Human Affection Treats Me Harshly, Yet I Have Never Been Generous

Time passed neither quickly nor slowly, but life at the academy was indeed a bit dull, just as Shikamaru had said.

It wasn't just him feeling this way; Minato Namikaze and Kurama, sealed away, also found it quite boring.

Father, Minato Namikaze, had graduated from here, and Kurama had also left this school with his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, the previous Jinchuriki.

Another month had passed with classes at the academy. This month, Iruka had been guiding the students through the basics for Genin, from teaching them how to refine Chakra to today's Taijutsu lesson where he taught everyone the basic Three Body Techniques.

On the academy's training grounds, Naruto sat under a large tree in a corner, his senses spread out, scanning the village's situation. He had bought the scroll for collecting bodies last year, but Shisui Uchiha hadn't returned to the village yet.

"Now, let's review what we learned the past two days. Sasuke Uchiha, you'll demonstrate the Clone Jutsu for everyone."

Iruka's gaze swept across the area. When he saw Naruto, his eyes flickered, and he directly called out Sasuke's name.

The training grounds immediately became lively, with many young girls' eyes sparkling as they cheered for Sasuke.

"Hmph! The Clone Jutsu is just a trick to fool children,"

Sasuke said this with an arrogant expression after glancing at a certain corner, yet he walked out with a clear desire to show off.

Iruka nodded and looked at Sasuke with expectant eyes, saying, "Then, begin, Sasuke."

A flash of haughtiness crossed Sasuke's face as he formed the hand seals perfectly.

Un - Mi - Tora!

"Clone Jutsu!"

Bang!

A puff of smoke later, two identical Sasukes were standing on the spot.

"Hmm~"

Iruka's eyes lit up. He picked up the roster in his hand and made a mark under Sasuke's name with his pen.

"So amazing! It's a perfect Clone Jutsu!"

"Yeah! You can't even tell which one is the real one!"

"..."

It had to be said that Sasuke's popularity was indeed very high.

"Ahem!" Iruka cleared his throat to quiet everyone down, then he instructed, "Sasuke, you can dispel the clones now."

"Bang! X2."

The two Sasukes on the ground disappeared simultaneously.

"Nani!"

"What's going on? Were both of them clones?"

"So amazing! Where is Sasuke-kun's real body?"

A group of people cried out in surprise, searching everywhere for Sasuke's figure.

However, Shikamaru, who was present, unhesitatingly turned his gaze to the large tree Naruto was leaning against. He frowned, then finally shook his head without saying anything.

"You say it's a trick to fool children, but aren't you having quite a bit of fun?"

Naruto, still sitting under the tree, suddenly spoke without looking up.

"Hmph! So you did notice!"

Sasuke leaped down from the tree, his face as proud as ever.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun is so amazing, his real body actually moved to the tree!"

"Yeah, we didn't even notice!"

"So cool!"

Seeing Sasuke's dramatic entrance, the surrounding young girls swarmed over, swooning.

Naruto stood up from the ground, his expression indifferent as he glanced at Sasuke before turning to leave. He intended to find a quieter place.

Sasuke's face darkened. He realized Naruto's attitude was the same as when they first met; he was treating him like air, still not taking him seriously.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hm?"

Iruka suddenly called out to Naruto and walked a few steps to stand in front of him.

"Sasuke just demonstrated the Clone Jutsu for everyone. Now, you show us too."

Shikamaru, standing outside the crowd, his expression changed. He felt something bad was about to happen.

After all, Naruto could even use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Hadn't the Hokage told him about this?

Upon hearing this, a hint of amusement flashed across Naruto's face. He looked directly into Iruka's eyes, and after a moment, he calmly said, "Iruka-sensei, I'm not good at the Clone Jutsu."

Iruka's expression turned cold. "How do you know you're not good at it if you don't try!"

"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei, I don't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone. I'm definitely not a genius like Sasuke Uchiha, so how could I possibly perform such a perfect demonstration?"

Even though he said this, Naruto's tone was extremely flat, carrying a strong sense of mockery.

Iruka's meaning was clear to him. For the past month, he, Shikamaru, and Choji had been distracted in class, becoming the bad students in Iruka's eyes.

Sasuke, however, was Iruka's most satisfactory student.

Shikamaru and Choji were genuinely zoning out, but he was different.

Every day, he sat in the corner of the classroom, either trying to sense Shisui Uchiha's whereabouts or completely focusing his mind on the Mirrored World.

But Iruka couldn't catch them red-handed. The three of them had already mastered the knowledge in the books and could answer questions fluently during class.

Today, he finally found an opportunity. Calling out Sasuke from the start was clearly meant to embarrass him.

If it were the original Naruto's personality, he wouldn't even need Iruka to call his name; he would have eagerly stepped out to compete with Sasuke long ago.

"Since you know you're not good at it, you should study even harder! With your attitude, you definitely won't graduate from the Ninja Academy."

Iruka said with a cold expression. From the beginning of the semester, he had noticed Naruto being distracted in class. He felt he had been very tolerant of Naruto by holding back his criticism for so long.

"Yes, thank you for your teachings, Iruka-sensei."

Naruto bowed respectfully to him.

"Hmph! Stand aside and watch how the other students do it!"

Iruka's eye twitched, and he turned around, feeling extremely frustrated.

He had expected Naruto to be more defiant, but he never imagined Naruto would have such an attitude. It made him feel like he had punched cotton.

Soon, Iruka's attention shifted to the other students. He no longer paid attention to Naruto, and the other students clustered around Sasuke and walked away.

"Are you okay?"

"What could be wrong with me?"

Shikamaru came over and asked softly with a worried expression, but Naruto smiled.

"Sigh, it seems the Hokage didn't tell Iruka-sensei about your situation, otherwise, he wouldn't have called your name just now."

"Shikamaru, you're a smart person. He's different from you. He's just a teacher. If he knew too much, it would be difficult for him to know how to interact with me. The Hokage knows this very well."

"This is so troublesome. If only I didn't have to go to school."

"Well, if you don't want to go to school, you actually can..."

Naruto stopped when he said this.

"Can what?"

Shikamaru's expression froze, and his mind raced, trying to guess what Naruto hadn't finished saying.

"It's nothing. We should go. The next class is Shurikenjutsu, and Iruka-sensei is calling names again."

Naruto's eyes flickered. He had just sensed Shisui Uchiha's chakra returning to Konoha. This meant that starting today, he would be busy at night.

Calculating the time, it was May now. In a few more months, it would be Konoha 55, and the Uchiha clan massacre night would finally arrive.

Naruto was looking forward to it. He planned to detonate the explosive tags on the night of the massacre.

He was also very curious whether the Third Hokage would step down then.