Back at his home, Kakashi lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
His expression was gloomy as he replayed the Third Hokage’s words in his mind.
Am I… really ready?
Obviously not.
He was an ANBU ninja.
Years of killing had left even him uncertain about what kind of person he had become.
Enemies feared him.
His comrades…
They feared him too.
He didn’t have many friends.
Guy counted as one.
But that was about it.
Yes.
That guy who had been determined to surpass him since childhood.
As Naruto’s teacher at this stage, Guy might not have any experience teaching someone at the Jonin level, but he was still far more suitable than Kakashi.
What could Kakashi teach Naruto?
Ninjutsu?
Combat techniques?
The boy was only six years old.
Was he really supposed to become a killing machine without emotions, just like himself?
“Heh.”
Kakashi laughed at himself.
Naruto was his teacher’s biological son.
And Kakashi was the only surviving student of that teacher.
Yet he wasn’t even qualified to teach his teacher’s only son.
He hadn’t even gone to see the boy once in all these years.
What a failure he was…
…
Naruto opened his eyes.
The sun had already risen.
The income from the Salted-Fish Treasury had arrived.
Today, he had received a full four points of Salted-Fish Value.
There were also two more Eight Trigrams Sealing Space check-in rewards stored in his system, bringing the total to four.
He also had one Tobirama skill pack.
Naruto got out of bed, washed up, and opened everything at once.
“Obtained Ninjutsu: A-Rank Water Release: Water Shockwave LV1.
(Cannot be learned.)”
“Can be dismantled.
Dismantling will grant 100 Lazing Points.”
Another Water Shockwave.
Naruto already had two copies now, which meant they could technically be fused and upgraded.
But since he couldn’t meet the learning requirements, they were basically equivalent to 100 Lazing Points.
“Hmm… I’ll keep it for now.”
At the moment, he didn’t have much need for either Lazing Points or skills.
What did he need them for?
Eat, sleep, fish, repeat.
He could use whatever he needed eventually.
Dismantling the skill wouldn’t give him that much anyway.
He could accumulate the same amount in a couple of days.
There was no hurry.
After opening the skill pack, Naruto opened the four Eight Trigrams Sealing Space check-in rewards as well.
No Tailed Beast Bomb this time.
His Eight Trigrams Sealing Space access increased by 0.04%, while his Nine-Tails Chakra usage permission also increased by 0.04%.
He was still far from the 5% requirement needed to use the Tailed Beast Bomb.
As for achieving complete Nine-Tails Mode…
That was even farther away.
This was also why Naruto preferred opening several rewards at once.
Opening one every day and getting almost nothing useful was simply too much trouble…
After breakfast, Naruto opened the door and prepared to go to school.
But the moment he opened it—
“Uh…”
Naruto’s expression froze again.
Although, with his dead-fish eyes, it wasn’t particularly obvious.
“Um… good morning.”
Standing outside the door was a bowl-haired man with dark circles under his eyes.
Of course, it was Might Guy.
Naruto mentally cursed himself for sleeping so deeply that he had actually forgotten about this guy.
So… this guy really stood outside my door all night?
The corner of Naruto’s eye twitched.
That was a little terrifying.
And at that moment, he sensed the Third Hokage’s gaze again.
“Naruto!
Good morning!”
“Would you like to train your body with me and experience the burning passion of youth?”
Guy flashed his trademark brilliant smile.
To him, physical exhaustion meant nothing.
Before he completed the Third Hokage’s request and became Naruto’s taijutsu teacher…
He, the Blue Beast of Konoha, would not sleep!
“Sorry.
I’m not interested.”
“Try asking someone else.
Goodbye.”
Naruto turned around and left.
This was getting interesting.
Was the Third Hokage planning to have Guy come over and turn him back into an idiot?
It seemed that beating Sasuke really had been a careless move.
His strength hadn’t necessarily been completely exposed.
But defeating the top student in the class would inevitably earn him the label of a little genius.
And now they wanted to turn a genius into an idiot…
The Third Hokage really had a good plan.
Naruto lowered his head and continued walking.
After a few steps, however, he realized that Guy seemed to be following him.
He stayed far behind rather than directly catching up.
Obviously, he hadn’t given up.
He had probably already been successfully brainwashed by the Third Hokage…
I’m doomed…
Naruto felt utterly miserable.
This guy was already ridiculously stubborn.
He had spent his entire life trying to compete with Kakashi, all the way into the Boruto era.
Getting him to give up might be harder than getting the Third Hokage to step down.
But the key problem was…
How could a salted fish like him possibly get along with Guy?
Naruto was speechless.
Perhaps…
He should put in a little effort from now on.
Pretend to be an idiot.
Play some harmless pranks every day.
That might make the Third Hokage feel reassured.
Forget it.
Naruto quickly abandoned the idea.
His acting skills weren’t that good, and he didn’t have the time.
Pretending to be an idiot meant constantly thinking about what prank to pull.
He would also have to periodically act like a hot-blooded idiot and announce to the entire village that he wanted to become Hokage.
Sorry.
He really couldn’t do that.
Naruto continued walking.
Guy continued following.
Eventually, Naruto arrived at the entrance of the Ninja Academy.
It was actually already late.
The school gate was deserted, though the gatekeeper was still there.
The Ninja Academy’s gatekeeper wasn’t some elderly security guard.
He was a strong, middle-aged shinobi.
The moment he saw Naruto approaching, his expression immediately turned cold.
Not because of Naruto’s identity.
Simply because Naruto…
had been late for an entire week.
And today was actually one of his earlier arrivals!
“Stop right there!”
The gatekeeper shouted at Naruto.
“You’re late every day.
Isn’t this going a little too far?”
Naruto froze.
His instinct was to apologize and quickly get rid of the teacher.
But then he remembered Might Guy behind him…
“Teacher, I’m being followed.”
Naruto pointed toward the man standing some distance behind him.
“This uncle has been stalking me for a whole week.
I’ve been terrified to sleep at night, so that’s why I’m always late.”
The gatekeeper looked suspiciously in that direction.
At exactly that moment, Guy happened to look over.
Their eyes met.
Guy was currently holding a flowerpot in front of his face, desperately trying to disguise himself.
Oh no!
Guy’s entire body trembled.
For some reason, he suddenly had a very bad feeling.
Oh no.
The Third Hokage shut off the crystal ball and sighed.
“When did this kid become so cunning?”
“Stop!”
The gatekeeper rolled up his sleeves.
“You actually followed a student all the way to the academy?”
“Come with me to the Security Department!”