Ninja School Teacher, I Can Become Stronger by Teaching - Chapter 52

“This is what happened. I conducted a practical exam in my class this morning.” Mokutsuki explained the situation that happened during his class to Tani Toshihiro.

However, Mokutsuki slightly softened the students’ complaints to avoid making them sound too harsh.

“I only wanted to motivate them to train harder. I didn’t expect this to happen. I’m really sorry.” Mokutsuki said with an apologetic expression.

“It’s my fault for being too harsh in my evaluations. I should have been more lenient.” Mokutsuki took all the blame upon himself.

Although it was Tani Toshihiro’s own poor teaching skills that led to the students’ dissatisfaction, Mokutsuki was the one who brought it to light.

But Mokutsuki didn’t want to ruin his own image, so he chose to tell Tani Toshihiro everything directly and admit fault, claiming that he unintentionally caused trouble while trying to help.

This way, no matter how the situation was analysed, Mokutsuki wouldn’t be seen as having ulterior motives.

After all, he had informed Tani Toshihiro about everything as soon as it happened. Such a considerate colleague couldn’t possibly have bad intentions.

“This…” Tani Toshihiro didn’t know what to say for a moment.

He knew that the students weren’t wrong; his teaching skills were indeed inferior to Mokutsuki’s and quite average.

But no one in the ninja academy could compare to Mokutsuki. A new teacher who, after just a couple of months, became well-known throughout the school, gained the recognition of all students and teachers, and was even praised by the Third Hokage.

Comparing himself to Mokutsuki was simply asking for trouble.

“I’ve already asked them not to criticize you, but they are just kids. They might agree outwardly, but who knows what they’ll actually do.” Mokutsuki sighed, looking at Tani Toshihiro with an apologetic gaze.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. After all, they’re just six-year-old kids.” Tani Toshihiro said with a chuckle.

Even if the students criticised him to his face, Tani Toshihiro wouldn’t give up his position as the taijutsu teacher for Class 1-A.

Because the practical exam results for Class 1-A were excellent, not only did they take the top two spots in the grade, but their average class score also led the entire year.

Although he knew these results had nothing to do with his teaching, they were solid results nonetheless, and he didn’t have to worry about his performance metrics. The bonuses would only increase.

“I know you’re doing this for the students, Hanyu-sensei.” Tani Toshihiro acknowledged Mokutsuki’s good intentions.

Even though this unexpected situation occurred, Tani Toshihiro still thought of Mokutsuki as a kind colleague who came to apologise and inform him immediately.

Originally, Tani Toshihiro had a taijutsu class in the morning, but he had something to do, so he switched with Mokutsuki, who had an afternoon class. Mokutsuki agreed right away.

Tani Toshihiro had heard about Mokutsuki substituting for other teachers as well. He found it hard to do the same himself. Once or twice might be okay, but being asked every week? Who could handle that?

High teaching skills, leading the class to top grades, being praised by the Third Hokage, and being good-looking and kind—Tani Toshihiro could only acknowledge that the female teachers in the office had good reasons to talk about Mokutsuki every day.

Knowing his own situation, Tani Toshihiro understood that the root cause was his mediocre teaching. It had always been like this over the years.

But Tani Toshihiro would never voluntarily give up his position as the taijutsu teacher for Class 1-A. Teaching at the ninja academy was meant to be a safe way to earn money, and this was an opportunity to earn a large bonus with little effort.

“I’m relieved to hear you say that, Tani-sensei.” Mokutsuki seemed to relax, showing a gentle smile.

“Haha, let’s go for a drink at the izakaya sometime.” Tani Toshihiro said with a laugh.

Mokutsuki nodded with a smile, chatted a bit more about trivial matters, and then found an excuse to leave.

When Tani Toshihiro returned to the office, a female teacher next to him curiously asked:

“Tani-sensei, what did Hanyu-sensei want?”

“Nothing much, just some small matters between the students. But Hanyu-sensei is really something.” Tani Toshihiro sat down and said.

He was naturally too embarrassed to admit that his poor teaching had been criticised by students, but using Mokutsuki to start a conversation with the female teacher wasn’t a bad idea.

When the class bell rang, Tani Toshihiro headed towards Class 1-A.

Entering the classroom, Tani Toshihiro didn’t feel anything different from before. As usual, he started with some theoretical knowledge about taijutsu and then took the students out for a run.

After the run, Tani Toshihiro began teaching taijutsu forms. After demonstrating once, he let the students practice freely.

“Tani-sensei, could you demonstrate a few more times? I didn’t quite understand.” Anko asked.

“These are the basics. If you don’t understand, it’s because you haven’t practiced enough. Just practice more.” Tani Toshihiro replied.

“But Mokutsuki-sensei always demonstrates many times and breaks it down into very detailed steps.” Anko retorted.

“Ninjutsu and taijutsu are not the same.” Tani Toshihiro explained.

“But taijutsu also has many practical techniques and details. Shouldn’t those be explained in detail?” Kotetsu asked.

Tani Toshihiro was speechless. As a half-hearted Chunin teacher, where would he find so many practical techniques and details? He casually brushed it off.

Then, a large number of students started asking various questions and making suggestions.

“Stop, stop. You all train first. Ask your questions in the next class.” Being bombarded with questions from dozens of students made Tani Toshihiro feel his head was about to explode.

“Tani-sensei, how about we each take a step back? We won’t ask questions, and you don’t teach us.” Izumo suggested.

Tani Toshihiro was bewildered. Were students these days so bold that they directly told the teacher not to teach?

But more aggressive comments followed.

“Tani-sensei, I think you should retire early. I haven’t hit the bullseye once after learning your shuriken throwing.”

“Tani-sensei, since taking your taijutsu class, the whole grade only praises our ninjutsu skills.”

Listening to the students’ aggressive remarks left Tani Toshihiro dumbfounded. In his three years of teaching, he had never encountered such a situation.

He thought that previous classes didn’t like him either, but it had never reached this extent.

Tani Toshihiro was thankful that Mokutsuki had warned him in advance; otherwise, he would have been completely confused about what was happening.

“Ahem, everyone, quiet down. I’ll demonstrate a few more times.” Tani Toshihiro coughed lightly and said helplessly.

Then Tani Toshihiro noticed something interesting: although the students were dissatisfied with him, they didn’t stop training. In fact, they seemed even more severe than before.

He couldn’t understand why students who disliked him would still train so diligently.

Tani Toshihiro thought it was Mokutsuki’s words that had an effect, making the students, despite their dissatisfaction, not dare to slack off in their training.

Tani Toshihiro felt a bit relieved and envious of Mokutsuki’s control over the class.

“Let’s just get through this year.” Tani Toshihiro didn’t want to give up his position as the taijutsu teacher for Class 1-A, hoping he might even earn an excellent teacher award.

If it were an ordinary class, and students spoke to him like that, he would immediately teach a few of them a lesson to show what a Chunin’s power was.

But this was Class 1-A, the best-performing class in the entire school.

The more Tani Toshihiro taught, the more the students realised his incompetence, strengthening their determination to get a new teacher.

(End of Chapter)

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