Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Team 7, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Iruka read aloud.

'Huh?'

"Why?"

"Why?"

Naruto and Sakura both spoke up almost at the same time, equally confused by the team assignment.

Needless to say, Sakura simply didn't want to be stuck on the same team as Naruto.

Naruto, on the other hand, felt this assignment was completely unreasonable, 'They were supposed to balance the strengths of each team, so why were I, the top graduate, and Sasuke, the second top graduate, placed on the same team?'

'Could it be that certain decisions were just unchangeable?'

This was not what Naruto had hoped for.

Although the other students kept quiet, they too felt puzzled by this team selection, their eyes full of questions.

Iruka explained, "Naruto, I admit you had the best graduation scores in the class, but the other teams are already balanced, and based on your years of, well, 'underperformance,' you were placed on Team 7."

Hearing this, Naruto was left speechless. This reasoning made no sense to him at all. It was obvious he'd been deliberately assigned to Team 7.

'But this made something clear: certain pivotal decisions were indeed unchangeable.'

'Or perhaps, my influence was still not enough to make a difference.'

'It seemed I'd need to stir things up a bit more if I wanted to alter these predetermined outcomes.'

Truthfully, Naruto really wasn't eager to face Kaguya.

With that thought, the team assignment quickly came to an end.

After lunch, the Jonin Instructors would come to the classroom to take their respective students.

Taking advantage of the break, Naruto decided to head out for his daily sign-in.

He still remembered the notification he received from the system that morning: The system's energy was running low, and he needed to complete a check-in task soon.

After leaving the Academy, Naruto planned to stroll through the village to look for a good spot to sign in.

However, before he could get far, Sasuke caught up to him from behind.

"Naruto, where are you going? We have our team assignment this afternoon." Sasuke asked.

Naruto waved his hand dismissively and said, "Don't worry. Our Team 7's Jonin Instructor is notoriously late, so we've got plenty of time. By the way, do you know any good spots?"

"A good spot? You mean a place for lunch? I remember there's a dango shop at the corner. It's pretty good." Sasuke suggested thoughtfully.

'Dango?'

Naruto thought about it and decided it wasn't a bad place, as he could eat and sign in at the same time.

Speaking of which, he had never eaten dango before.

He only knew that dango was a Japanese sweet made by grinding rice into a powder, forming small balls, kneading them with hot water, and steaming or boiling them into something like mochi.

Anko Mitarashi's favorite snack seemed to be the three-colored variety of this dango.

Following Sasuke to the dango shop, Naruto ordered a selection of dango and eagerly grabbed a skewer of the three-colored ones.

Nom!

The moment he took a bite, Naruto understood why Anko liked them so much.

This wasn't ordinary glutinous rice flour, it had milk mixed in, adding a unique creaminess, paired with caramelized sugar and crushed nuts on top, creating a rich texture.

The dango had also been chilled, so it wasn't too hot. Instead, it had a refreshing quality, almost like eating a chocolate-coated ice cream bar.

"Not bad, not bad." Naruto commented with an honest nod.

For anyone with a sweet tooth, this treat was definitely not to be missed.

But Sasuke hadn't eaten any. Instead, he stared at Naruto with eager anticipation: "Naruto, when are you going to show me your Sharingan?"

Naruto's eyes gleamed with a sly grin. "Treat me to this meal, and I'll show you."

"No problem, deal!" Sasuke agreed without hesitation.

"That's the spirit!"

Naruto glanced around and after making sure no one was watching, he pulled out his special contact lenses and put them on. In an instant, his blue eyes transformed into a crimson shade.

Sasuke's gaze was glued to Naruto's eyes, and after just one look, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure that's a Mangekyo? How come all your tomoe are gone?"

"Of course it's a Mangekyo. If you don't believe me, I'll show you a little demonstration." Naruto also felt a bit embarrassed. After all, his Mangekyo didn't have the unique pattern formed from the tomoe. Instead, it was just a single '○' shape.

"Demonstration?" Sasuke asked, not understanding what Naruto meant.

In the next moment, the space above Naruto's index finger began to distort as black and red flames appeared, enveloping his finger like a protective barrier.

This sinister, eerie Chakra form wasn't something Sasuke had seen with his own eyes before, though he had read about it in his clan's ancient records.

"Is this... part of Susanoo?" Sasuke was completely dumbfounded.

This is a unique ability of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Naruto doesn't need to say much at this moment, as Naruto also confirms that Naruto really possesses the Mangekyo.

"Alright, keep it down." Naruto whispered

With a quick clench of his fist, the black and red flames instantly dissipated, and his finger returned to normal.

After all, he still didn't have the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Even that small display of power had left Naruto's eyes feeling a bit itchy, as if the contact lenses were about to dissolve into his eyeballs.

After removing the contact lenses, Naruto's eyes finally felt comfortable again.

[Friendly Reminder: When using the contact lenses, only switch to the Mangekyo when using it. As for normal times, keep it at the three-tomoe form to reduce the strain to your eyes.]

Hearing the system prompt, Naruto nodded in sudden realization, 'No wonder Itachi usually stuck to the three-tomoe Sharingan and rarely used the Mangekyo.'

"Naruto, how did you manage it?" Sasuke asked anxiously.

It was the same Genjutsu, but his Sharingan was only upgraded to two-tomoe, while Naruto already awakened his Mangekyo. Sasuke had every reason to suspect that Naruto had been doing something else at home these days.

Naruto sighed helplessly, "I've told you already, the Genjutsu has too much influence on me, otherwise, how could I be withdrawn for so many days. Ultimately, it's all about your mindset. The Mangekyo awakens through profound negative emotions… like watching someone you cherish the most die."

"Does that mean... I haven't suffered enough?"

Sasuke fell into a deep silence, and after a while, he suddenly snapped out of it, "Naruto, does that mean you've suffered even more than I have?"

After saying this, a faint, slightly smug smile appeared on Sasuke's lips.

"Even lunch can't shut you up. Just eat." Naruto said, rolling his eyes. Ignoring Sasuke, he focused on his food.

But no matter how delicious, dango was still a sweet, and like all sweets, you will get sick of them if you eat too much.

Fortunately, it only took an hour to sign in, so Naruto ate just the right amount, not to the point of being sick of it.

'I wonder what reward I'll get this time?'

Although this time it was the system that required him to sign in, Naruto always felt a little bit of anticipation every time he signed in, and this time was no exception.

Based on his previous experiences, the rewards from check-ins always seemed to be connected in some way. Since he was at a dango shop, the only person that came to mind was Anko.

However, he wasn't exactly sure what abilities Anko possessed, so there was no way to make a good guess.

Just as he thought of this, a notification sounded in his head.

[It is detected that the host has stayed in the dango shop for one hour. Sign-in successful. Reward...]