Chapter 29: Team 7
The next day, the holiday ended.
Naruto returned to the Ninja Academy. Today was the day for team assignments.
Sitting by the window, Naruto's gaze drifted outside.
In the distance was a large tree with a simple swing hanging from one of its branches.
Today, many unfamiliar faces from other classes were in the room.
As for the original Class A, more than half the students had failed the graduation exam.
Looking at the students in the classroom, Naruto wondered whether the team assignments would change because of him.
Soon, Iruka began announcing the teams.
Teams of three. The first six teams consisted entirely of nameless background characters whose names Naruto didn't recognize.
"Next is Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura!"
Hearing Iruka's words, Naruto frowned.
He could understand being grouped with Sasuke, but in the original story, Sakura was placed in Team 7 because the original Naruto liked her.
Now, he made no effort to hide his dislike for Sakura. So why would the Third still put her in Team 7?
Sasuke maintained a cold expression on the surface upon hearing he was grouped with Naruto, but deep down he felt a slight sense of satisfaction.
Sakura was extremely excited to be in the same team as Sasuke, but when she realized Naruto was also there, she looked displeased.
"Team 8: Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino."
Hearing her team assignment, Hinata looked at Naruto with a trace of disappointment.
"Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino."
Ino looked dejected. As expected, she couldn't be in the same team as Naruto.
After hearing all the assignments, Naruto roughly guessed why Sakura had been placed in his team.
There simply weren't enough suitable students left.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio had to stay together.
Hinata's team was focused on reconnaissance.
As for the other civilian students, most had average talent, so Sakura was the best among the remaining options.
After the teams were announced, Sakura happily scooted over and sat beside Sasuke.
Although she was unhappy, she was a little afraid of Naruto and didn't dare say much.
One by one, the jonin senseis entered the classroom and led their students away.
When Kurenai Yuhi walked in, Naruto couldn't help but look at her a few times.
She had long, wavy black hair, large ruby-like eyes, and exuded the mature, elegant charm of a beautiful older sister.
In real life, she looked even more attractive than in the original story.
She led Hinata's team away. As she reached the door, Hinata turned back and gave Naruto a slightly regretful glance.
Before long, all the students had been taken away by their jonin senseis.
The once crowded classroom was now left with only Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
They waited for over half an hour, but their jonin sensei still hadn't shown up.
Sakura gradually grew impatient and grumbled, "What the heck? Everyone else left ages ago, but our teacher still hasn't come. He must be a completely unreliable guy!"
Sasuke crossed his arms with a disdainful expression, also holding a poor opinion of their future teacher.
Naruto had already guessed it. The teacher who loved being late was definitely Kakashi.
Naruto yawned and said to the other two, "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when he gets here."
Hearing this, Sakura's eyes instantly filled with dissatisfaction. She decided not to wake Naruto later so he would leave a bad first impression on their teacher.
Another half hour passed before the classroom door was slowly slid open.
A white-haired figure slowly walked into the room.
The moment he entered, both Sakura and Sasuke looked over.
At the same time, Sasuke kicked the desk, and Naruto opened his sleepy eyes.
Kakashi scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry, sorry. I'm late. On the way here, I helped an old lady cross the street."
This lame excuse didn't fool even Sakura, who rolled her eyes.
"Alright, let's do some self-introductions. My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I'll be your jonin sensei. You guys introduce yourselves too."
"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like good-looking people and things…" As she spoke, her gaze secretly drifted toward Sasuke.
"Uchiha Sasuke. I have no hobbies. My only goal is to kill a certain man!" Sasuke said with a gloomy face.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto simply stated his name.
Kakashi's gaze swept across the three students.
It finally landed on Naruto. Seeing his excessively handsome face, Kakashi couldn't help but think of his own teacher, Minato Namikaze.
[He really looks like Sensei… and he might even be more handsome than him. But his personality… is nothing like Sensei's at all.]
After the introductions, Kakashi clapped his hands.
"Alright, my test will be tomorrow morning outside the village. Since it will involve intense physical activity, make sure you don't eat breakfast tomorrow."
With that, Kakashi gave them the meeting point and left.
His perfunctory attitude made Sakura complain again. "What the heck? He made us wait so long, said a few words, and just left."
Naruto stood up and headed out of the classroom.
Sakura called after him, "Naruto, where are you going? The test is tomorrow! Don't you think we should discuss our strategy?"
Naruto didn't even turn his head. "Strategy? What kind of strategy could that brain of yours come up with?"
"You—!!" Sakura was so angry at Naruto's retort that she became incoherent.
She then turned to Sasuke, her eyes suddenly lighting up. [It's better that guy isn't here. Now I can have some alone time with Sasuke!]
"Sasuke, then how about the two of us—"
Sasuke stood up without even looking at her, his expression cold. "Not interested."
With that, he also left the classroom, leaving Sakura sitting there dejectedly by herself.
Naruto didn't head straight home. Instead, he went to his usual spot.
Training Ground 3, by the small stream.
With a slight movement of his fingers, more than ten Shadow Clones appeared beside him with soft poof sounds.
All the clones exchanged glances with the original and nodded, then sat down cross-legged.
Today, Naruto was training the Uzumaki clan's secret technique — Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
This was an extremely powerful sensing technique with a range of dozens of kilometers.
He was learning it as preparation for his future plan to defect from the village.
Although his current strength was enough for self-protection, having such a powerful sensing technique would make things even safer.
Both the original and the clones focused completely, spreading their spiritual energy outward according to the secret technique's method.
The sun slowly moved across the sky and eventually set in the west, dyeing the horizon a fiery red.
All the Shadow Clones dispelled at the same time. Naruto's original body suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing in his bright blue pupils.
When he closed his eyes again, the chakra signatures of everyone within a radius of more than ten kilometers appeared in his mind like a clear map.
This gave Naruto a feeling similar to the divine sense expansion described in cultivation novels.
In just half a day, he had already expanded the sensing range of Mind's Eye of the Kagura to more than ten kilometers.
This learning speed could only be described as terrifying.
With his extremely strong mental power and the help of Multiple Shadow Clones, he believed it wouldn't take long before he mastered all the forbidden techniques and secret arts he had taken from the Sarutobi estate!
By then, it would be time to carry out his plan to defect from the village.
However, before defecting, he needed to leave some things behind… and take some things with him.
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