The First Trait Reward! [Knowledge Absorption]!

"Huh?"

"G-going to Naruto-kun's house?"

"Of course. There's nowhere else to go."

Hinata blushed and fidgeted with her fingers before finally nodding.

"Mm."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's.

Naruto, however, was overjoyed and called out loudly, "Then it's settled!"

"See you tomorrow!"

With his hands clasped behind his head, he hummed cheerfully as he returned to his seat.

Hinata watched Naruto's back, a gentle smile appearing on her blushing face.

"I'll get to study with Naruto-kun tomorrow?"

"Th-that's wonderful..."

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka saw this and couldn't help exchanging a look.

"Hinata... actually likes that Naruto..."

Ino smiled slyly.

"Hey, Forehead, looks like Naruto's about to change his mind soon!"

"Hmph, what's that got to do with me?"

"That annoying guy can stop pestering me for all I care!"

Sakura crossed her arms and shut her eyes, acting as if she couldn't care less.

After Ino left, she still couldn't help glancing once more in Hinata's direction.

She shook her head, putting those wild thoughts aside, then propped up her chin and smiled at Sasuke.

Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi gaped in astonishment.

"Th-that was Naruto?"

"He actually asked someone to help him study?!"

Choji Akimichi shoveled fries into his mouth.

"Om nom nom."

"There are only two possibilities: either Naruto's gone crazy, or we're caught in a genjutsu."

Shikamaru Nara shook his head.

"There's one more possibility: I'm not fully awake yet."

"I'd better go take another nap."

Yawning, he headed toward his desk. Soon, he was sprawled across it like a lazy lump of dough, eyes closed.

"You're so lazy, Shikamaru."

Choji Akimichi sat beside him and continued eating noisily.

Kiba Inuzuka, sitting in the back row, also furrowed his brows in disbelief.

Kiba Inuzuka actually had a personality very similar to Naruto's.

Neither of them was particularly reliable, but both were proud, liked to brag, and, most importantly...

They both dreamed of becoming Hokage.

"Could Naruto be trying to get rid of his dead-last title?"

"How could that be!"

A gloomy voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"You never know."

"If you want to know why..."

"Anyone can change."

Kiba Inuzuka yelped like a dog, nearly jumping out of his seat in fright.

"Shino?!"

"When did you get here?!"

Shino Aburame: "...I've been sitting beside you for half an hour."

"I didn't notice at all!"

"..."

Just then, the noisy classroom suddenly fell silent.

Umino Iruka strode into the classroom.

The sudden change made Iruka-sensei frown too.

"What's going on with you all?"

"N-nothing..."

Iruka casually glanced at Naruto.

He was still refining his chakra...

His earnest advice had worked. Iruka was happy for him, but...

Wasn't it working a little too well?!

Was Naruto trying a bit too hard?

Naruto, were you studying for a postgraduate exam or something?!

Iruka's mouth fell open slightly as all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind. He didn't snap back to attention until a student reminded him.

A faint blush appeared on his face.

Many teachers and students had reminded him not to pay too much attention to Naruto alone.

Even the principal had subtly criticized him over it.

But...

Iruka cleared his throat. "All right, let's begin class!"

[Detected...]

Naruto cut System Bro off. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"I have to pay close attention, right?"

He immediately widened his eyes and fixed his gaze on Iruka-sensei, his ears perking up like a fox's, afraid he might miss a single word.

This was unnerving not only to Iruka-sensei; the other students all looked as if they'd seen a ghost.

"That Naruto guy wasn't just in the mood yesterday—he's still paying attention in class?"

"This is about as bizarre as Sasuke suddenly jumping up on the podium and doing a striptease..."

"Exactly. It's even scarier than Choji suddenly saying he wants to lose weight."

"Oh, I've got one! It's as ridiculous as Sakura suddenly stopping her constant pursuit of Sasuke and falling for Naruto instead! Hahaha..."

Thwack—

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

As the few students laughed and whispered, Iruka-sensei's chalk shot toward them like shuriken. It split into three pieces midair, hitting all three right in the forehead without a single miss.

"No talking in class!"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei..."

Rubbing their sore foreheads, the three grimaced and lowered their heads.

Iruka sighed. "Can't you pay attention in class?"

"Look at Naruto..."

As soon as he said that, Iruka's brain promptly short-circuited too.

Since when had Naruto become a model student?

That was the first time Iruka had ever said something like that...

Everyone looked toward Naruto.

Naruto was still sitting upright, utterly focused, his gaze as resolute as someone taking an oath to join the party.

Iruka felt a little awkward too.

"Ahem. Naruto, why don't you answer this question?"

He seized the opportunity and went along with it.

The classroom filled with sounds of schadenfreude.

Naruto froze for a moment, but quickly stood up.

His mind raced.

"It's the same kind of question as yesterday..."

"Based on Iruka-sensei's lessons over the past two days, and the way Sakura answered yesterday..."

Now that Naruto's concentration had improved, his powers of observation, memory, and analysis had all increased dramatically as well.

"F-five hundred meters?"

Naruto answered cautiously, as if he were about to set off an Explosive Tag.

Iruka-sensei stared at him, dumbfounded, as if he'd been struck by a Cursed Seal.

Seeing Iruka's expression, Naruto's mouth slowly stretched into a grin, his smile growing bolder by the second.

"Um, um..."

"Iruka-sensei, did I get it right?!"

Iruka-sensei shook his head.

"No."

Naruto's spirits instantly sank.

"Then what was that look on your face for?!"

Iruka sighed. "I'm not surprised that you got it wrong. I'm surprised that you..."

"Almost got it right."

"You were very close to the correct answer. You just made one small, easy-to-make mistake—the kind even Sakura might make if she were careless..."

"This is practically a miracle."

Naruto frantically grabbed at his hair.

"...But I still got it wrong, didn't I?!"

Little did he know, the entire classroom had already fallen completely silent.

Sasuke, Sakura, and everyone else were stunned, almost to the point of fear.

Was this really...

Naruto?!

Chapter 10: The First Trait Reward! [Knowledge Absorption]!