“Iruka-sensei is late again today.”
“It’s because of that Naruto guy again, isn’t it!”
The students sitting in their seats whispered among themselves.
The bell signaling the start of class had stopped ringing, yet there was no sign of the teacher on the classroom podium.
In a corner of the classroom, Naruto’s seat was also empty.
In the month since the Ninja Academy began, in the class taught by Iruka, the “tardiness” of both the homeroom teacher Iruka and Naruto had become a regular occurrence.
“Naruto went to graffiti the Hokage Rock Faces again, didn’t he?”
Hearing the whispers of others, Ino’s gaze swept over Naruto’s currently empty seat.
She was puzzled as to why Naruto would carry a paint bucket every day to graffiti the Hokage Rock Faces that the people of Konoha revered.
“Doesn’t he say he wants to become the Hokage? Isn’t this kind of behavior a bit disrespectful to his own dream?”
Ino shifted her gaze to Sakura, who was lying on the desk beside her, sleeping with her hands folded under her head.
Seeing that Sakura didn’t answer her question, Ino reached out a finger and lightly poked Sakura’s cheek, which was exposed outside her arms.
She loved the soft sensation of Sakura’s cheek transmitted back to her finger.
Woken up by Ino’s playful poking, Sakura could only wake from her light sleep.
She sat up straight and, with sleepy eyes, looked at Ino, who had been caught red-handed before she could withdraw her finger.
Sakura replied with a hint of helplessness:
“Naruto has been graffitiing the Hokage Rock Faces every day this month, and the Third Hokage hasn’t said much besides making him clean up the mess afterward, right?”
And so, the topic regarding exactly why Naruto used paint to graffiti the Hokage Rock Faces every day, rain or shine, came to an end.
Ino looked at the faint dark circles under Sakura’s eyelids and said, “Sakura, you stayed up late again yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I was practicing Chakra control last night and stayed up until the early morning without realizing it.”
As Sakura spoke, she propped one hand on the desk, rested her chin in her palm, and closed her eyes to doze again.
“It’s actually harder to control Chakra when you’re exhausted.”
“I’ve already noticed that. I was just too eager for success.”
Her mental state began to grow hazy; although she knew what she was doing, it was hard to clearly realize the reason why she was doing it.
Fatigue caused her mind to wander and made it impossible to concentrate.
Controlling the amount of Chakra in her body became erratic, which was counterproductive to practicing precise control over Chakra release.
However, Sakura also discovered that she had a good talent for controlling Chakra amounts, just like in the original story.
This meant that in her future career as a Ninja, she at least retained the option of becoming a Medical Ninja, just like in the original story.
“Honestly, I shared my cultivation experience with you so you could improve, not so you’d get obsessed and ruin your health. Don’t be so reckless next time.”
Ino’s slightly reproachful words revealed her concern for Sakura.
Feeling Ino’s concern, Sakura suddenly opened her eyes from her nap.
She tilted her head to meet Ino’s eyes and said in a low tone, “Sorry, Ino, this is the last time.”
“?”
Ino frowned, looking at the strange smile curling at the corner of Sakura’s mouth.
There was nothing wrong with the sentence itself, but Ino had a feeling that Sakura had been brewing it for a long time just to say it.
“Oh, I just suddenly felt that the context of our conversation was perfect for that line.”
As Sakura’s explanation fell, the sound of an argument from the hallway outside the classroom timely drew Ino’s attention.
Ten minutes after the official start of class, Iruka finally caught Naruto, who had been wreaking havoc on the Hokage Rock Faces.
“Everyone, gather at the training field! We’re having Ninja sparring today!”
Iruka threw the tied-up Naruto back into his seat and began checking the number of students against the attendance sheet.
After confirming everyone was present, he immediately announced today’s lesson…
The argument between the student-teacher pair, Naruto and Iruka, was not yet over.
“Too slow, Naruto! Everyone is waiting for you!”
Looking at Naruto as he slowly hurried over from the classroom, Iruka criticized him.
“I was tied up tightly by Iruka-sensei just now, and it took a lot of effort to untie the ropes. Of course I’d be slow!”
“I taught you the Release Technique in the first week of school. Haven’t you been practicing at all?”
“That kind of Jutsu… there’s no need to practice such a simple Jutsu! Iruka-sensei, can’t you teach some more powerful Ninjutsu instead!?”
Sakura yawned as she listened to their conversation.
Sakura could understand Naruto’s dismissive attitude toward the Release Technique.
In the original story, the Release Technique first appeared during the formation of Team 7.
Naruto ambushed Sasuke while he was having lunch, tied him up with rope, and then used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into Sasuke to have lunch with Sakura.
However, he had to leave early due to an upset stomach and encountered Sasuke, who had used the Release Technique to break free from the ropes.
The so-called Release Technique is nothing more than a rope-untying method that doesn’t even involve the use of Chakra; even an ordinary person can perform it with practice.
Furthermore, the Release Technique can be performed “relying on tools”—in the first movie of the original story, when Team 7 went to the Land of Snow for a mission, Naruto, imprisoned by Snow Ninja, “escaped” his bonds using a blade hidden in his shoe, tricking the Snow Ninja guarding him and successfully escaping the prison.
Compared to the Forbidden Jutsu, Bloodline Limits, Senjutsu, and even the power of the Six Paths Sage in the Ninja World, even Sakura initially wondered why the “Release Technique” could be considered a Ninjutsu.
In fact, the definition of Ninjutsu in the Ninja World is quite broad.
Didn’t the “One Thousand Years of Death” used by Kakashi Hatake in Team 7’s first survival exercise also carry the title of “Konoha Taijutsu Secret Technique”?
This gag Ninjutsu even had an impressive combat record, successfully hitting the vital spot of a partially transformed Gaara.
During the period when Uchiha Obito was active in the “Akatsuki” organization under the identity of “Tobi,” he also performed several types of Ninjutsu on Konoha Ninjas that focused more on teasing the enemy than attacking.
These were: “Ninjutsu: Whack-A-Mole Technique,” “Ninjutsu: No Entry Technique,” and “Secret Technique: Frilled Lizard Technique.”
In his youth, Jiraiya also used a move called “Shuriken All-Out Throwing Technique.”
There’s a certain sense of absurdity that every move and action of a Ninja in battle can be defined as “Ninjutsu.”
“Most Ninjutsu themselves aren’t different; what creates the gap is the skill of the user. The same Ninjutsu shown by different users will have completely different power. Don’t be picky because a Ninjutsu is easy to learn, and don’t blindly chase after one just because it’s difficult.”
Returning to the main topic, the argument between Naruto and Iruka finally ended with Iruka’s concession.
He corrected Naruto’s dismissive attitude toward Ninjutsu, but Naruto’s current demeanor clearly showed he hadn’t taken the teaching to heart.
Iruka stared at Naruto for a moment and could only sigh helplessly, telling him to return to the formation.
Due to Naruto’s mischievous behavior toward the Hokage Rock Faces, Iruka had to spend a significant amount of time every day supervising him to clean up the mess.
Consequently, over the past month, in terms of his familiarity with the students in the class, Iruka had the most contact and understanding with Naruto.
Naruto was like the Iruka of the past, alone and not knowing how to integrate into the group…
so he would deliberately do things to attract attention and highlight his own existence.
It was precisely because he understood that Naruto’s actions were not malicious that the Third Hokage-sama took a tolerant stance toward his graffitiing of the Hokage Rock Faces.
Iruka could understand the Third Hokage-sama’s approach.
During his time spent with Naruto, he also began to wonder if he should deny everything about Naruto simply because of his status as a Jinchuriki.
But the death of his parents years ago prevented Iruka from letting go of the past so easily; he was still hesitant and unable to make up his mind to accept Naruto.
Yet, without even realizing it himself, his attitude toward Naruto had actually softened considerably during this time.
“What I just said wasn’t only for Naruto; I hope all of you will take it to heart.”
Iruka regained control of the teaching rhythm and glanced at Naruto again.
Naruto mingled into the formation where Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara were.
Now that a month had passed, although most people still disliked him, he had finally made some friends.
And the reason that prompted Naruto to make friends…
Looking at Sakura, who had no energy so early in the morning, she had left a strong impression on Iruka since the first day of school, and she had indeed shown remarkable cohesion.
Not to mention Ino, who had been by Sakura’s side from the start, in just one short month, she had become well-acquainted with Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino, Hinata Hyuga, as well as Naruto and Sasuke.
Each of these students had a unique personality, yet Sakura was able to gain their favor in a targeted manner and eventually get them to know each other.
Even Sasuke, who always kept to himself, was more tolerant toward Sakura than toward others.
Among the students of the Ninja Academy throughout the years, Sakura was not the only one who could effectively bring people together.
However, the last student with such charm was named—Minato Namikaze.
The hero of Konoha who died in the line of duty years ago to save the Village, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
The leadership talent Sakura possessed couldn’t be prematurely compared to the Fourth Hokage before she fully matured.
But Iruka could be certain of one thing: in terms of Ninjutsu talent, Sakura was completely inferior to the Fourth Hokage.
Even now, her physical test scores barely reached the passing line.
But Iruka had also seen her hard work over the past month; drawing cultivation experience from Ino, who came from a Ninja clan, was indeed more advantageous than seeking instruction from school teachers.
After all, no matter how much teaching experience school teachers had, they were only Chunin who focused on educational knowledge.
Education within a Ninja clan usually involved Jonin teaching the clan’s children directly, and someone like Ino, the daughter of the Yamanaka Clan leader, had access to even richer educational resources.
What also made Iruka feel dissatisfied was Sakura’s attitude toward learning.
Although she worked hard, she had no desire to surpass others.
Just as the dream Sakura mentioned in her self-introduction, she seemed to study only to “be able to retire early.” Once her strength could fulfill her dream, she had no intention of further refining her skills.
Even Naruto had more than once mentioned treating Sasuke—who was already the top honor student among the freshmen—as a rival, longing to defeat him.
In this regard, Sakura’s attitude was similar to Shikamaru Nara’s, both having the mindset of “it’s only natural not to be able to beat Sasuke.”
But as a member of the Nara Clan, Shikamaru Nara ultimately had his clan to fall back on.
Moreover, although he was lazy, his talent wasn’t poor, and his mind was very sharp.
A child from an ordinary Ninja family like Sakura absolutely could not be compared to Shikamaru Nara!
As a teacher, Iruka felt that he shouldn’t just focus on Naruto, but also properly correct Sakura’s current personality!
Iruka looked down at the sparring schedule in his hand…
This was why he had made a special plan for the pairings of the class’s first Ninja sparring session, to stimulate Sakura’s ambition.
“Starting today, practical courses will be fully open. You will occasionally undergo Ninja sparring that emphasizes individual strength and survival exercises that focus on teamwork. I hope everyone takes these practical courses seriously. After officially becoming Ninjas, you will face a cruel Ninja World. I sincerely hope that these experiences in school will increase your chances of survival in real missions.”
Iruka watched as expressions of excitement, fear, or calm indifference appeared on the students’ faces because of his words.
“The first Ninja sparring match: Sasuke versus Sakura.”
“?”
Sakura, who had originally put on an indifferent expression, suddenly froze.
She thought she was hallucinating because she hadn’t gotten enough sleep yesterday.
Until Sasuke stepped out from the formation and waited quietly for Sakura to come forward.
Naruto shouted excitedly from the formation, “Sakura, go for it!”
Ino watched with concern.
And Iruka’s urging.
Only then did Sakura finally understand that the fact her first Ninja sparring opponent was Sasuke was not a hallucination, but an indisputable fact.
Wait…
I’m fighting Sasuke!?
For real?
If he starts off with a Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, won’t I just be blown away!?