If You Don't Court Death, You Won't Die

Naruto was clearly excited as he accepted the Admission Notice from the Third Hokage.

The Ninja School was a place where ninja-related skills were taught.

There, Naruto would learn the essential knowledge needed to become a ninja and meet his future companions.

Most importantly, only by graduating from the Ninja Academy could he become an official ninja.

"Third Hokage, will Sasuke be going to the Ninja Academy too?" After flipping through the Admission Notice twice and confirming that registration began tomorrow, he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen expectantly.

Seeing the usually calm Naruto display such excitement, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt somewhat gratified.

Children should act like children.

They should look forward to school, enjoy learning, care about their friends, and make more friends. Only then could they grow up healthy and happy.

Reaching out to pat Naruto on the head, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up with a smile. "Sasuke will be going too. I'll be leaving now, Young Naruto. Get to bed early, and remember to report to the Ninja Academy before nine tomorrow morning."

Naruto nodded excitedly, then quickly went to take a bath before lying down and closing his eyes to sleep.

After falling asleep, Naruto entered the Sealing Space.

"Kurama, I'll finally be able to attend the Ninja Academy tomorrow. You must be bored staying in Konoha all the time too. Once I graduate and become an official ninja, I'll take you all around the Shinobi World."

The moment he saw the adorable orange-furred Nine-Tails Little Fox watching a show on the sofa, Naruto said excitedly.

Kurama clearly did not understand Naruto's excitement.

Kurama had watched how diligently his Jinchuriki brat had trained over the years.

Even without borrowing his power, Naruto's strength had already surpassed that of a Genin. With guidance from a Nine-Tails as experienced as himself, why was Naruto so excited about entering a Ninja Academy that trained Genin?

Besides, Kurama was perfectly comfortable in this Sealing Space. He was not bored at all, nor did he want to revisit the sights of the Shinobi World that he had long since grown tired of.

He kept watching TV and answered perfunctorily, "Oh, I know."

Naruto was extremely displeased by that dismissive attitude.

This was a turning point in his life, yet Kurama's reaction was so indifferent.

Glancing at the Pokémon currently playing on the television, Naruto saw Pikachu following Satoshi as they battled another Pokémon Trainer. It seemed to be a match.

Naruto's eyes shifted. He sat down beside Kurama, reached out to stroke the fox's fur to draw a little of his attention, then asked with a smile, "I remember you have an excellent memory."

Kurama was not interested in Naruto entering the Ninja Academy, but if Naruto praised him, he immediately perked up.

Pausing the TV, Kurama did not mind Naruto taking advantage of him earlier. He turned with a smile and said, "I possess a photographic memory. Even events from a thousand years ago can be recalled as long as I wish to remember them."

Naruto clapped his hands, praising Kurama for that ability.

A smile appeared on his face as well. "Then have you noticed that Pokémon only has two episodes left, and this Pokémon is the last work in the Video Library?"

Kurama had good viewing habits. Whether it was anime, movies, television dramas, or even comedy clips, he was not picky. Once he started playing them in order, he would quietly watch from beginning to end.

After gaining control of the remote, the button Kurama used most was the pause button, and that was only because he occasionally played games with Naruto.

Because of that, despite the Video Library's abundant content, after watching nonstop for more than a year, Kurama had very little left that he had not yet seen.

At that moment, Kurama began to feel that something was wrong.

"You noticed too, didn't you? Ever since I brought this Video Library here, it has never been updated." Seeing the uneasy expression on Kurama's face, Naruto knew he had figured it out.

Once Kurama finished everything in the Video Library, if Naruto did not update it, the only things Kurama could watch would be shows he had already seen.

And Kurama happened to have an excellent memory. With even the slightest prompt, he could recall the contents of an entire show.

That meant he had lost the pleasure ordinary people found in rewatching a show and discovering details they had missed before.

The remaining games he had not played would not last very long either.

For Kurama, who had grown accustomed to passing the time by watching shows and playing games, having no dramas to watch and no games to play was absolutely intolerable.

As the saying went, it was easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury back to frugality.

In an instant, Kurama's expression softened, and his voice became gentler than ever before.

"Naruto, congratulations on your enrollment."

Naruto's eyes curved into crescents as he smiled. "Thank you."

Then he opened his arms toward Kurama.

Kurama understood immediately.

He knew this brat had always wanted to use him as a body pillow, but Kurama had never been able to put aside his pride. He was the great Nine-Tails, after all. How could a human brat just play with him whenever he wanted?

But now, under someone else's roof, he had no choice but to bow his head.

After less than half a second of thought, Kurama cast aside his pointless shame. His Chakra avatar, originally about as tall as Naruto, shrank by half again, becoming petite and delicate before leaping into Naruto's arms.

Naruto stroked the Little Fox in his arms, and the incredible feel of the fur made him unable to stop a blissful smile from appearing.

Kurama, on the other hand, was extremely displeased.

"Hurry up, brat. Go update the Video Library for me."

"From now on, you're not allowed to kick me when I hold you."

"Fine."

Only after quite a while, before Kurama's patience reached its limit and he exploded, did Naruto enter the Learning Space and copy enough recently acquired content into the Video Library to last Kurama a month.

This was also a measure Naruto took to prevent Kurama from going back on his word. If he gave him too much at once, Kurama might start acting badly again.

At the same time, Naruto brought over a new game console to play with Kurama.

"Come play Honor of Kings. The League of Legends game we played before took too long per match, so it isn't suitable for playing during breaks in training. A match of Honor of Kings takes around ten minutes, which is perfect."

"Hurry up and learn it. Next time, we can play together during my training breaks. We'll start with Bronze AI, and our goal is to challenge King AI."

Naruto eagerly stuffed the game console into Kurama's hands in his arms, then turned on another one himself.

"Hey, Kurama, why are you so interested in female foxes?"

"I remember that in League of Legends, you specifically played Ahri. In Honor of Kings, you specifically played Daji. In Guns Girl Z, Yae Sakura was your favorite. And three months ago, you dragged me into talking about Fox Spirit Matchmaker for an entire night. Have you been lonely for too long? Is spring fever getting to you?"

After only a few rounds, Naruto became curious.

"I am a Tailed Beast, a collection of Chakra. I have no gender, nor do I experience spring fever," Kurama answered unhappily.

"Wait, do you think fox-eared, fox-tailed beauties like Daji, Yae Sakura, and Tushan Honghong look good, and you want to become like that?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Naruto imagined a scene: Kurama in Daji's maid café skin, saying to him in a deep masculine voice, "Please order Daji around as you wish."

At the mere thought of it, Naruto shuddered all over.

Then he instinctively threw the Little Fox in his arms aside.

"Get lost."

A furious roar rang out, accompanied by an orange, furry fox foot instantly appearing in Naruto's field of vision.

Then everything went dark, and he passed out.

After Naruto lost consciousness, the two Shadow Clones he had left studying in the Learning Space also dispersed.

For the first time in a long while, Naruto slept soundly without thinking about anything at all.

Kurama picked Naruto up, covered him with a blanket, and a gentle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Good night, Naruto."