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The next morning, Narutoâfresh off his escapade of stealing applesâdidn't go to train but instead headed to class.
Yesterday afternoon, he was completely unaware that the Third Hokage had brought Kakashi to inspect his home, nor did he care. After all, the only things in his house were figurines anyway.
Today there was an orientation meeting to explain some details about the graduates' team assignments.
Team assignments? Everyone knew the drill. Across the ninja world, teams were always composed of three members. If you didn't even know this much, then this school might as well be worse than a pig farm.
In the back row of the classroom, the habitual truants were all present.
Shikamaru was spacing out, Choji was munching on grilled meat, Kiba was playing with Akamaru, and Shino⊠what exactly was Shino doing?
Naruto and Sasuke sat in the row in front of them.
Naruto decided to give everyone a little gift.
"Listen up, everyone," Naruto said, knocking on the desk a few times.
His friends turned their attention to him, even Akamaru included.
Akamaru adored Naruto because his daily meat supply depended entirely on him.
"You've all graduated now, and as ninjas, you'll face all sorts of dangers," Naruto began.
The others nodded in agreement. The ninja world had always been a place full of battlesâthat was common knowledge.
"I've got some small gifts for you all," Naruto continued, pulling out bottles roughly the size of a can of yellow croaker fish. Inside were red liquids.
He handed the bottles out, explaining, "This is called a 'Blood Potion.' It can heal injuries. As long as you're not dead, it can basically save you."
To prevent his friends from treating the Blood Potions like Senzu Beans, Naruto elaborated further: "However, one bottle doesn't do muchâit can only bring someone back from near-death to severely injured. To fully recover, you'd need about three bottles."
Naruto gave each person only two bottles because, frankly, he didn't have many to spare.
Occasionally, the store would stock high-tier crafting or weapon-related items, including Blood Potions and Mana Potions under the weapons category. Naruto hadn't managed to buy more than a few before they disappeared again.
Blood Potions healed physical wounds, while Mana Potionsâwhat Naruto assumed replenished chakraâactually restored magic points instead. Each bottle restored three magic points. What good was that?
Naruto harbored a deep resentment toward the shop system. Why did random scaffolding keep popping up? Was he supposed to build a ladder to the moon or something?
"So miraculous?" Kiba asked, astonished.
"Yeah, I tested it on Sasuke," Naruto replied uncertainly. "But I'm not sure if it works on Akamaru."
Naruto had only twelve bottles total. Four people received two bottles each; one was used to test on Sasuke, and three went to Hinata.
Naruto originally considered testing it on himself, but then he remembered his natural regeneration speed. How could he tell if the healing came from the potion or his own abilities?
As for Sasuke, Naruto didn't give him any. You already have teammates who are healers, your wife is a healer, and even if you defect, you'll still manage to hook up with another healer. Why would you need a Blood Potion? With three healers around, your treatment is better than Uzi's in League of Legends.
"Thanks, Naruto!" Kiba said casually. He understood the value of the Blood Potion, but he believed himself to be strong enough not to sustain serious injuries.
That kind of personality usually wouldn't change unless something major happened.
"Thanks," Shikamaru and Choji chimed in respectively.
Shikamaru didn't complain about the trouble. He recognized the immense value of such a life-saving item, especially since he wasn't particularly strong yet. Having an extra lifeline meant having more optionsâa strategist always thought ahead.
As for Choji, there was no need to say anything. If his family hadn't objected, he'd have moved into Naruto's house by now. Unlimited grilled meat every day made his affection meter skyrocket past 100. Marriage prospects alone could push it to 200. All he wanted was to be assigned to the same team as Naruto.
Of course, Naruto wasn't going to marry himâhe was marrying Hinata.
"Thanks, Naruto. If I had to say whyâŠ" Shino started, but Iruka interrupted him.
As part of the Aburame clanâthe bug-wielding specialists of KonohaâShino wore his family's traditional attire, complete with a collar that nearly covered his mouth, pitch-black sunglasses, and an unassuming demeanor. His presence was so low-key that it was comparable toâŠ
Opening a book: Ma Dongmei.
Closing the book: What's her name again?
Opening the book: Ma Dongmei.
Closing the book: Who's Dongmei?
Opening the book: Ma Dongmei.
Closing the book: What's Ma Dong-who?
You forget about him the moment he leaves your sight. Much like a certain vampire cursed to poverty for millennia, perhaps even the cosmic will itself forgot about him.
"Starting today, you are officially independent ninjas," Iruka's voice rang out, cutting off Shino and drawing the attention of the truant group. Why? Because⊠did someone just speak?
"But remember, you're still rookie genin. The real tests lie ahead. You'll be grouped into teams of threeâŠ"
Meanwhile, the Third Hokage and several jĆnin instructors were watching the live broadcast of the graduation ceremony via a crystal ball.
In the image, Sasuke rested his chin on his hands, passively activating his innate evasion skill at max level.
Beside him sat Naruto, who wasn't using any evasion techniques and instead stared blankly, sensing natural energy.
After six years, Naruto occasionally caught glimpses of itâbut he refrained from interfering.
"This is the Nine-Tails Jinchƫriki who nearly got mauled by dogs?" the crimson-eyed beauty Kurenai asked. She didn't know much about Naruto, only hearing bits and pieces from Asuma. This was her first time seeing him in person.
"Yeah, that's him," Asuma confirmed, addressing his crush.
The incident where Naruto nearly got bitten by dogs hadn't spread widely, mostly circulating among prominent shinobi circlesâbut its impact was shocking.
Among those present, only the Third Hokage and Kakashi had deeper knowledge of Naruto.
"Naruto Uzumaki, huh?" Kakashi muttered quietly.
Kakashi knew Naruto would be assigned to his team, and the Third Hokage had explained the reasoning.
[Teacher, your child has graduated too.]
The Third didn't elaborate further.
After all, how do you whitewash the fact that the Nine-Tails Jinchƫriki nearly got killed by dogs? Even hiring an army of internet trolls wouldn't fix that.
The Third sighed heavily.
"Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura was ecstaticâshe felt like she could fly.
Sasuke smirked slightly. To him, the identity of the third teammate didn't matter as long as he was paired with Naruto. He was confident in his own strength, and Naruto was even stronger. Having a familiar and powerful teammate guaranteed a smoother ninja career.
"Team Eight: Hinata Hyƫga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame."
Hinata felt a slight pang of disappointment, but then she recalled Naruto's analysis from yesterday. Impressed, she immediately thought of the apple-biting scene, which led her thoughts spiraling toward romance and marriage. Her mind leapt forward through these stages effortlessly.
Naruto glanced back at Hinata and saw her flushed face. What was wrong with her now? Why was she blushing during team assignments? They weren't even in the same group.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion, making a mental note to ask later.
"Team Ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi."
Ino looked dejectedly at her two teammatesâone staring at the sky, the other stuffing his face with grilled meat. "Ahhhhh, despair!" she cried melodramatically.
Her anguished wail sounded surprisingly pleasant.
Tsuchi and Izumi, two elder figures, had gone home to take care of their younger siblings. One suddenly gained a younger sister at age eight, while the other's parents gave birth to a new addition.
They had initially claimed they didn't have sisters, but now they were both part of families with younger siblings.
Iruka explained that the teams were divided based on ability. Naruto believed him because he hadn't participated in most of the exams. Even during regular assessments, he left answers blank, leaving his grades consistently at the bottom of the class.
Why bother calculating air resistance on kunai or gravity's effect on shuriken? During the Chunin Exams, Rock Lee kicked Gaara higher and higher into the air without a care for physics. Gravity and reaction forces? Newton would cry if he heard this nonsense.
Since I don't understand, I won't write anything down. That's my ninja way.