"Sasuke! Look out!"
Naruto and Shikamaru, who had been training, were interrupted by Ino's shout and turned to look. They saw Sasuke falling from a tree and instinctively ran over.
Sasuke, who was falling, had a look of unwillingness on his face. He was so close, just a tiny bit more, and he would have succeeded.
At this moment, he couldn't even manage to curl his body as much as possible to avoid greater injury as his Chakra and stamina were completely exhausted.
As he was about to hit the ground, Shinji appeared in a flash, rushing over and catching Sasuke in his arms.
Sasuke, held by Shinji, looked at him with a bit of surprise. He hadn't had a good attitude towards Shinji just moments ago, and now he was unexpectedly being saved by him.
"Sasuke, take a rest first."
Shinji frowned as he observed Sasuke's body, only relaxing when he realized it was due to Chakra exhaustion.
Naruto, Shikamaru, and the others, who had run over, all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Shinji catch Sasuke.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Ino, standing nearby, asked with a touch of worry.
At this question, Sasuke finally reacted, quickly stumbling and struggling out of Shinji's embrace. Then, ignoring everyone, he walked off to the side alone.
Sasuke felt extremely embarrassed at that moment. He even failed in front of classmates whose grades were nowhere near his own.
Naruto, who had initially wanted to mock Sasuke, found the words stuck in his throat.
Shinji patted Ino's hair and smiled at her, signaling that everything was fine. Then he walked over to Sasuke and squatted down.
Seeing someone approach him, Sasuke, already annoyed, was about to tell them to go away. But when he looked up and saw that it was Shinji, he paused.
Soon, Sasuke lowered his head again and said in a low voice, "Shinji-sensei, I'll rest for a bit, then I can continue."
Towards Shinji, who had just saved him, Sasuke felt he couldn't bring himself to speak ill.
"It's okay, rest first." Shinji smiled and shook his head, reaching out to brush the dust off Sasuke.
"Sasuke, I want to ask you something." Shinji, feeling Sasuke had calmed down, finally spoke.
"Mmm." Sasuke just kept his head down, responding in a low voice.
Shinji said, moving his body and sitting down next to Sasuke, "You should have realized your Chakra was insufficient, so why did you still insist on climbing up?"
"I..." Sasuke opened his mouth, but for a long time, he couldn't utter a single word.
Yes, why did he still grit his teeth and push through when his Chakra was clearly insufficient?
It was because Shinji had mentioned how much time Naruto and Shikamaru had taken to complete the tree-climbing training. He, however, couldn't complete it no matter what, which made him anxious and attempt to climb the tree again even with insufficient Chakra.
"Sasuke, you need to know, when ninjas are on missions, if you act like that, clearly lacking the ability but still insisting on rushing forward, what do you think the consequences will be?"
At this point, Shinji's tone gradually became serious.
Teach others by first teaching yourself, educate others by first educating your heart. This was something Shinji, in his role as a teacher, strictly demanded of himself.
Sasuke's recklessness, in an ordinary world, would at most only harm himself but this world was different. One slip-up, and everyone could die together.
"The consequence will be that your squad members will fail the mission because of your recklessness, and in serious cases, everyone will lose their lives."
Sasuke, who had been looking dejected, couldn't help but be stunned upon hearing this.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, he had heard more or less about various ninjas performing missions. He naturally knew that what Shinji said was true.
Sasuke finally said after a long pause, "I'm sorry, sensei."
Shinji said, "You don't owe me an apology, because your actions caused Ino's worry and self-blame for you. Naruto and Shikamaru are also very worried about you. After all, they didn't do anything, but because of your recklessness, they almost witnessed you get injured."
Sasuke, hearing this, looked surprised, and he lifted his head to look in Ino's direction. At that moment, Ino was looking at him with an expression of worry and self-blame. Upon seeing Sasuke's gaze, she quickly changed her expression to a smile.
And while Naruto and Shikamaru stood far away, they occasionally cast their gaze over. For a moment, Sasuke felt his eyes sting, and he buried his head in his arms.
If he were to cry now, he swore he would definitely commit suicide. It was too embarrassing.
Shinji, seeing this, chuckled silently and got up to leave. As he walked, he gestured for Ino and Naruto to come forward.
The little ones, receiving the signal from their teacher, exchanged glances and then stepped forward.
Shinji quietly walked out of the training ground. Some things might have a better effect if handled by peers. Moreover, he himself intended to foster the bonds between the few of them.
Ino came forward and asked, "Sasuke, are you okay?"
Sasuke, who had already composed himself, finally looked up. Looking at Ino's worried face, his expression softened, and he said gently, "I'm fine, Ino."
This made Ino pause, as Sasuke had never really used such a tone with her before.
Naruto rubbed his nose with his index finger, saying awkwardly, "Tch, you arrogant Sasuke, when you've rested, lord Naruto will teach you, don't worry."
Sasuke looked speechless, but he knew Naruto was concerned about him. He just turned his head away, ignoring him.
Shikamaru stood to the side, his hands clasped behind his head. He secretly sighed, thinking it was really troublesome.
Choji rummaged in his ninja tool pouch, pulled out a military ration pill, and handed it to Sasuke, saying, "Sasuke, this is my clan's special military soldier pill, it will be more effective."
Sasuke was surprised, then reached out to take it, saying in a low voice, "Thank you."
Choji waved his hand, indicating it was unnecessary.
Naruto had a mischievous expression, cupping his right hand to his ear as if listening, and said in a strange tone, "What did you say, Sasuke? Too quiet, Choji can't hear you."
Provoked by this, Sasuke threw caution to the wind and shouted loudly, "Thank you!"
Naruto said, crossing his arms with a disgusted expression, "Heard you. Even your thanks are so awkward, truly the arrogant Sasuke."
"Pfft..." Ino, who couldn't hold back, involuntarily burst out laughing.
The next second, she immediately covered her mouth, her expression making the boys present pause. Then, they all burst out laughing.
"Hahahahaha..."
At this moment, Sasuke was also amused by Naruto's words, and he looked up to see everyone laughing. A smile appeared on his face as well.
These guys really are... annoying.