The atmosphere in the Hokage's Office was so grim it seemed you could wring water from it.
Iruka was nearly collapsing. Those few short minutes of reporting had exhausted him more than ten years of being a ninja.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," looked worse than if he had eaten ten-year-expired Soldier Pills.
He stared fixedly at the crystal ball, his cloudy old eyes wide as bells, as though he wanted to bore a hole through it.
Within the crystal ball, that brat Naruto Uzumaki was strolling down the road back to the village with both hands in his pockets.
He was humming some wildly off-key tune no one could recognize, and there was not the slightest trace of a dead-last loser's dejection in his stride.
He walked like a dragon and tiger, brimming with vigor!
Even through the crystal ball, Hiruzen Sarutobi could feel that overwhelming life force, as though it were about to burst through the screen!
His vitality was as vigorous as that of a humanoid Tailed Beast!
An illusion!
It had to be an illusion!
Hiruzen Sarutobi could even vaguely hear the roar of tigers and cry of dragons. He jolted in fright and nearly dropped the crystal ball in his hand.
"Th-That's Naruto?"
The Third Hokage viciously pinched his own thigh. Only after grimacing in pain did he confirm that he was not dreaming.
His first thought was—the Nine-Tails!
Something was wrong with the seal!
That was Konoha's peace, bought with the Fourth Hokage's life. It was his final promise to Minato!
If something had gone wrong with the seal, how could he face his disciple's son after death?!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze instantly sharpened like an eagle's, locking onto Naruto's abdomen in the crystal ball—the place where the Nine-Tails Demon Fox was sealed!
However—
There was nothing!
None of the ominous, violent, frigid red chakra he had expected was anywhere to be seen!
The seal on Naruto's abdomen was completely intact, even more stable than it had ever been before!
"How strange... Why wasn't it going berserk?"
The Third Hokage abruptly grabbed the pipe from his desk and took a hard drag. The pungent tobacco smoke rushed straight to his head, forcibly calming his overheated brain.
His mind spun at an unprecedented speed, countless pieces of intelligence and possibilities colliding, analyzing, and reorganizing within his mind.
No, something's wrong!
The Third Hokage suddenly came to his senses, a terrifying gleam erupting in his eyes.
*This chakra... is far too pure!
Terrifyingly pure!*
It was a primal power that seemed to originate from the deepest depths of life itself, filled with boundless vitality and life force. It was the complete opposite of the Nine-Tails' dark chakra, which was full of destruction and hatred!
They were not even on the same level!
A bold guess, so audacious that it made even his own heart pound, flashed through the fog in his mind like lightning.
*Could it be... that aside from the Nine-Tails Seal, Minato also left some kind of contingency within Naruto back then?
Some stronger, secret seal I don't know about, which was unlocked by chance?!*
Once that thought arose, it could no longer be restrained.
The more the Third Hokage thought about it, the more plausible it seemed!
With Minato's unrivaled talent and genius in the Shinobi World, it was entirely possible that he had made an arrangement beyond all common sense!
Or... perhaps it wasn't Minato's doing?
Another, more ancient and distant legend surfaced in his mind.
*It was Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki!
Could the ancient bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan, said to rival the First Hokage's Sage Body, have... fully awakened within him?!*
Hiss—
Hiruzen Sarutobi sucked in a sharp breath, feeling as if the pipe in his hand had become too hot to hold.
No matter which possibility it was, both pointed to one fact that filled him with both excitement and fear—
Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's greatest "unstable factor," its greatest "Jinchūriki nuclear bomb," had completely evolved into a new kind of being he could neither predict nor control!
Was this a good thing or a bad thing?!
At that thought, unprecedented resolve and ruthlessness flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's old eyes.
He faced the darkest corner of the office and shouted in a low voice, "ANBU!"
"Whoosh!"
Two figures in animal masks appeared before him soundlessly like ghosts and dropped to one knee.
"Immediately! At once! Send more personnel and establish a Special Surveillance Squad!"
The Third Hokage's voice carried not a trace of emotion, cold and grave. "Conduct twenty-four-hour, all-weather, zero-blind-spot covert observation of Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Remember!"
He stressed every word. "You may only observe from afar. Under no circumstances—absolutely no circumstances—are you to alert him! I want to know everything he does: what he eats, whom he meets, what he says—even what his farts smell like. I want to know it all immediately!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The two ANBU ninja did not dare delay for even a moment. They instantly turned into two afterimages and vanished from the office.
Only Hiruzen Sarutobi remained in the empty room.
He slumped back into his chair and watched the boy in the crystal ball, still humming as if nothing had happened, sinking into prolonged thought.
Konoha's skies were probably... truly about to change.
The next day, at the Ninja Academy.
In yesterday's comprehensive graduation exam, Naruto had passed through his terrifying performance in the taijutsu test, where he crushed everyone else, along with a barely passing written score. The only thing giving Iruka a headache was Naruto's almost grotesquely terrible Clone Technique test, but considering his taijutsu score was enough to offset ten failing grades, the review committee made an exception and let him pass.
The whole classroom was as noisy as a marketplace. Everyone was spitting excitedly as they discussed yesterday's earth-shaking news.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? Naruto Uzumaki one-shotted Neji Hyuga with a single kick!"
"No way! Seriously? That genius the Hyuga Clan calls a once-in-a-century talent?"
"Absolutely! My cousin's classmate's neighbor was there! They said Neji got kicked straight into the air like a torn sack and passed out on the spot!"
"My god! Since when did that dead-last loser become so fierce? Didn't he only know how to pull pranks?"
In the corner of the classroom, Sasuke Uchiha rested his crossed hands beneath his chin. Nothing showed on his expressionless face, but gloom and confusion churned in his dark eyes.
His gaze was like two poisoned blades, fixed tightly on the blond figure who had just entered the classroom.
Yesterday, right in front of him, the dead-last loser he had always considered an ant had sent that idiot Kiba Inuzuka spinning through the air like a top with one slap.
That clean, decisive move. That absolute power...
Kiba Inuzuka had not even dared come to school today!
"Sasuke~"
A sickeningly sweet voice interrupted Sasuke's thoughts. Sakura Haruno fluttered over like a flower butterfly, both hands behind her back and a lovestruck blush across her face. "When they assign teams later, we have to end up in the same class!"
Sasuke could not even be bothered to lift his eyelids. He merely gave a cold "Mm."
Meanwhile, the absolute star of the incident—Naruto Uzumaki—seemed like an outsider.
He walked straight to his window-side seat and sat down. From beginning to end, he did not spare so much as a glance for his former "rival," Sasuke Uchiha.
Complete disregard!
That feeling made Sasuke more uncomfortable than getting into a fight with him!
It was as if... Sasuke Uchiha was no longer worthy of being his opponent.
"Ahem! Quiet down, all of you!"
At last, Iruka walked onto the podium carrying a stack of documents. He cleared his throat, and the classroom instantly fell silent.
Everyone's hearts rose to their throats as they nervously waited for fate's verdict.
Iruka swept his gaze over the familiar yet unfamiliar faces below, filled with mixed emotions. Especially when he looked at Naruto, his expression became incomparably complicated.
He took a deep breath and began announcing the team assignments.
"Team 1..."
"Team 2..."
As one name after another was called, some in the classroom rejoiced while others despaired.
Finally.
"Next is Team 7!"
Iruka paused, his gaze moving back and forth among three people. In the end, he forced himself to read the names aloud.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Sakura Haruno..."
Before he could finish, a shrill scream suddenly ripped through the classroom's silence!
"Aah—!!!"
Sakura Haruno completely broke down. She clutched her head with both hands, her expression twisting as though the end of the world had arrived.
"Why?! Why do I have to be in the same class as this eternal dead-last loser?!"
"My youth... My youth is over!!!"
Before you continue