My Dream: Immortality and Unifying the Ninja World

Chapter 7: My Dream, Eternal Youth, and Unifying the Ninja World

Naturally, the arrangement made by the old Third Hokage was airtight.

The next day, the ninja school's class assignment bulletin board was surrounded by people. Sakura Haruno pushed her way to the very front, her eyes shining bright as she stared with eager anticipation at the names on the sheet of paper.

When she saw Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, she instantly covered her mouth. The excitement in the depths of her eyes was almost spilling over, and her cheeks flushed with a uniquely maidenly crimson. Her whole heart was filled with the joy of being in the same class as the Sasuke she had been longing for.

Yet this joy froze instantly on her face when she saw the final name.

Naruto Uzumaki.

The fan-girl expression on Sakura Haruno's face instantly vanished. The corners of her mouth dropped, and her eyes were filled with utter disgust and disdain. She rolled her eyes heavily at Naruto, her tone sharp and venomous, "What terrible luck, to actually end up in the same class as a perpetual tail-ender like you! Even if you did score an S-rank on this exam, it can't change your repulsive nature!"

Naruto raised his gaze. There was not the slightest ripple in his blue eyes, only a sheet of icy indifference. He looked at the wide-forehead girl before him and spat out a single sentence, "Idiot!"

He took a step forward, and the oppressive pressure radiating from his entire body instantly enveloped Sakura Haruno!

Stupid woman, you will only slow down the speed at which I draw my blade. Nag at me again, and I'll let you know what cruelty means.

Sakura Haruno shivered from his imposing aura and took half a step back, yet she still forcefully braced herself to retort.

Naruto didn't give her a chance, his tone carrying a trace of banter yet filled with icy murderous intent, "Oh right, this old man loves women all his life, yet you're the only one who made me want to kill you. When things are good it's Naruto, when things are bad it's Sasuke—that describes you."

A single sentence directly blasted Sakura Haruno's complexion into a deathly pallor, completely shattering her mindset. In the depths of her heart, a trace of uncontrollable fear even sprouted. She looked at Naruto's icy gaze and couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Sasuke, standing to one side, swept a cool glance over Sakura Haruno. His thin lips parted slightly, and his tone was indifferent and disgusted as he dropped a fatal executioner's blow, "Naruto is right, you're annoying."

Sakura Haruno's body stiffened, and her eye sockets turned red instantly. Her wholehearted joy and adoration were smashed to pieces by these two sentences, leaving her standing on the spot at a complete loss.

Right at that moment, Ino twisted her body as she walked over. Crossing her arms, she looked sideways at Sakura Haruno, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "Tsk tsk, usually someone is all high and mighty, but look at her now. Not only did she get blasted by Naruto, she even got rejected by Sasuke. Truly unwelcome."

Saying that, her gaze shifted to Naruto, looking him up and down, while a trace of amazement flashed through the depths of her eyes.

Today's Naruto was long ago no longer that slovenly tail-ender who only knew how to pull off pranks.

With an upright posture and sharp brows, he had shed his childishness and gained a bit of composure and coldness. If not for the six whisker marks on his cheeks, he would simply be a young version of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze. His temperament was detached and powerful, not losing out in the slightest to the aloof Sasuke Uchiha.

Ino's mouth hooked into a trace of a smile, her tone brisk, "To be fair though, a renewed Naruto is quite handsome."

Sakura Haruno bit her lip, knowing she wouldn't gain any advantage. She could only clapt her fists tightly shut and close her mouth, but the unwillingness in the depths of her heart churned endlessly.

After a short while, she seemed to have forgotten the embarrassment from just now. Shamelessly sidling up beside Sasuke, she spoke in a coy voice, "Sasuke, what kind of person do you suppose our guiding instructor will be? Will they be very strong?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, his face full of impatience as he didn't want to pay attention to her at all. He could only reply indifferently, "How would I know!"

As for Naruto, relying on Kagura Mind's Eye and the two strands of golden Nine-Tails chakra he controlled within his body, he had already clearly sensed that exceptionally well-concealed aura behind a nearby tree.

Kakashi Hatake came from an ANBU background; this set of concealment and surveillance techniques was cut from the same cloth as the ANBU agents who had stared at him in the past. Naruto was far too familiar with it.

He sneered inwardly, yet maintained a calm facade on the outside, pretending to be completely unaware as he quietly waited for the other party to appear.

After just a moment, a figure with silver-gray hair walked leisurely out from behind the tree trunk.

Kakashi Hatake wore a mask, one of his eyes covered by his forehead protector. Lazily letting out a yawn, he walked before the three of them and spoke with deliberate sternness, wanting to give the three newbies a psychological blow, "You actually failed to notice my presence for this long. Your vigilance is simply too poor; as a ninja, that is a fatal flaw."

As soon as his voice fell, Naruto lifted his eyes directly, his tone flat, "Instructor Kakashi, is it? Hiding in a tree to peep is not a very good habit."

A trace of surprise flashed in the depths of Kakashi's eyes. Evidently, he hadn't expected Naruto to be able to spot him.

Naturally, he wouldn't admit it—after all, there were still two brats present, didn't Kakashi need to save face?

Immediately recovering his lazy demeanor, he spoke as if it were no big deal, "How should I put it? My first impression of the three of you is that you're quite hateful."

He originally wanted to put on airs with the three of them and establish a teacher's majesty, but Naruto didn't play the cards according to the routine at all, looking at him with an indifferent gaze, "That's just fine then. If you don't want to lead us, I'll go find the Third Hokage right now and report it, and you can just swap us for another teacher."

Kakashi was instantly at a loss for words, feeling immensely helpless inside.

This kid really had him pinned down; he truly couldn't swap them out!

If he really let Naruto go find the Third Hokage, it would ultimately only make him, an elite Jonin, look incompetent, and if word got out it would be a complete joke.

He mentally grumbled a few words to himself and could only wave his hand, conceding defeat, "Alright, alright, I didn't say I wasn't willing to lead you. Now, all of you give a self-introduction. Names, likes, dreams—let's hear them all."

Sakura Haruno spoke with affected coyness, every sentence hinting that she liked Sasuke, her whole heart and eyes fixed entirely on the boy beside her.

Sasuke's tone was icy, devoid of the slightest emotion, uttering the same line, "Revive the Uchiha clan, and kill that man."

When it came to Naruto's turn, he raised his gaze to look at Kakashi, his blue eyes churning with firmness.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like calling things as they are and following my inner heart. My dream before was to become Hokage. Now, I want to unify the ninja world."

His voice wasn't loud, yet every word was clear, shaking the hearts of everyone present with a start!

He paused for a moment, the corner of his mouth hooking into an amused smile as he added, "Oh right, I also want eternal youth. I don't know if that counts as a dream."

Kakashi's heart tightened abruptly, his pupils constricting as a name instantly popped up in the depths of his mind—Orochidaru.

This kid's ideas were far too dangerous and far too crazy. No wonder the Third Hokage had specially instructed him to keep a focal point of surveillance on Naruto.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, he asked with a feigned calm, "Do you truly understand just how difficult the things you're talking about are? Unifying the ninja world and gaining eternal youth are fundamentally impossible, delusional fantasies."

Naruto looked straight into his eyes, his tone incomparably resolute, "Then do you truly understand what it feels like to be looked at with eyes of disgust and fear by the whole village for over a dozen years? I only want to control my own life and do things according to my own ideas. This is my ninja way."

That absolute unyieldingness made Kakashi involuntarily freeze. His heart was filled with utter astonishment, and the gaze he directed at Naruto also gained a few shades of complexity.

Recovering his wits, he reasserted his posture as a teacher, his tone stern, "Alright, introductions end here. Tomorrow, two hours earlier than today's time, gather here and I'll give you a test. If you successfully pass, you'll be official genin; if you lose, you'll be eliminated and crawl back to the ninja school to study over again."

"Right, don't eat anything, and no being late."

Dropping those words, Kakashi turned and vanished on the spot, leaving the three of them each harboring complex emotions.

The next day, before the appointed time had even arrived, Sasuke and Sakura Haruno hurried early to the gathering spot.

The two of them starved their stomachs and waited eagerly for a full four hours, transitioning from expectation to anxiety. Sakura Haruno's stomach even rumbled with hunger, her complexion turning somewhat pale.

It wasn't until the sun gradually climbed higher that Naruto strolled over leisurely, followed by Kakashi, who was equally fashionably late.

Sakura Haruno instantly blazed with anger. Just as she wanted to open her mouth to cast blame, Naruto spoke a step ahead, his tone deadpan and carrying a trace of banter, "Sorry for coming late. I'm just a person who loves helping others too much—this morning I helped a widow draw water, went out and donated money to a widow, and on the way I even helped an old granny cross the street, which delayed me a bit of time."

Kakashi wore a helpless expression, knowing that Naruto was deliberately finding an excuse to disrupt his plan, yet he couldn't be bothered to expose him.

He cleared his throat, drew two bells from his pocket, and hoisted them before the three of them as his gaze turned stern.

"The test content is very simple. There are two bells here."

"From now until noon, whichever of you three can snatch a bell from my hands will pass the test and become genin."

He paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping across the three of them as he tossed out the most crucial rule, manufacturing an invisible sense of tension, "Remember, there are only two bells. That is to say, among the three of you, one person will inevitably be eliminated."

"Now then, who do you suppose it will be?"