Rich Rewards

Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and several other girls immediately swarmed over as soon as class ended.

They held all kinds of snacks and fruit, eagerly pushing them toward Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, I made these rice balls. Try one!"

"Sasuke, have an apple! I washed it!"

"Sasuke-kun, these sweets are delicious!"

Sasuke sat there with a cold expression, not moving an inch as he ignored the girls' enthusiastic offerings. His brow furrowed slightly, and his face practically spelled out, "I'm annoyed."

The girls seemed completely oblivious to his coldness and kept chattering away.

Uzumaki Naruto watched Qiushui leave the classroom and hesitated briefly before jumping to his feet and hurrying after him.

At the same time, a message appeared in front of Qiushui.

[Personnel training complete. Evaluating training content]

[Evaluation dimensions: attitude, depth, interaction, atmosphere]

[Results: You treated each trainee equally and used the stories of past generations to illustrate how hard-won peace was. This effectively inspired the trainees' sense of responsibility and mission. Your humorous style created a lively atmosphere, and trainee satisfaction was high.]

[Overall rating: A]

[Special skill reward received—Quality Inspection Technique (Beginner)]

[Quality Inspection Technique (Beginner) effect: Can be used to view approximate information about others. Each use consumes 100 chakra.]

[First personnel training completed. Special skill reward received—Talent Aura (Beginner)]

[Talent Aura (Beginner) effect: When activated, the aura can help trainees enter a state of deep focus and calm while studying, training, or thinking, greatly reducing external distractions and inner turmoil. Knowledge, skills, and experience shared through lessons and instruction will be easier to understand and absorb.]

[Note: This skill can be activated or deactivated at will and has a range of up to 100 meters. It consumes an average of 1,000 chakra per hour.]

[First personnel training session to receive an A rating completed. Additional reward received—Advanced Fire Nature Chakra Transformation]

Qiushui looked at the message before him, his face full of surprise. He had never expected to receive a reward just for teaching. But when he thought about it, he was indeed training people.

A flood of memories immediately surged into his mind—more than enough to teach him advanced Fire Nature Transformation. They felt so real, as if he were a veteran Fire Release ninja who had trained for countless days and nights.

Qiushui considered the Quality Inspection Technique and Talent Aura. The first could help him identify overlooked talents or people who had never appeared in the anime. The second would be very useful to him as a teacher, but the cost of 1,000 chakra per hour made him wince. With his current reserves, he would run out in three and a half hours.

"Teacher Qiushui."

A nervous voice came from behind him.

Qiushui turned and saw Uzumaki Naruto jogging over, looking at him as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Teachers and students passing through the corridor glanced their way.

Qiushui led Naruto outside the school building, beneath a large tree. He looked at Naruto, who had his head lowered, rubbing his hands against his thighs and scuffing the ground with his toes.

This protagonist, the one most likely to turn to darkness, wore clothes washed so pale they had nearly lost their color. He was thin and shorter than the other children his age. Right now, his mind was entirely occupied with what pranks he could pull to get people's attention. There was not a trace of the future savior about him. He needed someone to guide him and show him warmth and care, and Qiushui was more than willing to help him at this stage.

Qiushui waited a moment. When Naruto kept scuffing the ground, he gently asked, "Is something the matter? Was there anything in class you didn't understand?"

Naruto quickly raised his head, then lowered it again and shook it. "No, I understood everything you taught, Teacher!"

Qiushui was surprised. For a moment, he couldn't tell whether Naruto was telling the truth.

If he remembered correctly, Naruto wasn't very bright. Even after graduating, he had called chakra "chad-ton-ra." Besides, Naruto hadn't even received the Talent Aura skill yet.

Could I actually have a talent for teaching? he wondered to himself.

Naruto took a deep breath, raised his head, and said apologetically, "Teacher Qiushui, I'm sorry."

Qiushui paused.

"I shouldn't have played that frog prank on you in class." Naruto lowered his head again after saying this.

No one had ever stood up for him or praised him. No one had ever looked at him with such an ordinary, unguarded gaze. So when Qiushui had said those things in class that day, Naruto had been completely stunned.

That was why Naruto had decided to come and apologize.

Qiushui had wondered what was wrong, but he hadn't given that incident a second thought.

He knew Naruto wasn't a bad person at all. In fact, Naruto was kindhearted, with a bright spirit.

His pranks were nothing more than a desperate attempt to get attention.

Because even more than being insulted or mocked, Naruto was afraid of being ignored.

Qiushui said gently, "Naruto, I accept your apology. But I can tell you're a kind child. Can you tell me why you keep pulling pranks?"

Though Naruto usually seemed carefree, deep down he was sensitive and perceptive. He could tell that the way this teacher spoke to him, and the way he looked at him, were completely different from everyone else.

How could he describe the feeling?

It was as if Qiushui treated him like an ordinary person.

Naruto was silent for a few seconds before finally answering. "I just want everyone to pay more attention to me."

Qiushui understood how Naruto felt. His parents had died when he was young, and he lived alone. He was lonely. Even when the villagers shunned, insulted, and beat him, he might feel upset and angry, but what he feared most was being ignored. He only wanted to prove he existed, so he wouldn't have to feel so alone.

But that didn't mean his behavior was right.

Qiushui spoke slowly. "Naruto, there are many ways to get people to pay attention to you. The way you're doing it now might make people notice you for a while, but what about in the long run? Think about it. If someone around you was constantly causing trouble and making things difficult for others, what would you think of him?"

Naruto fell silent. It wasn't that he didn't understand. He just didn't have a better way.

Qiushui supplied the answer for him. "You'd get more and more annoyed with him and want less and less to do with him. Eventually, you'd avoid him whenever you saw him."

Naruto imagined the situation Teacher Qiushui had described and immediately grew anxious. "Teacher Qiushui, can you tell me what I should do instead?"