After school.
Naruto told Kurapika to go home first to organize the virtual helmets he was going to sell to the Ninja Academy, while he went to the training ground alone.
Upon arriving at the training ground, Naruto looked left and right but didn't see Lee.
"Huh? Where's Lee? I remember he always comes here to train after school!"
A curious Naruto put his backpack aside and then internally called out, "Pikachu!"
Pikachu, who was eating in the Sealing Space, heard Naruto's call and instinctively raised his two small paws.
Just like that, the Pikachu Jinchuriki was born.
After gaining Pikachu's power, Naruto's appearance also changed, but not as dramatically as when he became the Grey Wolf Jinchuriki.
When he received Grey Wolf's abilities, Naruto transformed into a werewolf.
But after receiving Pikachu's abilities, his biggest change was probably his hairstyle; two long horns, like Pikachu's ears, grew from his hair.
Besides that, Naruto's eyes changed from blue to gold.
Other parts remained almost unchanged.
Naruto raised a hand, aimed it at the ground not far away, and then strands of golden electricity circled around him before shooting out from his raised hand.
The electricity struck the ground, instantly creating a crater, and dissipating lightning could still be faintly seen around the area.
"Holy crap... this power is impressive."
Naruto was also shocked by the power of this 'Ten Million Volts' attack.
Immediately, Naruto began to cosplay Kakashi, performing a Chidori, except this Chidori was golden and didn't require hand seals.
Golden lightning lingered in Naruto's palm, and then Naruto rushed towards a large tree in the distance, thick enough for several people to embrace.
When the golden Chidori collided with the large tree, it was instantly pierced through, and at the same time, the golden lightning also fried the entire tree until it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Besides that, Naruto also tried Pikachu's unique skills like "Quick Attack," "Iron Tail," "Electroweb," "Thunder," "Agility," and "Volt Tackle."
As for how to use Iron Tail? It was simple: just simulate a tail with lightning behind his butt, and it would still produce the effect of Iron Tail.
The commotion Naruto made while testing his moves quickly attracted the attention of Konoha's Anbu.
These Anbu then quickly informed the Third Hokage about Naruto's activities.
The Third Hokage, on his part, indicated that Naruto could do whatever he wanted; with Minato watching over him, it shouldn't be a big problem.
On the other side, Root also informed Danzo, and Danzo's response was similar to the Third Hokage's.
"Don't bother with Naruto for now! Let the Third Hokage worry if anything happens!"
Having said that, Danzo squinted at the Root Ninja who had brought him the report.
The Root Ninja felt a bit uneasy under Danzo's gaze.
Then he heard Danzo ask, "How many contribution points do you have in Root Ninja Village?"
The Root Ninja swallowed, then held up five fingers, saying, "Fi-fifty."
"Hmm?" Danzo's expression hardened. "Only fifty? Don't do any missions for now; come to the virtual world. Don't come out until your Root Ninja Village contribution points reach one hundred fifty!"
Root Ninja: ...
Although speechless, the Root Ninja still agreed.
After the Root Ninja left, Danzo put on the virtual helmet again, thinking to himself, "Hiruzen, don't get cocky. My Root Ninja Village will definitely surpass yours!"
On the other side.
After Naruto finished testing Pikachu's skills, he finally saw Lee rushing towards him.
Besides Lee, he also saw another figure who was both familiar and unfamiliar.
"Naruto, let me introduce you. This is Hyuga Neji, my classmate!"
That's right, the person who came with Lee was Hyuga Neji.
After introducing Neji to Naruto, Lee then introduced Naruto to Neji, saying, "This is my best friend, Uzumaki Naruto."
"Hello!" Hyuga Neji nodded slightly at Naruto.
Naruto, on the other hand, walked forward enthusiastically and patted Neji's shoulder.
"Neji, since you're Lee's friend, you're my friend too! No need to be so reserved."
Neji: ...
Neji was speechless. Was he reserved? He was being cool, alright?
Lee, who was beside them, smiled and said, "That's right, Neji, don't be so reserved. Naruto is very easy to get along with."
Neji: ...
Actually, there was only one reason why Neji followed Lee here.
That was because he had drawn with Lee in the last class combat assessment.
The entire grade knew that Hyuga Neji was a genius, while Lee was a dead last.
But now, this dead last was actually able to draw with him!
And the reason for the draw was that both sides were exhausted.
During the battle, Neji used all his techniques, and naturally, Lee initially met him head-on.
Lee was fast, but under the Byakugan's dynamic vision, it wasn't much.
Although the Byakugan's dynamic vision wasn't as strong as the Sharingan's, it was still much stronger than an ordinary person's eyes.
Thus, Lee and Neji fought for more than a dozen rounds, with Neji constantly dominating Lee.
At first, everyone present, including the teachers, thought Lee would lose.
But... to their surprise, by the end, when it seemed Lee could no longer contend with Neji, Lee stood still.
He kept shouting, "Iron Mass... Iron Mass, Iron Mass!"
In the end, Neji spent over ten minutes breaking through Lee's Iron Mass defense, and at the same time, he himself collapsed from exhaustion.
It was also because of this battle that Neji wanted to understand this dead last, Lee.
Later, he learned that Lee had become so powerful in a short time because he had apprenticed himself to a teacher named Zephyr.
After learning this news, Neji decided to come with Lee to meet Teacher Zephyr.
If possible, Neji naturally wanted to learn some things to make himself stronger. His father's death always weighed heavily on him, so improving his strength was his only path, and the only way to break through his fate.
Naruto didn't know about the things between Lee and Neji.
But... Naruto didn't have any ill will towards Neji.
First, this was his future brother-in-law, and second, he was the only one of the Konoha Twelve Rookies who died.