Inside the Ninja Academy—
Iruka's forehead veins bulged violently as he desperately tried continuing the lesson while pretending not to hear the thunderous snoring echoing throughout the classroom.
As if that were remotely possible.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Stand up right now!"
A piece of chalk shot toward Naruto like a thrown shuriken.
At that mont, Naruto was lying sprawled across his desk sleeping soundly.
Yet even asleep—
Naruto instinctively raised one hand with his eyes still shut and casually swatted the chalk away like he was brushing off a mosquito.
"Um… Naruto-kun…"
Seeing Iruka nearing complete eruption, Hinata hurriedly nudged Naruto beneath the desk with her finger.
"Iruka-sensei's really getting angry…"
"Ahh… huh?"
Naruto slowly lifted his head from the desk and yawned lazily before staring blankly toward the podium.
Then suddenly realizing sothing, he instantly sat upright and assud the appearance of an attentive honor student, as though absolutely nothing had happened.
"... Iruka-sensei, why'd you stop teaching halfway through?"
Naruto blinked innocently.
"It was getting really interesting. I can't wait to hear what happens next!"
The mont those words left his mouth—
Almost the entire class stared at Naruto with admiration.
As expected of Naruto-boss.
Despite being younger than most students, he still held unquestioned dominance over the class.
That level of shalessness was truly extraordinary.
Even Iruka froze briefly.
Normally Naruto constantly caused little disturbances during class—chatting with Hinata beside him or distracting other students—
But outright sleeping in class?
That was genuinely a first.
Originally, Iruka thought Naruto might simply have had a rough night yesterday.
Waking him up should've been enough.
But now?
This brat was actually blaming the teacher instead?!
"Very good."
Iruka smiled dangerously.
"Since you love sleeping so much…"
"Then after school tonight, you can sleep all you want in my office!"
"No no no!"
Naruto instantly panicked.
"Iruka-sensei, I was wrong! I seriously have plans tonight! I'm sorry!"
The mont he heard he'd be detained after school, Naruto imdiately surrendered.
After all—
He still had an appointnt with Kurama tonight.
This absolutely was not the mont to act cool.
"If you know you're wrong, then get outside and stand in the hallway!"
"Whaaaat?!"
The entire class gasped collectively.
Their most legendary classmate—
Naruto-boss himself—
Actually got punished?!
At this mont, Iruka's status within everyone's hearts imdiately rose several levels.
Even Naruto, whose strength clearly existed on a completely different level from everyone else, received fair punishnt without favoritism.
"Iruka-sensei!"
Rock Lee suddenly burst into tears from excitent.
He leapt to his feet and attempted to give this "great" teacher a massive emotional hug—
"Lee, what are you doing?! Sit down! Oi, let go—"
"You too! Get outside and stand there!"
Bang!
The classroom door slamd shut forcefully behind them.
Outside the room, Naruto and Lee both wore pitiful expressions as they exchanged glances and obediently lowered their heads.
Watching Naruto nearly fall asleep standing up, Lee suddenly seed to rember sothing and quickly spoke.
"Naruto-kun!"
"We never really had a proper chance to talk before."
"Recently, Guy-sensei actually asked about how you've been doing!"
"Hm?"
Naruto blinked sleepily.
"Guy-sensei?"
"Which teacher's that? I don't rember him."
"Eh?"
Lee looked surprised.
"But Guy-sensei said you two are basically close friends despite the age difference…"
"He even gave you his training ground to use…"
"Training ground…"
Naruto froze briefly.
Then suddenly rembered.
"Ohhh! You an that thick-eyebrowed uncle!"
"He's a teacher here too?"
Only now did Naruto realize Lee's hairstyle and overall appearance looked absurdly similar to that man.
Actually—
Naruto vaguely rembered Lee not looking like this when school first started.
Unable to resist, he asked:
"Is he your dad?"
"N-No!"
Lee imdiately waved both hands frantically.
"I only t Guy-sensei recently too!"
"One day I happened to be training at one of the village's public training grounds."
"Guy-sensei passed by while looking for a new training area because he'd already lent his old one to a friend."
"So in exchange for sharing the training ground, he gave so pointers."
"That's why I respectfully call him Guy-sensei."
"Ohhh, got it."
Naruto nodded repeatedly.
Though inwardly, he still continued staring suspiciously at Lee from head to toe.
These two looked way too similar.
At minimum, they had to be relatives sohow.
Maybe uncle and nephew.
"Anyway!"
Lee's eyes suddenly sparkled passionately.
"Guy-sensei is an incredible taijutsu master!"
"After only training together a few tis, the public training ground I normally used beca completely unusable!"
"And before leaving the village last ti, he told …"
"If he got permission from his friend soday, I could use his old training ground too."
"Then later I learned…"
Lee awkwardly scratched the back of his bowl-cut.
"That the training ground Guy-sensei gave away actually belongs to you."
Naruto instantly lit up in understanding.
"Ohhh, so you ca specifically to tell thick-eyebrowed uncle's doing pretty well lately!"
"Ah… this…"
Lee froze awkwardly.
Looking at Naruto's bright smile, he suddenly didn't know how to continue.
Actually—
He'd slightly twisted Guy's original words.
Guy had really said:
"You're all classmates anyway. Don't overthink it. Just go ask Naruto directly!"
But whether it was Hinata Hyūga, Neji Hyūga, or Sasuke Uchiha—
All of them were elite geniuses from prestigious clans.
Not to ntion Naruto, who had already beco known as the "Peak of the Ninja Academy."
A true genius among geniuses.
anwhile—
Rock Lee couldn't use ninjutsu.
Couldn't use genjutsu.
And remained almost invisible within class aside from desperately training taijutsu.
Compared to those monsters—
The difference felt like heaven and earth.
Facing people like them, Lee's inferiority complex prevented him from even daring to ask about training together.
Only because today finally gave him a rare opportunity to talk with Naruto privately did he manage to gather enough courage.
"So that interesting thick-eyebrowed uncle…"
Naruto yawned lazily again.
"Feels like I haven't seen him in forever…"
Watching Naruto gradually start falling asleep again, Lee beca increasingly uncertain.
Did Naruto-kun not understand what I ant?
Or… was that a rejection?
No.
Naruto-kun is way too smart not to understand.
Of course.
Soone ordinary like …
How could I possibly train together with geniuses like them…
Lee lowered his head sadly.
Yet for so reason—
A voice continuously echoed through his mind.
"Lee!"
"The dal of youth is the passionate spirit you reveal naturally!"
"You must hold onto your dreams!"
"You must believe in yourself!"
"Work even harder!"
"And one day…"
"You too will beco a great shinobi!"
Guy's dazzling white smile and shining thumbs-up repeatedly resurfaced within Lee's mind.
Don't give up, !
"Um…"
"I…"
Lee clenched his fists tightly, shut his eyes, and finally gathered every ounce of courage.
Then he shouted loudly toward Naruto:
"Please let join you all for training too!"
"Ah, sure."
Naruto answered almost instantly.
Lee froze.
Opening his eyes, he saw Naruto standing there with both hands behind his head, flashing an enormous grin.
The sleepy expression from monts ago had completely vanished.
"Eh?"
"Honestly, I thought it was sothing serious."
Naruto laughed casually.
"Friends don't need to be so formal. Just say it directly next ti."
Lee stared at him blankly.
His vision suddenly blurred.
He hurriedly rubbed at his eyes while repeatedly thanking Naruto.
"Naruto! Rock Lee!"
The classroom door suddenly slamd open again.
Iruka leaned out furiously.
"You two are being noisy even while punished— hm?"
Then suddenly he noticed the figure walking down the hallway.
"Sasuke-kun? You ca back?"
anwhile, Naruto—who had noticed him long ago—imdiately turned around with a grin.
"Yo, Sasuke!"
"You finally ca back to school!"
Sasuke still wore his usual dark blue shirt and shorts.
His handso face carried its normal distant, indifferent expression.
Yet the way he looked toward Naruto clearly contained sothing different now.
"Mm…"
Sasuke quietly responded.
Then he withdrew his gaze from the two punished idiots, nodded once toward Iruka, and entered the classroom silently.
"You two can co back in too."
Seeing Sasuke quietly return to his seat, most of Iruka's anger instantly vanished.
Thus—
Thanks to countless subtle nudges from Hinata beneath the desk, Naruto sohow managed to force himself awake through the rest of Iruka's class without falling asleep again.
The mont class finally ended—
Naruto instantly collapsed face-first onto his desk and resud snoring loudly.
Watching this, Sasuke—who had originally intended to walk over and ask Naruto sothing—quietly sat back down instead.
That night…
The figure I vaguely saw protecting …
Was it really Naruto…
Or just a hallucination?
Conflict filled Sasuke's eyes.
Yet before he could fully think things through, nearby classmates had already begun sneaking glances toward him while whispering among themselves.
These people…
Ever since waking up, no matter where Sasuke went within the village—
People constantly whispered about the Uchiha massacre behind his back.
And all kinds of gazes followed him.
Curiosity.
Pity.
Fear.
Those voices and stares constantly surrounded him.
It was sothing Sasuke had never experienced before.
And it made him feel increasingly irritated and uncomfortable.
Was school going to beco like this now too?
"Sasuke-kun…"
Just as Sasuke sank deeper into thought, Tenten suddenly approached together with several classmates.
Then, beneath Sasuke's cold gaze, she placed a small box onto his desk.
"This is…?"
Sasuke froze briefly.
"It's everyone's contribution."
Tenten smiled brightly.
"It's not much, but the whole class pooled things together."
"Yeah, Sasuke-kun! We honestly don't know what to say after sothing like this, but you need to stay strong!"
"I supported you from the start! Even now I still think you'll definitely beat Naruto soday!"
"Hinata, Neji, and even Naruto spent days talking to us…"
"Idiot, why'd you bring that up?!"
Amidst the pushing and noisy arguing, Sasuke gradually understood what happened.
Looking down at the money inside the small box—
Though not much—
He silently turned toward Neji, who was pretending to admire the scenery outside.
And Hinata, who currently used a notebook to fan the deeply sleeping Naruto beside her.
"Thank you."
Sasuke spoke sincerely for once.
Though his voice remained extrely quiet.
As the sun gradually set—
Naruto finally regained energy after successfully sleeping through most of school.
At the school gates, he grabbed Lee and introduced him briefly to Neji, Sasuke, and Hinata before saying:
"Anyway, Hinata and I have stuff to do after school today, so we're heading ho first."
"Neji, can you take Lee to the training ground for ?"
However, Neji—who had sohow unconsciously grown accustod to always appearing beside them recently—instantly stiffened upon hearing that.
With complete seriousness, he imdiately answered:
"Unfortunate timing."
"I also have urgent business back at the clan today."
Then before Naruto could even react—
Neji vanished at maximum possible speed.
"Uh… okay then…"
Naruto looked awkwardly toward Sasuke.
"And you?"
"These next few days aren't convenient either."
Sasuke glanced toward Naruto briefly.
"I still need to sort out where I'm staying."
Then he simply turned around and left.
"Ah… alright then."
Naruto scratched his head awkwardly before looking toward Lee.
"Looks like it's just you today."
"I'll bring you to the training ground first."
"It's okay!"
Lee imdiately burst with enthusiasm.
"Training alone is also proof of youth!"
"I've already completely gotten used to it!"
Unlike Neji, Lee didn't overthink things at all.
After all, everyone genuinely seed busy.
If Naruto truly disliked him, he never would've invited him along in the first place.
Besides—
Training alone now simply ant another opportunity for him to work harder and surpass everyone.
Thinking that way, flas nearly burst from Lee's eyes.
"O-Oh…"
Even Naruto beca shocked by Lee's endless optimism and enthusiasm.
Once everything was arranged—
Naruto finally brought Hinata back to his apartnt.
"E-Excuse …"
Even though she knew they were here for training, the mont Hinata stepped inside Naruto's room, she still beca extrely nervous.
Then she curiously looked around Naruto's ho.
From Hinata's incredibly polite perspective, only one phrase could truly describe the place—
Easy to see everything at a glance.
"Don't worry, don't worry."
Naruto casually waved his hands.
"Just treat it like your own ho—"
Then suddenly rembered the Hyūga clan's strict upbringing.
"Oh, right. Your family has lots of rules."
"Then just think of it like another training ground!"
Naruto, however, remained perfectly relaxed.
The mont he returned ho, he tossed his schoolbag directly onto the bed before imdiately sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"Um… Naruto-kun…"
Hinata finally gathered enough courage to ask.
"What exactly do you need to do?"
"Oh, super simple."
Naruto reached beside the bed and pulled out a massive wooden club roughly as thick as soone's arm before handing it directly to Hinata.
Then he spoke extrely seriously:
"If I stay completely motionless for more than an hour…"
"Hit in the head REALLY hard with this stick until I wake up!"
"Eh?"
Holding the giant club, Hinata looked down at it…
Then back toward Naruto.
Her face filled with utter confusion.
What does that even an?
What kind of training thod is this?!
"I an it!"
Naruto clasped his hands together seriously.
"You absolutely need to hit hard!"
"Oh right!"
"You should also coat the stick with chakra. That way it'll hurt more and work better!"
"I'm counting on you!"
After firmly repeating the instructions, Naruto finally closed his eyes and cald his breathing.
Then—
The mont he reopened them—
The incredibly familiar bars and the Nine-Tails once again appeared before him.
The sa beautiful pure white inner world stretched endlessly around them.
Only now, several clusters of natural energy floated before Kurama in varying sizes.
"Are you prepared, Naruto?!"
Kurama grinned widely.
"Ohhh, let's go!"
Naruto clenched both fists excitedly.
"I've been waiting forever for this!"
"My ultimate trump card…"
"Sage Mode!"
"Good!"
Kurama imdiately swung one claw.
"Then this old man won't waste ti talking!"
"Let's begin!"
One cluster of natural energy instantly flew toward Naruto and wrapped around his body.
Then—
Bang!
The next second—
Naruto, still wearing his excited expression and clenched-fist pose—
Instantly transford into a stone statue.
"Eh?"
That was Naruto's final thought before his consciousness went completely blank.
As though he had truly beco stone.
"Failed, huh…"
Kurama muttered thoughtfully.
"Though that's normal."
"After all, this old man already explained the solution beforehand."
"Once an hour passes and his physical body gets hit…"
"No matter what state his consciousness is trapped in, he'll naturally wake up again."
"Then we just repeat the process."
Kurama stared toward Naruto's stone statue while adjusting the sizes of the natural energy clusters floating before him.
"This old man honestly has no idea how Sage Mode's supposed to be taught."
"So I'll just test Naruto's upper limits directly."
"That thod should be correct… right?"
Far above the petrified Naruto, the floating chakra sphere disguised as a "sun" remained asleep.
Yet the mont Kurama finished speaking—
The sleeping Minato chakra mass trembled uneasily.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> [email protected]/AiraTales7 (replace @ with a)
User Comments
0 comments from readers