Chapter 29: Being a Ninja Is Just Scavenging

A serious Kakashi had lost.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had managed to secure the bells.

Looking at the panting Kakashi-sensei, Naruto felt that if he dragged the match out any longer, the teacher might just drop dead on the spot, so he decided to end the test early. Kakashi-sensei was cool, certainly, but he seemed a bit frail. It was understandable, though; killing an enemy and merely controlling one were two different levels of difficulty.

With a mutter, Naruto glanced at his teammates. Sasuke was lying on the ground, gasping for air, nearly exhausted. Sakura was in slightly better shape, standing with her hands on her knees, though she seemed to be the type who prioritized participation over actual effort.

While Naruto sized them up, Kakashi was busy analyzing the three of them.

Naruto: The most talented and strongest. His sensory abilities were astonishing; every shift in the environment seemed to escape nothing from his perception. His Fire Style was surprisingly potent—even capable of creating original jutsu—and his taijutsu and combat instincts were sharp. Judging by that original Fire Style technique, Naruto had likely already mastered the nature transformation and shape manipulation of fire-attribute chakra. Furthermore, his chakra reserves were bottomless, and it was clear he hadn't used his full strength. He was at least a Chunin, if not a Jonin. A twelve-year-old Jonin in a time of peace? Truly the child of the brilliant Minato-sensei.

Sasuke: A standard prodigy. Calm in battle, precise instincts, solid fundamentals across the board, decent chakra levels, and a fair hand at Fire Style.

Sakura Haruno: Weak taijutsu, no ninjutsu, generally average. Further data required.

Kakashi had originally intended to risk his life to protect these three, but it seemed he could relax a bit more than anticipated. After catching his breath, he straightened up.

"Alright, the assessment is over. I have a good grasp of your abilities. Very well done."

Kakashi scanned the three, his gaze lingering on Naruto for a moment. Naruto responded with a smile.

"That concludes our morning training. Meet in front of the Hokage Building at 1:00 PM. Dismissed!"

He turned and left immediately.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out, but it didn't stop him. He seemed to be in quite a hurry. Was he scared? It was just ramen. Though he looked a bit disheveled now, Kakashi-sensei had looked quite dashing when he paid the bill last night.

With Kakashi gone, Naruto turned to his teammates. "What about you two? Want to go grab some ramen?"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke; where he went, she went.

"I..."

"You aren't going back for extra training, are you?" Naruto interrupted, catching the refusal on Sasuke's lips. Seeing Sasuke's expression—as if his thoughts had been read—Naruto grinned slyly. "If you treat me to ramen, I'll tell you how I got so strong."

"Deal!" Sasuke replied decisively, fearing Naruto might change his mind. Why was it that while they were at the Academy, Naruto had been a dead-last student, yet he’d become so powerful immediately after graduation?

***

Naruto didn't mind; he intended to strengthen his teammates anyway. Once he became Hokage, his teammates would need to be his pillars of support, contributing to his grand vision.

Scene change. Ichiraku Ramen.

The carefree Naruto was slurping down his noodles. Sasuke had no appetite, clearly preoccupied. Sakura was taking a bite of ramen, then a glance at Sasuke... eating quite happily.

Suddenly.

"Ah! Sasuke-kun!"

With a joyful shout, Ino hooked her arm around Sasuke’s neck. Shikamaru appeared shortly after, greeting them cheerfully. It seemed they were just missing Choji. Naruto turned his head. Choji appeared as well, munching on potato chips and looking at Naruto with a wide, beaming smile. His eyes were small to begin with, and with that smile, they disappeared entirely.

"Hey, long time... well, two days, no see," Naruto greeted.

Sakura’s reaction was the most intense. She shrieked, "Ino-pig, let go of Sasuke!"

As Sakura and Ino began to bicker, nearly coming to blows, Naruto sweated. It seemed they had a "good" relationship—was this really what "good" meant? After the commotion settled, the three newcomers sat down for ramen as well.

"Shikamaru, have you started doing missions yet?" Naruto tried to fish for some information.

"Just finished one this morning."

Just finished? So fast? Naruto was surprised. "What kind of mission was it?"

"Picking up trash." Shikamaru looked reluctant at the memory. Seeing his expression, Naruto knew his laziness had flared up again. Shikamaru was great in many ways—high intelligence, decent guy—but he was incredibly lazy. He would never stand if he could sit, and never sit if he could lie down. His favorite pastime was likely lying on a rooftop watching the clouds.

But "picking up trash"—was that really a mission? When he used to skip class to wander off, he had seen many newly graduated Genin doing all sorts of things: picking up trash, catching cats, babysitting... Was this what they were in for?

That afternoon, their suspicions were confirmed.

"Excellent, let's head out."

Recently, a massive amount of garbage had clogged the lower reaches of the Nanga River, creating a stench so foul it interfered with the residents' daily lives. The village had issued a D-rank mission to "clear" the waste.

Although they had received the mission to save the river and the village, Team 7 was not happy. After hearing the complaints from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio during lunch, Naruto and his team had no interest in this work. Glancing at Kakashi, who looked as clean and composed as ever, Naruto decided to test his luck.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you know any Water Style ninjutsu?"

"Of course."

"Could you teach us some later?"

Kakashi was noncommittal, but seeing the expectant looks from the other two, he nodded. "As long as you can learn them, I'll teach you anything."

"Yes!"

The three young genin cheered. Naruto had achieved his goal. It was time to grab the headlines and show the Leaf Village what a true genius was! Did they understand the meaning of: "Before I, Naruto Uzumaki, was born, the ninja world was as dark as an endless night!"

Besides, the ninjutsu learned from Kakashi could be used openly. He only hoped that Kakashi-sensei, as a Jonin, could hold out for a while before being drained dry. Hopefully not like this morning, when he’d been winded so quickly.

Upon arrival, Team 7 found the situation worse than anticipated. The garbage was plentiful, and the smell was unbearable.

"How long will it take to clean up all this trash?" Sakura lamented, drawing immediate agreement from Sasuke.

Naruto turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, can you teach us that solid shadow clone technique you used this morning? Otherwise, just the three of us will be here for days."

Looking at the sheer volume of waste, Kakashi nodded. The hand seal for the Shadow Clone Jutsu was simple—just the Ram seal—but the actual difficulty of learning it was not.

"That's too easy!" Naruto shouted, drawing everyone's attention before forming the Ram seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

*Poof, poof, poof!*

With a massive surge of chakra, dozens, then hundreds of Naruto clones appeared. Sasuke and Sakura were stunned, and Kakashi’s right eye twitched violently. Wasn't that just the Shadow Clone Jutsu he'd taught him? How did he manage to pull off the Multi-Shadow Clone effect?

Seeing so many clones, Naruto was delighted. He wouldn't have to lift a finger; he could just let them do the work. What a perfect workforce! He declared his battle plan: "Alright, our goal is to clear this entire riverbank. Get to work!"

"I'm not doing it. Why don't you do it?" the first clone retorted.

Then, more clones began to object.

"I’m not going; I want to play games."

"I don't want to clean the river; I only want to watch rivers of blood."

...

A hundred Narutos were arguing and bickering, giving the real Naruto a massive headache. The other three stared at him: This is your Shadow Clone Jutsu?