Half an hour later.
"Boss, I've found the feel of the chakra!!!"
Konohamaru cried out.
His pretty face was full of joy.
Yes... it really was a pretty face.
Konohamaru was still using the Sexy Technique.
At that moment, he believed in Naruto completely.
He believed Naruto hadn't lied to him.
He believed what Naruto had said: that the Sexy Technique could make the Rasengan more powerful!
Because when he used the Sexy Technique,
he'd gotten the hang of it incredibly fast.
"Good. Let's see if you can burst the water balloon."
Naruto said with a smile.
"Yes!"
Konohamaru's style was certainly unusual.
Wearing a blue-and-white sailor suit, he spun a hula hoop
while concentrating on the water balloon in his hand.
The balloon in his palm
bulged irregularly.
It looked as though it might burst at any moment.
But after a while,
the water balloon still hadn't burst.
Konohamaru, on the other hand, was already exhausted.
"Boss... I don't think I can do it anymore."
The sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, and Konohamaru felt like he couldn't do it anymore.
This was at least an A-rank jutsu.
Once you added other chakra natures and changed its form,
it was at least an S-rank jutsu.
Of course you couldn't do it.
That was perfectly normal.
Naruto wasn't particularly surprised.
Still, he'd only just started learning, and sensing the chakra was already a small achievement.
Naruto said, "Don't get discouraged. You haven't gotten completely used to that feeling yet."
"Get used to it first, then we'll talk."
Konohamaru's eyes sparkled with admiration.
His worship of Naruto had reached a whole new level.
"Boss, I..."
"Remember, a man doesn't have to be handsome, but he does have to be shameless! I've got somewhere to be."
Poof—
Konohamaru hadn't even finished speaking
when the Puppet Shadow Clone turned into a cloud of white smoke
and vanished into the air.
That left Konohamaru all alone, standing there in a daze.
The skirt of his sailor uniform fluttered gently in the breeze.
"Boss, I won't let you down!"
Konohamaru's eyes were full of determination.
His voice was resolute!
He gripped the hula hoop tightly
and began to train hard!
"One, two, three, four... two, two, three, four... three, two, three, four... four, two, three, four..."
Naruto hadn't left for any other reason.
His other Puppet Shadow Clone had run into some familiar faces on the street.
"Hey... Naruto, have you finished the training task your new teacher gave you, too?"
The chubby Choji Akimichi greeted him.
Shikamaru, Kiba Inuzuka, and Rock Lee were with him.
Seeing them
was like running into old friends he hadn't seen in years.
When old friends met, shouldn't they give each other a little something... some benefits?!!
Naruto's lips curved slightly upward. "Yeah. Where are you guys going?"
Choji Akimichi patted his round belly.
"Going for barbecue."
Shikamaru furrowed his brows slightly, looking troubled.
At last, he gritted his teeth and asked,
"Naruto, are you really the son of the Fourth Hokage?"
The old man had told him about it when he got home last night.
Shikamaru hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.
They'd been good buddies, laughing and playing together all the time.
Then, overnight, Naruto's identity had been revealed.
Sorry, I'm actually the son of a hero!
It felt unreal to Shikamaru.
"Really?!! That happened? How come I didn't know?"
Kiba Inuzuka and Rock Lee looked curious.
"Woof, woof!"
The little dog Akamaru, perched on Kiba Inuzuka's head, barked twice.
Give it a week,
and every old man and woman with nothing to do at home would have heard about this.
Especially the old ladies.
They spread news at a terrifying speed.
If the Fourth Shinobi World War ever broke out, it'd be a real waste not to make them messenger and intelligence shinobi.
Naruto didn't deny it. He admitted it openly. "That's right."
Shikamaru froze, swallowed, and scratched his head.
"So... the old man really wasn't lying to me."
A disappointed look appeared on Choji Akimichi's chubby face.
"Then... then we won't be able to hang out like before... Naruto's status has suddenly become so high."
"It's a little hard to get used to..."
The others didn't say anything,
but they felt much the same as Choji Akimichi.
The mood grew heavy.
It was like
a group of friends studying together at an ordinary school.
They knew each other well
and had a good idea of one another's family circumstances.
Then one day,
a student from a poor family whose parents had both died
suddenly revealed his real identity.
Actually, I'm the son of one of the country's super-rich tycoons. My dad's surname is Wang.
"What's there to get used to? Things were one way before, and they'll stay that way now. Nothing has to change."
Naruto smiled and waved it off.
These guys would all become his capable subordinates in the future.
Shikamaru especially.
He'd be the one managing the village's affairs, big and small.
When the boss had so many brilliant, capable strategists at his disposal,
why waste brainpower trying to figure everything out himself?
Let someone else think about it.
He could go out and enjoy himself.
Wouldn't it be nice to flirt with pretty kunoichi from other villages?
After training in ninjutsu for so long,
wasn't it about time he enjoyed himself?
Let the music play, and let the dancing begin!
The early days of the shinobi world were full of constant warfare.
True peace and quiet wouldn't come until after the Fourth Shinobi World War ended.
As he'd said before!
He'd spent his whole life fighting.
Couldn't he just enjoy himself for once?
Ahem, ahem...
That was all for later.
Naruto's attitude
made the others feel at ease and brought them closer to him.
Even though his status had changed,
Naruto was still the same Naruto they knew.
Choji Akimichi invited him.
"Naruto, want to come get barbecue with us? My treat today!"
The others looked at Naruto expectantly,
hoping he'd say yes.
"Sure." Naruto had no reason to turn them down.
Why pass up a free meal?
It was the perfect opportunity
to teach the future man-eating flower of Konoha... its beautiful blossoms some useful life lessons.
No matter how amazing your jutsu was,
in the end, it all came to nothing.
You still had to make your way in life.
And Naruto happened to have a few books about finding direction in life.
They were written by Jiraiya,
Konoha's beloved teacher and public educator.
At a large all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant,
the table was piled high with all kinds of dishes.
Plates of fine, fresh meat were set out on the table.
After grilling on the stove for a while,
the beef sizzled and glistened with oil.
The aroma filled the air.
It would've been even better with a few glasses of ice-cold beer.
Unfortunately, the owner saw that they were underage
and had no intention of selling them alcohol.
"Today, I'll raise a glass of juice to you instead, Naruto."
Choji Akimichi enthusiastically said, raising his watermelon juice.
"Same here."
"We've graduated in the blink of an eye. Time flies."
"To our lost youth—cheers!"
"Bottoms up!"
Before you continue