Not Good at Learning, Gifted at Developing?

Konoha.

Perhaps because he had become a ninja, the Demon Fox Kid who used to run all over the village had been much quieter lately, leaving some villagers feeling unaccustomed to it.

Naruto Uzumaki was no longer insecure about being the Demon Fox. He no longer cared about the villagers' pointing and whispering either. He felt like he had discovered a new kind of fun.

The red whirlpool pattern on the back of ninja vests...

The spiral-shaped signs hanging outside little shops...

Naruto Uzumaki stared at the pattern on the fixed shuriken target in the training ground. That familiar feeling came over him again. At that moment, as though driven by bodily instinct, a spiraling vortex floated in his palm!

"Rasengan?"

"Is this a ninjutsu..."

"It doesn't even need hand signs..."

"It doesn't look all that impressive..."

"I should be able to add other types of Chakra to it..."

"But it looks like it isn't very powerful or useful..."

Naruto Uzumaki gently shook his head and somewhat dismissively pressed the Rasengan in his hand against the tree beside him...

Crack!

To his surprise, the Rasengan's Chakra currents immediately ground a round crater into the hard tree trunk!

Naruto Uzumaki sat cross-legged, propping his chin up with one finger. He glanced at the battered tree beside him again, his eyes lighting up. "Actually, maybe I'm just bad at learning, but a genius at inventing ninjutsu?"

Compared to Sealing Art: Devour, which was deeply imprinted in his mind, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan made him feel much more at ease...

There was no helping it...

Compared to that forbidden technique, which felt like dry, tedious lines of text, Rasengan and Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu felt as though he had used them thousands upon thousands of times!

Even though he had only just used this ninjutsu!

A Chakra vortex gathered in Naruto Uzumaki's palm. He slowly added Wind Release Chakra to it, watching it take the shape of a shuriken. "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"

"Just as I thought!"

"I'm not bad at learning ninjutsu!"

"It's just that I'm good at inventing ninjutsu!"

As Naruto Uzumaki went wild with adding things to his Rasengan at the training ground, he failed to notice a watchful gaze silently settling upon him.

Inside the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, nearly dropped his jaw when he saw Naruto Uzumaki use Rasengan. "If I remember correctly, Naruto stole the Forbidden Scroll of Seals only a few days ago. He learned Rasengan that quickly?"

Rasengan had certainly not been invented by Naruto Uzumaki.

Konoha's Fourth Hokage had invented Rasengan and recorded the technique in the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. Because the technique was dangerous, ordinary ninja were not permitted to practice it.

Before Naruto Uzumaki graduated, he stole the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. According to Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan, he should only have learned Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. Who would have thought that kid would learn Rasengan too!

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his pipe to his mouth. As he watched the Rasenshuriken in Naruto Uzumaki's hand slice through the tree beside him, he unconsciously bit down on it. "Fourth, your son is truly remarkable... Perhaps he'll be even better than you!"

"Lord Hokage, may I come in?"

A knock sounded from outside. After receiving the Third Hokage's permission, a ninja with a scar on his face entered and respectfully presented a notebook.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his head to take the notebook, casually flipping through it. "You've worked hard, Ibiki. Did your Interrogation Unit find anything?"

Ibiki Morino, head of Konoha's Interrogation Unit.

After Mizuki lured the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki into stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, then attempted to defect to Orochimaru after failing, Hiruzen Sarutobi took the opportunity to dispatch ANBU to assist in purging the village's spies.

Ibiki Morino shook his head, his expression somewhat grim. "Lord Hokage, following your instructions, we secretly investigated Orochimaru's former subordinates... We believe two of them are particularly suspicious."

"There's no need to pursue these two."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. His fingers moved slightly as they tapped the desk, while he looked back and forth through the files of the two ninja.

The first file contained the information of a female Chunin from Konoha. Her name was Anko Mitarashi. She had once been Orochimaru's disciple, and the woman had always been mentally unstable.

The second file contained the information of an ordinary Genin from Konoha. His name was Kabuto Yakushi. He had once been Orochimaru's subordinate and was said to have come from Konoha Orphanage under Root's control.

"Understood."

After bowing his head in acknowledgment, Ibiki Morino slowly left the Hokage's Office. As the head of the Interrogation Unit personally promoted by Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would respect every order given by the Third Hokage.

What no one expected was this.

After watching Ibiki Morino leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression gradually became more complicated. He looked again at the Genin file for Kabuto Yakushi, his voice so low it was nearly inaudible. "Danzo, I hope you no longer have any dealings with that traitorous disciple..."

After muttering softly for a moment, the Third Hokage set down his pipe. In truth, the Genin named Kabuto Yakushi had always been under his surveillance.

According to his observations, Kabuto Yakushi should know something about Danzo's past collusion with Orochimaru. Keeping this Genin, whose strength was nothing special, could also be used to threaten Danzo.

After a long while, he suddenly slapped his forehead and looked down at the crystal ball on his desk. "Hmm, I forgot to watch that kid Naruto again... Rasengan is a very dangerous technique. Nothing went wrong, did it?"

The image in the crystal ball was empty.

During that time, Naruto Uzumaki had already finished training and gone home. Tomorrow was the Ninja Academy's graduate briefing, where the graduating Genin would be assigned to teams.

Iruka-sensei had said it was a very important day.

Early the next morning.

Naruto Uzumaki washed up, put on his Forehead Protector, and arrived at the Ninja Academy. He looked around. "It seems... no different from usual!"

Naruto Uzumaki wandered around, and his gaze unconsciously settled on a short-haired Byakugan girl. "Huh? Hinata..."

"Naruto-kun?"

Hinata Hyuga's cheeks immediately flushed red. Nervously meeting Naruto Uzumaki's gaze, she asked, "Is... is there... anything you need help with?"

"No, I just thought something felt strange..."

Naruto Uzumaki quickly shook his head, wondering why he had taken the initiative to greet the Byakugan girl.

A moment later, his gaze suddenly landed on the black-haired boy sitting nearby, and a smile appeared on his face without his control. "Hey, Sasuke! Good morning!"

After greeting him, Naruto Uzumaki secretly berated himself. Why had he taken the initiative to greet Sasuke?

"Do you need something?"

Sasuke Uchiha answered him with a cold, impatient look.

That expression looked cool in the girls' eyes, but it made Naruto Uzumaki grit his teeth. "Tch, what's so great about you?"

"Hmph! Idiot!"

"..."

No matter how many times it happened, communicating with Sasuke always went badly.

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Bonus Scene:

Naruto Uzumaki: Who should I talk to? Hey, Hinata!

Hinata Hyuga: Naruto-kun, I...

Naruto Uzumaki: Doesn't feel right. I'll go check on Sasuke...

Hinata Hyuga: ???