As a flood of information poured in, Chiba found that he quickly mastered the three basic categories of techniques.
Although they were only basic ninja techniques, they were extremely important to him.
The ninjutsu included C-rank techniques such as the Great Fireball Technique and Great Breakthrough.
The Taijutsu was much the same: Konoha Rising Wind and Leaf Great Whirlwind.
As for genjutsu, there were the Temple of Nirvana Technique and Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique.
On the whole, the techniques the system gave Chiba were limited to C-rank and below.
There was plenty of variety, but their actual destructive power was still limited.
He urgently needed to grow stronger.
The real Konoha was not nearly as idyllic as the original story made it seem.
There were many dark sides to this place.
Wherever leaves danced, fire would burn.
It brought darkness along with light; the two were inherently inseparable.
To take control of his own destiny, he needed sufficient strength.
"The child Lord Jiraiya arranged to enroll..."
The middle-aged ninja before him propped his head on his hand, looking thoroughly troubled.
He had no idea where to place Chiba.
Just then, a ninja instructor walked in, putting his worries to rest.
"Iruka, you're here!"
A slightly ingratiating smile appeared on the middle-aged ninja's face.
Iruka was puzzled, but he did not let it show.
He gave a casual laugh and asked:
"Is something wrong? You look pretty troubled."
The other man's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said:
"It's because of Lord Jiraiya!"
"He brought a child back from outside the village and said he wanted him enrolled right away."
"But enrollment has already closed, and all the classes have been assigned."
"I don't know which class would be best to put this child in..."
Iruka was not particularly strong, but he was quick on the uptake.
He immediately understood what the man meant.
Always eager to help, he did not mind any of that.
"Leave him to me. My class doesn't have that many students."
"As long as he works hard, he should still be able to catch up with them!"
And just like that, the two men's conversation settled where Chiba would go.
In truth, even Chiba himself had not expected it.
He had ended up in the same class as Konoha's future pillars.
He would never believe there was nothing fishy going on behind the scenes.
"Something feels off!"
Chiba muttered as he looked at the rather cocky little brats before him.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Chiba. I look forward to getting along with you!"
There was none of the applause he had imagined, nor any welcome to speak of.
Most of these brats were no angels.
The three Ino-Shika-Cho clans were considered major clans in Konoha, and the others were not far behind.
Apart from Naruto, who was an orphan, hardly any of them seemed to come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
As for Uchiha Sasuke, he wore an expression steeped in bitterness and hatred. Judging by that, the Uchiha clan had most likely already been wiped out.
Chiba felt reassured. He had roughly pinned down the timeline.
Standing beside Chiba, Iruka asked with a smile:
"Does anyone have any questions?"
The troublemakers gave Iruka a lazy glance without saying a word.
Iruka did not seem particularly embarrassed. He pointed to an empty seat in the back and said:
"Chiba, sit over there for now!"
Soon, everything settled into its usual routine, right up until school let out that afternoon.
The other children all had somewhere to go. Only Chiba still had no arrangements.
Jiraiya had yet to appear.
So everything would have to wait.
He sat cross-legged in an inconspicuous corner of the training ground and began molding chakra.
After listening to Iruka's explanations and receiving the information supplied by the system.
Chiba was no longer a completely clueless beginner.
He already had a thorough grasp of the fundamentals.
All he lacked was practical experience.
But with perfect Sage Mode as his foundation, molding chakra was a piece of cake for him.
He soon got into the swing of it.
As evening approached, a furtive figure silently crept toward Chiba.
He wore a mischievous grin and held an unidentified object in his hand.
When Chiba began training, he went straight into Sage Mode.
In that state, his awareness of his surroundings was exceptionally keen.
The intruder was no particularly powerful ninja. Chiba had noticed him the moment his shadow entered the training ground.
He casually picked up a few pebbles from the ground and hurled them, guided by his senses.
Thud! Thud!
"Ow!"
The sneaking figure fell to the ground, clutching his forehead and crying out in pain.
Chiba ended his training and walked toward him.
Blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks, and a disgruntled expression. He looks familiar!
Isn't this our protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki?
And so his first proper encounter with Naruto Uzumaki began.
As for the Anbu members watching Naruto nearby, Chiba simply ignored them.
It was only a matter of time before he came to the attention of the Konoha High Command.
So what if the Anbu set their sights on him?
Besides, Jiraiya was no pushover.
With that thought, Chiba quickened his steps toward Naruto Uzumaki.
He had quite a few ideas he wanted to put into practice!
Before you continue