Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

The night passed without event. The next morning, Naruto got up early and went to the Academy.

The graduation exam was set for eight o'clock, but Naruto reached the school at half-past seven. He thought he was coming too early, but when he actually arrived at the Academy, a large number of parents and students had already gathered there.

Everyone's expressions were tense, brimming with nervousness. Only a few students with excellent grades looked more relaxed. Among them, the most relaxed was the black-haired boy sitting in the second to last row by the window.

Naruto hadn't had time to observe the others yesterday when he was punished to stand. But now, he noticed how much more handsome Sasuke looked compared to the manga, though his expression was sour, like he was holding a grudge.

Perhaps due to the presence of parents, the female students were a bit more restrained, and no one crowded around Sasuke.

Seeing an opportunity, Naruto walked over and plopped down beside him.

Sasuke kept his cool demeanor and didn't say anything.

Naruto wasn't one to force a conversation, so he also stayed silent.

With over twenty minutes left until the exam, Naruto could remain patient, but Sasuke, being just a twelve years old kid, finally broke the silence first: "Naruto, there are plenty of seats. Why are you sitting next to me?"

"Are you dumb? Look around, every one of them is accompanied by their parents. What would an orphan like me do over there?" Naruto replied with a shrug.

Hearing this, Sasuke's body stiffened.

Sasuke, who was also an orphan, immediately resonated with the situation. There was a hint of loneliness in his eyes, but more of hatred.

'If it weren't for that man, I wouldn't be in this situation.'

"I must kill that man!" Sasuke muttered coldly, his voice dripping with ice.

"Cough!"

Naruto coughed lightly. He naturally knew that Sasuke was talking about Itachi. But since he knew Itachi's true intentions, Naruto wasn't sure how to console Sasuke. He decided to stay quiet, not wanting to provoke him further.

Bored, Naruto rested his head on the desk, and suddenly, the system's notification rang in his mind.

[It is detected that the host has stayed in the Academy for one hour. Sign-in successful. Reward: Transformation Technique.]

As the message faded, Naruto felt a flurry of images flash through his mind, like scenes from a movie, depicting countless transformations. By the time the scene ended, he had completely mastered the Transformation Technique.

'This is great.'

Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Among all the Ninjutsu in the entire Naruto World, the one that Naruto is most interested in is the Transformation Technique.

With this Ninjutsu, he could transform into various female anime characters and fully appreciate the charm of different beauties...

As he drifted off into these amusing thoughts, Iruka walked into the classroom, followed by a white-haired young man in a green vest.

It was Mizuki, who was full of evil intentions.

"Parents, please exit the room. The graduation exam is about to begin." Iruka said.

Rustle rustle!

The parents left one after another and waited outside the classroom for the results.

Now, only the teacher and the students were left in the classroom.

"The content of this graduation exam is the Clone Technique. First up, Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka called from the list.

Sasuke stood up and walked to the front of the room. He was greeted by a round of enthusiastic applause from the students.

"For Iruka-sensei to ask Sasuke-kun to go first, he must be very optimistic about Sasuke-kun."

"This is Sasuke-kun! Only he deserves to appear first."

"Sasuke-kun is so handsome!"

The cheering grew louder and louder, making Naruto's ears ring.

"All this fuss, just because he's going first? A bunch of crazy fangirls." He muttered, shaking his head in resignation.

"I'm starting."

Sasuke stood in the designated exam spot beneath the podium. He then skillfully formed hand seals in the order of Ram - Serpent - Tiger. As soon as the hand seals were completed, a cloud of white smoke appeared with a poof, and three identical clones of Sasuke materialized beside him.

Iruka nodded in approval and praised, "Well done, excellent grades, Sasuke. Congratulations on graduating."

Seeing this, the female classmates cheered even more, especially Sakura and Ino who cheered the loudest.

"Wow, Sasuke-kun can make three clones! So impressive!"

"I've worked so hard to barely manage two. The gap is just too big."

"As expected of Sasuke-kun, he's so cool!"

After dispelling his clones, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and walked back to his seat, still wearing that cool, indifferent expression.

"Sasuke has set a great example. Everyone else, let's follow his lead and give it our best. Next up, Nara Shikamaru." Iruka announced, continuing down the list.

The performances of the following students varied. Some could make two clones, while others managed only one. Although none achieved Sasuke's level of excellence, they still completed the Clone Technique requirement and successfully graduated.

One by one, the students took their turns, and Naruto couldn't help feeling a bit nervous. He knew he had no problem with the Clone Technique, but it had been so long since he'd taken a test that staying calm was difficult. However, more than nervousness, he felt excited.

'Just now, Sasuke made all the girls in the class cheer with only three clones. If I created a few more clones, wouldn't these girls be bewitched by me?'

The thought of being surrounded by admiring girls filled Naruto with excitement.

But what he never expected was that when all the students except him completed the assessment, Iruka actually put away the list, revealed a satisfied and proud look and said: "Excellent work, everyone. This concludes the graduation exam. Congratulations! From today on, you're all officially Shinobi. The road ahead will be tough, so work hard!"

'Huh? The assessment is over?'

'What's going on?'

Just as Iruka was about to leave the classroom, Sasuke nudged Naruto and said with a slightly strange expression, "How come you didn't have to take the exam? Did you take the back door?"

"You're the one who took the back door." Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke, stood up and said, "Wait, Iruka-sensei! I haven't taken my assessment yet!"

Hearing this, the whole class looked at him and then burst into laughter.

"If he hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about Naruto."

"This last-place is really stupid. Iruka-sensei gave him a pass without taking the assessment, yet he still took the initiative to ask for an assessment."

Before the laughter could continue, Iruka motioned for silence and said, "Naruto's Clone Technique is excellent, so he is exempt from the test!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole class fell into deathly silence, and at the next moment, it completely exploded.

"Even someone as good as Sasuke-kun didn't get exempted from the test, so how come Naruto be exempted? This is not fair!"

"Naruto's just a dead-last! There's no way he's good at the Clone Technique. This can't be true!"

"Iruka-sensei, are you joking? Are you sure the exemption isn't for Sasuke-kun but for Naruto?"

Doubt filled the room as the entire class united in questioning Iruka's decision.

Even Sasuke, who had been silent the whole time, said calmly: "So you did use the back door after all."

Naruto sat in the back, his face growing dark. He didn't expect that these people would look at him like this. He was just the last in the class, but why was he questioned like this? He was finally feeling the pain that the original Naruto had endured.

Initially, he wanted to hide his strength so as not to be suspected by others, but now, he has realized that he must show his abilities and slap these people in the face, otherwise, it would be too frustrating.

He stood up suddenly, and said with determination: "Iruka-sensei, I don't need an exemption. I insist on taking the test!"