Everyone looks at Zato in disbelief. No one expect that kind of answer, not even Hakai himself, whose expression shows genuine shock.

“Huh?! If you are just a coward you, should have just stayed at home and be a farmer! No one needs a weakling like you, jumping out of bushes to the rescue, armed with bullshit virtuous speeches!” exclaimed a very frustrated Dargon.

“Hey, watch yourself, you jerk! That’s no way to speak to someone” interjected a very annoyed Alisa.

“Don’t tell me you actually believe THAT, over the top, corny shit?!” asks Dargon, who is visibly annoyed over what Zato said and how he said it.

“I don’t know who this guy is and what his deal is, so I am going to refrain from judgment, but if he’s legit about it, then he must be a really old soul” retorted Alisa with a tone of superiority in her voice.

Hakai tries to diffuse the arguments by providing insight to Dargon and Alisa, as to why Zato is different from them.

“No, no that’s probably just how self conscious Jagan users tend to get....although, not many ninja get to work with one, because most of Jagan users chose undertake the roles of mages and priests within Saiga, in lieu of becoming ninja.” added Hakai in a flat tone.

“Wha’ da hell is a Jagan?” asks a confused Dargon.

“I’ve never heard of that either” added Alisa, equally confused.

An extremely annoyed Hakai claps his hands together, gaining the attention of all 3 Genin. After gaining their attention, Hakai, with his hands clasped, points towards Zato as he says:

“Hey, Zato, do you want to do a little show and tell for the class and educate your peers on to what a Jagan is? They seem to have skipped the ninja history class when they spoke about your clan’s special power”, declared Hakai in a slight condescending tone.

Zato takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, before speaking, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.

“It’s a very troublesome ability with which everyone in my clan is born. It improves my ability to use ninjutsu, but it blinds me every time I use it and over time, due to prolonged use, it will cause me to go insane.” said Zato with a defeatist tone.

Alisa immediately snaps at Dargon, with renewed vigor in her voice:

“How can you be, SO INSENSITIVE, you jerk! This guy....Zato was it...is obviously trying HIS BEST for his clan and family and you...you just stomped all over his feelings without knowing where he comes from....apologize right away you...you...conceited...JERK!”

Dargon is taken aback by the situation, but is snapped back into reality by Alisa’s renewed bickering and opts to argue back, equally upset with her, over the fact that she won’t stop picking a fight with him.

“It’s HIS fault for not disclosing properly!” shouted back Dargon.

As he looks Alisa straight in the eyes, he realizes that, there is no point in arguing over whether apologizing is the right thing to do or not and instead opts to argue as to why Zato’s answer sucked.

“He should have added at the end of his speech, that he feels, that way because of his powers – or even better, start the conversation by expressing the dissatisfaction of having powers with such a high requirement to manage!” retorted Dargon, not wishing to lose the argument at first.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

After realizing how far down he pushed Zato down, Dargon takes a moment to consider, that maybe… just maybe, Alisa (maybe) is partially right.

“But still, I probably went to far with that farmer comment, sorry man, my bad” replied Dargon in a more calm manner.

“It seems there is a pretty smart kid, hiding behind that facade of an arrogant brat” thought Hakai to himself.

“But still, corny is not the way go man! You either go for the based guy attitude or the strong guy attitude” added Dargon in a condescending tone, making Hakai shake his head in disapproval while Dargon, Alisa and Zato are looking at each other.

‘And thus, Dargon has ruined whatever good will he gained from his peers by actually apologizing, to Zato. Had he refrained from forcing self improvement suggestions in the most arrogant way possible with the most condescending tone possible, he could have disproved my previous preconceptions about him being, an arrogant brat and actually make me believe he might have a brain inside his head....well done, dumb-ass Genin of the year’ thought Hakai to himself.

While pointing her finger at Dargon, Alisa remarks angrily that:

“You have no right to critic others about being corny, when YOU, came off just as corny, as Zato, with that whole wanna be tough guy act. I mean seriously, do you think you are the protagonist in some corny adventure story or something?”

As he allows himself to become amused over the arguments of both Dargon and Alisa, Hakai thinks to himself that:

‘She is absolutely vicious, but I think her spewing venom is her way of unwinding from all the anxiety she built up over her first day as a Genin. So, thanks to this foolish bickering, we all get to see Alisa’s true self...although....this whole protective mother bear with a sharp tongue, persona is totally unexpected.’

“Was I that corny, Alisa?” asked Zato, his tone showing genuine concern about coming off as awkward.

“Sorry, please don’t get it the wrong way, but, you haven’t made a good impression on us” said Alisa in an apologetic tone.

“No, no, it’s okay, I appreciate the honesty....from both of you” said Zato, in a soft voice, trying to hide is embarrassment, about giving everyone a first bad impression of himself.

“What do you mean it’s ok?! This guy just totally blasted you for no reason and gave you no chance to defend your argument in a decent conversation. How can you be ok with that level of disrespect?” asked Alisa, with new fire in her voice.

“Oi! First off, my name is Dargon and secondly, how is it OK, for you to openly criticize him for being corny, while I am the asshole for doing it” interjected Dargon with indignation.

“First off, you don’t openly confront problematic people as it is often not worth the effort. Just try and get to know them to the point where you can decide if there is any point in maintaining communication with them or not, then act accordingly” retorted Alisa.

“It’s true, that is the correct way to go about things and I am still using that process on both of you” retorted Zato innocently while having his eyes closed.

Hakai was impressed, with Zato’s ability to deliver a burn to his peers, despite his personality type, however, he was unsure as to why he would allow his frustrations to manifest so late in the conversation.

“Alisa, while I appreciate the effort of trying to help me out in what is an anxious situation for everyone, despite Dargon’s tone, that was valid criticism and I think that, as team mates we should be both honest with each other and respectful towards our opinions”.

Zato takes a small pause, before resuming his speech:

“Although, I was totally caught off guard by Dargon’s blatant honesty and was struggling on answering properly” admitted Zato, as he slowly opened his eyes, revealing that the Jagan had been activated during this conversation, his eyes now fully engulfed in darkness as if possessed.

“Oy ! Zato, why is your Jagan showing?” asked Hakai, slightly concerned about what Zato might do next.

“I’m sorry, it’s just a reaction to embarrassment and stress. I didn’t mean to come off as hostile” admitted a very embarrassed Zato.

“What the hell man, are you sure you are going to be ok having a tic which can cause madness in the future?” asked a concerned Dargon.

Zato then promptly answers: “Obviously not, I’m still working on resolving this bad habit of mine.”

Hakai felt very uncomfortable by this revelation, as he recalls reading in Zato’s student file that, as a first year academy student, Zato was able to beat two final year ninja academy students in a straight up brawl, while blinded by his Jagan.

If the Jagan, activates by itself, as a mental defense mechanism in fight of flight situations, then, by Hakai’s standards Zato represents a potential danger to the team, because he could potentially hurt his team mates while blinded by both the Jagan and his emotions.

“By the way Zato, why not become a mage in place of a ninja. With that power of yours, you’d surely be able to produce magical tools that would help many ninja get the job done and not put anyone at risk?” asked a visibly confused Dargon.

Hakai nods in approval as he appreciates the fact that Dargon’s critical thinking abilities are better than what his grades indicated.

Asking a Genin like Zato if he would be better off as a mage is not something Hakai would naturally consider, as most Ninja Academy prospects are not a good match for the Magus Academy.

“My grades weren’t good enough to pass the entry exam for the magician’s course as a Jagan user. I went to the Ninja Academy because the adults in my life, encouraged me to pursue this career path, saying I have talent for this line of work” replied Zato, his head tilted towards the floor.

‘He beats up two upperclassmen while loosing control of his Jagan and gets encouraged to stay a ninja? What the hell was the council thinking? Guess I will find out during the stress test.’ thought Hakai to himself, intrigued by Zato’s answer.

“I am very happy everyone managed to build such a good rapport in such a short time - this will obviously help you out on the special practical exam we are going to do next” declared Hakai, with a wide grin on his face.