Ichiraku Ramen

"Screw you!" Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore; he rushed into the Sealing Space and gave the Nine-Tails a sound beating.

Using Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in alternately, the Nine-Tails surprisingly didn't even put up a fight.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

A minute later, the Rinnegan dissipated. Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails lying on the ground, looking utterly lifeless, and asked with a smile, "Do you still think I'm the Sage of Six Paths?"

"Kid, don't insult the old man. The old man had great love in his heart; he's nothing like you."

To actually beat me up... the old man would definitely never do such a thing, not even if he were reincarnated.

But if the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths is ruled out, then this whole matter becomes very suspicious.

The Nine-Tails sat up, its massive vertical pupils locked onto Naruto.

"Who exactly are you?"

The Nine-Tails asked: Where did you get your Rinnegan?

Naruto replied: I won it in a dream lottery.

Trying to fool a ghost? As a thousand-year-old fox, how could the Nine-Tails not know the origin of the Rinnegan?

That is exclusive to the Sage of Six Paths!

So, it would be more believable to just say the Rinnegan was a gift from the Sage of Six Paths.

The Nine-Tails was also leaning toward this possibility; otherwise, there was no way to explain what was happening to Naruto.

The Nine-Tails asked again: How did you know my true name?

Naruto answered again: I saw it with my eyes.

This... is actually somewhat possible. The Rinnegan is mysterious and unfathomable; it wouldn't be strange for it to possess some bizarre abilities.

In the end, the Nine-Tails snorted coldly and said with an arrogant expression, "For the sake of the old man, I'll believe you for now. As for becoming friends... that depends on your future performance."

It looked exactly like a goddess facing a simp.

Naruto expressed his deep agreement: "Well said. That is exactly what I was going to say. I'm very picky about friends; not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can become my friend."

The Nine-Tails roared: "Bastard, who are you calling a Tom, Dick, or Harry?"

"Yo, yo, yo, you're getting worked up, you're getting worked up..."

"Roar!"

When one holds a sharp weapon, the desire to kill arises.

After activating the Rinnegan, Naruto really wanted to find an enemy to fight.

However, he was under constant surveillance; let alone finding an enemy to fight, he didn't even have a chance to experiment.

How frustrating!

After thinking it over, Naruto could only return to the Sealing Space to test the abilities of the Rinnegan inside.

The next day, in the morning, Naruto attended class diligently.

In the afternoon, Naruto began his grand project of skipping class.

Unlike the original story where he hated studying, Naruto's reason for skipping class was that he felt the knowledge taught at the Ninja Academy was too shallow.

The only useful things were the Three Basic Jutsu, the Chakra Extraction Technique, and other fundamental ninja knowledge.

Genius ninjas like Itachi graduated in a year, and even more extreme cases like Kakashi graduated in half a year.

It was clear how much fluff there was in the Ninja Academy.

Naruto considered himself to have average talent and didn't plan to graduate early, but he also wasn't prepared to follow the six-year curriculum step-by-step.

It was simply too much of a waste of time!

He planned to attend school in the mornings and leave the afternoons free for other things.

Mainly for training and planning for the future. As for his future direction, Naruto intended to focus on taijutsu and ninjutsu, supplemented by Genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu, and learn Sage Art if the conditions allowed. But today wasn't for training; today he was going to the street to buy lumber to make a figurine—the Raiden Shogun!

The Raiden Shogun he had at home was a craft project from two years ago.

The wood wasn't good, and the craftsmanship was lacking.

This time, Naruto wanted to make a lifelike Raiden Shogun, so naturally, he had to use the best materials.

"Skipped class?"

In the afternoon, the bell rang for class.

Iruka walked into the classroom, saw that Naruto's seat was empty, his face darkened, and he asked the students below: "Do you know..."

After a pause, Iruka suddenly had a thought.

Isn't it better that the brat didn't show up? It saves the Nine-Tails from losing control and hurting his students, which would end up just like his own parents...

Iruka smiled and said, "Let's leave it at that. Let's begin the lesson."

The class continued, and no one cared about Naruto Uzumaki's disappearance.

Except for Hinata.

She looked at the empty seat with a worried expression.

I hope nothing has happened to Naruto-kun...

And the Third Hokage.

He liked to use his Crystal Ball to monitor Naruto whenever he had nothing better to do.

He had seen with his own eyes what Naruto did after skipping class in the afternoon—going home to eat, walking around the streets wearing a mask, buying a piece of wood to hammer and chisel for two hours, and then going off to train.

Chopping trees in the forest, running, practicing shuriken throwing...

The second day, the third day, the fourth day were all the same: attending class in the morning, hammering away at wood for two hours in the afternoon, and sleeping at night. His routine was extremely disciplined.

"This won't do..."

Alone, keeping to himself, without friends, and focused entirely on his own affairs.

As a Jinchuriki, this state was far too dangerous.

He had to establish bonds; it seemed he would need to have a talk with Iruka.

One month later.

In the morning, the bell rang for the end of class. Naruto stood up, preparing to leave the school as usual.

Iruka suddenly said, "Naruto, please wait. I have something I'd like to talk to you about."

Naruto's expression was calm: "Talk about what?"

The other students in the class were also quite curious about what Iruka-sensei wanted to discuss with the weirdo.

Yes, that's right, a weirdo—that was the image Naruto currently held in the minds of the other students.

After all, Naruto always kept to himself and never interacted with anyone else; if he wasn't a weirdo, what was he?

The reason they didn't call him the Demon Fox was because, after a month of "getting along"...

Well, if you could call it that.

Although they hadn't spoken, aside from that, Naruto acted quite normally in other aspects, and he didn't eat people like the rumors in the village suggested...

No matter how you looked at it, he seemed like a person, albeit a strange one.

"Let's go to the hallway to talk."

Iruka clearly had no intention of satisfying the students' curiosity and walked into the hallway with Naruto.

Afterward, he looked at Naruto, took a deep breath, bowed, and said in a voice full of guilt: "I'm sorry, Naruto. I need to apologize to you. I shouldn't have taken my personal resentment out on you. Both you and I are victims of that disaster..."

Naruto was stunned. Wasn't this supposed to be a scene that played out six years later? How did it happen ahead of schedule?

"Could you be a bit more specific?"

"I ask for your forgiveness, Naruto. Give me a chance to make things right. Please forgive me, and let's start over."

It sounded exactly like something a heartless person would say to a pushover.

"Let me ask one question first: how did you come to this realization, sensei?"

"That? Well, that's thanks to Lord Hokage. After his patient guidance..."

One can only say that the Will of Fire is truly terrifying.

Naruto understood, so he chose to forgive him.

What else could he do? Sit around and wait for the Third Hokage's "meticulous care"?

Iruka was very happy: "Then what would you like to eat for lunch? My treat, to celebrate our new beginning."

Naruto pondered for a moment: "Then... Ichiraku Ramen."

It wasn't because Ichiraku Ramen was exceptionally delicious, but because, aside from Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto had to wear a mask to enter any other restaurant.