Chapter 15: The Wood Release Ninja, Naruto Uzumaki

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The next day.

As soon as class began, a ninja arrived with a message.

Since Mr. Oda was still in the hospital and the new homeroom teacher had yet to be decided, the students would be left to study on their own that day.

The moment the ninja left—

“Woohoo~~~!”

The elementary-schoolers erupted in excitement.

How was this supposed to count as self-study? It was obviously just letting the sheep run wild!

Naruto, who had completed his mission and received 2,000 experience points, grinned happily as well.

With 2,000 experience points, he could upgrade his Two-Tomoe Sharingan to the Three-Tomoe level as soon as he returned.

When it came to experience points, nothing beat a prank he had never tried before.

He was already looking forward to the next homeroom teacher.

“Mr. Oda should be all right, shouldn’t he?” Choji asked.

Naruto glanced at him in surprise.

Who would have thought that beneath Choji’s chubby exterior lay such a kind heart? The other students clearly didn’t care in the slightest. Their minds had already flown far away.

“It’s nothing serious. He just needs to sleep well for a couple of days,” Naruto explained as the person responsible.

He traded a bag of potato chips and a bottle of cola for another student’s seat.

The three of them were now deskmates.

“So what should we do?” Choji asked.

Naruto and his old friend Shikamaru had only just become friends with him, so Choji had no idea what the two of them liked to do.

In the end, he suggested, “How about we go eat some dango? They’re really good.”

“I want to go to the rooftop and watch the clouds,” Shikamaru replied.

“My suggestion is that we buy dango first, then go to the rooftop and watch the clouds,” Naruto said, combining their opinions.

“Okay.” ×2

As usual, Naruto glanced at Sasuke before saying, “Wait for me.”

He walked over.

“Sasu—”

Thud!

Before he could finish speaking, a wad of money slapped down on the desk and cut him off.

Fine.

Naruto felt as though this had become one of his daily quests.

He placed the two-liter bottle of cola on the desk and silently cursed Sasuke to grow fat after drinking it all.

Then he would finally get to see a chubby protagonist!

The thought was rather amusing.

He could hardly wait.

Though it was also possible Sasuke would simply throw the drink away the moment he got home.

Whatever. It was none of his concern.

Once the drink had been sold, it was no longer his problem.

Just as he was about to return to his seat, Naruto noticed three boys pinning a little girl against a wall.

School bullying?

Naruto immediately grew interested.

In the face of such evil, Naruto Uzumaki, the nemesis of wickedness and champion of justice, would never stand idly by!

Wait. Something seemed off about that.

Never mind.

Attack!

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“What evil eyes.”

“White-eyed monster!”

“Let go of that girl!” Naruto shouted as he stepped in front of Hinata.

The moment he saw the three boys, Naruto had the strange feeling that they were destined to cross paths again.

Weren’t these the same three brats he had driven away last year?

“You don’t seem to be from this class.”

“Isn’t that him?” the ringleader asked the boy beside him in a trembling voice.

“I think it is.”

“Run! The demon is here!”

“Run!”

This time, before Naruto could even make a move, the three brats seemed to recognize him and immediately fled without a trace.

Naruto was actually a little disappointed.

He had thought there would be an evenly matched battle. But that was it?

It seemed the dark forces at the Ninja Academy desperately needed to be cultivated.

Otherwise, where would the champion of justice find opportunities to shine?

And without opportunities to shine, how could he gain experience and level up?

Ding!

Fortunately, the “Knight in Shining Armor” mission still rewarded him with experience points and chakra.

Naruto turned to look at the “flower” he had protected.

What a coincidence. Wasn’t this Hinata?

Why is it always you.jpg

It seemed she was forever being bullied.

Come on, you were the heiress of the Hyuga clan, one of the only two great clans in the Leaf Village.

Not bullying others was one thing, but to be bullied yourself?

Hinata, you really needed to toughen up.

Naruto looked at her again and felt that the girl was simply too gentle.

He had sensed it in their daily interactions. At first, he had thought it was weakness, but it wasn’t. This was simply the girl’s nature.

That kind of personality did not seem particularly viable in the shinobi world.

“Are you all right?”

Hinata raised her head and thanked him softly. “Thank you, Naruto.”

“It was nothing.”

The two of them stood very close together, their gazes meeting.

This was the first time Naruto had seen a pair of Byakugan from such a short distance.

Just as it would be rude to stare at a cripple’s lame leg, one could not keep staring at a person’s unusual features.

Naruto had never truly examined the Byakugan before.

Perhaps because he had seen pupils of so many different colors, the Byakugan—with irises that were nothing but bright white—suddenly struck him as rather beautiful.

“Don’t listen to their nonsense. Your eyes are beautiful,” Naruto comforted her.

His words were utterly sincere.

Then Naruto noticed that Hinata’s face had turned bright red. Steam was practically rising from her head.

The next moment, Hinata fainted on the spot.

Naruto was completely bewildered. He had not even had time to catch her. At that moment, there was only one thought in his mind.

Oh no. She’s going to cling to me now.

Those three brats had bullied her moments ago, and she had been perfectly fine.

The moment he showed up, she had fainted outright.

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She did it on purpose. Absolutely on purpose.

The scene shifted.

Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji walked out of the Leaf Village Hospital one after another.

They were not there to visit their teacher. There was nothing worth seeing there. They had come to escort Hinata to the hospital.

Fortunately, the examination showed that nothing serious was wrong.

At first, Naruto had worried that the Hyuga clan might use the incident to pressure the old Hokage. But after thinking it over, he realized that it really was not necessary.

The Ninja Academy’s curriculum was far more terrifying than he had expected.

During combat classes, it was common for two elementary-schoolers to fight until one of them had a bloody nose or even lost consciousness.

Over the past few days, Naruto had already witnessed several upperclassmen bleeding profusely because of their battles.

Compared to that, Hinata’s situation was completely trivial.

“Come on. Let’s buy some dango first.”

“Let’s go!” ×2

None of the three noticed that, in a window above them, Hinata—now awake—was silently watching them disappear into the distance.

That evening, in the training space—

Naruto pressed his palms together, his face straining as though he were holding in an enormous bowel movement.

In reality, he was combining Earth Release and Water Release chakra, attempting to create Wood Release.

Naruto had been able to possess the other single-nature chakra transformations from the very beginning, with their proficiency immediately rising to the mastery level.

There was therefore nothing he could draw upon when it came to acquiring an entirely new chakra nature through training.

To say nothing of the extremely difficult process of merging two chakra natures together.

Fortunately, after two years of cultivation, his seven chakra natures had long since reached perfect, maximum proficiency.

Otherwise, Naruto would not even have known where to begin when it came to fusing two kinds of chakra.

Of course, when it came to creating a new form of chakra, his SSSSSS-grade talent also provided an enormous boost.

“I did it!”

Naruto shouted and opened his eyes, his face filled with delight.

[Through training, you have fused Earth Nature and Water Nature to create Wood Nature Chakra.]

[Wood Release has been detected. You must complete the Wood Release synthesis quest.]

[SSSSSS-grade talent detected. You automatically possess Wood Release Chakra.]

[Wood Release Chakra proficiency +1,500.]

[Wood Release: 1,500/2,000 (Mastery)]

“Congratulations, Naruto.”

“Come on, Kurama. Let’s spar.”

Naruto was desperate to test out this brand-new Wood Release.

Although he had yet to learn any Wood Release techniques, his nearly three million units of chakra—comparable to that of a tailed beast—were practically limitless.

His chakra control, which had also surpassed three hundred, allowed him to wield any chakra as naturally as his own limbs.

His understanding of techniques was likewise above three hundred, making every ninjutsu come easily to him. Creating new techniques was simpler still.

The Nine-Tails was eager to give it a try as well.

“If I can’t bully the First Hokage, can’t I at least bully you, you little brat who just learned Wood Release?”

The Nine-Tails roared, “The day I avenge myself on the First Hokage is finally here!”

The result, however, came moments later.

“Kurama, you’re so weak!”

The Nine-Tails, completely suppressed by nine wooden dragons, wailed, “What about me! What about me!”

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