No One Understands Grinding Better Than I Do

He had felt a bit disillusioned with life this morning, but now he was truly, thoroughly questioning it; he couldn't hit a target with a kunai to save his life, and in actual combat, he couldn't win a single fight.

Qiushui recalled the mission the system had just issued and said in a seductive tone, "Naruto, do you want to achieve good results in the next running and ninja tool throwing competition?"

Naruto looked up, stunned. He had assumed that since he performed so poorly, Teacher Qiushui wouldn't want to help him improve his grades anymore, but he replied without hesitation, "I do."

He wanted it more than anything—not just to wash away today's humiliation, but because he didn't want to disappoint Teacher Qiushui, and also, he couldn't let that guy Uchiha Sasuke be so arrogant.

Qiushui said slowly, "After observing you these past few days, I've noticed your behavior has improved significantly. I haven't heard any other teachers mention you violating discipline in class, so I feel you have passed my test. Starting this Saturday, I plan to give you special training to improve your grades."

Naruto immediately perked up and asked, "Teacher Qiushui, really?"

Qiushui nodded and said, "It's true, but the upcoming training will be very grueling. It's not something an average person can endure, so you need to be mentally prepared. If you quit halfway, I will be very disappointed."

There was no fear of hardship in Naruto's eyes, only a hunger to become stronger. He said in a loud, clear voice, "Teacher Qiushui, I'm not afraid of hard work. Don't worry, as long as I can become stronger, I'm willing to do anything. Even if it kills me, I won't give up."

Qiushui nodded with satisfaction; he loved people who weren't afraid of hardship or fatigue.

Qiushui didn't continue talking to Naruto; he suspected that old geezer, the Third Hokage, might be peeping with the Telescope Technique.

Although he didn't have any malicious intent, he couldn't appear too enthusiastic, trying his best to avoid unnecessary trouble.

However, he wasn't idle. After parting ways with Naruto, he concealed his presence and quietly followed Uchiha Sasuke.

He discovered that after Sasuke left the school, he arrived at the outskirts of a forest. The terrain here was open, with several huge rocks and a clear stream nearby.

Sasuke stopped in the middle of the clearing and began training alone.

Qiushui looked at the sign at the entrance that read Training Ground 13, silently noting the location, and planned to bring Naruto here for training this weekend.

The second high-quality talent he wanted to bind was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

But Sasuke was a worldly person, not as easy to fool as Naruto.

With Qiushui's current status as a Chunin, even if he displayed powerful Fire Style ninjutsu or forced himself to teach Sasuke a lesson, it would be difficult to truly win his inner recognition.

Moreover, Sasuke wasn't as kind and simple as Naruto; there were risks in actively clinging to him to teach him. Not only would it be hard to gain gratitude, but he might even use what he was taught to turn against him later.

This was not a situation Qiushui wanted to see.

Therefore, he decided to change his approach and let Sasuke watch him teach Naruto first.

Once Naruto's strength improved, it would naturally pique Sasuke's curiosity and lure him into asking for guidance himself.

By then, the initiative would be in his own hands, and it would be much easier to mold him.

Friday morning.

Eight-fifteen.

After waking up, Qiushui went straight to school. Pushing open the office door, he found only Matsumoto Mie sitting at her desk, drinking black tea.

"Good morning, Teacher Matsumoto." Qiushui greeted her and walked to his desk to put down his bag.

"Good morning, Qiushui-kun. No classes today, yet you're at school so early?" Matsumoto Mie looked up, smiling at him.

"I wanted to organize some teaching materials." Qiushui asked casually, "By the way, I'd like to check the exam papers from the past few years. Could you tell me where I can find them in the school?"

Matsumoto Mie took a sip of her tea and said, "If you're looking for past papers, go to the Archives Room on the fifth floor. The cabinets on the right side of the entrance are categorized by grade and subject; you should be able to find everything there."

"Got it, thank you, Teacher Matsumoto." Qiushui nodded, turned, and left the office.

Since the Archives Room was on the fifth floor and rarely visited, Qiushui could even smell a faint scent of paper mixed with camphor wood when he pushed the door open. Following the instructions, he quickly found the cabinets storing the exam papers.

His goal this time was clear: to organize all the fourth-grade exam papers from the last four years.

Naruto's foundation in academic subjects was truly worrying, and with his IQ of ninety, even with the Talent Aura, it wasn't realistic to achieve a qualitative leap in a short time.

The deadline for the system's mission was less than a month away; conventional teaching methods definitely wouldn't be fast enough.

Qiushui had lain in bed last night thinking it over, and the safest method was the "sea of questions" tactic.

As someone who had gone through a complete nine-year compulsory education, Qiushui wouldn't claim his knowledge far exceeded others, nor would he boast about being the best teacher, but he had absolute confidence that when it came to grinding through practice questions, he was an expert.

By relying on massive amounts of practice, he could force Naruto to memorize common question types and knowledge points through rote learning. He didn't need him to get a high score, but he could at least aim for a passing grade in most subjects, trying his best to scrape through this mission.

Qiushui crouched in front of the cabinet and flipped through the papers for a while, quickly verifying his hypothesis.

He discovered that although the school's annual exam questions changed on the surface, the core question types were highly repetitive. They would change the numbers, rephrase the wording, and some questions even kept the same prompts. A rough estimate suggested a repetition rate of at least thirty percent.

"As expected, it's the same everywhere." The corners of Qiushui's mouth curled up slightly, and he felt confident.

He spent two hours finding all the fourth-grade papers from the last three years and copied them one by one using the photocopier.

Looking at the thick stack of papers in his hand, Qiushui thought for a moment and then conveniently copied the papers for Class 1-1 from the last three years as well.

After all, it was the class he was primarily in charge of, and he couldn't show favoritism. Although his focus was on Naruto right now, his main source of rewards currently came from teaching Class 1-1. Plus, he was still an intern homeroom teacher with a three-month probation period. If the overall grades of his class ended up at the bottom of the grade, and he was judged as failing his internship, that would truly be losing the watermelon to pick up the sesame seeds.

Qiushui walked down the hallway back to the office, holding a large stack of first-grade papers in his arms.

Actually, he could have easily stored these papers in a storage scroll to save time and effort, but he didn't.

In the workplace, you have to let people see you working hard; even if you're just pretending, you have to act busy. If a leader happens to see you, it will leave a good impression.

This was a lesson Qiushui had learned through the blood and tears of his experience as a seasoned worker.

His main goal here was to leave a good impression on his colleagues; perhaps one day when there was an opportunity for a substitute teacher, he would be the first person they thought of.