Hiruzen felt exhausted and deeply troubled. Too many things happened in the past two months. It was so strange. It was only two months, but why did he feel like several years had passed?
First, Naruto's sudden rampage, then the death of an Anbu member, followed by the Uchiha coup attempt, and now the appearance of a terrifying masked man. On top of all that, he had to deal with Naruto's issues. Since the Nine-Tails attack, he hadn't felt this drained in years. He was truly getting old.
What made him sigh deeply was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki sitting across from him, Uzumaki Naruto.
"Naruto, you promised Grandpa you wouldn't use Ninjutsu on the villagers."
Hiruzen's expression was stern. He suddenly regretted his decision to teach Naruto Ninjutsu early.
Naruto, however, looked indifferent and replied: "I didn't use ninjutsu. It was Genjutsu!"
"This..."
Hiruzen was momentarily speechless. He hadn't expected Naruto to argue back. 'Had I been too busy lately to spend time bonding with Naruto?'
'Wait! Since when did Naruto know Genjutsu?'
Hiruzen's expression grew even more serious, bordering on grim. He then asked in a cold tone: "Who taught you Genjutsu?"
"No one taught me, I learned it by myself."
"Self-taught?!" Hiruzen's voice rose in pitch. This was the first time he'd heard of someone learning Genjutsu on their own.
"How did you learn it by yourself?"
Naruto glanced at the old man and said, "I noticed that everyone's Chakra flows in a certain pattern. I wondered what would happen if I tried to disrupt that flow and make it move according to my will. That's how I learned."
Hiruzen was stunned. He suddenly recalled how Naruto had locked himself away for the past month. "Is this the technique you've been working on all month?"
Naruto nodded silently.
Hiruzen pursed his lips and said nothing. After thinking for a long time, he exhaled heavily.
"From now on, you are not to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu on your classmates."
"What about Taijutsu?"
A vein throbbed on Hiruzen's forehead, and he gritted his teeth and said, "That's also off-limits!"
Naruto frowned: "So I'm just supposed to take the hits and insults?"
"This..."
Hiruzen was at a loss. He hadn't expected Naruto to become so sharp-witted. After composing himself, he added, "You may use Taijutsu to defend yourself, but you must not harm your classmates. Understood?"
"Fine. Can I go to class now?"
Seeing Naruto's indifferent attitude, Hiruzen felt a wave of exhaustion. 'Where had the obedient Naruto from before gone?'
Hiruzen's mind wandered as he pondered the reasons behind Naruto's drastic change in personality. After much thought, his mind settled on the day two months ago when Naruto had returned home from the mountains. It seemed that everything had started from that day.
'Whether it was Naruto's change or the appearance of the masked man, it all started from that day.'
'Damn you, Danzo!'
Of course, he couldn't connect the masked man to Naruto. He had watched Naruto grow up step by step. While Naruto's strength had grown rapidly, it was a stretch to believe he could face Shisui head-on and nearly kill Danzo.
What he needed to focus on now was how to rebuild his relationship with Naruto.
'It seems Naruto's birthday is soon...'
"Speaking of which, your birthday is next month, isn't it, Naruto?"
Hiruzen suddenly smiled warmly, catching Naruto off guard.
'Are you really switching moods this fast?'
'Are you some kind of drama king?'
"Yeah, Sandaime-sama, are you planning to celebrate my birthday with me?"
Hiruzen's smile grew even more benevolent and he said, "I'll have a surprise for you then, Naruto."
'Last time, I had told Naruto stories about the Yondaime Hokage. This time, he would reveal the relationship between Yondaime and Naruto. It was time Naruto knew the truth.'
"Really? Then I'll look forward to your surprise, Hokage-sama."
Naruto smiled as well.
---
When Naruto walked into the classroom, the room fell silent. It was as if they had suddenly gone from a bustling marketplace to a cold morgue, except the corpses were still breathing faintly.
Even Iruka was caught off guard by this. He had expected Naruto to be suspended for a few days or transferred to another class. He hadn't anticipated Naruto staying in his class. Iruka suddenly felt his teaching career was doomed.
Despite the deathly silence, Naruto wasn't one to care about the atmosphere. He strode to the front of the classroom and stood beside Iruka.
"Hey, hello everyone! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I think you all know me already, but I'm happy to meet you too."
His sunny demeanor was reminiscent of Minato, and his confident expression added to his charm.
Except for those who had witnessed Toya's gruesome fate, most students found it hard to connect this cheerful boy with the rumored demon fox. Some of the more appearance-conscious kids even began to feel a faint sense of admiration.
Whether male or female, most people naturally gravitated toward things that were attractive and radiant.
With a smile on his face, Naruto squinted his eyes and scanned the students in the classroom. He found many recognizable faces, such as the Ino-Shika-Cho trio sitting together, the boy with his little dog, the girl with pink hair, and the timid yet brave Hyuga girl who managed to smile at him despite her nervousness.
'Hinata was indeed a little different.'
'Hmm?'
'As he continued scanning, Naruto suddenly felt an intense gaze.'
'He followed the line of sight and was startled. Was that... Sasuke?'
'But why was Sasuke looking at him like that? Had the brotherly obsession of Indra's Chakra taken over? This didn't fit Sasuke's character at all.'
"Cough, Naruto, if you have finished introducing yourself, go down and find a seat to sit down."
Iruka's cough brought Naruto back to reality.
"Sure."
Naruto walked straight to his previous seat. Since he had already sat there, no one else would likely take it.
'Except for Neji, Lee and Tenten, I've seen all the Konoha 12 today.'
'Wait... why does it feel like someone was missing?'