"Whatever, let's drop this. From now on, don't dump Naruto's problems on me.
If you can handle them, then handle them. If you can't, go find Jiraiya or the Third Hokage. Just don't come to me."
"Alright. We'll let Jiraiya deal with it from now on. The Akatsuki has been hiding for years without leaving a trace. Keeping this up is just a waste of time. I'll make sure he returns soon."
"Tell him Naruto's mindset is messed up. He needs to come back immediately. Not 'soon'—*now*."
With Jiraiya's habit of dragging things out, if you don't push him a little, he'll take forever and might not even come back.
"Alright, I'll send someone to inform Jiraiya later."
The Akatsuki have been searching for years, so that should be enough to make up for Kumogakure Village.
It's not that Konoha didn't want to help—it's just that the Akatsuki were too good at hiding.
The next day, Naruto sluggishly made his way to the ninja academy.
He had barely rested all night. As soon as he laid his head on the desk, he fell asleep.
Even the noisy chatter of his classmates didn't bother him.
Before long, the teacher arrived.
The whole class perked up, ready to watch the show. They all knew Naruto was in trouble.
Usually, in a situation like this, the teacher would either smack Naruto or throw something at him.
But to everyone's surprise, the teacher, who would normally deal with this right away, only glanced at Naruto's seat and pretended not to see him.
Instead, he clapped his hands to get the students' attention.
"Alright, class, let's begin. Today, we'll be learning about the growth and achievements of the Second Hokage."
This subject was specially added to the curriculum after Yan became the Hokage's advisor. Tsunade fully supported it.
Under the Third Hokage's guidance, most of the academy's courses—aside from the core subjects—had become all about the so-called 'Will of Fire.'
Because of this, many students, even some graduated ninjas, didn't even know who the First and Second Hokage were.
Let alone what kind of people they were, how strong they were, or anything else about them.
So Yan removed a lot of the 'Will of Fire' propaganda and replaced it with other lessons.
At the very least, students needed to know about the past Hokage and other important figures in the village.
Not only did they have to learn about them—they had to memorize it. There would be exam questions about this!
"Teacher! Naruto is still sleeping!"
A student raised their hand and reported Naruto.
Hearing his name, Naruto groggily woke up and instinctively sat up straight. But his eyelids were still heavy, struggling to stay open.
As expected, he figured he was about to get scolded—or maybe even smacked.
But he was used to it by now.
After all, when something happens to you too many times, you just stop caring.
Just as Naruto braced himself, thinking the teacher was about to chew him out, something unexpected happened.
The teacher looked at Naruto, who was barely keeping himself awake, then gestured for the student to put their hand down.
"Naruto's situation is special. He's allowed to sleep in class. Let's continue the lesson."
Naruto, still half-asleep, suddenly snapped awake.
The whole classroom exploded with noise.
Everyone was stunned.
Why was Naruto allowed to sleep in class?
How was that even possible?!
"Teacher! Why does Naruto get to sleep in class?"
"Yeah, this isn't fair!!"
"Quiet!!!"
As the students started making a fuss, the teacher slammed the desk hard and shouted,
"Naruto's situation is special, so don't compare yourselves to him.
Besides, this is a direct order from the Hokage's advisor.
If any of you want to sleep in class and not care about your grades, you can go ask the Hokage's advisor.
If he agrees, I won't say anything either."
"....."
The whole class fell silent.
Even Hinata didn't get this kind of privilege!
And she was the Hokage's advisor's fiancée.
Compared to that, they were nothing!
Naruto really had some serious connections to get such special treatment.
At this age, every kid loved to mess around. Being able to sleep in class without getting in trouble, not having to worry about grades—this was something every student dreamed of.
Too bad none of them had that chance. Only Naruto did.
"Alright, back to class!!"
The students quieted down, and the teacher got straight to the lesson.
If this had happened before, Naruto would have been over the moon.
But now, he couldn't be happy at all because he didn't want this kind of special treatment.
Yesterday at the Hokage's office, Yan's words had hit him hard, cutting deep into his heart.
Naruto hadn't slept all night, his mind spinning with those words.
"I'm not useless!! Just watch, I'll prove to you that I, Uzumaki Naruto, am not useless!!"
The word "useless" had become the thing he hated the most—more than even being called a fox demon.
"Uh…."
Did this kid suddenly change?
The teacher had expected Naruto to keep sleeping in class, but then he noticed something strange.
Naruto was staring at the blackboard with wide-open eyes.
Even though his eyes were red from exhaustion, he kept them open, trying his hardest to listen to the lesson.
Normally, this was impossible.
He'd either be sleeping or sneaking out when the teacher wasn't looking.
And even if he got caught, it would just be a few scoldings or maybe a couple of light smacks—not a big deal.
Soon, the whole class started noticing.
Naruto was actually paying attention in class.
Even though he didn't understand a lot of it, he was still trying his best to listen.
He was even taking notes!
Unbelievable!!!
Uzumaki Naruto was actually listening to the lesson!!
And writing notes!!
Am I seeing things, or am I dreaming?
Noticing that both his teacher and classmates were staring at him with shock and disbelief, Naruto's face turned bright red. He clenched his teeth, lowered his head, and thought to himself:
"Damn it! I'm not useless! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'll work hard to study too!"
Naruto's unusual behavior was quickly reported to the Hokage's office by the Anbu.
After hearing about it, Tsunade was completely baffled.
For a long moment, she just sat there before slamming the table and cursing:
"That little brat! I was actually worried he'd be discouraged, but look at him! After getting scolded by Yan, he suddenly decides to take studying seriously. Just like Yan said, whether he's talented or not is one thing, but his attitude toward learning is definitely a problem!"
"If I ever worry about him again, I'll write my name backward!"
Naruto finally focusing on his studies should have been a good thing, but for some reason, Tsunade was just getting more and more annoyed.
Thinking about how much she had cared for him before… what a waste!
[Just to be clear, this isn't about hating Naruto. Don't misunderstand. The protagonist just left him to grow on his own.]
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