Everyone is a Rogue Ninja, Who Can't Be One

"Ino-pig! You get away from Sasuke!"

"Hmph, stop putting on a show like you're so close to Sasuke. Sakura, a big-forehead like you is someone Sasuke would never like!"

The sound of girls bickering was loud enough to be heard out in the hallway.

Morning campus rows really were pretty much the same in any world...

Thinking that, Naruto Uzumaki pulled open the sliding door at the back of the classroom.

In the back row of the tiered classroom, the attention of Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, who had been competing for affection, was slightly drawn by the sliding door.

Finding that the newcomer was merely Naruto Uzumaki, the two glared angrily at each other once again.

Not caring about being ignored by the two, Naruto walked straight past them and came to sit in the innermost spot of the back row, which was also by the window.

Yet Sasuke Uchiha, the black-haired boy surrounded by Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, stared at Naruto for a moment.

Just as Naruto sat down in his seat, the class bell rang through the black speakers on the classroom wall.

Taking advantage of the ringing time, the students returned to their seats.

With the end of the bell, the head teacher stepped onto the podium and arranged today's class content: "Everyone will take the Ninja Academy graduation exam tomorrow, so today let's seriously review in the classroom and prepare for the exam!"

"Yes! Mizuki-sensei!"

The students loudly responded to head teacher Mizuki's words.

Naruto was also one of the responding students, but his gaze finally took a deep look at Mizuki.

Noticing Naruto's gaze, Mizuki smiled gently at Naruto.

Naruto immediately put on an expression unaccustomed to handling goodwill released by others, turned his head away like dodging to escape Mizuki's smile, and shifted his attention from the class to the school playground outside the window.

Yet Naruto was not truly admiring the scenery outside the window, but pondering the smile Mizuki had just given him.

It seemed that, just like in the original story, Mizuki had already begun incorporating him into the plan to steal the Scroll of Seals.

Naruto's gaze flickered; finally, a real piece of business matched his memories...

Counting the days, it had already been two years since he transmigrated to the ninja world.

Naruto still remembered clearly the shock he felt when he walked into the Konoha Ninja Academy back then and discovered his head teacher wasn't Umino Iruka, but Mizuki.

Unlike the original story, in the Naruto world Naruto transmigrated into, Umino Iruka and his parents had died together twelve years ago in the Nine-Tails' Rampage.

And in the original story, Iruka was the only light in Naruto's childhood willing to look after him.

Without Iruka's kind treatment, the original Naruto's heart sank deeper into darkness, and his interpersonal relationships with those around him became even worse.

This caused the Konoha higher-ups to deem Naruto untrustworthy, deepening their wariness toward him.

Though calling them the Konoha higher-ups, it was more of the extreme hawk-like thinking of Shimura Danzō...

In the original story, Danzo Shimura didn't prepare to imprison and control Naruto Uzumaki as the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki, using him as a strategic weapon for Konoha, until Tsunade, serving as the Fifth Hokage, fell into a coma during Pain's invasion of Konoha and he finally achieved his wish to ascend to the Hokage position.

Yet without Iruka, the original Naruto in this world was deeply trapped in darkness and hard to pull out, and his intense sense of alienation from the Hidden Leaf Village actually caused Danzo to bring forward his plan to control the Nine-Tails.

And the execution of this plan... happened two years ago!

Two years ago, Danzo attempted to use Shisui Uchiha's eyes to control Naruto, turning him into a tailed beast weapon with no personality of his own, who only knew how to obey orders.

Yet an accident occurred; perhaps he was unable to control Hashirama Senju's cells yet, or perhaps his application of the Sharingan wasn't skilled enough—in short, the original Naruto of this world died two years ago.

That was to say, at the exact moment the original Naruto died, he, as a transmigrator, became the brand-new Naruto Uzumaki.

What the Third Hokage, who arrived late and stopped Danzo, rescued was the transmigrator Naruto.

In his past life, everyone said Hiruzen Sarutobi was indecisive, and Naruto now truly understood it firsthand...

Danzo's actions actually received no practical punishment; he was merely ordered by the Third never to make a move on Naruto again.

This made Naruto feel more than once that if he were merely an ordinary Jinchūriki with no background, rather than the orphan of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage.

Given the temperament of the elderly Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hiruzen might not even have issued that final order against Danzo...

Thus, Naruto did not trust the indecisive elderly Third, and constantly guarded against Danzo's potential dark schemes.

The Third was fundamentally incapable of giving Naruto substantive protection.

And given Danzo's methods, since he had already made a move against Naruto, he would definitely not let Naruto go.

Especially after the Akatsuki organization later captured Jinchūriki on a massive scale, shattering the combat power layout of the five great ninja villages.

Hawkish Danzo would definitely be all the more determined to get his hands on the Nine-Tails, using it to seize benefits for Konoha from the other four great nations in a situation of unbalanced combat power.

"There is still some time before class ends, let's hold another mock exam. Those who passed the last mock exam must also participate!"

Mizuki spoke suddenly from the podium, breaking Naruto's thoughts.

"Eh!"

The students all groaned in complaint.

"Dissatisfaction is useless; line up in front of the podium according to your student ID numbers and prepare for the exam!"

Mizuki displayed the dignity of a head teacher, picking up the score sheet and waiting for the students to gather.

Thus, the students unwillingly left their seats, forming a line according to their student ID numbers to take the mock exam.

Naruto also joined the line, but a strange phenomenon occurred at this moment.

In the long queue, the students all huddled together amicably, except for the spot where Naruto stood; both the people in front and behind him maintained a tacit understanding, leaving a gap of two body-lengths away from him.

The students' isolation of Naruto was extremely conspicuous.

This was a situation that would never have occurred in the original story. No matter how the adults in the village ostracized Naruto, the students at the academy were ultimately eleven or twelve-year-old children. Even if they were unwilling to interact with him, they wouldn't engage in such severe isolation behavior that was indistinguishable from bullying.

Noticing his own predicament, Naruto sighed slightly.

This situation was also related to the original Naruto. Without Iruka Umino, the Naruto of that time had a rather gloomy personality.

Such interpersonal relationships were already quite good now; this was the result of his own two years of hard work operating them after transmigrating. If he were still the original Naruto at this moment, things wouldn't just be a matter of being clearly isolated.

How oppressive...

Naruto couldn't help thinking this.

The village higher-ups wanted to drive him as a weapon without a personality.

And the village residents ostracized him amidst gossip because of the Nine-Tails' Rampage twelve years ago.

Living like this for two years, even Naruto as a transmigrator was finding it somewhat difficult to hold on.

However...

Naruto lowered his head, pretending to show dejection at being ostracized by his classmates, while a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

He would soon be able to shake off days like this.

As long as he successfully became a ninja, he could use the pretext of "missions" to defect from the village!

Naruto raised his head again to look at Sasuke Uchiha at the front of the line. That Konoha rogue ninja, if the Uchiha can be one, why can't I, an Uzumaki, be one too?!