"Why would it be strange for me to be here?" Noah looked at the blond boy as if he were stupid.
"My house is right over there. I train here every day. The real question is-why are you here?"
"Eh?" Naruto froze for a second, then his eyes lit up.
"So that's it! You've been training here the whole time! No wonder you're so good in combat class!"
"Whatever." Noah walked over and glanced at the scroll on the ground.
"A ninjutsu scroll? Where did you get this?"
"I can't tell you!" Naruto shouted immediately.
"This decides whether I can become a ninja!"
Even if you didn't steal it, you'd still become one, Crown Prince.
Noah complained silently and pulled his gaze back.
He didn't want to draw unnecessary attention from any hidden watchers.
In that brief moment, though, the System had already scanned the entire scroll.
Just as Noah suspected-it was a trap.
The first few jutsu were real.
The rest were... problematic.
Not outright fake, but filled with flaws.
After years of studying ninjutsu with Shisui, Noah had a decent grasp of its structure. Combined with his background in elemental magic, he had already formed theories about substituting chakra for mana.
The problem was conversion.
The ratio between mana and chakra was messy, and there were too many fundamental rules in this universe he couldn't bypass. That was why he still couldn't restore his former abilities-especially spatial ones.
Originally, he had hoped the scroll might contain something like the Flying Raijin or Reanimation Jutsu.
Clearly, that was wishful thinking.
So Noah decided to wait.
If Orochimaru performed those techniques later, Noah would observe and learn then. He hadn't forgotten his real objective in this world-he wanted the best version of Reanimation Jutsu.
A crude version would work, but Noah was picky. He wanted to understand it deeply enough to convert it into magic someday.
Which meant Orochimaru's research was invaluable.
That man was a genuine scientific genius. Noah respected people like that.
He just didn't want to be one.
He preferred stealing the results.
"Ah! I did it!" Naruto suddenly shouted.
"I learned it! I finally learned the Clone Jutsu!"
"Hm?" Noah tilted his head.
"Learned it? Is that really that hard?"
Naruto puffed out his chest proudly.
"This isn't just any Clone Jutsu! It's the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Oh." Noah nodded.
"Want to try it?"
Naruto immediately started forming hand seals.
He failed.
Noah sighed.
No wonder the kid had looked like a wreck when Iruka found him. He'd clearly been grinding this jutsu nonstop.
Watching Naruto fail again and again without giving up, Noah found it... oddly fitting.
This really was the same idiot from his memory.
Noah leaned against a tree and sat down, watching quietly.
Sure enough, this was about the point when Iruka and Mizuki should show up.
Tomorrow was team assignment day.
Noah wasn't sure what kind of team he'd be placed on, but that didn't stop him from planning to make a decent impression.
Shisui understood Noah fairly well after five years together, but even Shisui didn't know that-realistically-any enemies Noah faced here would be small fry.
Because Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Scroll, the village was full of search parties. Most were low- to mid-level ninja.
The real elites weren't participating.
They were watching from the shadows, making sure the story unfolded as intended.
"Aha! Noah, look!"
After nearly half an hour, Naruto finally succeeded.
Dozens of clones popped into existence.
Noah glanced up-and felt two presences approaching from opposite directions.
He stood as Naruto happily packed up the scroll.
Iruka arrived moments later.
Mizuki hid in the trees.
"Naruto!" Iruka roared as he landed-then froze.
"...Noah? Why are you here too?"
"I live nearby," Noah said helplessly.
"I train here regularly."
Then he pointed at Naruto.
"Judging by your expression, Teacher, you were looking for him. Did he pull another prank?"
Naruto still used pranks to get attention.
Some classmates didn't mind him, but most still disliked him.
Noah wasn't close to Naruto, but he never treated him with prejudice either. To Noah, Naruto was just a loud idiot-neither someone to cling to nor someone to avoid.
That was how Noah treated most people.
It left him with no close friends, but also no real enemies.
Except Sasuke.
That was an accident.
Sasuke lost to Noah in every combat class. Combined with the Itachi incident, it had driven him further into obsession.
No matter how hard Sasuke trained, Noah beat him every time-with casual ease.
There was no way that relationship was going to be good.
While Noah's thoughts drifted, Mizuki appeared.
Iruka shouted for them to run-and was ambushed.
Mizuki ranted.
Naruto raged.
Eventually, Mizuki threw a massive shuriken at Naruto.
Iruka took the hit.
He spoke from the heart.
Naruto hesitated.
Then ran.
Noah found the whole thing oddly entertaining. Watching it unfold in person felt surreal.
He followed Naruto using the Body Flicker Technique.
When he caught up, Naruto was unstable and emotional.
Noah grabbed him and pulled him behind a tree.
"Stay quiet."
Iruka and Mizuki arrived soon after.
Iruka pretended to be Naruto, ambushed Mizuki-but couldn't finish him due to his injuries.
Then he said those words.
The ones that broke Naruto completely.
"I acknowledge Naruto."
Naruto's eyes burned.
Noah watched silently.
When Mizuki moved to kill Iruka, Naruto finally snapped-but Noah pulled him back.
"You stay here," Noah said calmly.
"I'll handle it."
Naruto trembled.
"Teacher Iruka... he's a good person..."
"He is," Noah said.
"And plenty of people acknowledge you. Even in class."
"...R-really?" Naruto asked shakily.
"Then... what about you?"
"I acknowledge you," Noah paused, watching Naruto's face light up-then added,
"I acknowledge that you're an idiot."
"You-bastard!"
The moment shattered.
Noah laughed.
Then vanished.
He reappeared beside Iruka, grabbed him, and flickered away again.
Gone in an instant.
Watching everything through a monitoring tool, the Third Hokage fell silent.
"That boy..."
"Noah?"
He searched his memory.
Average grades.
Excellent application.
Unremarkable on paper.
"...It seems," the Hokage murmured,
"that the Academy's judgment was mistaken."