I Watch Naruto in Naruto

Shortly after the Nine-Tailed Riot eight years ago.

Upon hearing the news, Jiraiya hurried back to Konoha. First, to prevent outsiders from taking advantage of Konoha's weakness at the time; second, because he had learned that his disciple Minato had left behind a child named Naruto.

Back then, Jiraiya had wanted to take Naruto away and raise him personally.

However, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Hokage, took the responsibility upon himself and promised Jiraiya that he would take good care of Naruto.

Jiraiya was busy pursuing Orochimaru, who had only just defected from the village, and trusted his teacher Sarutobi Hiruzen. Thus, he did not press the matter of Naruto's custody.

Once he confirmed that the village was temporarily safe, Jiraiya hurriedly departed.

After that, Jiraiya searched for Orochimaru's traces throughout the Shinobi World while gathering intelligence for the village.

He would occasionally receive photos of Naruto sent by the Third Hokage. Seeing Naruto grow up healthy, he felt quite reassured about his life and continued wandering the Shinobi World.

But this time, the Uchiha clan's extermination had nearly sparked a war across the Shinobi World, forcing Jiraiya to show himself and act, bringing his leisurely life to an end.

Afterward, at the invitation of his fellow village shinobi, he found it hard to refuse their warm hospitality and returned to Konoha, his long-missed hometown.

The first time he saw Naruto, Jiraiya found that Naruto kept himself neat and tidy. He had grown tall and was physically healthy, just as the photos had shown, and seemed to be living fairly well.

After observing further, he found Naruto's home clean and orderly. His three daily meals were regular and plentiful, and at school he got along peacefully with others, treating people gently and politely.

That only confirmed Jiraiya's conclusion: Naruto really was living well.

For Naruto to have been taught such good manners, his teacher, the Third Hokage, must have put in considerable effort.

But afterward, when Jiraiya habitually went to the red-light district to drink and gather intelligence, he discovered that things were not as simple as they appeared.

Hidden beneath Naruto's seemingly orderly life was isolation and indifference from the entire village. Even his living expenses were supported by selling charcoal and gathering food in the wild.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, as the Third Hokage, had many ways to ensure Naruto received the life he deserved as the Hero's Son, yet he had still allowed Naruto to fall into such circumstances.

If Naruto had not matured early and been able to care for himself, who knew what state he would be in now.

Jiraiya usually did not like to overthink things, but that did not mean he was stupid.

Faced with Naruto's situation, he could easily deduce that his teacher had deliberately allowed this to happen in order to keep the Jinchuriki under his control.

If the Jinchuriki was isolated within the village, with the Hokage as his only source of warmth, then he would naturally want to grow close to him and become a force that supported the Hokage.

For that reason, he never told Naruto who his parents were. He never even let Naruto know about the property his parents had left behind, making him live a life worse than that of ordinary village orphans.

Naruto's life in such an environment was simply heartbreaking.

So even though Jiraiya did not want to raise a child at the moment, he still could not tolerate Naruto remaining in the village and enduring such cold violence.

That was why he had insisted on dragging his teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, to Naruto's training ground.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen still refused.

The Jinchuriki's mind had not yet matured, and his bond with the village was not deep enough. At the very least, he had to remain in the school until graduation and become a Genin.

The Jinchuriki was power that had to remain in the Hokage's hands. Though Jiraiya had the status and strength to approach the Jinchuriki, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not want to let go.

Unless Jiraiya became Hokage.

Clearly, Jiraiya did not want to become Hokage, and Sarutobi Hiruzen had no intention of handing power over to his disciple at this time either.

At that moment, Jiraiya was deeply disappointed in his teacher.

"I'm leaving, old man. I hope you're still alive when I come back next time."

He sighed dejectedly and even abandoned his original plan to see Naruto once.

What would seeing him accomplish?

He could not defy Sarutobi Hiruzen's will as Hokage. He could change nothing; he could not teach Naruto ninjutsu, nor would he be allowed to provide Naruto with any support in daily life.

It would be better not to appear in Naruto's life from the beginning.

With that, he turned and left, as though he had never come at all.

Kakashi, standing nearby, fell silent.

He too wanted to help Naruto, but like Jiraiya, he could not defy the Hokage's will.

All he could do was apply to protect Naruto and watch him grow, using that to ease his longing for his deceased teacher and Master's Wife.

Moreover, the last member of his departed best friend Obito's clan was here as well.

Subconsciously, Kakashi touched his left eye.

"When Naruto graduates from the Ninja Academy, you can become the squad leader for him and Sasuke. That day is not far off," Sarutobi Hiruzen said suddenly after watching Naruto and Sasuke train by the waterfall for a while longer.

Kakashi froze. "Become a squad leader?"

Then, he could not help but feel a trace of anticipation.

"Alright." Kakashi smiled and agreed.

Shortly after his tenth birthday, Naruto's Main Body made a rare appearance in the Learning Space.

Before him lay a thick stack of folded test papers.

Across the top of the paper was a large line of text: Comprehensive Academic Ability Test Paper.

This was an examination Naruto had to undergo after accumulating 100,000 credits in the Learning Space.

The scope of the examination was incredibly broad.

It covered everything from history and humanities to mathematics and physics; philosophical thought, chemistry and geography, biology and medicine, social systems, economics and finance, the principles of ninjutsu and Genjutsu, psychological tests, and more.

It included everything Naruto had learned so far in the Learning Space, Konoha Library, and Ninja Academy.

According to the rules, this closed-book examination contained a total of ten thousand questions, and the papers combined were nearly as thick as a book. Naruto had to answer at least ninety percent correctly to pass completely.

There was no time limit, but he could not leave midway through. Otherwise, it would count as a failure, and a completely new test paper would be issued the next time he took the examination.

If he passed, the Learning Space would grant him a mysterious reward and teach him even more profound knowledge.

To prepare for this examination, Naruto created two Shadow Clones and spent a month doing intensive review.

Only then did he confidently enter the Learning Space to challenge the Comprehensive Academic Ability Test Paper.

To prevent the examination from taking too long and causing problems in reality, Naruto had also asked Kurama to help him eat and exercise his body.

The examination continued for seven days and seven nights.

In the end, Naruto's month of intensive review and his preparations for having Kurama help him eat and move his body had not been in vain.

At last, the results came out.

On this test, worth a total of one hundred thousand points, Naruto ultimately achieved an excellent score of points.

He was rated exceptional and passed!

The Learning Space's reward arrived as promised: a neatly packaged cardboard box appeared before Naruto.

Like he had just defeated an extremely difficult final boss in a game, Naruto eagerly went to loot the drop. Upon opening the box, he found it filled entirely with books.

He pulled one out and saw a somewhat familiar two-dimensional manga character drawn on its pages.

Several words were written on the book's cover.

Naruto!