Konashi Nerikiri

Diligent yet timid, Konashi throws himself into his work while struggling to speak up. Keen as he was to enter a sweets contest, he could not bring himself to ask Kae what she thought of his creations, resorting to a written note requesting a private meeting rather than approach her face to face. Watching Kawaki take down a flame bear finally gave him the nerve to ask her outright, and it left him with a lasting admiration for the older boy.

His real talent lies in confectionery, an inheritance from his family of sweets artisans. Kae, herself accomplished at the craft and familiar with celebrated chefs, sampled his work and praised both its flavor and its presentation.

Konashi enrolls in a new Academy class overseen by Hana Kaka, sharing the room with several notable children, among them the Seventh Hokage's daughter, an acting duo's daughter, the Land of Bamboo princess Kae Yukiwari, and the conspicuously older Kawaki. Grouped with Mimi and Kande for a field exercise, he loses his nerve about seeking Kae's advice and instead leaves her a note. The same day he flees a flame bear, is found by Kawaki, and comes away impressed enough to finally speak to Kae himself. He pitches in to fix the stage after a scuffle between Kawaki and Eiki damages it during rehearsals for the class play about the Sannin.

At the festival he mans a snack booth, thrilled when Chōchō Akimichi enjoys his sweets and resolving to improve on her critique, and he keeps out of harm's way when a terrorist threat surfaces. Afterward he visits the wounded Hana in the hospital with handmade treats. The class later undertakes survival training on a remote island, where vanished supplies and rumors of missing-nin sow fear, and there he shares his newest dish with Kae and Kawaki.

When Kawaki and Himawari reveal that Hana is in truth an assassin holding Kae, it is Konashi's nose, catching the scent of the pastry he had given her, that turns up a trail of crumbs leading to the cave. The ordeal ends with Hana's teacher self winning out over her killer instinct, and once Kae departs for home, the class at last performs its Sannin play and sees her off at the station.