Chapter 39: A Few Things During the Enrollment Period
"I am the Hokage of Konoha Village, Hiruzen Sarutobi..."
On the first day of school, after Naruto finished the enrollment procedures accompanied by the Old Butler, he was led to the school playground. At this moment, he was listening to the speech of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage and the Principal of the Ninja Academy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's speech was full of ups and downs, making not only the parents who accompanied their children to report for duty boil with excitement, but even these half-grown children around six years old seemed to have become Hiruzen Sarutobi's die-hard fans.
Naruto, who was also below the stage, shook his head secretly. He saw the deeper meaning hidden behind this magnificent speech.
To say it was brainwashing...
But for Hiruzen Sarutobi to do this was undoubtedly to enhance his influence, to firmly pull the new generation of Ninjas in Konoha into his camp, and incidentally to cultivate a sense of identity and pride in the new generation of Ninjas for Konoha.
Because of this, Naruto had no reaction to it at all. His sense of identity with Konoha was not non-existent, but it could only be considered below average.
It would be a wonder if anyone who had experienced the same things as Naruto could have a good impression of Konoha or the entire Konohahigh-level!
Of course, after Naruto basically understood the truth of the matter, he no longer had much hatred for those ignorant villagers who were manipulated by people with ulterior motives. However, wanting him to inherit the "Will of Fire" mentioned by Hiruzen Sarutobi was purely a pipe dream.
"Where the leaves dance, the fire also grows incessantly..."
After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished the last famous quote about the Will of Fire theory, his personal speech, which had lasted for nearly an hour, finally came to an end, and Naruto also breathed a long sigh of relief.
"What's wrong, Naruto? Is there something you didn't like about Hokage-sama's speech?" The Old Butler asked with some confusion when he heard Naruto's sigh.
"Of course not!" Naruto denied decisively. "I was just thinking that the gap between me and Hokage Grandpa is still too large. And I only realized now that I'm far from being a Hokage, and there's so much I need to do!"
"Oh?" The Old Butler became interested. "Naruto, tell me where you fall short?"
"The Will of Fire..." Naruto answered without thinking. "I'm still quite confused about it even now. I agree with what Hokage Grandpa said, but I don't know what I should do, which is very distressing!"
"Don't worry too much, Naruto. You're still young, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to learn in the future..." The Old Butler rubbed Naruto's blond hair with great satisfaction, the smile on his face unable to be stopped.
After Naruto's performance over the past three years, not only did the Old Butler now fully approve of Naruto, but even Hiruzen Sarutobi had entered a state of being defenseless against him.
To put it bluntly, Naruto's status in the village had now been greatly improved, and it could even be said that he had reached the point where he could go wherever he pleased.
On the surface, Naruto had a deep relationship with the Young Miss of the Hyuga Clan, Hinata. In secret, he was also on very good terms with another Genius youth of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Sasuke. Most importantly, he had the all-around, no-dead-angle care from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He could enter the Hokage Building at will, read the books in Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence freely, and most areas of Konoha were unconditionally open to Naruto...
These and other convenient conditions allowed Naruto to have a massive amount of reading. That is to say, in terms of the knowledge reserve regarding Ninjas, he could now be compared to a Jonin from a civilian background!
Do not look down on the knowledge reserve; this is the foundation of a high-rise building. Considering Naruto's physical age of six, this solid and thick capital was the key to his future takeoff!
After listening to Hiruzen Sarutobi's nagging and gaining another wave of favor in front of the Old Butler, Naruto then welcomed the last step of enrolling in the Ninja Academy—class assignment.
Coincidentally, the class Naruto was in could be said to be a gathering of future stars, bringing together the outstanding descendants of almost all the families in Konoha.
"Naruto-kun..."
When Naruto had picked a seat and was about to sit down, Hinata walked up to him with her fingers twisted and her face red, her voice so small that it seemed only she could hear it.
"Can I... sit with you..."
"I have no reason and will never refuse to have a girl as cute as Hinata as a desk mate!" Narutosmiled at Hinata, stepped aside, and made a very gentlemanly "after you" gesture.
In the past three years, Hinata and Naruto had met many times, and her shyness threshold had been greatly increased. For this kind of relatively intimate talk, although Hinata would still have steam coming out of her forehead from embarrassment, she wouldn't faint anymore.
"You bastard!"
Just as Hinata was about to sit down, Uchiha Sasuke's voice rang out behind Naruto.
"Who was it that said so solemnly that to practice superb and divine swordsmanship, one must have no women in their heart?!"
Uchiha Sasuke indeed had no girl who made his heart flutter now, nor did he have any thoughts of early dating, but what he could least accept was Naruto's deception.
"You idiot!" Naruto didn't go easy on Uchiha Sasuke. "I told you that, but I didn't say I would do it! Besides, that mnemonic is indeed very suitable for a beginner like you. After all, I can be considered your teacher!"
"Who are you calling an idiot!"
"You! I'm talking about you, Uchiha Sasuke!"
"You..." Uchiha Sasuke was trembling with anger. "When I came to the class, I saw a small training ground outside the classroom. Do you, you idiot, dare to come out and have a match with me!"
"Forget it." Naruto waved his hand with little interest and then beckoned Hinata to sit down quickly. "You can't beat me at all right now. I don't want to make you lose face on the first day of school!"
"After all, as the Genius young master of the Uchiha Clan, if word gets out that you were beaten to the ground by a civilian ninja on the first day of school, you might not mind the embarrassment, but I'll find the trouble annoying!"
"Young man!" Naruto patted Uchiha Sasuke on the shoulder with a smile. "I've told you more than once, don't be too flamboyant in everything. You must know how to conceal your sharpness. Only in this way, when you draw your blade, will it be faster, more cunning, and more ruthless!"
Uchiha Sasuke was stunned...
"Bastard! It's like this again!"
Uchiha Sasuke had resigned himself to his fate. He sat indignantly in the seat right behind Naruto, unable to help but take out a Kunai and carve something on the table continuously. Whenever it came to bickering with Naruto, he had never won!
More importantly, what Naruto said always made a lot of sense, and he couldn't find any words to refute...
"Hee hee hee..."
Hinata, sitting next to Naruto, couldn't help but giggle. The number of times the three of them had been together was indeed quite high, and the number of times Uchiha Sasuke had lost the bickering was even more countless. Although she had long expected this, after it happened again, Hinata still couldn't help herself.
"As expected of Naruto-kun..." Hinata stole a glance at Naruto, and her cheeks, which had just faded in color, began to turn red again...
Just as the small three-person group, faintly led by Naruto, gradually quieted down to wait for the teacher to enter the classroom, two girls pushed and shoved each other as they walked up to Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto looked up at the two girls with curiosity for a couple of times, but then he lowered his head and suppressed his laughter, gently bumping Hinata's shoulder with his own to remind her to look up and watch the show.
Naruto was now a real expert. With just two glances, he judged that these two girls pushing each other obviously both had feelings for Uchiha Sasuke. Moreover, looking at their relationship, it was very similar to a "plastic friendship" between best friends and love rivals.
This was very interesting, wasn't it?
At the very least, there was some fun during the boring and formal Ninja Academy study period...
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