The early morning sun bathed the village in golden light as Naruto, dressed neatly, prepared to head to the Ninja Academy. After glancing around his small, sparsely furnished room, he stepped outside.
Even though he had gone to bed very late, Naruto was brimming with excitent. He had taken yet another step forward on his path to strength. With his current level of ntal endurance, he could probably go three days without sleep and only feel mildly uncomfortable.
Four hours of rest was more than enough to restore his energy. And though he'd only gotten two hours last night, the joy in his heart kept him energized.
He walked out the door. This part of the housing complex had long since been abandoned. The villagers who once lived nearby had moved away, afraid of the so-called Nine-Tails demon fox. But Naruto didn't mind—he liked the peace and quiet.
He sprinted through the streets, and before long, arrived at the academy. Just like always, he greeted Hinata with a bright smile. Hinata, startled but pleased, blushed slightly. Naruto then sat down, pulled out a book, and began reviewing his notes. Even though he'd already morized most of the contents, going over them again always brought new insights.
"Genjutsu Theory
2! Genjutsu Theory
2! ntal Power
1!"
Hmm!
That sweet system voice echoed in his mind like a lody from heaven. Naruto couldn't help but feel a rush of happiness.
Sitting nearby, Hinata watched him curiously. Her gaze drifted to the book he was reading—it was a detailed introduction to the principles of Genjutsu, sothing they weren't scheduled to learn until next year. She hadn't expected Naruto-kun to study such advanced material on his own.
She stared at his side profile, a little dazed. The focused and serious Naruto-kun looked so... cool.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice Naruto had turned to look at her.
"Hinata? Do I have a flower on my face or sothing?"
Hinata snapped out of her trance. Her face turned bright red. She lowered her head and whispered, "N-No! It's just... today, Naruto-kun... looks a little... handso."
"Hahaha! Hinata, you're really cute today too!" Naruto laughed heartily and patted her gently on the head.
Hinata nearly passed out from embarrassnt.
Naruto quickly withdrew his hand. Over the past few days, patting Hinata on the head had beco a bit of a habit. After all, affection needed to be nurtured early on. As for Sakura Haruno? Compared to Hinata, how could she even compete?
And truthfully, Hinata had already gotten used to it. She still blushed, but the reactions had beco far more manageable. There's a big difference between doing sothing once and doing it every day.
At so point, Uchiha Sasuke entered the classroom. His usual cool facade—despite still having a trace of baby fat—imdiately drew the attention of several girls, who squealed with delight.
Sasuke's gaze, however, wasn't on them. He was secretly observing Naruto.
He noticed Naruto chatting casually with Hinata, then turning his attention back to his book. From his angle, Sasuke couldn't make out what the book said, but he was sure it wasn't one of the standard academy-issued texts.
Just then, the bell rang, and Iruka entered the classroom.
"Alright, quiet down everyone. Open your textbooks to Chapter One: The Will of Fire and the Founding of Konoha."
Naruto quickly closed the Genjutsu book and tucked it into his desk drawer, swapping it out for the regular academy textbook. Though he felt the content lacked any real substance, he had to study it anyway—these materials were still part of the academic test.
Still, Naruto didn't care much about the liberal arts portion. It only made up 20% of their total score. The rest—combat skills, chakra control, physical fitness—were far more important.
Even so, Naruto had already read and morized the textbook in full. With his mory, he could easily retain pages at a glance. Even Shikamaru, who also had near-photographic mory, might not match him in this area.
Sasuke continued to watch Naruto quietly.
Suddenly, he noticed sothing strange. Naruto's body was slightly trembling.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and shifted his gaze downward—Naruto's hand was subtly moving under the desk.
What's he doing?
Then it hit him.
He's practicing hand seals!
Realization dawned on Sasuke. Even during class, Naruto was using every spare mont to train. This guy... he's actually putting in that much effort?
At a ti when most would be half-asleep, Naruto was quietly refining his skills.
Hmph! What a botherso guy!
But Sasuke couldn't deny it—this diligence was impressive.
If Naruto was that hardworking, then his physical stamina couldn't be as weak as everyone assud. In fact, it probably rivaled Sasuke's own.
Just like Itachi had said—this guy is hiding his true strength.
If Sasuke were familiar with modern slang, he'd recognize what Naruto was doing for what it was: grinding hard. Constantly leveling up, non-stop.
Sasuke, visibly annoyed, pulled out a second book from his drawer. It was a beginner's guide to hand seals—basic, yet essential. Coincidentally, it covered exactly the sa techniques Naruto had been practicing monts ago.
Naruto had clearly gotten a head start.
After mastering this volu, Naruto planned to borrow the advanced scroll "Chakra Nature Transformation and Hand Seal Applications" that he'd seen in the library last ti. That one delved deeper into elental affinities and multi-seal combinations.
This current book alone was dense enough to occupy an academy student for a full year. In fact, it was the kind of material typically covered after students had increased their chakra capacity and started formal ninjutsu training—like the Three Basic Techniques (Bunshin no Jutsu, Henge no Jutsu, and Kawarimi no Jutsu).
Sasuke stared at the book in front of him and began mimicking the seals.
But unlike Naruto, Sasuke had never actually practiced hand seals before. His movents were stiff, clumsy. He could barely form two seals per second, often fumbling and having to redo them.
His exaggerated motions and constantly lowered head quickly caught Iruka's attention.
As a Chūnin, Iruka wasn't particularly known for his combat prowess, but his observational skills as a teacher were sharp. He imdiately noticed what Sasuke was up to.
Seeing the boy glancing between his book and his hands, Iruka was quietly impressed.
As expected of an Uchiha, he thought. He already understands the significance of mastering hand seals early.
In battle, shaving even a second off your jutsu execution could an the difference between life and death.
What Iruka didn't realize, however, was that Sasuke wasn't doing this out of natural diligence—he simply didn't want to fall behind Naruto.
"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called out, his tone firm but not harsh. "Please focus on the current lesson. That material will be covered in the future."
He treated it the sa way a teacher from Naruto's old world might scold a student for reading science during a literature lecture.
Sasuke froze. A blush crept up his cheeks as he closed the book and gave a silent nod.
Iruka resud his lecture. But Sasuke's gaze drifted back to Naruto. And sure enough, Naruto had seen everything.
Naruto flashed Sasuke a grin—not mocking, just friendly.
But in Sasuke's eyes, that smile felt like pure provocation.
Damn you, Uzumaki Naruto!
Sasuke grit his teeth, glaring with baby-faced intensity. His expression was so fierce that even Naruto was montarily stunned. He couldn't understand what had caused Sasuke's sudden hostility.
This guy… really doesn't know how to lose face, Naruto thought, before brushing it off. Still too soft. He hasn't experienced what real setbacks feel like.
Naruto refocused, continuing to practice his hand seals beneath the desk. Unlike Sasuke, he could perform two tasks at once—listening to the lecture while silently forming seals at speed.
Currently, he could manage around four and a half seals per second without error. Not yet at Uchiha Itachi's level—who was rumored to hit six per second effortlessly—but Naruto wasn't worried.
He had the greatest advantage of all:
Heaven rewards diligence.
And with that, even surpassing Uchiha Itachi was only a matter of ti.
...
TN:
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