Self-Introductions

After lunch, everyone felt even closer.

At the kids' table, after finishing the barbecue, their relationships became even tighter.

Other than Naruto and Choji, everyone else's appetites could at most be considered normal.

By the end, everyone else was basically in charge of grilling meat for Naruto and Choji.

"Ding. System Quest issued: Defeat Akimichi Choji in an eating contest!"

The System Quest appeared at that moment, and Naruto understood that he had to win this match.

Ino and Sakura kept placing grilled meat into Naruto's bowl, and Naruto accepted everything, devouring every piece of barbecue in it!

Over on Choji's side, even by himself, he ate incredibly quickly—putting meat on the grill, flipping it, picking it up, dipping it in seasoning, then swallowing it.

The whole sequence flowed smoothly.

But in the end, Naruto still came out ahead thanks to his powerful bloodlines.

The fusion of several different bloodlines had greatly increased Naruto's need for food.

His body needed food to grow, Physical Energy needed food to replenish it, and extracting Chakra consumed Physical Energy.

As a result, Naruto's appetite was far beyond that of ordinary people. As long as he wanted to, he could keep eating indefinitely, continuously converting food into energy within his body.

As for whether there was a limit to how much energy he could store?

The Senju Clan bloodline and Uzumaki Clan bloodline inside Naruto were no joke. A limit? It simply did not exist!

In the end, Akimichi Choji had reached his limit and could not eat another bite!

Seeing Choji raise the white flag in surrender,

Naruto stopped eating as well. The barbecue was quite tasty, but eating so much of it nonstop would get tiresome!

"Naruto, you're amazing! Once I master my clan's secret techniques, we'll compete again!"

As heirs of major clans, they had reached the age to attend the Ninja Academy.

The secret techniques of the various great clans were also beginning to be taught to them one after another.

Once Choji completely mastered the Akimichi Clan's secret techniques, his appetite would likely multiply several times over. By then, even Naruto would need to spend some time to defeat him.

"Then it's settled. We'll fight again next time!" Naruto was not afraid of Choji's challenge.

Once Choji finished learning his secret techniques, perhaps Naruto would have gained several more bloodlines himself. By then, his body's energy consumption would rise, and so would his appetite.

Would you master your secret techniques faster, or would I farm rewards faster?

Naruto found himself rather curious at the thought.

The children's side was more or less finished, while the adults were basically dead drunk.

They were usually burdened with official duties and extremely busy, with almost no chance to indulge like this. It was understandable.

Only Teacher Kakashi had drunk just a few cups and had not overdone it.

After all, he still needed to protect Naruto in secret. That was the most important thing!

He notified people from the various clans to come pick everyone up.

Kakashi then led the children toward the Ninja Academy.

After lunch, sunlight spilled across Konoha's streets, and the children's laughter and footsteps brimmed with energy.

They headed to the Ninja Academy together, their hearts filled with anticipation.

When they saw the posted class list, they were delighted to discover that they had all been assigned to the same class.

The group noisily made their way to their assigned classroom.

They entered the classroom. There were not many people inside yet, but Naruto immediately spotted that Hinata and Sasuke had already arrived.

He walked toward Sasuke and said, "Long time no see. Do you remember me? My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What's your name?"

Seeing Naruto greet him, Sasuke secretly felt pleased and said, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto casually said, "Great, Sasuke. We're friends from now on. Please take care of me!"

He held out his hand as he spoke.

A straightforward approach really did work on a tsundere.

Sasuke was a little overwhelmed by Naruto's enthusiasm.

He held out his hand and shook Naruto's, showing that he was willing to be friends with him.

Naruto then headed toward the back of the classroom, because Hinata was there.

"Naruto-kun... he's walking toward me!" Hinata watched Naruto approach step by step, her heart pounding wildly.

Her face instantly turned bright red.

"Hinata, is anyone sitting next to you? Would you mind if I sat beside you?" Naturally, Naruto had to seize this opportunity. He needed to win his wife over slowly!

"N-No, no one. Naruto-kun, y-you can sit here!" Hinata had not expected Naruto to come specifically to sit beside her.

"Alright, then I'll sit here. Hinata, are you okay? Your face is so red." Naruto sat down beside Hinata.

"I-I'm fine, Naruto-kun. Thank you for your concern!" Hinata said shyly.

"Alright, then take good care of yourself." Naruto had originally wanted to take the opportunity to touch her hand and pretend to check her temperature.

He wanted a little physical contact with Hinata.

But seeing how shy Hinata was, he felt that if he touched her now, Hinata's CPU might overload and burn out on the spot.

He still needed to take things step by step and let Hinata slowly get used to him!

Seeing Naruto walk to the back and sit beside Hinata, Sasuke secretly felt unhappy. He did not know why, but seeing Naruto sit with someone else made him a little uncomfortable.

He silently stood up and sat in front of Naruto.

"Mm, this feels much better." Sasuke nodded to himself. This way, Naruto would be able to see him.

"Sakura, look! Naruto went straight to Hinata. I never expected Hinata to be our greatest enemy!" When Ino saw Naruto enter the classroom and first head toward Uchiha Sasuke, she had assumed Naruto was only greeting Sasuke.

She thought he would come back after saying hello.

But Sasuke had only been incidental. Naruto's real target was Hinata in the back row!

"Ino, it looks like we'll have to fight Hinata together. We can't let Hinata take Naruto away!" Sakura replied.

"Come on, come on! Let's hurry and claim the seats beside Naruto!"

Ino grabbed Sakura and rushed toward Naruto, though Ino herself was naturally the fastest.

She successfully claimed the empty seat beside Naruto.

Sakura could only sit next to Ino.

"Akamaru, let's sit over there too!" Inuzuka Kiba held Akamaru and started heading toward Naruto.

"Shikamaru, let's go too!" Akimichi Choji tugged Shikamaru along, about to head over.

"What a drag!" Though Nara Shikamaru said that, he did not refuse Choji.

Before long, Naruto was surrounded by people.

More and more people gradually entered the classroom.

Most people glanced curiously at Naruto's group first. Those who did not particularly like Naruto sat on the other side, keeping their distance from him.

Those willing to get close to Naruto moved toward him instead.

Until a familiar yet unfamiliar face entered Naruto's field of vision.

A person in a high-collared shirt and sunglasses came before Naruto and said, "Hello, Naruto. My name is Aburame Shino. Can we be friends? My insects seem to like you very much!"

That was right. The newcomer was Aburame Shino, who had not appeared for quite some time. Shino's presence really was rather low; if he had not come to Naruto himself, Naruto might not even have noticed him.

"No problem, Shino. We're friends from now on!" Naruto naturally would not reject a friend, especially since Shino was one of the Konoha 11. His strength was guaranteed.

Seeing that all the seats around Naruto were occupied, Shino could only find a seat close to Naruto and sit down.

Everyone chatted excitedly.

Before long, a teacher entered. It was Teacher Iruka, with a gentle smile on his face and a hint of expectation in his eyes.

"Teacher Iruka! Long time no see!" Naruto instantly stood and greeted Teacher Iruka.

"Long time no see, Naruto!" Seeing Naruto's enthusiasm, Teacher Iruka smiled happily.

"Hello, everyone. I'm your homeroom teacher. My name is Umino Iruka." His voice was calm and firm.

"Today's lesson is very simple. We'll get to know one another. I have a list here. When I call your name, come up to the podium and introduce yourself. Your hobbies, things you dislike, your dreams—anything is fine!"

"First, XXX."

"Hello, everyone. My name is XXX. My hobbies are XXX, the things I dislike are XXX, and my dream is XXX. Please take care of me!"

"Very good, student XXX. Next, XXX."

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke stood up and walked to the podium.

Whispers immediately rose from the class.

"Wow, he's so handsome. I really like him."

"He is handsome, but he's from the Uchiha Clan. I heard the Uchiha Clan isn't easy to get along with?"

"Really? No way, he looks fine to me."

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. The person I like is my Brother, Uchiha Itachi. The things I like doing are things my Brother does with me."

"What I hate is anything that harms my Brother."

"My dream is to restore the glory of the Uchiha Clan and make the Uchiha Clan Konoha's greatest clan!"

Naruto felt rather helpless after hearing that. As expected of Sasuke as a child—his head was filled with his Brother, Uchiha Itachi. He was a top-tier brother fanatic!

"Next, Haruno Sakura!"

Sakura walked to the podium with a hint of shyness.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Haruno Sakura. I like flowers and taking care of patients," she said gently.

"What I dislike is insects and... and rude people." Her voice became quieter.

"My dream is to become an excellent Medical Ninja, and... I hope to gain Naruto's approval." A faint blush appeared on her face.

"Next, Yamanaka Ino!"

Ino confidently walked to the podium, her eyes sparkling with energy.

"I am Yamanaka Ino. I like flowers and fashion, and what I hate most is lazy people."

Her voice was loud and clear. "My dream is to become a top Medical Ninja and open my own flower shop."

Her smile was full of anticipation for the future.

"Next, Inuzuka Kiba!"

Kiba excitedly jumped onto the podium, with his puppy Akamaru beside him.

"I am Inuzuka Kiba. I like training with Akamaru, and what I hate most is waiting."

He spoke energetically. "My dream is to become the strongest ninja and the best pet trainer."

He and Akamaru struck an encouraging pose together.

"Next, Aburame Shino!"

Shino quietly walked to the podium, his voice calm and low.

"I am Aburame Shino. I like observing and studying insects, and what I hate most is... messiness."

His gaze revealed his love for insects. "My dream is to become a ninja who can use insects to carry out all kinds of missions."

His words conveyed confidence in insect-based ninjutsu.

"Next, Akimichi Choji!"

Choji walked to the podium while eating potato chips. "I am Akimichi Choji. I like eating, especially potato chips and barbecue, and what I hate is exercising."

He gave an honest smile. "My dream is to eat every kind of delicious food and become a powerful ninja who protects my friends."

His eyes revealed his love for food and his devotion to friendship.

"Next, Hinata Hyuga!"

Hinata shyly walked to the podium, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

"I am Hinata Hyuga. I like reading and practicing Gentle Fist, and what I dislike is... is failure." Her face was red as an apple.

"My dream is to become stronger and not disappoint my family's expectations." Though her voice was quiet, it was filled with determination.

"Next, Nara Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru lazily walked to the podium, looking somewhat unwilling.

"I am Nara Shikamaru. I like playing shogi and taking naps, and what I hate most is troublesome things." He sighed.

"My dream is to live peacefully, but since I'm at the Ninja Academy, I'll work hard to become a ninja who can handle trouble." He smiled helplessly.

"Next!" Teacher Iruka paused before continuing.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto rose from his seat and walked toward the podium.

The entire class immediately focused their eyes on Naruto.

Naruto walked up to the podium openly and confidently.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What I love most is ramen, especially Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto said with a smile.

"Ichiraku Ramen really is delicious!"

"Yeah, yeah! My dad took me there before. It was so good!"

"Really? Then I'm going to try it after school today!"

"What I hate is being looked down on!" His voice became firmer.

"As for my dream? I'm sure everyone already knows. It's to make everyone acknowledge me! Then become the future Hokage!"

He waved his little fist, determination shining in his eyes.

Naruto's friends gave him plenty of support and began applauding one after another.

"Thank you, everyone!" Naruto looked at them gratefully.

"Alright, everyone has gotten to know each other a little. I hope that during your time at the Ninja Academy, you'll get along well. That's all for today. Class dismissed!"

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