Kawaki Academy Arc: This Is Why Group Projects Are the Worst
So the episode starts with an announcement that the kids will do practical training out in the woods tomorrow. Kawaki is assigned to a team with dynamic duo Harika and Soul. Himawari is assigned to a team with Kae and Sosha, and she promises Kawaki she’ll look after the princess for him.
Himawari goes for the fist bump, but Kawaki leaves her hanging and just lectures her to make sure the mission stays secret. Big mistake. You should never leave an Uzumaki fist bump hanging.
The next day, the teams get together to nominate their leaders. Harika nominates Kawaki since he has “seniority.” Kae is leader of her team since she’s a princess. Konashi, the kid in the traditional clothes, starts acting suspicious.
The first training exercise is tree walking. The kids are doing a relay race to see who can collect the most flags. Kawaki is first, but as he walks up the tree, he gets distracted watching Kae. The princess slips and falls, but before Kawaki can help, Himawari catches her.
Kawaki spends the whole race distracted, causing his team to lose because Soul and Harika never actually get a turn. The girls let him know they are not pleased with his performance.
Next task is target practice. Things are going okay, but suddenly there’s a rustling in the bushes by Kae. Himawari and Kawaki both leap to her defense against the beast...but it’s just a bunny. The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog is having the day off, so it lets the children go unharmed.
Soul and Harika yell at Kawaki again for goofing off and sabotaging their score.
Third task is cooking curry. Kae is in charge of cutting onions, so she starts crying adorably. Kawaki goes on high alert, and rightfully so, because this princess is a danger magnet. Kae almost cuts her precious royal finger, but before disaster strikes, Himawari steps in to teach her proper knife safety.
Are you noticing a pattern yet?
So while Kawaki is stalking protecting Kae, Harika sends her bugs to drag his butt back to their own campfire. She and Soul scold him for not doing his share of the cooking, since he was in charge of the rice. But they’ve come to the conclusion that the rumors of Kawaki being badass were false and that Kawaki is actually a helpless little baby.
They apologize for giving him too much responsibility, and he apologizes for being flaky. They enjoy the curry, but not for long, because Himawari alerts Kawaki that Kae is missing. Note she does not bother telling her teacher. Just her brother.
They split up looking for Kae, who got a mystery note asking her to meet by a big tree. The mystery only lasts 60 seconds, because Konashi immediately runs to Kawaki crying that Kae is in danger and it’s all his fault.
Konashi wanted her to taste test his sweets for an upcoming competition, but he was too shy to ask her in front of everyone, so he lured her to a secluded spot in the woods. But before they could meet up, Konashi saw a giant flame bear and ran away, leaving Kae waiting obliviously alone.
Himawari finds Kae first, and the flame bear finds the princess second. The girls run from the fire-breathing bear, and Kae trips (of course). Hana-sensei saves them from an attack, then tells them to run while she distracts the bear. So Himawari carries the princess out of there like a knight in sunshiny armor.
The girls run into Kawaki and Konashi, and Himawari asks her brother to help out the teacher. Hana is doing her best against the bear, but it has flame breath and she has flower power, so she loses that fight.
Kawaki tears the bear away from the teacher. Konashi tells him to run because the bear is so dangerous, but he just one-shots the bear into a nearby cliff. She thanks Kawaki for saving them, but he just responds, “Damn it, pull yourself together. You’re a teacher, aren’t you?”
On one hand, that’s pretty harsh. I don’t think brawling with bears is part of the teachers’ job description. But Hana is a chuunin, and she’s responsible for the princess and the Hokage’s daughter, so...yeah, she really should have been able to handle a bear.
Everyone goes back to finish up the day’s training (yes, they stay in the woods even after the bear attack). Kawaki smokes everyone in the obstacle course. and his teammates realize he isn’t helpless — he really was just slacking. They are ticked off, but also pretty impressed.
Meanwhile, Konashi says Kawaki has inspired him to face things head on. He announces Kawaki is now his Master, and Konashi his eager disciple. Kawaki has no choice in the matter.
I think this episode has made Kawaki realize how normal younger siblings act and how good he has it with uber-mature Himawari. Later he tells Himawari she did a good job helping him protect Kae (let’s be honest, she did most of the work today), and the two have a sweet sibling moment.
