A Day at the Ninja Academy

In the blink of an eye, Naruto had already spent a month at the Ninja Academy.

Over that month, he had not used Shadow Clones to skip class. Instead, he attended school properly, studying advanced ninja knowledge in class while never listening to the teacher's lectures.

The reason was simple: taijutsu training could only be done by the original body, while Shadow Clones could only increase experience in ninjutsu training.

He had already mastered most of the ninjutsu currently available to him. There was nothing in particular he needed to learn unless he acquired a truly worthwhile ninjutsu to train.

Perhaps that was also why Kage-level experts, despite knowing Shadow Clones could speed up training, rarely actually used them that way.

As for reading books unrelated to class, Naruto felt his attitude was far better than Choji, who ate snacks in the front row, and Shikamaru, who slept. At the very least, he did not disturb the other students.

Faced with this group of troublesome students, Iruka felt both frustrated and helpless.

These troublesome students were all children of major clans. They attended the Ninja Academy only in response to the Hokage's call; outside the classroom, they received elite instruction from their families.

However, as someone who wanted to become an excellent teacher in the future, he could not simply stand by. He had to correct them.

Picking up a piece of chalk, Iruka wrote the large words "Reading Reflection" on the blackboard. Then he tapped on the desk and said, "We've studied 'The Hokage and the Will of Fire' for so long. It's time to write a reading reflection and see what the Will of Fire means in everyone's hearts."

The entire classroom immediately erupted in complaints, with everyone grumbling about why they had to write a reading reflection.

Naruto did not join in the complaints. After putting down his extracurricular book, he took out his composition notebook and began writing. In less than twenty minutes, a thousand-word essay was freshly completed.

After setting the composition notebook aside, Naruto picked up his extracurricular book again and diligently took notes.

These books on Sealing Jutsu and Medical Ninjutsu that he had borrowed from the library would be of great help to him in the future.

Yet when Iruka saw this, he could not help frowning. He felt that something was very wrong with Naruto's state, but he could not say exactly what it was.

After the dismissal bell rang, the next class was outdoor physical education.

Although the ninja profession had many specialized branches, such as Medical Ninja and Research Ninja, they were essentially mercenaries who worked for money. What they valued most was still combat strength.

After a brief assembly, Naruto and the other students arrived at the training field.

The teacher in charge of physical education was not Iruka, but another tall and powerfully built Chunin.

After a simple running warm-up, they began one-on-one sparring exercises under the Chunin teacher's guidance.

Naruto easily knocked down every opponent until he faced Sasuke. Only then did a smile appear on his face. "Sasuke, I wonder how much you've improved since last time?"

Sasuke snorted coldly. "Naruto, you're going to lose badly this time!"

Naruto smiled, formed the Seal of Confrontation, and said, "I hope you can last a little longer than last time! Don't disgrace the Uchiha name."

Sasuke's expression turned grim at those words.

Over the past month, he had lost to Naruto several times. Every time he lost, Naruto would mock him with words.

Although he knew Naruto was deliberately provoking him into working harder, he could never endure it. This time was no different.

With another cold snort, Sasuke lunged forward, only for Naruto to dodge easily, grab Sasuke by the arm, and hurl him away.

Sasuke landed on the ground and hurriedly got back to his feet. Then, in full view of everyone present, he formed hand seals with both hands.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

In an instant, a small fireball appeared in front of Sasuke, its flames violently colliding within.

But before he could release it, Naruto had already appeared at Sasuke's side and violently interrupted the technique with a punch. Sasuke cried out in pain and fell to the ground, covering his mouth, which had been scalded bright red.

This scene not only shocked the students in the class but also jolted the Chunin teacher awake, leaving him questioning his life.

These were supposed to be first-year students, weren't they? Why could Sasuke use the Great Fireball Technique? It was a C-rank ninjutsu that even formal ninja found extremely difficult to master.

Naruto was even more outrageous. He had directly interrupted the Great Fireball Technique.

Still, if the interruption had failed, the students around him might have been in danger.

At that thought, the Chunin teacher was immediately seized by lingering fear. He quickly stopped the sparring exercise and called Naruto and Sasuke over.

With a stern expression, the Chunin teacher said, "Why did you use such a dangerous ninjutsu during sparring class?"

Sasuke replied dismissively, "Didn't you say we should treat sparring as a real battle? Then using ninjutsu and defeating the enemy as much as possible is only natural."

The Chunin teacher fell silent, because Sasuke was right. Sparring class was meant to involve real combat.

Then the Chunin teacher looked at Naruto. After hesitating, he said, "Do you know how dangerous it is to interrupt a ninjutsu? What if you hurt another student? Don't use such dangerous ninjutsu in future sparring classes."

Naruto glanced at the Chunin teacher, then said calmly, "Understood. I'll be more careful next time. But there should be fewer boring spars like this in the future. If none of them are my opponents, I'll just forfeit voluntarily."

"..."

After Naruto and Sasuke returned to the group, all the other students gathered around them. Everyone admired the strong.

Sasuke deliberately put on a cold, aloof expression, though he was actually enjoying his classmates' admiration. Naruto, meanwhile, walked to a corner and ate snacks with Shikamaru and Choji.

Inside the office, Iruka, who was grading essays, had witnessed the entire incident.

He finally understood what had been wrong. Naruto's grades were excellent, and he was firmly the best in the class during sparring lessons, yet he had never been willing to approach anyone aside from a handful of classmates. It was as though he treated everyone else as air.

After realizing this, Iruka took Naruto's essay and left the Ninja Academy, heading for the Hokage Building.

Pushing open the office door, Iruka found the leisurely Third Hokage and handed him Naruto's essay. "Third Hokage-sama, please take a look at Naruto's essay."

The Third Hokage glanced over the essay and smiled. "This essay is very well written. Naruto has already grasped the true meaning of the Will of Fire. There isn't a single flaw to pick out."

"You came to see me because Naruto caused trouble again? He's just a child... be more understanding."

Iruka shook his head and said seriously, "Naruto's grades are excellent, and he never causes trouble. But he's too withdrawn, too mature and steady. He's practically like... a veteran who has participated in a ninja world war.

If this continues, Naruto will definitely develop serious psychological problems and cause unimaginable trouble."