Hiruzen Sarutobi's Attention

The Monthly Exam for First Grade Class A came to a successful close.

Other than Natsuki's unexpected rise to first place in the Ninja Tool Throwing test, everyone else performed as expected.

"Detailed rankings will be announced next Monday."

After offering that reminder, Ishida Yu hurried away.

Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō arrived at the Training Ground closest to Konoha Orphanage.

"Nonō."

After a brief moment of thought, Natsuki said, "No matter what happens next, don't be afraid, and don't tell anyone."

Though Yakushi Nonō did not understand, she nodded anyway.

Natsuki pinched her cheek.

He then walked up to a tree.

Golden Right Leg!

Natsuki aimed at the trunk and viciously kicked out.

Bang!

The tree trunk took the kick solidly and shook violently.

Countless leaves were blasted into the surrounding area by the tremendous force.

Yakushi Nonō's little face went blank.

But that was not the end.

Natsuki casually caught a leaf.

Reinforcement Magic!

A surge of Chakra flowed forth.

He looked toward a tree some distance away, then flicked out the leaf.

After a sharp whistle through the air, the leaf embedded itself deep into the trunk like a Shuriken.

Natsuki took out two more Kunai.

One was wooden, and the other was iron.

When the two struck against each other, the wooden Kunai immediately developed a deep dent.

Reinforcement Magic!

Natsuki gripped the wooden Kunai tightly and channeled Chakra into it.

He slashed the iron Kunai with the wooden one again.

The dent was still there, but it was difficult to spot without looking closely.

This meant that the wooden Kunai's sharpness and hardness had come infinitely close to those of the iron Kunai.

But it had only come infinitely close; it was not completely identical.

That was because his Reinforcement Magic was only C-rank.

Natsuki put away both Kunai and plopped down.

Using three C-rank ninjutsu in succession was too much of a burden for him.

Fortunately, Golden Right Leg was Taijutsu and did not consume as much Chakra.

"That just now was...?"

Yakushi Nonō came back to her senses and could not help asking curiously.

But halfway through, she suddenly remembered what Natsuki had said earlier and stopped herself.

"A ninjutsu I created myself."

Natsuki spouted nonsense with a straight face.

It was not entirely nonsense, though.

Once his Character Template ability was exposed in the future, self-created ninjutsu would be the only and best excuse.

Yakushi Nonō did not doubt him. Her eyes filled with admiration.

Ever since she had met Natsuki, she had felt that he could do anything and was someone she aspired to catch up to.

"Come sit."

Natsuki patted the grass beside him.

He still had an idea he had not tested yet, so he needed to rest for a while and recover his Chakra.

Yakushi Nonō walked over and sat beside him.

Tilting her head slightly, she leaned against Natsuki's shoulder.

After the two sat quietly for more than ten minutes, Natsuki got to his feet and looked at the tree he had kicked earlier.

Reinforcement Magic!

Golden Right Leg!

Natsuki swept his leg out, striking the tree before him heavily.

With a crack, a deep fissure appeared in the trunk before Yakushi Nonō's eyes.

Though it had not snapped in two, it was enough to leave her shocked.

She could imagine that if such a kick landed on someone, they would be badly injured even if they did not die.

Yakushi Nonō's face was filled with worship.

Although everyone said Namikaze Minato was a genius, it now seemed that Natsuki was no worse than him.

"Let's go home and eat."

Natsuki said with great satisfaction.

By now, he could be considered to possess the strength of a Genin.

But he knew very well that this bit of strength was nowhere near enough if he wanted to do as he pleased in the Ninja World.

In short, he should keep a low profile for now.

Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō returned to Konoha Orphanage.

"Natsuki, we've been waiting for you. Come cook."

The moment Mayu saw Natsuki, she called out to him.

It was not that she was exploiting child labor.

Originally, she had cooked for the orphans of Konoha Orphanage, but after they tasted Natsuki's cooking once, they became dissatisfied with anything else.

Upon hearing that, Yakushi Nonō instinctively licked her soft red lips.

At the thought of Natsuki's cooking, tears of disappointment began flowing from the corner of her mouth.

"Okay."

Natsuki walked into the kitchen.

The reason his cooking was so delicious was because he had acquired Emiya Shirou's cooking skills.

If he obtained a Character Template from Food Wars, would the food be so delicious that people's clothes exploded off?

After dinner, Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō began their usual training.

Natsuki trained in Ninja Tool Throwing.

He had already gotten started with Kunai and Shuriken, and was now practicing Senbon.

Yakushi Nonō took out the medical book Chiwa had given her and began reading.

After learning how to prepare anesthetics, Natsuki had not spent much more time studying medical knowledge.

That was because once he obtained a related Character Template, he could master it all at once.

It was a new day.

Nine in the morning.

Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the Hokage Office right on time.

After sitting down, he looked at the documents on the Hokage's desk.

"Has the Ninja Academy's first Monthly Exam ended?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out the Ninja Academy's documents.

Whether as the Hokage or the principal, he cared deeply about the Ninja Academy.

Because its students were Konoha's future.

Those geniuses in particular could be called its pillars.

For example, his three students, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, were already among the finest of the younger generation.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Fourth Hokage would be born from among them.

After some thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to look at the first graders first.

They were new students, and he did not know much about them.

He already knew clearly which geniuses were in the other grades.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the file, the first name that caught his eye was Namikaze Minato.

He immediately felt a little surprised.

Most geniuses came from ninja clans, while civilian geniuses were exceedingly rare.

But he preferred civilian geniuses.

Ninja clan geniuses sometimes put their clans first, such as the geniuses of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.

Civilian geniuses would not.

With a little cultivation, they would become the most perfect inheritors of the Will of Fire.

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise.

Namikaze Minato ranked first in every subject, but he ranked second in Will of Fire class. First place belonged to Natsuki.

Hiruzen Sarutobi grew interested and looked over his information.

His overall ranking was seventh.

Only Ninja Tool Throwing and Will of Fire were first place.

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately found Natsuki's test paper.

He quickly flipped to the questions related to the Will of Fire.

Hiruzen Sarutobi began reading.

A moment later, his eyes widened.

Natsuki had fully leveraged the advantages of his previous life, writing an answer brimming with loyalty centered around the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

In short, he wanted to improve too badly!

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help thinking, Wonderful.

Ever since becoming Hokage, he had been promoting the Will of Fire.

Natsuki's answer gave him some ideas.

"Konoha needs talents like this."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and listed both Namikaze Minato and Natsuki as observation targets.

Of course, they were not the only ones.

The top ten students of First Grade Class A all had his attention.

If nothing unexpected happened, they would be the most outstanding students of this class.

Among them, Namikaze Minato was the one he thought most highly of.

The Ninja World was currently mired in prolonged war, and a genius among geniuses was what Konoha needed most.