“Your swordsmanship is better than mine, but my Water Release and taijutsu are better than yours.”
Nawaki said it with complete sincerity.
“We should spar often and improve together.”
“Sure.”
Natsuki nodded.
Honestly, Nawaki really was a lot like Naruto—just a genuinely good person.
The only difference was that he didn’t have protagonist plot armor and died young.
Natsuki had no idea whether, now that he had become the butterfly changing things, Nawaki would still die to explosive tags like he did in the original story.
He hoped not.
People like Nawaki made excellent friends.
The same was true of Minato Namikaze.
Watching them, Tsunade couldn’t help smiling.
Nawaki had an outgoing personality, but because of his status and talent, he didn’t actually have many friends his own age.
This little brat Natsuki wasn’t bad at all.
“You guys are crazy strong, dattebane!”
Kushina suddenly blurted out.
The moment she said it, she realized she had accidentally let her verbal tic slip, and a faint blush immediately spread across her round little face.
“That’s a cute catchphrase.”
Natsuki said with a smile.
Kushina froze for a second, then awkwardly looked away.
“Since your spar is over, I should head back to Konoha Hospital for work.”
After a pause, Tsunade asked, “Are you coming back with me, or staying here to train?”
“It’s vacation anyway.
Doesn’t matter where I train.
I’m staying here with Natsuki.”
Nawaki answered without hesitation.
“I want to stay too.”
Kushina looked at Tsunade, her eyes full of hope.
“All right, then.”
After thinking it over, Tsunade agreed.
According to Konoha’s rules, once someone became the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, they had to stay long-term in a secluded place.
That was because the Nine-Tails jinchuriki was Konoha’s final trump card, and the fewer people who knew about them, the better.
But Kushina wasn’t the Nine-Tails jinchuriki yet, so there was no need to treat her that strictly for now.
That was also why she was allowed to attend school.
After Tsunade left, the three of them began training.
They were training together, but the content of their training was completely different.
Natsuki practiced tree climbing, Nawaki practiced Water Release, and Kushina practiced sealing techniques.
The most famous Water Release user in Konoha was Senju Tobirama.
As Senju Hashirama’s grandson, it was only natural that Nawaki was learning Tobirama’s Water Release.
And the sealing techniques Kushina was learning weren’t ordinary sealing techniques either—they were Uzumaki clan sealing arts.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the Uzumaki clan’s sealing techniques were the strongest sealing techniques in the entire ninja world.
Even tailed beasts, invincible as they were, turned into obedient little pets in front of Uzumaki sealing arts.
Compared to them, Natsuki’s tree-climbing training looked the most ordinary of all. The source of this chapter is g.com.
If he didn’t have cheats, he honestly had no idea how he would ever catch up to Nawaki and Kushina.
A month passed very quickly.
By the end of March, the Ninja Academy started up again.
“Natsuki, our medical ninja training class is holding its first exam next Monday,”
Yakushi Nono said as they walked.
“What are you being tested on?”
Natsuki asked curiously.
“Theory and practical work.”
After a pause, Yakushi Nono explained, “The practical exam is performing surgery on a fish.”
“I see.”
Natsuki immediately remembered that in the original story, Sakura’s earliest medical training had also started with treating a fish.
“If you can’t make it, you don’t have to come.”
Yakushi Nono tilted her head and glanced at him.
“It’s fine.
I can ask for leave.”
Natsuki lifted his chin slightly.
“I did come first in combat, after all.
Teacher Ishida Yuu won’t make things hard for me.”
Top students had privileges no matter where they were.
With his current ranking, even if he skipped class, Ishida Yuu probably wouldn’t say much.
Of course, that depended on his ranking not dropping in the next exam.
If it did, Ishida Yuu would definitely come after him.
“Okay.”
Yakushi Nono nodded happily.
As usual, Natsuki walked her to Konoha Hospital, then headed to the Ninja Academy.
New term, new classroom.
Their classroom had changed from Class 1-A to Class 2-A.
“Natsuki.”
Minato Namikaze asked with a smile, “How was your vacation?”
“Pretty good.
What about yours?”
Natsuki asked back.
“I spent the whole break training.”
Minato answered honestly.
“Mostly the Three Basic Techniques, ninja tool throwing, and basic taijutsu.”
“With your current level, training those any further won’t improve you much.”
Natsuki suggested, “If you’re not planning to graduate early, you should ask Teacher Ishida Yuu to teach you more ninjutsu.”
“That lines up exactly with what I was thinking.”
Minato nodded.
He wasn’t planning to graduate early for now.
One reason was that he was still young.
The other was that he still wanted to win back a round in his rivalry with Natsuki.
Natsuki might be stronger than him right now, but he wasn’t going to give up that easily.
At nine in the morning, Ishida Yuu walked into the classroom right on time. Find the original chapter at g.com.
The former Class 1-A students stopped chatting, but all their eyes were fixed on the girl behind him.
An unfamiliar little girl naturally made them curious.
“Kushina, introduce yourself first,”
Ishida Yuu said.
Kushina nodded and walked up to the podium.
Looking at all the students in front of her, she couldn’t help taking a deep breath.
“My name is Uzumaki Kushina.
I’m a transfer student.
My dream is to become Konoha’s first female Hokage!”
By the time she reached the end, her voice had risen quite a bit.
“Hey, some little girl who just got here wants to be Hokage?
Don’t overestimate yourself!”
Onodera stood up and said it bluntly.
“Exactly!
What a loudmouth!”
“Your face is as round as a tomato, and your hair’s red too.
From now on, your nickname is Tomato!”
“That red hair looks so ugly!”
The moment Onodera took the lead, a bunch of boys close to him immediately joined in and started mocking Kushina.
Kushina instinctively clenched her fists, and her expression turned ugly.
Natsuki glanced at Minato.
He stayed sitting in his seat without making any move, pretty much just like he had in the original story.
Back in his previous life, Natsuki had always wondered why, when Kushina was being bullied, neither Ishida Yuu nor Minato Namikaze had stepped in.
Now he understood.
It was because this kind of thing was so commonplace that even someone like Minato had tacitly accepted it.
But when it came to dealing with these nasty little Konoha brats, Natsuki was going to hit hard.
“Red is the Hokage’s color.”
Natsuki stood up and asked in a calm voice, “If you hate red, does that mean you hate the Hokage too?”
The laughter from Onodera and the others died instantly.
If anyone else had spoken up to stop them, not only would they have ignored it, they probably would have turned around and bullied that person too.
But the one speaking was Natsuki.
First place in combat.
No one here could beat him.
“Natsuki’s right.”
Ishida Yuu quickly backed him up.
“From now on, you’re classmates.
You need to get along and stick together.”
Natsuki had gone straight for the old-school adult strategy, and it genuinely startled him.
Who would dare answer that question?
Kushina instinctively looked at Natsuki.
A smile spread across her chubby little face.
As expected, Natsuki really was better.
Over the vacation training, they had already become friends.
But after he spoke up for her today, the image she had of him changed again.