For the next few days while waiting for the Genin orientation, Naruto did not train.
Instead, he dug out the fishing rod that had been gathering dust for years and headed into the forest, spending some rare leisure time fishing.
The reason it had been gathering dust was simple.
Ever since Naruto discovered the stores that sold food close to its expiration date, he had stopped fishing altogether.
After all, self-reliance had only been necessary because he had no other choice.
If given the option, who would not prefer to live comfortably?
Especially someone like Naruto, who had been an ordinary modern wage worker in his previous life.
He might not have experienced the finer things in life, but he still understood comfort far better than most natives of the shinobi world.
Not to mention that Naruto already needed to devote enormous amounts of time to training.
And so, over time, fishing had become nothing more than a leisure activity for him.
Time quietly passed while Naruto relaxed by the water.
Before long, an entire week had gone by.
Thanks to his state of constant absorption, Naruto had always slept extremely well.
The moment he woke, he could become fully alert almost instantly.
Naruto opened his eyes right on schedule.
Then he washed up and ate breakfast.
Of course, food that was close to expiring and food that had already expired were two entirely different things.
Naruto would never eat expired food.
Once he had cleaned himself up, Naruto tied his forehead protector around his head.
After all, it was the symbol of a ninja and could prevent quite a few unnecessary hassles.
So it was still worth wearing.
In the mirror stood Naruto.
He wore black cargo pants and a red hooded jacket over a mesh T-shirt that offered a certain degree of protection.
At 153 centimeters tall, combined with the short crew cut Naruto had trimmed himself, the forehead protector fit his appearance extremely well.
If not for the six whisker marks on his cheeks, he would have looked incredibly handsome.
Unfortunately, those six whisker marks ruined most of the effect.
Even the outfit Naruto had carefully designed for himself could not completely save it.
Although Naruto felt it was not quite perfect, he did not have an obsession with forcing everything to be flawless.
Naturally, he would not deliberately use the Transformation Technique just to hide the whisker marks.
After finishing his preparations, Naruto looked toward the ninja tool pouches already laid out on the table.
A ninja’s standard equipment included two pouches.
One was strapped to the thigh, with the side depending on the user’s dominant hand.
The larger pouch was fastened at the back of the waist.
Although Naruto had already reached the point where even flying flowers and falling leaves could wound people, that did not mean he no longer needed ninja tools.
Even if they were only useful for misleading enemies, that alone gave them value.
So Naruto had still purchased some equipment.
However, his finances were limited, so his arsenal was rather basic.
Five kunai.
Two were stored in the pouch strapped to his right thigh.
The other three were placed in the larger pouch at the back of his waist.
He also had five shuriken, likewise stored in the rear pouch.
Two coils of shinobi wire, each one hundred meters long.
Five smoke bombs.
Two Explosive Tags.
Naruto had cut them specifically for use with his Wind Style: Loaded Shuriken Technique.
That was Naruto’s full set of equipment.
And even this much had taken him six years to accumulate.
Of course, the square paper did not require saving money.
A hundred sheets amounted to only about half an exercise book.
After six years as a student, Naruto had plenty of spare paper.
But today was only the Genin orientation, so there was no need to bring his ninja tool pouches.
After giving them one last glance, Naruto closed the door behind him and headed toward the Ninja Academy.
When he arrived, Naruto habitually walked toward the back of the classroom.
“Morning, Naruto.”
Shikamaru, already seated in the last row, greeted him.
“Morning.”
Naruto smiled and sat beside him.
Naruto had barely sat down when Sakura spoke to a boy sitting next to Sasuke.
“Could you move, please?”
Naruto did not like Sakura, so naturally he had never gone out of his way to fawn over her.
And because he had never fawned over her, the two of them were barely acquainted.
However, Sakura truly lived up to being the heroine of Naruto.
Even though Naruto deliberately kept his distance from her, someone else had apparently taken over the role of licking her boots.
And that someone was the boy she had just asked to move.
The moment Sakura spoke to him, the boy looked at her with immediate delight.
In his imagination, he had probably already planned their wedding and named their children.
The lecherous look on his face made Sakura, who already did not think much of him, even more disgusted.
She could no longer be bothered speaking politely.
“Yoshihito, hurry up and move! I want to sit over there!”
The boy named Yoshihito immediately became unhappy and glared viciously at Sasuke several times.
But Sakura had already grown impatient.
She suddenly planted a hand on Yoshihito’s head and vaulted directly over him, landing in the seat beside Sasuke.
Damn it!
Yoshihito screamed unwillingly in his heart.
But obviously, he was not Naruto.
He certainly did not dare provoke Sasuke Uchiha, the number-one student in their year.
All he could do was silently watch as the girl he adored went off to fawn over another boy, completely powerless to stop it.
Naruto had not expected that after he withdrew from that role, someone else would actually step in and fill his place in the plot.
Unfortunately, since Naruto himself had become Naruto, the famous scene where Naruto and Sasuke accidentally kissed was gone for good.
At ten o’clock sharp, Iruka entered the classroom.
“From this day onward, all of you are full-fledged ninja.”
“However, you’re still rookie Genin. The real challenges are only beginning…”
“From now on, the village will assign missions to you.”
“You’ll be placed into three-person teams, follow the guidance of an assigned Jōnin instructor, and complete Genin-level missions under that Jōnin’s leadership.”
“To ensure that the teams are balanced in strength, I’ve carefully arranged the following assignments.”
After finishing his explanation, Iruka took out the team roster and began reading.
“Team One…”
“Team Two…” Get faster updates on novelping.com.
“Team Seven: Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha.”
“Yes!”
Sakura immediately cheered and flashed Ino a victorious gesture.
“Damn it! Sakura got him!”
Ino gritted her teeth in frustration.
Sasuke, meanwhile, frowned slightly and glanced at Naruto.
Naruto simply returned his gaze with a smile.
Seeing that, Sasuke could not help thinking that this bottom-ranked student might actually be more reliable than the loud woman sitting beside him.
At the front of the classroom, Iruka continued.
“Team Eight: Hinata Hyūga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka.”
“Team Nine…”
“Team Ten: Chōji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara.”
“Damn it! I knew it!”
Ino wailed the moment she heard her assignment.
“That concludes the team assignments.”
Iruka looked across the classroom.
“Although all of you have been classmates for six years, carrying out missions as a three-person team is completely different from simply being classmates.”
“As classmates, you studied and played together.”
“But as members of a three-person squad, you may face matters of life and death.”
“You’ll become partners capable of entrusting your lives to one another.”
“So use this time to get to know your teammates more deeply.”
“This afternoon, I’ll introduce your Jōnin instructors.”
“For now, dismissed.”
With that, Iruka vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.
The classroom instantly became noisy.
“Kenichi, Tōdō, from now on we’re partners who’ll live and die together!”
“Keiko, Suzuriyama, please take care of me from now on!”
The students who had been assigned to the same teams excitedly began greeting one another all over again.
“Sasuke-kun, let’s go eat lunch together!”
Sakura had finally obtained the chance to be on the same team as Sasuke, so naturally she launched her offensive immediately.
“We can talk while we eat and get to know each other properly.”
“No need.”
Sasuke coldly rejected her.
Then he jumped straight out the window.
“Sasuke-kun!”
Sakura immediately chased after him, but Sasuke had already disappeared from sight.
Seeing this, Sakura gritted her teeth.
She did not dare jump directly from the window like Sasuke, but she still climbed out and slid down along the protruding supports of the building.
Clearly, Naruto had been completely ignored.
Naruto did not care.
He simply stood up and calmly left the classroom.
He needed to find somewhere comfortable to lie down and take a nap.
After all…
There would be plenty of waiting to do this afternoon.