your cousin yet not coming to say hello?" Inuzuka Akita cheerfully called to her little cousin.
Kiba, used to being toyed with by her, abandoned his attempt to shield everyone and obediently greeted his cousin and the "big brother" who accompanied her, a man Kiba had long admired.
Anyone who could tame that tigress was incredible; Kiba shot Tendo a look of respect.
Mizuki gathered Neji's classmates and announced a demonstration match between Tendo and Hyuga Neji.
The reason given was lofty: after passing the graduation exam, the students would soon undertake real missions and inevitably clash with ninja from other villages even rogue ninja so combat experience was unavoidable.
The teacher had meant to spar with Neji himself, but alas, he'd been injured yesterday; fortunately, Tendo had volunteered, etcetera, etcetera.
The excuse was almost convincing Tendo nearly believed he'd misjudged Mizuki's good intentions.
Afterward, Mizuki praised Tendo's strength and told Neji not to hold back, to give one hundred and twenty percent, certain that Tendo wouldn't be hurt.
Thus, he neatly rescued his own tilting reputation.