"One, two, three... cheese!"
"Okay, done!"
"Thanks."
Naruto took his photo, thanked the bald old man politely, and walked out of the Hokage building.
Yesterday, he got Iruka's approval and successfully graduated. Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't object to it either.
That meant he was about to officially become a Genin of Konoha!
After walking into the Hokage building and filling out his graduation paperwork in one of the offices, he stuck his photo onto it and brought the documents to Hiruzen Sarutobi in the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen took Naruto's file and looked at it, but didn't stamp it right away.
"Naruto."
"Yes?"
"Could you come here for a moment?"
Naruto hesitated, then walked over.
When he got closer, Hiruzen pulled open his shirt and looked at his stomach.
The seal was still there. He could clearly sense the Nine-Tails' chakra.
This really was the real Naruto.
"Alright, it's fine."
Hiruzen gave a firm stamp on the graduation papers and smiled at Naruto. "Congratulations on graduating, Naruto."
"Thank you."
Naruto thanked him politely and was about to leave the office.
But just then, the door suddenly burst open from the outside, and a buck-toothed kid with a bun hairstyle rushed in.
"Grandpa, let's fight right now!"
"I'm gonna be the Fifth Hokage, dattebayo!"
"Ow!"
*biu!*
*beng!*
"..."
Naruto glanced at Konohamaru, who was now lying peacefully on the floor, and didn't know what to say.
So this is Konohamaru?
"Ouch, that hurt!"
"Damn it, was there a trap here?"
Konohamaru looked around warily, trying to find the trap. Just then, Ebisu caught up and blocked the doorway.
"A-Are you okay, young master?"
"There weren't any traps there at all!"
Konohamaru didn't believe Ebisu at all. Holding his head, he turned and saw Uzumaki Naruto—he immediately assumed it was Naruto who set the trap.
"So it was you messing around, huh?"
"..."
"Idiot."
"I-Idiot?"
Konohamaru pointed at himself with his thumb and said, "Do you even know who I am? You dare call me an idiot?"
"This kid is the Third Hokage-sama's own grandson, and you called him an idiot?" Ebisu added helpfully.
Naruto looked at Ebisu, then looked at Konohamaru's punchable face again.
This brat probably thinks I'm just another lapdog of the Sarutobi family, like Ebisu.
"I don't care who you are. Get out of my way."
Naruto didn't bother arguing and walked around Konohamaru to leave.
But Konohamaru wouldn't give up and jumped in front of Naruto again.
"Bastard! You called me an idiot, you'd better apologize!"
Naruto ignored him and looked at Hiruzen. "Old man, if I hit him, you won't hold it against me later, right?"
Hiruzen: "..."
"Hit me? I'm the grandson of the Hokage! You really dare hit me?!"
Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could say anything, Konohamaru spoke up again, trying to provoke him.
But this time, Naruto didn't hold back and punched him hard.
He didn't use any flashy abilities, nor did he use all his strength.
Not even 30% of his full power, but it was still enough to leave a big bump on Konohamaru's head.
"Idiot."
Looking at Konohamaru lying on the ground after the punch, Naruto threw out another insult.
Then he looked at Hiruzen and said, "I'm telling you now, don't mess with me, old man. If you do, I'll pull out all your beard!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
A fresh Genin threatening the Hokage—unbelievable!
"Y-Young Master, are you alright?"
"Hokage-sama, are you really okay with this?"
Ebisu, who was next to Konohamaru, was clearly panicking, but he didn't dare to confront Naruto about it.
After all, even Konohamaru's own grandfather didn't say anything, so he couldn't just jump in.
Hiruzen looked at Naruto walking away and sighed. "It's just kids messing around. No need to worry."
Even though Naruto's behavior was a bit wild, something about him reminded Hiruzen of the old Naruto.
This made Hiruzen finally drop his doubts.
Naruto had changed a lot in just a few days, and even though he confirmed this was still the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he couldn't fully relax until now.
Maybe he'd just been overthinking it.
Naruto was still Naruto. It was probably just the graduation exam that hit him really hard.
Looks like Iruka and Kakashi will need to guide Naruto more from now on.
Seeing that Hiruzen didn't mind, Ebisu didn't say anything to Naruto either.
But once Konohamaru got up, he started talking bad about Naruto.
Stuff like "You're the Hokage's grandson, Naruto isn't even close to your level," and so on.
But Konohamaru didn't seem to care, and even took off when Ebisu wasn't paying attention.
...
At that moment, Naruto was on his way home.
Before, without his memories, he didn't even know where his home was.
After the ANBU showed up and took the Scroll of Seals and Mizuki away, only Naruto and Iruka were left behind.
Naruto used the chance to invite Iruka over to his place with a random excuse.
As Naruto's teacher, Iruka of course knew where Naruto lived.
So with Naruto intentionally slowing down a bit, Iruka ended up walking him all the way home.
"AI-chan, I guess I officially graduated now, right? Where's my reward?"
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Master! You've completed the mission and officially graduated as a Genin. Now granting the reward: Max-Level Swordsmanship! All attributes ×2!]
Right after AI-chan's voice finished, Naruto suddenly felt a ton of knowledge about sword techniques pop into his head.
Even without a sword in his hand, he felt like he could swing out a terrifying slash with ease.
With this kind of sword skill, using the Kusanagi sword wouldn't feel like swinging around a glowing toy anymore!
Back in Mizuki's cabin, when Naruto first summoned the Kusanagi sword, he didn't know how to use it at all.
He could only swing it around like a kitchen knife.
"Huh?"
Just as Naruto was feeling excited, he suddenly noticed something strange behind him.
He turned around and saw a weird-looking rock on the path he just walked—and underneath it, a pair of feet were sticking out!
"..."
Such a terrible hiding technique!
It must be Konohamaru following him.
In the original story, Konohamaru followed Naruto because Naruto beat Hiruzen using the Sexy Jutsu, and he wanted to learn from him.
But why was he following him this time?
Naruto walked up to the rock that Konohamaru was hiding behind and gave it a light kick. "Come out, I saw you."
"Heh! Didn't expect you to notice! Just like the rumors said!"
Konohamaru dropped his disguise, stood up, and pointed at Naruto. "I guess I could let you be my boss!"
"..."
"Have you heard about me?"