Chapter 573: The Little Monsters

Chapter 573: Chapter 573: The Little Monsters

On the Ninja Academy’s training ground.

Looking at Naruto, who was busy glancing around in every direction, Anko wore a helpless expression as she grumbled inwardly, "Tch! Why does the village insist on making me look after this little brat? I’m not a babysitter!"

Just then, a faint, stabbing pain suddenly came from her neck.

"Damn it! Not again!"

Anko’s expression darkened as she pressed a hand against the mysterious mark on her neck, which consisted of three black tomoe.

This mysterious mark was precisely what Orochimaru had left on her neck during the night of the village’s attack.

She had previously visited the hospital and sought Tsunade’s help, hoping that Tsunade could use medical ninjutsu to remove the mysterious mark Orochimaru had left behind.

However, after several attempts, to everyone’s surprise, even a medical shinobi of Tsunade’s caliber was unable to deal with the mysterious mark. All she could do was temporarily seal it.

Unfortunately, the seal could not completely eliminate the mark’s influence on Anko’s body. The occasional stabbing pain radiating from her neck was the clearest proof of that.

Meanwhile, Naruto, who stood beside Anko, was practically bursting with excitement.

He paid absolutely no attention to the Third Hokage, who was delivering a speech on the raised platform. Instead, his entire attention was focused on observing the other children gathered on the training ground.

Naruto loved lively gatherings, and he loved spending time with children his own age even more.

Looking at the many familiar and unfamiliar faces around him, he couldn’t help feeling delighted at the thought that they would all become classmates and friends in the future.

Suddenly, Naruto spotted Sasuke among the crowd.

Sensing Naruto’s burning gaze, Sasuke turned his head and noticed him, giving him a slight nod.

Seeing that Sasuke had noticed him, Naruto began jumping up and down, waving enthusiastically as he shouted, "Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Naruto’s sudden commotion quickly attracted the attention of the people around them. Everyone turned to look at Naruto and Sasuke, their faces filled with confusion.

Sasuke, who had been maintaining his usual cool expression, could no longer keep up his composure when he noticed the surprised gazes directed at him. He hurriedly lowered his head and covered his face.

"Naruto, you big idiot! It’s so embarrassing knowing you!"

On the raised platform, the Third Hokage was still instilling Konoha’s Will of Fire into the children who were about to enroll.

Meanwhile, Kagami, the principal of the Ninja Academy, was flipping through the enrollment records for this year’s students, comparing the information in the files with the children gathered on the training ground.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Lee, and Sakura. Heh, all twelve of the Konoha Twelve are here!"

As Kagami observed the children, he made special marks beside their names in the enrollment records.

Without exception, these were all exceptionally talented children. With just a little guidance and cultivation, they would eventually grow into formidable shinobi capable of standing on their own.

Immediately afterward, Kagami discovered several other interesting children.

For instance, there was Shion, who wore a sullen expression and looked rather unhappy; Sai, who was holding a small notebook and busily writing and drawing in it; and the sickly-looking Kurama Yakumo, who seemed somewhat absentminded.

"Isn’t Sai from Root? Why did Danzo send him to the Ninja Academy? And that child from the Kurama clan... Huh? Why is the chakra in her body so strange?"

The peculiar chakra within Kurama Yakumo’s body caught Kagami’s attention.

It was a rather unusual form of Yin Release chakra, and its quality was exceptionally high, almost comparable to the Yin Release chakra contained within the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan.

In the shinobi world, the Six Paths bloodline was not the only bloodline capable of possessing Yin and Yang Release.

Over the course of history, some ordinary shinobi gradually mastered methods of cultivating Yin or Yang Release, either through arduous training or through fortunate encounters that granted them extraordinary opportunities.

For example, the Nara clan, which could manipulate shadows, was a secret-technique clan that cultivated Yin Release chakra, while the Akimichi clan, which could enlarge their bodies, was a secret-technique clan that cultivated Yang Release chakra.

However, ordinary shinobi’s application of Yin and Yang Release generally remained at the level of secret techniques. Those capable of developing Yin or Yang Release into a heritable Kekkei Genkai were still exceedingly rare in the shinobi world.

Among the most representative examples were Kusagakure’s Yang Release Kekkei Genkai, ’Dragon Life Reincarnation,’ which could transfer life force to resurrect others, and Konoha’s Yin Release Kekkei Genkai, ’Five Senses Manipulation,’ which could distort reality.

While Kagami was secretly observing the students, Jiraiya and Tsunade were quietly discussing the children on the training ground from the other end of the raised platform.

"That blond-haired brat over there is Naruto, right?"

Looking at Naruto fooling around on the training ground, Jiraiya spoke with a somewhat speechless expression.

Tsunade nodded.

Still worried, Jiraiya asked another question. "By the way, have you examined his body? That bastard Orochimaru didn’t do anything to him, did he?"

Because Jiraiya had spent much of his time traveling through the shinobi world in search of the ’Child of Prophecy’ foretold by the Great Toad Sage, he was frequently absent from the village and had paid relatively little attention to Naruto.

Now that Naruto, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, had become a target of Akatsuki, even the usually carefree Jiraiya couldn’t help worrying about his safety.

Tsunade replied, "I’ve examined him, but I didn’t find anything unusual. There are no signs of the Nine-Tails’ seal loosening either. Everything is perfectly normal."

Looking at the carefree Naruto, Tsunade always felt as though she were seeing her younger brother again, so she was naturally quite fond of him.

After a long while, the Third Hokage finally concluded his speech on the Will of Fire.

Amid a round of applause from everyone present, the enrollment ceremony came to a successful conclusion.

Just as the students were gradually leaving the training ground, Naruto blocked Sasuke’s path and loudly declared, "Sasuke, I challenge you!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto as though he were an idiot and said impatiently, "Naruto, stop fooling around!"

"I’m different from before! I’ve already learned senjutsu!" Naruto declared, planting his hands on his hips. "Sasuke, I’ve already surpassed you! Hahaha!"

Sasuke froze for a moment. "Senjutsu? What’s that?"

Not only Sasuke, but everyone else on the training ground also wore puzzled expressions. Meanwhile, the children all gathered around, eagerly anticipating Naruto’s challenge against Sasuke!

To this day, the number of people in the shinobi world capable of mastering senjutsu could be counted on one hand.

Even Jiraiya needed the assistance of the two Great Toad Sages to enter Sage Mode. As such, senjutsu was not something widely known throughout the shinobi world.

On the raised platform, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow when he heard Naruto’s words.

"Naruto has learned senjutsu?!"

Tsunade, standing beside him, was equally astonished.

"That brat must be talking nonsense!"

Tsunade knew very well that the only person in Konoha who could truly be considered to have mastered senjutsu was her grandfather, the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.

Everyone else, including Jiraiya, who couldn’t instantly enter Sage Mode, couldn’t be considered to have truly mastered senjutsu...