Naruto opened his eyes and lied, "My name is Kamizuki Aoba, and I came to Konoha to learn ninjutsu."
The name was wrong, and the reason for learning ninjutsu was wrong.
Anyone familiar with him would instantly notice.
All friends who know him know it.
Anyone who knows him knows it.
This name was just a mix of Kamizuki Izumo and Yamashiro Aoba.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a little suspicious after hearing this. He asked Naruto, "Don't you already know the basics of ninjutsu? Why do you think we would teach you ninjutsu?"
"Because I can pay the tuition!" Naruto replied confidently.
Yes—this was the simplest solution Naruto could think of.
But instead of seeing it as a kid throwing money around, Sarutobi Hiruzen mistakenly thought he was an undercover agent!
At the same time, Naruto didn't value silver coins that much now—anything that could be solved with money wasn't a big problem.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was amused.
How much money could a kid like this possibly have?
So Hiruzen asked Naruto, "If you want to learn ninjutsu, the cost is very high."
Because Naruto's origins were unclear, Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't dare let him enter the Ninja Academy easily.
Naruto wasn't concerned at all. "I still have some money. Uncle, just tell me the number."
Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly.
So confident?
Looks like he came prepared…
If he came prepared, he was probably an undercover agent from another village.
Reasonable enough…
If Naruto's identity as an undercover could be confirmed and they brought him into Konoha, they could even let him join the Ninja Academy.
Then Hiruzen could use Naruto as a pawn to send false information to the enemy village he supposedly belonged to.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's thinking was sharp. Not only did he conclude Naruto was an undercover agent, he even planned to use him to feed misinformation to other villages.
Unfortunately, his very first assumption was wrong.
Naruto wasn't an undercover agent.
But in Hiruzen's eyes, he was absolutely correct.
Konoha had been short on funds recently. Hiruzen named a price to Naruto: "If you want to learn ninjutsu, it will cost thirty million silver taels. If you want to enter the Ninja Academy, one hundred million silver taels."
"Okay! I'll pay!" Naruto agreed instantly without hesitation.
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "??"
Is this undercover agent really this generous?
Did… did he ask for too little?
Tsk tsk…
What kind of village sends someone like this?
Hiruzen lifted his pipe and observed Naruto's clothes carefully.
Judging from his clothes, Naruto seemed to be from the Land of Fire.
But that didn't prove he wasn't an undercover agent.
Still… whatever.
No matter whose spy he was, they could always find out later.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said to Naruto, "Very well. As long as you can pay the tuition, you may enter the Ninja Academy."
Naruto nodded, turned, and walked out of the room.
Hiruzen's expression suddenly turned serious. He summoned Anbu and ordered them to follow Naruto closely.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Naruto circled around a few times and quickly shook off the Anbu who were tailing him.
He bought a suitcase at a shop, then found a deserted place, took out silver coins from his system space, and filled the suitcase.
By the time Anbu found Naruto again, the Anbu member couldn't hold himself back anymore.
How could he lose track of a child?
The Anbu agent appeared directly and asked Naruto, "Where did you go?"
"To get the money." Naruto pointed at the suitcase.
Anbu: "…"
…
Naruto then delivered the money to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Seeing the silver taels, Hiruzen became even more certain that Naruto was an undercover agent.
But now that his identity was "confirmed," Naruto's value became even greater.
He could train Naruto into a pawn that delivered false information to enemy villages!
As long as Naruto tried to contact the outside world, Anbu would notice immediately.
By then, his real identity would be exposed.
Hiruzen asked Anbu to arrange a room for Naruto, then brought him to the Ninja Academy.
Just like that, Naruto successfully entered the Academy.
But the Anbu kept following him.
Anbu brought Naruto to the principal's office to assign him to a class.
The moment the principal saw Naruto's cute face, he was instantly delighted.
But the Anbu's cold attitude left the principal a little confused.
Naruto, on the other hand, had no requirements for class placement.
He just needed to get into the Academy.
So the principal placed him into the "protagonist class," based on the age Naruto claimed.
The so-called protagonist class was the one with the most active characters in the original series.
In Naruto's generation, the protagonist class was, of course, Iruka's class.
Nine of the Twelve Little Rookies came from there.
Before the Third Ninja War, the protagonist class was naturally Kakashi's.
Jōnin like Kakashi, Guy, Yuhi Kurenai, and Sarutobi Asuma were all in this class.
And of course Uchiha Obito, always at the bottom, and Rin Nohara—the so-called perfect girl.
When Naruto watched the anime in his previous life, he found it a bit ridiculous.
Rin Nohara didn't even have many scenes, yet she was praised as the best girlfriend.
Naruto felt this rumor might be exaggerating her.
He just wanted to see for himself today!
…
Inside the classroom.
"Class, we have a new student today."
Upon hearing this, the students reacted differently.
Asuma curled his lips and muttered, "We're about to graduate, and he comes now? What can he even learn?"
Obito: "I hope he's an interesting guy—preferably not more handsome than Kakashi."
Kakashi: "Tsk…"
Obito: "Kakashi! I heard that!! What are you clicking your tongue for?! Say it!"
Kakashi: "Haha."
Obito: "Ah!!!!"
Regardless of the reactions, the teacher said toward the door, "Come in."
Everyone's eyes turned toward the entrance.
Naruto opened the door, walked in, and stood on the podium.
This was tradition in the Naruto world.
Ninja schools were never short of fangirls.
When the girls saw Naruto, they immediately got excited.
Imagine—black hair, black eyes, with a cute, childish face resembling a younger Namikaze Minato.
A natural girl-killer—both adorable and handsome!
"Wow! What a cute little boy~!"
"Yes! And his face shape looks a lot like Minato-senpai!"
"Right? That means he'll be super handsome when he grows up. I can't take it anymore—I'm going in!"
"Are you attacking him or yourself?"
"Ehh… don't say gross stuff like that~"
Obito stared blankly at the excited girls around him. Instinctively, he looked toward Nohara Rin sitting not far away.
Seeing Rin only smile gently without joining their wild chatter, Obito felt relieved.
But then Kakashi suddenly leaned toward Obito and said, "I heard Rin really likes cute boys like that."
Obito's face froze instantly, genuinely scared by Kakashi's "ghost story" in broad daylight.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to [jeremy]for joining my Patreon page!🎉Your support means the world to me. 🙏
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 90+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[Naruto: I Don't Want Recognition]