Refusing Early Graduation—Isn't Lying Low at School Better?

"I'll personally be your instructor!"

Those words exploded through the underground training ground like a thunderclap.

The Third Hokage calmed his excitement.

His aged eyes, which had seen through the ways of the world, now gleamed with an unprecedented fervor.

It was as though he were looking at an unmatched piece of uncut jade—or rather, Konoha's most dazzling future.

"Sen, you possess the First Hokage's power. That is the village's good fortune."

The old man stood with his hands behind his back, his tone earnest and highly persuasive.

"Follow me, and you'll receive the best resources and the finest ninjutsu instruction."

"As long as you work hard enough, Konoha's future..."

He paused, then tossed out the ultimate bait that almost no one in the shinobi world could refuse.

"The Naruto position will be yours sooner or later."

If such an enormous prize had fallen into the lap of an ordinary child, they would probably have fainted from excitement.

Like Naruto Uzumaki, who shouted "I'm going to become Naruto!" every day.

But standing before him was Sen Senju.

The ultimate slacker who had carved the art of lying low into his DNA.

As Sen listened to the old man's grand promises, he shook his head wildly inside. Even a rattle drum could not have spun faster.

Become Naruto?

What kind of international joke was that?!

He would have to sit in that crappy office every day, reviewing mountains of documents.

Even going to the bathroom would mean being watched by ANBU, with no privacy at all.

He would also have to guard against assassinations from other shinobi villages at all times, not to mention that old dog Danzo stabbing him in the back.

How was that being a village chief? It was clearly becoming a high-ranking corporate drone and a living target!

Whoever wanted that lousy job could have it. He certainly didn't!

He just wanted to find a sunny beach and lie there comfortably until the end of the story!

"Absolutely not. This exceptional promotion is a death sentence. I have to find a way to turn it down!"

Sen's mind raced. The superhuman neural reflexes brought by the Divine Tree Origin allowed him to come up with a response in 0.01 seconds.

"Grandpa Naruto..."

Sen's voice suddenly trembled, thick with tears.

His shoulders hunched, and he backed away repeatedly like a startled little rabbit.

"I... I don't want to graduate early. I don't want to become Naruto either."

He suddenly looked up. His pitch-black eyes had miraculously filled with large, rolling tears.

They looked ready to burst forth at any moment.

"You... what's wrong?"

The Third Hokage was stunned by the abrupt change. His outstretched hand froze in midair.

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

The genius who had instantly mounted a perfect defense against a Great Fireball just moments ago was suddenly crying?

"I'm scared..."

Sen sniffled as he "naturally" wiped away his tears, perfectly portraying the vulnerability and fear of a six-year-old orphan.

"Aunt Li at the orphanage told me that ninjas who graduate early have to go to war."

"People die on the battlefield... My father and mother were killed by bad people."

He deliberately mentioned his dead parents, and his voice grew softer and softer until it was nearly a sob.

"I don't want to die. I can't even throw a shuriken properly. If I go to the battlefield, I'll definitely lose my life."

"I just want to stay at school and play with Ishikawa, Naruto, and the others..."

"Grandpa Naruto, please, don't make me leave, okay?"

The more Sen cried, the sadder he became. He simply sat down on the ground and curled into a ball like an abandoned little beast.

He looked so pitiful that even a stone would have been heartbroken.

The Third Hokage stood where he was, watching the "shivering" Sen on the ground.

The hand he had raised high to paint a magnificent future slowly fell limp at his side.

That was right. He was only six years old.

A war orphan who had lost both parents.

He had only seen the child's astonishing Wood Release talent and had overlooked the trauma in his heart.

The shadow of war—the horrific scenes of corpses strewn everywhere during the Third Shinobi World War—instantly flooded the Third Hokage's mind.

He sighed. The fervor in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by deep guilt and kindness.

"Ah... I was too impatient."

The Third Hokage walked over to Sen, crouched down, and gently patted his back with his rough hand.

"Good child, don't be afraid."

His voice was gentle, as though he were comforting his own grandson.

"Grandpa won't force you anymore. Since you want to stay at school, then stay."

"You only get one childhood. You should make more friends and grow up happily."

Hearing that, Sen's lips curled wildly beneath his arms.

Plan complete!

Sure enough, pretending to be pitiful was always the best weapon against a softhearted old man like this.

"Really? Grandpa Naruto won't lie to me?"

Sen raised his head, his eyes red as he sniffed. He still looked timid and frightened.

"Why would Grandpa lie to you?"

The Third Hokage stood up and smiled kindly.

"However, your power is too special. Even if you remain at school, you can't waste your talent."

"I'll tell Iruka to give you some special... basic training."

Sen laughed inwardly. Basic training?

As long as they did not make him take those life-risking missions, even running a hundred laps around the field would just be paid exercise.

"Thank you, Grandpa Naruto! I'll definitely study hard!"

Sen broke into a smile through his tears, swiftly climbed to his feet, and even gave an exceedingly fawning bow.

A crisis of "early graduation" that could have changed Konoha's entire balance was dissolved without a trace by his superb acting.

"Alright. Don't mention what happened today to anyone besides the two of us."

The Third Hokage straightened his clothes and regained Naruto's dignity.

"ANBU will escort you back. Go register at school as usual tomorrow."

"Yes!"

Sen agreed with exceptional enthusiasm.

When he walked out of the Hokage Building, the sunlight outside was still bright.

Sen took a deep breath of free air and felt as though the sky had become a few shades bluer.

How nice was it to lie low at school?

He could sleep until he woke naturally every day, let his clone cover for him in class, and enjoy free sunbathing after class.

Wasn't that ten thousand times better than becoming some damn Naruto successor?

"Hehe, next up is figuring out how to make this slacker life even more comfortable."

Humming a tune, Sen strolled leisurely toward the orphanage.

But he did not know that...

Deep within the shadows of the Hokage Building...

An ANBU wearing a Root mask was staring fixedly at his retreating back.

"He didn't graduate early? What the hell is Hiruzen doing?"

The ANBU muttered a curse under his breath, and his figure instantly dissolved into a cloud of black mist.

Early the next morning.

On the Ninja Academy's training field, Class 1-A was having taijutsu practice.

The sunlight was somewhat scorching.

Iruka stood at the front of the formation, personally correcting the students' taijutsu movements.

Naruto fought with wild, unstructured punches, while every movement Sasuke made carried Uchiha pride.

Only Sen was different.

Today, he was not hiding beneath the shade of a tree and sleeping as usual.

Instead, in an extremely unusual move, he stood at the very back of the line, seriously... spacing out.

In truth, his real body had long since slipped onto the water tank on the school rooftop.

He lay comfortably in a luxurious vine chair he had grown with Wood Release, wearing sunglasses and enjoying a full-coverage, dead-angle-free sunbath.

As for the one on the training field, it was merely a Wood Clone he had casually made before leaving that morning.

"This weather is absolutely perfect."

On the rooftop, Sen bit into a mutated apple the size of a ball. Juice burst everywhere.

[Photosynthesis] quietly operated within his body, and chakra gushed forth endlessly like spring water.

Just as he closed his eyes, preparing to take a comfortable second nap...

"Click."

A faint sound came from the stairwell by the rooftop door.

Sen's ears twitched, but he did not get up. He did not even take off his sunglasses.

Under the Divine Tree radar's perception...

A small figure with weak chakra but hurried breathing was clinging to the doorframe, sneaking glances in his direction.

"Big Brother! Big Brother, you really are here!"

A head of gleaming blond hair poked out, its face marked with several obvious smudges of cat-whisker mud.

Naruto Uzumaki.

He sneakily crept over beside Sen's vine chair, tightly guarding an oil-paper packet in his hands.

"If you have something to say, say it fast. Don't interrupt my sunbath."

Sen lazily turned over, his tone perfunctory.

"Hehe, Big Brother, look what I brought you!"

Naruto opened the oil-paper packet as though presenting treasure, and a rich, sweet red bean fragrance instantly wafted out.

"Freshly baked red bean cakes from Old Li's shop at the village entrance! Five of them! Not one missing!"

Naruto swallowed. He was obviously craving them badly himself, but he forced himself not to eat any.

"That Big Brother who looks exactly like you said that as long as I brought these, you'd teach me how to hang people from trees!"

Naruto's eyes sparkled with expectation.

When Sen heard that, the corner of his mouth twitched hard.

That damned Wood Clone!

It had actually sold out the original body for a bite of food!

He sighed, just about to refuse this troublesome brat.

Then a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.

"Wait."

Through his sunglasses, Sen looked at the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki before him, who was ostracized by the entire village yet still foolishly cheerful.

An excellent plan that could make his life of lying low even more perfect quietly took shape.

He slowly sat up, removed his sunglasses, looked at Naruto, and revealed a smile more cunning than a fox's.

"You want to learn ninjutsu?"

Sen accepted a red bean cake, took a bite, and spoke indistinctly.

"I can teach you."

"But my craft comes at a price."