"Hehe! Naruto, I've looked over your grades. They're excellent! But Iruka said you seemed a little inattentive in class. Do you not like Teacher Iruka's lessons?"
"Lord Hokage, I just found the classes a little boring and zoned out. You had me learn everything they teach before I even enrolled. Did any of the other teachers say I had problems in class?"
Not long after dinner, Naruto noticed the Third Hokage leaving his office and heading his way. Combined with Iruka's complaint earlier that day, Naruto knew he had come specifically for a home visit.
"Well, while the other teachers haven't mentioned it separately, Iruka is the homeroom teacher. They collectively asked him to tell me about your inattentiveness in class."
"But there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my assessments, and my grades haven't dragged down the class either."
The Third Hokage pondered briefly at that, then spoke with an unchanged smile. "Naruto, the Ninja Academy doesn't look only at grades. After every student graduates, the homeroom teacher and subject teachers submit recommendations to me based on that student's circumstances. I decide which Jonin Instructor will lead them according to their evaluations."
"If you perform poorly at school, you won't receive favorable comments from them after graduation. The instructor assigned to you might even form an unfavorable opinion of you."
Naruto looked at the Third Hokage strangely. Only after quite a while did he reply, "Then I just won't graduate. Or is it still too late for me to withdraw now?"
"Cough, cough!" Sitting in his chair, the Third Hokage truly hadn't expected Naruto to say something like that. After recovering, he continued with a kindly expression, "Naruto, you mustn't think that way. Once you enter the Ninja Academy, it's impossible not to graduate, and even more impossible to withdraw."
"From the day you mastered Chakra and learned ninjutsu, you were already a ninja. Do you understand?"
Naruto lowered his head at that. He realized that the Third Hokage's reaction was vastly different from what had happened in the Original Work.
When Iruka complained to the Third Hokage in the Original Work, the Third Hokage had clearly said that if Iruka refused to accept Naruto, Naruto could only drop out.
So why had the result of his little test just now been completely different?
Seeing Naruto lower his head without speaking, the Third Hokage assumed he was upset. Just as he was about to comfort him, an Anbu voice sounded from outside the door.
"Lord Hokage!"
The Third Hokage's gaze flickered slightly. He then stood, gently patted Naruto on the shoulder, and said, "Naruto, I'll visit you again next time. Don't worry. Once you graduate, I'll personally arrange an outstanding Jonin to guide you."
Naruto never raised his head. Only after sensing the Third Hokage had gone far away did he quietly close the front door and head up to the second-floor bedroom.
Sitting before the windowsill, Naruto turned his face toward the starry sky. A full moon hung overhead like a round disk.
This was the final full-moon night of the year.
~~~~~~~~
"Advisor Danzo, what happened that made you so anxious you sent Root members to notify me directly? The Barrier Team is here too?"
The Third Hokage had just arrived at the Hokage's Office. The moment he entered, he saw Danzo and the Barrier Team's leader wearing grave expressions.
"Hiruzen, we just received word that the Uchiha's dissatisfaction with the village has escalated again. The entire Police Department is strengthening its armaments, and the Barrier Team has also discovered suspicious individuals repeatedly breaching the barrier and appearing in the Uchiha Clan Compound."
Leaning on his cane, Danzo took several steps toward the Third Hokage and handed him two reports.
The Third Hokage glanced at the silent Barrier Team leader, accepted Danzo's reports, and his expression immediately darkened.
He understood the Uchiha issue described in the first report very well. The Anbu had received similar intelligence, and everything remained under the village's control.
But the suspicious person recorded in the second report, someone who had repeatedly and mysteriously breached the barrier to enter the Uchiha Clan Compound, concerned him greatly.
It reminded him of the report about the mysterious person the Barrier Team had sensed during the period when he had left the village. Moreover, on the night Shisui Uchiha committed suicide, this mysterious person had apparently been sensed by the Barrier Team again in the Forest of Death.
The Third Hokage paced over to the main chair behind his desk and sat down. After looking over the report in his hand once more, he gave Danzo a meaningful glance.
Danzo narrowed his eyes and nodded lightly. Then, leaning on his cane, he walked out through the door, leaving only the Third Hokage and the Barrier Team leader in the office.
A moment later, the Third Hokage walked to the window and suddenly said, "Hayate."
"Here!"
Gekko Hayate appeared out of thin air.
"Bring Kakashi here."
"Yes!"
Not long afterward, a silver-haired figure with a ninja blade strapped to his back entered the office. It was Kakashi Hatake.
"Lord Hokage, you summoned me?"
"Yes. Investigate this matter."
The Third Hokage pulled out the Barrier Team's report and handed it over.
~~~~~~~
Time flew by, and Konoha's fifty-fifth year officially arrived. The Ninja Academy began classes once again.
That morning, the school held an individual New Year assessment for every student. Iruka had not announced last year's grades after handing them out, but now that the new term's report cards were ready, he was reviewing them at the podium.
"Now, I will announce the top three students in the New Year assessment."
"First place: Uzumaki Naruto."
"Second place: Second Pillar."
"Third place: Sakura Haruno."
Iruka quickly read out the names of the top three.
"What? That dead last actually got first place? Impossible!"
"He got first place?"
"Yeah! Teacher Iruka must have made a mistake!"
The classroom immediately erupted in an uproar, but Iruka's attention was entirely on Naruto. He discovered that Naruto was still spacing out in that corner, as though he had not heard his ranking at all.
Frowning, Iruka shifted his gaze to Sasuke. Then he saw something that surprised him. Sasuke also wore a preoccupied expression and was clearly lost in thought, completely unmoved by the noise around him.
Next, Iruka followed Sasuke's position with his eyes and turned his attention to Sakura Haruno. Who would have thought that Sakura Haruno was staring at Sasuke with worshipful eyes, her face full of infatuation?
They were all problem students!
Iruka's expression immediately became somewhat grave.
"Naruto, you got first place?"
"Yeah, Father. Are you surprised that I got first place?"
Hearing Minato Namikaze's voice, Naruto's consciousness entered the Sealed Space. He had just expanded his senses to their limits to track Itachi Uchiha's location, only to discover that Itachi Uchiha had entered Root's base, where a barrier blocked sensory perception.
Minato Namikaze looked at Naruto strangely. "That doesn't fit your usual style."
"Couldn't be helped." Naruto looked at his father and said calmly, "Didn't the Third Hokage say it last year? I can't avoid graduating, and I can't withdraw either. If I got last place, do you believe he wouldn't come looking for me immediately?"
Minato Namikaze froze. "Uh, that does make some sense~"
But Naruto suddenly spoke as if he had thought of something. "By the way, Father, there's something I find strange. You were a Hokage, after all. How come you knew so few ninjutsu?"
"I heard the Third Hokage was said to have mastered every ninjutsu currently existing in Konoha."
"How could that be!" Minato Namikaze's expression turned serious. "The Third Hokage was indeed skilled in many ninjutsu and held the title of 'Professor of Ninjutsu,' but aside from certain forbidden techniques and Fuinjutsu, he had merely mastered ninjutsu of the five Chakra natures."
Naruto's eyes flickered. "Then why didn't you learn more ninjutsu, Father? I heard every Hokage has kept the Scroll of Seals, which records many forbidden techniques."
Minato Namikaze's expression changed. "Naruto! You want to steal the Scroll of Seals!"
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