In the Sunagakure Barrier Team's conference room.
The oversized, ostentatious round table that once took up so much space had been removed. In its place stood a blackboard that occupied nearly an entire wall, a podium below it, and row after row of desks and stools.
At the podium, Hii Kōri held a baton formed from Barrier Techniques. His gaze swept sharply over the trainees below, his expression extremely stern.
As for the trainees—ninja assigned to the Barrier Team—each one hunched over their desks with a troubled conscience, terrified of meeting his eyes. They looked exactly like moles huddled in their burrows.
A group of chūnin, even jōnin, were being completely dominated in presence by a child not even ten years old.
The thing that had created this truly "magnificent spectacle" was their utterly shameful performance over the past few months.
"You! Number 183! Stand up!"
"Yes, sir!"
The trainee whose number was called squeezed his eyes shut and stood up with the look of someone about to make a glorious sacrifice.
"Answer me. What is this barrier?!"
Whoosh!
The barrier combat baton whistled through the air, tearing it apart as it pointed directly at the nose of the ninja whose name hadn't even been remembered—only his designation, Number 183, remained.
"It's a Closed-Type Partition Barrier!"
The crimson combat baton felt like glass, but his gaze couldn't go through it. It was covered in a hazy mist. Number 183 looked at the characteristics one by one, and compared them with the knowledge he had learned. His eyes opened wide, and he spat out his answer as if he was being chased by something scary.
"Then I'll ask you this! What are the good and bad points of a closed-type partition barrier? Just list three of each."
Even though Hii Kōri was wearing glasses with round frames that blocked his view, his gaze still felt like a sharp stab into Number 183's skin.
"Uh... advantages include strong blocking capability, high stability, no obvious blind spots... disadvantages... it's also difficult to investigate the internal situation from outside, and also... also... Gwaah—"
"Other disadvantages are that the caster themselves aren't exempt, and it's completely incompatible with any other techniques. Go copy it a hundred times. Next week, I'll test you directly on practical application."
Stepping forward and lunging, he swung his baton and struck Number 183—who had stammered for ages without managing to produce a new answer—right in the stomach. With one blow, he shattered the barrier the man had instinctively created, and following through, sent him flying. Hii Kōri flicked his wrist and pointed his baton at the next student.
"Next! Then I'll ask you—"
...
Standing at the entrance to the Barrier Team's large conference room, Karura covered her mouth with wide, innocent eyes, her other hand resting on the door handle. She looked like she wasn't sure whether she should open the door or not.
If she wasn't mishearing things, that vigorous, scolding voice seemed to be Hii Kōri's?
And if it wasn't her imagination, aside from that, had she just heard sounds that really shouldn't be coming from in there—like the swinging of a baton, barriers shattering, and someone getting smacked flying and slamming into a wall?
"Gwaah—!!!"
Another sound of someone flying through the air, immediately followed by the door visibly shaking.
"..."
Karura paused, blinking, and took a deep breath. She knocked on the door anyway and turned the handle—
And was immediately encased in a crimson, triangular pyramid-shaped barrier.
"See, this is the effect of a Trap-Type Barrier."
At the podium, Hii Kōri extended his baton and poked the barrier trapping Karura inside. His expression was completely calm as he explained to the trainees, "Simply put, it's an autonomous technique that ignores all other conditions and only follows the rule of 'if something happens, it triggers.'"
"Tell me, what are its advantages and disadvantages?"
"It can be used to set traps on its own. And because fixed trigger conditions are established, the technique redundancy originally meant for fine control can be exchanged for various other effects, such as increased strength, additional curses, enhanced concealment, and so on."
Number 183, who had just been smacked flying by the baton, nonchalantly raised his hand from the ground as if nothing had happened, dusting himself off while answering the question.
"The only problem is that, because the trigger conditions are fixed, it could be set off by something unforeseen. If you want to keep it going for a long time, you'll need to set up a backup energy supply system."
"Ah... was I pushing too hard just now? Your brain seems to work pretty well."
Tapping his back with the baton, Hii Kōri raised a hand to scratch his fluffy hair and casually dispelled the barrier trapping Karura.
It had been over three months since he took over the Barrier Team. After being tortured for a while in the early stages by the terrifying reality that "these people really can't learn calculus," he had finally found the teaching method best suited for this Barrier Team.
The baton. Education.
Simply put, it was a teaching method where he used various types of Barrier Techniques to form the shape of the baton he was accustomed to, then pointed it at the students' noses and asked questions. If they couldn't answer, he'd swing the baton at them.
He had to say, the results were remarkable. In just three months, these students with "perfectly smooth cerebral cortices" had rapidly become masters of Barrier Techniques—truly adept at them.
Well, adept, but not quite adroit.
Never mind whether they understood the theory; being able to use it was enough. If they were really curious and motivated, they could come to him for tutoring afterward.
During this time, he felt his own teaching abilities had improved quite a bit too.
Of course, there had been a few ninja who couldn't stand this rough teaching style and applied for resignation, but such people numbered less than five.
It wasn't like they'd never been hit while learning ninjutsu before. Everyone actually had a pretty high tolerance for this thrilling, exciting "life-or-death" style of course.
It was a mutual understanding, really.
"So... coming to find me during work hours, is something up?"
Straightening the woolen cap on Karura's head that had slipped slightly from her startlement, Hii Kōri's expression softened a few degrees as he pinched her still-round cheek and asked quietly.
"Um... Shūko-nee gave birth. It's a boy."
"?!"
Upon hearing this, Hii Kōri's expression turned serious.
He let the barrier baton fall to the ground, smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes caused by his intense activity, and straightened his back. To the others, his whole "art style" looked much rougher, with lines that were much more intense.
Simply put, it was like he had walked straight off the set of Fist of the North Star as an end-of-century tyrant.
"Next week's class is canceled, but there will be a pop quiz the week after. Go prepare properly. Oh, right, remember to notify the people in the Sealing Team too—"
With this as his class dismissal announcement, Hii Kōri took Karura's hand and rushed out, leaving behind the Barrier Team members watching him go with affectionate smiles.
Shūko was Mataza's girlfriend of five or six years, now his wife. The two had gotten married at the beginning of the year and immediately "caused a life," spending the last few months at home focusing on preparing for the birth.
Because of this, Mataza's application for jōnin promotion had also been postponed.
Actually, Shūko wasn't due to give birth until next week. If not for that, Hii Kōri wouldn't have scheduled class today, and he wouldn't have needed Karura, who worked in the Medical Corps, to come and tell him.
By the time the two arrived at the hospital, Shūko had already been wheeled back to her room to rest and recover.
Mataza stood in the nursery, both hands resting gently on the incubator as he gazed tenderly at his son.
"Have you picked a name yet?"
Standing beside his older brother figure, Hii Kōri examined the "little ugly thing" in the box, keeping his voice very, very soft.
"Sasori. What do you think? It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"Sasori... 'Scorpion,' huh? They're actually quite common creatures in the desert."
"Ah, yeah. They're common lifeforms. I just hope this kid can grow up ordinary and healthy, like those creatures."
The man who had once lived in prolonged low self-esteem because of his parents' brilliance sincerely bestowed this wish upon his child.
There was no need to become a dazzling genius. As long as he could live happily, that was enough.
"Yeah, it's good. Actually, that's even better."
For some reason, Hii Kōri thought of his original body's parents.
This feeling was probably something all parents shared, once they had children.
Turning to look at Mataza's profile, Hii Kōri showed the most peaceful smile he had worn since arriving in this world.
"Family... it's really something special."
"Hm? Did Kōri say something just now?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering when Shūko-nee will be able to see the child."
***
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