Ninja Academy

Naruto followed the route he remembered toward the Ninja Academy.

His pace was neither fast nor slow. His white trench coat swayed gently as he walked, while the black high-collared bodysuit made him look incomparably sharper than before in the morning light.

Several middle-aged women sweeping the roadside looked up at Naruto. Their brooms stopped, and a trace of hesitation flashed through their eyes.

"Is that...?"

"The Fo... Fourth Hokage?"

"N-No way!"

Their mouths opened, but they no longer dared say anything more. They lowered their heads and continued sweeping.

Naruto paid no attention to those stares.

He turned the final corner before the Ninja Academy and spotted two familiar figures in the distance.

Sasuke leaned beneath a tree by the school gate with his hands in his pockets, while Sakura stood beside him.

Naruto walked over to them and casually raised his right hand in greeting.

"You two got here early."

Sasuke and Sakura turned their heads at the same time.

Then they both froze.

It was Naruto's voice.

Sasuke's pupils shrank slightly when he saw Naruto.

Who was this blond, blue-eyed guy standing before him?

His hair was a little longer than Naruto's had been, the golden strands over his forehead naturally parted to either side, revealing his full eyebrows and forehead protector.

He wore a neatly tailored black bodysuit with a short white trench coat over it. The hem was unbuttoned, and whenever the wind blew, it fluttered behind him.

Beneath his forehead protector, his face bore a composed smile. He was utterly different from the dead last who used to grin stupidly with bared teeth.

That dead last was acting awfully smug.

Sasuke coldly judged him in his heart.

He was not quite sure why he felt a little irritated. Maybe it was because Naruto's outfit vaguely seemed about to surpass his own.

Sakura's reaction went in an entirely different direction.

His golden hair naturally fell along both sides of his face, giving him a cleaner, more capable youthful air than usual.

The black high collar made his shoulders look level and straight, while the white trench coat shifted slightly in the morning breeze. It was practically from a different world than that sloppy orange tracksuit he used to wear.

Sakura instinctively compared him to Sasuke, then let out a silent scream deep within her heart that only she could hear.

So Naruto actually looked this handsome when he seriously cleaned himself up?

No, no, no...

Damn it, Sakura, what are you thinking? You like Sasuke!

Naruto can't compare to Sasuke at all!

Sasuke will always be the most handsome!

Naruto just changed his clothes. Deep down, he's still that dead last!

That's right, that's right. Exactly!

After completing an entire self-persuasion debate in her mind, Sakura coughed and resumed her reserved expression.

She looked away from Naruto and toward Sasuke's profile, confirming that her heart really did beat a little faster when she looked at Sasuke. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The three of them then headed down the corridor toward Classroom 301.

Quite a few Genin taking the exams had already gathered in the school building. Members of various teams lined both sides of the corridor. Some lowered their heads to check their ninja tools, while others whispered about tactics. The air was filled with the tension and excitement before a major battle.

Naruto walked slightly behind the middle of the trio. Sasuke walked at the front, and Sakura walked beside him.

As they passed through the center of the corridor, whispers rose from both sides.

"Hey, look at that blond guy."

"Blond hair, blue eyes, black clothes and a white coat... with that color scheme and that aura, could he be...?"

"No way. The Fourth Hokage already..."

"But he really looks too much like him. Look at the way he walks, and the color of his hair. He looks exactly like the Fourth Hokage's statue on Kage Rock..."

"I heard the Fourth Hokage's wife really was pregnant back then..."

"Shh, don't talk nonsense!"

"We're not allowed to mention that kind of thing."

Gazes gathered from every direction, some curious, some astonished, and some carrying scrutiny and appraisal.

Naruto's expression did not change. A faint smile hung at the corner of his lips as he neither explained nor denied anything.

He had already seen clearly in the mirror just how much his current appearance resembled that of his father, Minato Namikaze.

People could guess however they liked. The more they guessed, the less they would dare act rashly.

In an arena like the Chunin Ninja Exams, where all sides tested one another, a rookie from the village who bore a startling resemblance to the Fourth Hokage carried a wealth of complicated implications. That worked better than any warning classification.

Walking in front, Sasuke could hear the contents of those whispers behind him.

His hand clenched slightly inside his shorts pocket, then loosened again.

He did not know what he was thinking.

The Fourth Hokage?

What did he have to do with Naruto?

But he had indeed noticed that after returning from the Land of Waves, Naruto's gait, rhythm of speech, and even expression when he was quiet had all changed from before.

Sakura's curiosity, meanwhile, felt as though a cat's paw were scratching at it again and again, making it itch more with every scratch.

Every few steps, she could not help sneaking another glance at Naruto, studying his profile and hair while comparing him to the Fourth Hokage's stone-carved face on Kage Rock.

After struggling internally for half a corridor, Sakura finally could not hold herself back. She stepped closer to Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto, they said you really look a lot like the Fourth Hokage!"

"Look, look! Blond hair, blue eyes, and you're about this same proportion too!"

"You really look super alike! Did you even hear what they were saying?"

Naruto turned his head to look at Sakura, a faintly amused expression on his face. In a casual tone, he said, "Sakura, that's the Fourth Hokage. It's probably just a coincidence."

"Right, right. I think it's just a coincidence too."

Sakura nodded thoughtfully. She had always known Naruto as an orphan with no relatives anywhere in the village. Someone as lofty as the Fourth Hokage could not possibly be related to Naruto by blood.

It was probably really just a coincidence.

Blond hair and blue eyes were rare, but not unheard of.

Yeah, that was it.

Sakura successfully convinced herself, then turned her attention back to Sasuke.

The three of them turned onto the stairs and headed toward the third floor.

A stretch of corridor at the end of the second floor led upward to the level where Classroom 301 was located, but when they reached the corridor between the second floor and the landing, a large crowd had gathered not far ahead.

The crowd completely blocked the corridor, making it impossible to pass.

At the center of the crowd stood a large doorway, with a sign marked 301 hanging above it.

Two Genin stood at the entrance. One was tall and thin, while the other was of average height but stockier. Both wore Konoha forehead protectors, their arms crossed over their chests, with deliberately fierce expressions on their faces.

On the ground before them, several Genin who had been beaten black and blue were clutching their stomachs as they crawled away.