I Won't Dream

In the Mirrored World, Naruto was battling the two Konoha gatekeepers.

Kamizuki Izumo was in front, with Hagane Kotetsu behind him.

"Water Style, Water Candy Capture!"

Kamizuki Izumo converted his chakra into sticky water and spat it from his mouth, spreading across the ground like a puddle and surging towards Naruto.

Naruto retreated rapidly, changing direction with agile movements. He dashed several steps towards Hagane Kotetsu, who had just summoned a giant clam shell hammer. With a flick of one hand, several shuriken spun and shot out from blind spots.

Simultaneously, his other hand swiftly formed several hand seals.

"Fire Style, Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Hagane Kotetsu only had time to block the shuriken with the clam shell hammer. The next moment, a high-temperature fireball, over three meters in diameter, instantly engulfed his figure.

After confirming Hagane Kotetsu was out, Naruto turned and locked onto Kamizuki Izumo opposite him. Just as he was about to make a move, Kurama's voice sounded.

"Naruto, your homeroom teacher seems to be angry. He's called your name three times already. That kid Shikamaru in the front row is signaling you. If you don't get out soon, he might just come over here."

"Got it."

Naruto's mind moved, and as his consciousness returned to his body, he heard an angry voice from the podium.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Stand up!"

"What is it, Teacher Iruka?"

Naruto stood up calmly, his gaze serene, showing no trace of panic.

"Uzumaki Naruto, it's your turn for introductions!"

Iruka on the podium said this almost through gritted teeth.

Upon learning that Naruto would be in his class, he had immediately considered resigning from the school. However, after the Third Hokage's persuasion, he accepted the assignment.

But Naruto was disrespecting him, his homeroom teacher, on the very first day of school. Remembering his parents who were killed by the Demon Fox years ago, Iruka's expression grew increasingly grim.

Seeing Iruka on the podium looking like he wanted to devour him, Naruto remained unfazed. He spoke calmly, "I am Uzumaki Naruto."

After saying this, he sat back down.

However, this attitude made Iruka feel that Naruto was completely brushing him off.

"What kind of introduction is that!"

Iruka felt he was about to lose control of his anger.

"Teacher Iruka, I actually don't need to introduce myself," Naruto stood up again, his gaze deep as he stared at Iruka on the podium. "Doesn't everyone in the village know me?"

"You... you at least have to say your hobbies and dreams."

The moment Iruka saw Naruto staring at him with emotionless eyes, his heart trembled. For some reason, his voice inexplicably lowered.

"I don't have any particular hobbies, nor have I ever had dreams. I have no boring dreams."

As soon as Naruto finished speaking, the classroom erupted into whispers.

"Damn it, what kind of garbage is this punk talking about? My dream is to become Hokage, is that so boring?!"

"Yeah! He's such a detestable guy. My dream is to become a hero who protects the village!"

"Hmph~ Hmph... Someone like him doesn't deserve to have dreams at all!"

"Shh, they say he's the Demon Fox. It's normal for him not to have dreams."

Seeing Naruto's single sentence provoke such a strong reaction from the other students, Iruka looked at Naruto with a complex expression and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Why?" Naruto's gaze slowly shifted. Sitting in the back row, he scanned the rows of seats and noticed two people looking at him strangely.

One was Uchiha Sasuke, and the other was Hinata, whom he had met before.

Both of them looked at him with a faint glint of excitement in their eyes.

"Teacher Iruka, I think if a person has no dreams, then they're no different from being carefree. Are you satisfied with that explanation?"

"What!"

The classroom fell silent instantly. Iruka was completely stunned by Naruto's answer.

Yes, as an adult, he naturally understood that dreams, as the name suggested, were the things people desired most deep in their hearts.

If a person had no dreams, they would have no desires, so what would be the difference from being carefree?

But if a person lived in this world without dreams, would their life truly have any meaning?

Iruka couldn't comprehend this attitude towards life. He opened his mouth to say something more, but in the end, he just waved his hand powerlessly, "Sit down."

"Thank you, Teacher Iruka."

Naruto calmly sat back down on his stool and began to ponder. Iruka then continued to call on other students for their introductions. Although he wasn't interested in children's dreams, he still paid some attention.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even know if he was called upon again later.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, a year had gone by. Today was his first day at the Ninja Academy.

Ever since he marked the Flying Thunder God runes around several waterfalls at the Naka River that night, he had been using his senses to capture Uchiha Shisui's chakra fluctuations every day. However, after the New Year arrived, one day he discovered that Uchiha Shisui had led a team out of the village on a mission.

He hadn't returned to the village even when the Ninja Academy started. There was no other way; he could only wait for him now.

In this year, he spent every day in the Sealed Space with his father researching how to simplify hand seals, or even perform ninjutsu by refining his chakra without them.

Minato Namikaze told him that simplifying hand seals was possible, and performing ninjutsu without them also existed, but it depended on the situation. Not all ninjutsu could be created with the same research approach as Rasengan and Flying Thunder God.

The reason ninjas need hand seals to perform ninjutsu is that chakra must be refined before using ninjutsu. Chakra is divided into physical energy and spiritual energy. Before releasing ninjutsu, matching chakra must be refined within the body according to the ninjutsu's type and scale.

Although this complex process is completed rapidly within the body, ninjas must use hand seals to remind their bodies how to execute these procedures. Each gesture corresponds to a step within the body. All preparations before ninjutsu activation are done to refine chakra, and only then can ninjutsu be unleashed.

Even ninjas with kekkei genkai cannot completely bypass the process of hand seals when performing ninjutsu. While it may appear they can perform various ninjutsu without hand seals due to their kekkei genkai, this is not always the case.

Other ninjas without kekkei genkai find it difficult to perform ninjutsu without hand seals, let alone simplify them. This is because diligently practicing the refinement of their own chakra is crucial.

Minato Namikaze stated that no matter how much hand seals are simplified, except for some special ninjutsu like Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, they could at most be simplified to single-handed seals.

Over the past year, Naruto had been undergoing this training. Just now, in the Mirrored World, he successfully performed the Great Fireball Jutsu with a single hand seal, which was the result of his recent training.

Ring ring ring—

The dismissal bell rang. Today was the first day of school, mainly for registration, and there was only one class.

So he could go home.