After a short rest, Naruto didn't push his body any further. Instead, he pulled out the fishing rod he had hidden earlier and made his way upstream, about a hundred meters away, to his usual fishing spot.
From his observations, this stretch of the river had the highest fish population. With near-maxed fishing skills honed through countless attempts, Naruto's bucket was soon full.
He looked down at his catch with satisfaction. Carrying the bucket, he made his way to a cliffside, a few dozen meters from the river. There, nestled against the rock, was a small cave—one Naruto had dug out himself. It wasn't large, but it stayed dry even during heavy rain. It was his secret base.
Placing the bucket inside, Naruto turned and vanished into the nearby woods with a speed far beyond that of an ordinary person. Yesterday, he had set a simple snare trap nearby—something he had learned on his own for survival. The setup was basic, nothing advanced, so the Third Hokage had never questioned it.
As expected, the trap had already caught a rabbit.
Naruto picked it up by the ears, gauging its weight. A satisfied smile tugged at his lips. "Not bad. Guess my luck's holding."
Had he failed to catch anything, he would've had to make do with fish again. Carrying the rabbit back, he retrieved a kunai from the pouch strapped to his thigh—a gift from the Third Hokage, given just before he enrolled at the Ninja Academy.
With practiced hands, Naruto scaled the fish and cleaned the rabbit. Thanks to the ability Heaven Rewards Diligence and years of honing his cooking skills alone, he made short work of the prep.
Whittling down a few branches with the kunai, he skewered and roasted the rabbit, while the fish simmered in a pot—one he had convinced the Third Hokage to provide, knowing Naruto often trained and cooked for himself out here. The old man had even bought Naruto a set of basic cooking tools.
And occasionally, the Hokage would come by and 'casually' join him for dinner. On the surface, it looked like a warm gesture, but Naruto understood: it was just another method to foster dependency, to keep him emotionally tethered.
Still, Naruto played along. After all, the food he made wasn't half bad.
In truth, Naruto had long outgrown the old man's subtle manipulations. If anything, he viewed the Third Hokage as the very person responsible for his current hardships. Had he not been forced to fend for himself, he might still be drinking spoiled milk and eating expired, second-rate food from spiteful vendors.
If the Hokage truly cared, he would've returned Naruto's parents' home—along with everything the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki had left behind. A Hokage didn't live poorly. And no loving parents would fail to leave something for their child.
He could imagine it now—if his mother, Kushina, ever found out about his life, she'd probably want to tear Konoha apart.
The food was soon gone.
"Mmm! I've definitely gotten better at this!" Naruto licked his fingers and patted his stomach, then stood and began jogging home. The sun had dipped beyond the horizon, and the moon peeked out over the rooftops. The streets were mostly empty.
As he ran, he felt the usual glances of disdain aimed his way.
He didn't care. After all these years, he was used to it.
Naruto returned to his tiny house—a cramped space, but one he kept impeccably clean, unlike the mess shown in the original timeline. After washing away the sweat from his training, he slipped into bed and soon fell asleep.
Early Morning…
Naruto adjusted his collar, glancing in the mirror. His wardrobe now had variety—not just the same orange tracksuit over and over. He had asked the Third Hokage to buy these clothes for him since the villagers refused to sell him anything.
Of course, the Hokage had paid. After all, he controlled Naruto's inheritance. Naruto only received a small stipend meant for orphans, so he had no choice but to shamelessly make requests.
"Not bad… still looking good!" Naruto grinned at his reflection.
Thanks to regular meals and training, he now looked much stronger than his peers—healthy, alert, and full of energy.
He set off for the Ninja Academy.
When he arrived, only a handful of students were present, but Hinata was already seated.
"N-Naruto-kun…"
He turned and smiled. "Hey, Hinata."
Hinata's heart thudded in her chest. Naruto-kun smiled at me… Naruto-kun smiled at me…
Naruto noticed her blushing again and couldn't help but chuckle softly. She's adorable… I'll never understand how the Naruto in the original timeline ended up chasing after Sakura instead.
Soon, more students trickled in. Once the bell rang, Iruka entered the classroom right on time.
"Good morning, everyone. This is our first official class, so let's get right to it."
He looked around at the students whispering among themselves, then raised his voice slightly.
"Let me ask you all: What's the most important thing for a shinobi?"
He scanned the classroom.
"Uchiha Sasuke—why don't you tell us?"
Sasuke stood confidently, like a peacock among pigeons, and swept his gaze across the room. "Chakra. Chakra is energy created by combining physical energy from the body's cells and mental energy from the mind in a specific ratio. It's refined from all of the body's 130 trillion cells."
Gasps of admiration erupted from the girls in class.
Iruka smiled. "Excellent! Sasuke-kun is absolutely right. Chakra is the foundation of becoming a shinobi. Without it, none of our techniques would be possible. Now… let's begin learning the chakra extraction method."
Iruka's voice was calm and steady as he explained the fundamentals. In this world, even Taijutsu specialists like Might Guy and Rock Lee possessed chakra. The issue wasn't the lack of chakra—it was their extremely poor aptitude for ninjutsu.
Everyone listened attentively. The civilian-born students in particular paid close attention; after all, this was their path to survival. In the shinobi world, children matured early. Even those just a few years old often had the emotional maturity and awareness of teenagers from Naruto's previous life.
Naruto glanced around at his classmates. Shikamaru still wore his usual bored expression, and Sasuke hadn't started chakra extraction either. It seemed that the children from the major clans had already begun chakra training at home long ago.
The gap between them and the ordinary students was already taking shape.
The morning was entirely dedicated to chakra extraction—understandable, since chakra was the foundation of everything. In the afternoon, they moved on to theory.
To Naruto's dismay, the textbook opened with The Will of Fire.
It began with, "Where the leaves dance, the fire will burn. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village and allow new leaves to grow."
Then came a long-winded retelling of Konoha's founding and the exploits of the First Hokage—though Naruto noticed many discrepancies compared to what he remembered from the original story. The Third Hokage, in particular, had shamelessly portrayed himself as the strongest Hokage in history.
The textbook was full of content that read like propaganda or a pyramid scheme. Having been influenced by modern education in his past life, Naruto couldn't help but find it all incredibly shallow and naive.
The next few days followed the same routine—chakra theory in the morning, more lectures and history in the afternoon. As always, Naruto would head to his little training hideout after school to continue his personal cultivation.
But today, Iruka suddenly made an announcement that sparked everyone's excitement:
"Today, we'll be holding our first practical combat class!"
The session was split into two parts—kunai throwing and sparring drills.
The classroom instantly came alive. After days of dry lectures, finally, something hands-on! Everyone was visibly thrilled at the chance to move and fight.
Naruto, however, remained calm.
He didn't find any of it particularly difficult. While he didn't have photographic memory, his recall was close to that level. In fact, even Naruto himself wasn't sure just how vast his current spiritual strength had become.
...
TN:
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