Hunting for food

At Naruto's house.

Rock Lee stretched a little, then checked the time and said anxiously, "It's already seven... If I don't leave now, I'll be late!"

But as he was getting dressed, a loud rumbling came from his stomach.

Rock Lee held his empty belly, looking a little embarrassed.

"I forgot... I haven't had breakfast yet..."

"Rock Lee, don't go to school today. Take the day off!"

Zeff spoke up, then pointed at the sweat-soaked clothes on the floor and continued, "Besides, you can't go to school wearing clothes drenched in sweat!"

Rock Lee hesitated at Zeff's words, but after thinking it over, he realized his teachers probably wouldn't care whether he went to school or not.

Rock Lee's situation was dire. To graduate from the Ninja Academy, he had to pass the most basic requirement: the Three Basic Techniques. But his teachers thought there was practically no chance of him passing, so none of them held out any hope for him.

"All right, Teacher Zeff..."

Rock Lee followed Naruto's example and addressed Zeff as Teacher Zeff.

As far as Rock Lee was concerned, Teacher Zeff was probably Naruto's second personality.

Naruto used the Shadow Clone Technique again and brought Wolffy out.

"Wolffy, help me hammer out a washing machine, one with a dryer!"

Without another word, Wolffy got to work.

It was only a washing machine. Wolffy hammered it out in just over ten minutes.

Once their clothes were washed, Naruto and Rock Lee headed to Ichiraku Ramen together.

After eating his fill, Naruto planned to get some proper sleep. He had gotten up far too early that morning.

But before he could fall asleep, Zeff roused him.

"I'm going to cover the theory next. This is important, so get up and listen!"

"There are theory lessons too?"

Naruto hadn't expected theory lessons on top of his daily training...

Rock Lee was already sitting eagerly in front of the blackboard, waiting for Zeff to begin.

After what had happened that morning, Rock Lee had come to feel the same way about Zeff as he did about Teacher Guy.

And Zeff-or rather, Naruto-had complete confidence in him, just like Might Guy.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and sat down beside Rock Lee.

The theory Zeff taught was basic, but important.

Besides running posture, he covered things like how to breathe, how to recover stamina faster, how to use their muscles more effectively, and the functions of different parts of the body...

For Rock Lee, theory lessons were harder than physical training.

But everything Zeff said made sense to him. He worked hard to remember it all, frantically scribbling notes that only he could decipher.

And just like that, the morning passed.

Both Rock Lee and Naruto learned a great deal from Zeff's explanations.

Naruto knew that this knowledge formed the foundation for learning and using the Six Powers.

Naruto didn't have a system or anything similar that could instantly implant whatever he wanted to learn in his mind. He could only learn one step at a time.

Thankfully, Rock Lee was there. Otherwise, Naruto would have found it even more dull and tedious...

"Naruto, what are we having for lunch?" Rock Lee asked expectantly as he put away his notes.

Before Naruto could answer, Zeff spoke up.

"I'll make today's meal. To be precise, since you're training under me, I'll be preparing all your meals from now on..."

Naruto looked at Zeff in disbelief. "Teacher Zeff, you can cook too?"

"Of course. I used to plan all my students' diets!"

With that, Zeff picked up some money and went out to buy groceries.

Watching him leave, Naruto thought, Teacher Zeff won't get fed up with those Muggle villagers and beat them senseless, will he?

Zeff walked out onto the street alone.

He currently looked like Naruto Uzumaki, so naturally, many of the Muggle villagers pointed and whispered when they saw him.

Zeff had expected this.

With his temperament, he certainly wasn't going to stoop to their level.

He arrived at a butcher shop, intending to buy some meat.

But... the moment Zeff stepped inside, the butcher shooed him out as though he were a fly.

What a nuisance!

Zeff thought helplessly, Looks like buying anything is out of the question!

With that in mind, Zeff headed toward Konoha Forest. He knew there were wild animals there.

There were plenty of wild boars, bears, rabbits, pheasants, and the like... Hunting a few would be enough to feed Naruto and Rock Lee.

Just as Zeff entered the forest, he heard a series of animal roars.

Following the sounds, he saw two boys hunting an enormous wild boar in a clearing among the trees.

"Hmm? Are those Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha?"

Uchiha Itachi was keeping the boar occupied, while Sasuke Uchiha held a bow and arrow, preparing to launch a surprise attack!

Feeling Zeff's gaze, Itachi frowned as he fought the boar, then looked in Zeff's direction.

At that moment, the boar seized its chance and charged straight into Itachi's stomach.

Its sharp tusks pierced his body in an instant.

Seeing this, Sasuke shouted anxiously,

"Brother..."

At that moment, with a pop, what had been Itachi turned into a substitution log.

Only when he saw that Uchiha Itachi was unharmed did Sasuke breathe a sigh of relief.

But Sasuke failed to notice a smaller wild boar approaching him from a short distance behind.

Though smaller than the boar fighting Itachi, it was more than capable of goring Sasuke to death.

Zeff and Uchiha Itachi sensed the boar's presence at the same time.

Itachi immediately abandoned his fight with the larger boar and sprinted toward Sasuke.

But by the time he reached Sasuke, it was already too late. The boar's tusks were less than a meter from Sasuke's backside.

"Sasuke, get out of the way!"

At that point, all Itachi could do was shout for Sasuke to dodge.

Hearing Itachi, Sasuke instinctively turned to look instead of dodging.

At the sight, Itachi's eyes instantly turned red, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning within them.

Just as he was about to use genjutsu to control the boar, a small figure appeared between Sasuke and the beast in an instant, clamping both hands around its tusks.

The one who had saved Sasuke was none other than Zeff.

"It's not as big as that one, but it should still feed those two for a few days!"

With that, Zeff coated his arms in armament haki and tightened his grip. The tusks trapped in his hands instantly shattered.

After destroying the boar's tusks, Zeff leaped up and drove a fist into its forehead.

After that punch, blood poured from the boar's nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. Clearly, Zeff had killed it with a single blow.

But something Zeff hadn't expected happened too. Although he had punched the boar to death... Naruto's shadow clone also vanished in a puff of white smoke.