Chapter 37: Survival Wisdom and First Place

Unlike the harmonious atmosphere in Natsuro's home, the Chūnin teacher was walking home dejectedly from the Hokage's office.

He hadn't gone to the Hokage to complain; rather, it was the Anbu who had summoned him there. The Hokage then had a very friendly chat with him.

Though it seemed like encouragement, telling him not to worry about what happened yesterday, the Chūnin teacher, who was no longer young and had grown shrewd with age, picked up on the Third Hokage's underlying message.

It was clear that he was being told not to cause trouble for Natsuro's, as the Hokage was concerned that doing so might turn him against the village.

Despite feeling a bit bitter, the Chūnin teacher naturally assured the Hokage that he wouldn't trouble Natsuro. Only then was the Third Hokage satisfied enough to let him leave.

In truth, the Chūnin teacher had never intended to seek revenge on him. After all, he was a teacher, and having lived in Konoha for so long, he knew better than to let such things get to him. What was a little loss of face compared to his life? With Natsuro's talent, he would surely become someone important in the future.

Even if he didn't become a big shot, he would at least be a strong enough ninja that crushing him would be an easy task. So, the Chūnin teacher wasn't stupid. Though he was an ordinary teacher, he had the wisdom to survive. The most he might do is make things slightly difficult for Natsuro within the bounds of the rules.

For example, if he were in charge of the graduation exam, he'd definitely have Natsuro draw the Substitution Jutsu as his test.

However, he felt that even this wouldn't trouble Natsuro much. What could he do? At most, he could only cause some minor annoyance. He couldn't afford to make an enemy of Natsuro, especially since there were no super-genius students in his class who could stand up for him.

At this thought, the Chūnin teacher sighed deeply. How envious he was of Iruka!

...

Time passed quickly, and Natsuro continued his training according to plan.

During this time, what frustrated him the most was that his title of "First Year Demon King" seemed impossible to shake off.

Another incident had occurred, just as his notoriety was starting to die down.

This time, the protagonist wasn't Naruto, but Choji Akimichi, and he felt that they were in the wrong this time.

It all started when someone casually remarked about Choji being "so fat" after seeing him.

Choji, enraged, immediately went after the person who made the comment.

While commenting on someone's weight might be impolite, Natsuro couldn't deny that, looking at Choji's figure, the comment wasn't entirely wrong.

Even though he knew Choji were in the wrong, he decided to help him. After all, Choji was one of his own. At worst, they could apologize after resolving the situation.

However, by the time Natsuro arrived, the group opposing them quickly recognized who he was. Their anger began to fade as they wondered whether they could actually take him on.

In the end, they decided they probably couldn't. Even if they did win, it wouldn't be much of an accomplishment since he was only a first-year student. And if they lost, they'd be humiliated just like the others who had faced Natsuro.

It just wasn't worth it, so they opted to stop and talk it out.

He was more than happy with this outcome. But what if his reputation surged again after another confrontation? Besides, he was already surrounded by curious onlookers, which was quite bothersome.

In the end, Choji apologized to the other group for being too impulsive, and the person who called him fat also apologized for the remark. However, just as they were about to part ways, the person couldn't help but add, "But you really are quite fat…"

Choji instantly flared up again and was about to start another fight, but Natsuro and the others quickly dragged him away.

"You idiot! I'm not fat, I'm full-figured!" Choji shouted as they pulled him away, leaving the older students shaking their heads in disbelief.

Full-figured? How is that different from being fat for a guy...

Originally, he thought this incident wouldn't spread, but he was naive.

Soon, rumors of Natsuro winning without fighting spread once again, and he found himself surrounded by curious onlookers at his seat. His face darkened.

Fine, he thought. There's no point in saying anything. He was starting to get used to it anyway.

Instead of worrying about this, he decided to focus on studying for the upcoming final exams.

Although he had already reviewed everything before, he still chose to go over the material again to ensure he didn't forget any key points. After all, he aimed to be first in all aspects.

The first-year final exams weren't particularly special.

"As expected, that guy is still the overwhelming first place." Shikamaru sighed as he glanced at Natsuro. He had come to respect his hard work.

After that incident, Shikamaru had closely observed Natsuro and had even asked his father if there was a jutsu that allowed one to study with clones.

The answer was that such a jutsu did exist, but it was of a high rank and had significant side effects.

This confirmed to Shikamaru that Natsuro was indeed using Shadow Clones to attend class. He guessed that Natsuro was probably rotating his clones when going to see Iruka, as he always headed there during training sessions.

Initially, he was worried, but seeing Natsuro's calm demeanor and the fact that Iruka hadn't intervened, he eventually relaxed. Maybe Natsuro had some way to avoid the side effects.

Even so, Shikamaru figured he wouldn't use it even if it had no side effects. It was already troublesome enough as it was—using Shadow Clones would just double the trouble.

Natsuro, looking at his results, wasn't surprised. However, this time, there was another perfect score in the theoretical exam besides his own—Sakura, who had overcome her struggles with Ino's help.

To have scored full marks so early on… he couldn't help but marvel. While he had an advantage with his past life's knowledge, Sakura had achieved it purely with her own academic talent.

This made him thankful that the ninja school curriculum only lasted six years. He was confident he could maintain perfect scores during that time. But if it were like middle or high school in his previous life...

If he couldn't keep up his perfect scores in theoretical subjects, Sakura might surpass him. After all, she was a genuine academic prodigy.

In physical education, Natsuro continued to dominate, with no one able to catch up to him. Even Sasuke, who had held second place, was now being overtaken by Naruto, who had powered up...

Thanks to the Nine-Tails' regenerative abilities, Naruto's physical growth was astonishing even to Natsuro. If you pitted Naruto against the older students who used to bully him, there was a good chance he could now defeat them.

Of course, Naruto still had a long way to go to catch up to Natsuro. After all, he had been training longer than Naruto. While Naruto had the Nine-Tails as a cheat, he had the added bonus of Lightning Release, and as he improved, the benefits of this enhancement were becoming more apparent.

"So this is the reward for first place… I'm definitely going to get it next time!" Naruto said enviously as he watched Natsuro play with a specially crafted silver kunai.

"Here." Natsuro handed the kunai to Naruto. "You can play with it, but I'm not giving it to you. As for whether you can get one yourself… I don't think so. After all, I'll always be first."

"Hmph! I'll definitely surpass you!" Naruto declared confidently as he took the kunai.