At noon, after his latest encounter with Hiruzen, Shinji took his lunchbox and headed up to the rooftop.
Seeing the rooftop door open, he knew Naruto was probably up there again.
Around the corner of the rooftop, Naruto was panting, covered in sweat. He picked up another stone from the pile beside him.
Holding the stone in his hand, he thought again about the technique Shinji had described during the morning class. Looking at a circle he had drawn on the wall with a pebble, he threw the stone in his hand with a sudden force.
Bang!
The stone hit the wall, leaving a white mark, and a smile finally appeared on Naruto's face.
The circle on the wall was just a range. The center point was the target Naruto wanted to practice hitting.
Fortunately, under the intense sun, his efforts had not been in vain. Aside from the lucky hit at the very beginning, his subsequent throws were gradually getting closer.
"Naruto." Shinji's voice rang out.
Naruto, who was still immersed in joy, heard his teacher suddenly call his name. His expression changed, and he immediately thought about finding a place to hide.
The next second, Naruto felt a broad hand press down on his head, then ruffle his hair.
"Yo, not bad, Naruto." Shinji said.
Naruto, whose body was still trembling slightly, calmed down upon hearing this.
"Sensei... I'll clean it up properly after I finish practicing." Naruto said timidly.
"No need to be so nervous." Shinji said after glancing at the terribly battered wall.
"Before cleaning up, why not have lunch with your teacher first?"
Shinji held up his lunchbox and invited Naruto, saying, "I prepared a bit too much today, and I can't finish it all by myself, so would you like to eat with me?"
Naruto froze at these words, turned to look at Shinji, and asked, a little disbelievingly, "Eat? Sensei, are you serious?"
"You don't need to keep confirming something like this." Shinji said with a hint of helplessness.
"It makes it seem like I've lied to you before."
As he spoke, Shinji led Naruto to a cool, shaded corner away from the sun and sat down.
Seeing Naruto's face flushed from prolonged exposure to the sun, Shinji took out his handkerchief and handed it to Naruto, saying, "Wipe your sweat first, and remember to drink water later, or you'll get heatstroke."
Naruto quickly took the handkerchief, and looking at the pristine white cloth in his hand, his eyes gradually became misty.
"Shinji-sensei, may I ask you a question?" Naruto looked at Shinji timidly.
Hearing Naruto's words, Shinji, who was about to open his lunchbox, paused and looked at Naruto with a smile.
"Is there something from class that you're unclear about?"
Naruto shook his head and said, "It's not about class content, but I have a doubt."
"Sensei, you don't dislike me?"
Having said this, Naruto seemed to finally relax, as Shinji's attitude towards him since the Academy started these past few days was something he had never experienced in years.
He was deeply afraid that if he asked this, Shinji would investigate the situation and then change his attitude towards him, becoming like those villagers.
Smack!
Naruto's head suddenly suffered a heavy blow, nearly sending him sprawling to the ground from Shinji's palm.
"Naruto, you are my student now. By saying that, you are questioning the meaning of me as your teacher."
Seeing Naruto shake his head, wanting to deny it, Shinji waved his hand to stop him.
"Naruto, you must know that you are my student now."
"As long as you are still in the Academy, even if you cause a huge problem, I, as your teacher, bear part of the responsibility."
"As for the question of disliking you, why would I dislike you?"
"Are you disobedient in class? Or do you often skip lessons?"
As Shinji spoke, Naruto's face went from initial surprise to a gradually blossoming happy smile.
"On our path of growth, there will be many unfamiliar people, and these people might bear ill will towards you because they don't understand."
"However, why should we magnify the malice of these people and let it blind our own hearts?"
Shinji said this as he opened his lunchbox and handed it to Naruto, who was on the verge of tears.
[Detected that student Naruto meets the requirements for apprenticeship. You can choose to establish a master-disciple relationship with Naruto. The teacher will receive rewards synchronously as the disciple's strength increases.]
Shinji, seeing the prompt in his mind, was momentarily stunned. He looked at Naruto, who was happily eating from the lunchbox, with a hint of disbelief.
So, the requirement for taking on a disciple was for the student to have absolute trust in him?
Not necessarily, Shinji somewhat dismissed this guess. After all, if that were the condition, the difficulty of achieving it would be too high.
However, Naruto in front of him had already met it, so Shinji naturally wouldn't give up. But before starting, some preparatory work needed to be done properly.
Thinking of this, he immediately activated Chakra perception by touching the ground, and instantly, the entire Academy, and even one kilometer around it, was enveloped in his perception.
Perceiving the huge Chakra entity gradually descending the stairs behind him, Shinji was somewhat glad for his caution. Such a massive Chakra entity, he estimated, could only be the Third Hokage, whom he had just met.
Without any extra movements, Shinji subtly kept sensing Hiruzen's Chakra gradually moving away from the Academy.
Only then did he look at Naruto, who had finished eating, and said warmly, "Naruto, are you willing to become my disciple?"
Patting his stomach, feeling very satisfied, Naruto paused at these words, then asked with some confusion, "Disciple?"
Shinji smiled and explained to Naruto, "Yes, it's a type of teacher-student relationship, just more intimate."
After all, for Naruto, this explanation was the best. If he delved too deep, the little kid would probably get confused again.
"I'm willing, sensei."
Naruto, hearing that it would be more intimate, quickly nodded and agreed.
[Detected that Naruto, the protagonist, is willing to establish a master-disciple relationship.]
[Detecting trust level...]
[Detected that Naruto's current trust level is maximum, obtaining Wind Release Nature Transformation (Extraordinary)!]
[First disciple successfully taken, obtaining Yang Attribute Chakra (Proficient)!]
[Detected that Naruto's physique has high affinity with Wind Release, awarding Ninjutsu Wind Release: Wind Cutter (C-rank) and Wind Release: Great Breakthrough (C-rank) for instruction.]
"Hiss...!"
Even though Shinji had some conjectures, he was still startled by the reward, and he froze.
These rewards, weren't they too generous?
The power of the protagonist was indeed extraordinary.
Of these several rewards, except for the third one, the first two might be impossible for any ninja in the entire Ninja World to achieve through a lifetime of effort.