Ninja Academy Principal's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi expressed his condolences to the academy principal with a kind smile.
Groups of civilian ninjas, inspired by the Will of Fire, firmly joined the ranks of Konoha after graduating from the Ninja Academy.
Everyone took pride in being a ninja of Konoha, and many dreamed of surpassing Hiruzen Sarutobi to become the strongest Hokage.
"—This group of students is very important. Do your best to pass the Will of Fire to them. I will also come from time to time to preach it," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile to the principal.
The principal was an ordinary civilian Chūnin, and the position did not require a particularly powerful ninja.
It was enough to deeply understand the Will of Fire.
Standing before him was Iruka, the inheritor of that will.
The principal happily bowed to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"—Congratulations, Lord Hokage, on gaining another elite student. I believe he will graduate within a year and soon become an Elite Jōnin, just like Uchiha Itachi."
Hiruzen Sarutobi also smiled in satisfaction.
"—Thank you, Chūnin Iwakomi."
Director Iwakomi's face immediately filled with excitement when he heard this.
"—You flatter me. It's just empty praise."
However, before he could fully enjoy the moment, two examiners suddenly rushed in.
The Chūnin who had been knocked away by Naruto cried out to Hiruzen Sarutobi with grievance.
"—Lord Hokage! This is madness! That Nine-Tails Fox brat is completely reckless!"
"—Not only did he injure his classmates before the exam, but when we tried to stop him, he knocked me down with ninjutsu while I wasn't paying attention!"
He became even more embarrassed as he continued speaking.
"—Later he even said that if the Third Hokage didn't prepare three ninjutsu for him, he wouldn't become a ninja! Such arrogance! He must be severely punished, Lord Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been holding a pack of cigarettes, suddenly crushed it in his hand.
He looked at the two examiners with obvious anger and shouted.
"—You two idiots! Is this how you deserve to be teachers!?"
"—Don't think I can't see your intentions! Naruto being the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki is a forbidden topic! As ninjas, you cannot be so influenced by personal emotions! I think you two simply don't want to work anymore!"
The examiner immediately fell to his knees.
"—We were wrong, Lord Hokage! But Naruto is truly too arrogant!"
"—We only wanted to bring him here to meet you!"
Looking at the two stubborn men, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand impatiently.
Two Anbu appeared instantly and dragged them away.
Director Iwakomi, standing to the side, broke into a cold sweat. He had just praised the situation, and now something like this had happened.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened slightly. These two had caused another problem because of ninjutsu.
One must remember that the Book of Seals was the foundation of the Hokage family's status in Konoha.
With that Book of Seals, these civilian ninjas were willing to fight to the death for the Hokage.
They would strive desperately to become Jōnin, then leave precious ninjutsu to their children and turn their families into ninja clans.
The ninjutsu recorded in that book were far more valuable than people imagined—even Hiruzen himself would not reward them easily.
Even Minato had only contributed the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But now that Naruto had said those words, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew he would have to pay a price.
After all, no one liked such situations.
Looking at the uneasy Director Iwakomi, Hiruzen Sarutobi once again put on a gentle smile.
"—It's fine this time. But I hope that in the future you will be more careful and avoid bias."
Iwakomi looked at the generous Hiruzen Sarutobi and thought to himself:
This is the Third Hokage, the true bearer of the Will of Fire!
Hiruzen continued.
"—You've already seen Naruto's strength. If you assign him teammates who are too weak, they will only hold him back. According to tactical squad standards, find two of the best students to be his teammates. Don't make mistakes this time."
Director Iwakomi suddenly dropped to one knee and swore to do so.
The next day—
An Anbu appeared in front of Naruto.
He tossed him a forehead protector.
"—This is your headband."
Naruto casually caught it and asked lazily.
"—What do I need it for?"
The Anbu summoned a huge scroll and threw it to Naruto.
"—You may choose three ninjutsu from this scroll. You have one hour. After that, go to Training Ground Number 3 to assemble. Your teammates and your Jōnin instructor will be waiting there."
Naruto looked at the scroll in surprise.
That easy?
He casually opened the Book of Seals.
The corners of his mouth twitched twice, and his expression turned slightly gloomy as he looked down.
Damn it.
This was just a copy, and the ninjutsu inside had clearly been filtered.
Not only were the techniques Naruto wanted missing—such as the Four Symbols Seal, Impure World Reincarnation, and the Flying Thunder God Technique—there weren't even many A-rank ninjutsu left.
Naruto rubbed the corner of his eyes with a headache.
He had never expected Hiruzen Sarutobi to actually give him the real Book of Seals.
Only a few powerful techniques were recorded inside:
Multiple Shadow Clone Technique
Eight Inner Gates
Adamantine Sealing Chains
The rest were mostly ordinary B-rank ninjutsu, and only a fool like the old Naruto would choose them.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was simply an advanced version of the Shadow Clone Technique, which he had already mastered.
The Eight Inner Gates were taught by Might Guy, so there was no need to learn them here.
As for Adamantine Sealing Chains, it was obvious that Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted Naruto to learn how to control the Nine-Tails with it.
But what Naruto truly wanted were the Four Symbols Seals that sealed the Nine-Tails, so he could study how to unlock it further.
Looking at the situation, Naruto couldn't help but curse.
"—Damn old man."
The Anbu beside him pretended not to hear anything.
Suddenly, Naruto's gaze stopped on something in the Book of Seals.
His eyes lit up.
There's actually this ninjutsu too!?