Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Now this is brilliant."

Naruto quickly made his way to the window, and picked up a potted plant.

Inside the pot was a cactus, bristling with sharp needles.

"Naruto, what are you doing with that?" Sasuke asked, clearly puzzled.

"Well, even if he's our new teacher, he deserves a punishment for being late."

As he said that, Naruto pulled the cactus out of its pot and wedged it between the door.

"How could a Jonin fall for such a clumsy trap?" Sasuke muttered from his seat at the front, leaning on his desk, skepticism plain on his face.

"Yeah, seriously," Sakura chimed in, agreeing.

At this moment, a hand stretched out from outside the door and grabbed the doorknob, immediately attracting the attention of the three inside the classroom.

At the next moment, the door was opened, and a white-haired man with a face mask poked his head in, and the cactus fell straight down.

But to Naruto's surprise, the cactus didn't hit Kakashi's head, but was blocked by Kakashi's kunai.

"He actually blocked it," Naruto muttered in disbelief.

'This was supposed to be a classic scene. If the plot takes priority, Kakashi should've been hit.'

But with that outcome, Naruto realized he had a real impact on events… enough to disrupt the original flow. This meant there was a chance he could interfere in much larger events, like thwarting Kaguya's resurrection or even stopping Madara's return.

Sasuke shot Naruto a smug look, "Told you… Jonin aren't that dumb."

"How should I put it? My first impression is... I don't like you guys." Kakashi said lightly as he looked at the cactus that was pierced by the kunai.

Hearing this, both Sasuke and Sakura looked slightly dejected.

Naruto, on the other hand, just snorted, "Well, my first impression of you isn't very pleasant either."

Since he could alter the plot, Naruto decided to go all out… he'd take risks, go bold, do whatever he wanted!

Anyway, his strength has been significantly improved now, so even Kakashi can't do much to him.

"Naruto, don't be rude to the teacher." Sakura scolded, frowning.

Kakashi raised his hand in a dismissive gesture and said, "Naruto, right? So, what's bothering you?"

"First," Naruto replied, raising a finger, "you were late and didn't follow the rules. Second," he raised a second finger, "you messed up my carefully planned trap."

Kakashi thought for a moment and said, "Well, first, I was indeed late. But as for the second point… do you think you're justified in setting a trap for your teacher?"

Naruto sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment, "I have already left a clear hint. That was my carefully thought-out design. All the plants in the Academy are cacti, not because we can't afford flowers, but because they want us to understand the meaning behind cacti."

"The cactus thrives in harsh environments, with a unique appearance and strong survival instincts. It symbolizes resilience and hope."

"I put the cactus here for you to see my tenacity. Handing over this hope is my way of expressing that I want you to replace Iruka-sensei and guide me toward a better future. Also, by placing it on the door, I wanted to test if you're qualified to be my teacher."

"But you dismissed it as a prank, crushing my hope entirely. And as a Jonin, you couldn't even handle a cactus properly, which makes me doubt your abilities."

"So, both your character and your strength leave me quite unimpressed."

After Naruto's well-argued speech, the room fell silent.

After a long while, Kakashi narrowed his eye, and said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Interesting little guy, I'll remember you."

"Just because you remember me doesn't mean I remember you."

Naruto retorted coldly, "As a teacher, you have our roster and clearly know all about me, but I don't know anything about you. Don't you think you should introduce yourself first? Not to mention, you won't even show your real face while talking to me. Failing at these basic courtesies already feels like a huge disrespect."

"No matter what Sasuke and Sakura think, I can't recognize you as my teacher!"

Kakashi sighed, feeling the headache coming on. It seemed he had truly encountered a troublesome student.

"Well then, my impression of you three isn't exactly stellar either."

Kakashi's eye narrowed as he continued, "In that case, I don't see the need to introduce myself. I doubt any of you will qualify as Shinobi."

Sakura was puzzled and asked, "Sensei, what do you mean?"

With a serious tone, Kakashi replied, "The graduation exam was just a way to select candidates who might qualify as Genin. I'll be testing you to decide if you're truly fit. Fail, and you'll be sent back to the Academy. Bring your Ninja Tools and meet at the training ground at 5 a.m. tomorrow. Oh, and don't eat breakfast… you'll just end up puking."

"Then, disband!"

After saying that, Kakashi turned into a black shadow and disappeared on the spot.

"If we fail the test, there'll be no Team 7, so there's no need to introduce ourself. Ha, this is quite interesting."

Naruto muttered with a smirk.

He had hoped to put Kakashi in a tough spot, but he didn't expect this guy to be able to smooth things over.

However, if Kakashi planned to follow the original plot, Naruto was determined to break the script entirely during tomorrow's assessment.

"Naruto, how can you be smiling? If we fail, we'll be sent back to the Academy… and it's all your fault," Sakura huffed angrily.

Naruto sighed helplessly, "Even if I hadn't said anything, what difference would it make? Becoming a Shinobi is far tougher than you can imagine. No matter how harsh Kakashi's test might be, it won't go beyond what a Genin can handle. If you don't even have the confidence for this, how do you expect to become a Chunin, Jonin, or even the Hokage?"

"Fine! I don't care anymore. I'm going home." Sakura stormed out of the classroom in a huff.

Sasuke didn't leave, but frowned and said, "Naruto, this isn't like you. Why did you deliberately provoke him?"

"That's not for you to worry about. What you should focus on is that Itachi is even stronger than Kakashi. If you want to surpass Itachi, you'll need to first defeat Kakashi. That's the task you should be concerned with."

After saying that, Naruto strolled out of the classroom.

Although Sasuke has become his servant and cannot betray him, Naruto knew it was still too early to reveal the plot to Sasuke. Sasuke had to grow on his own and not be a flower sheltered in a greenhouse.

As for him, he had his sights set on the next place to sign-in.

Contradicting Kakashi was not his ultimate goal. From the beginning, he had only one objective: to disrupt the plot. Kakashi was just the first step in his plan.

Only by changing Kakashi's attitude and taking this first step successfully could he gain the confidence to interfere with the Akatsuki's schemes, dismantle more of the established rules of the Shinobi World, and prevent true threats from ever emerging.

To do this, he needed even greater power, to ensure he could achieve a decisive victory against Kakashi tomorrow.

At this moment, the sign-in location he went to was still the Hokage Rock, or to be more precise, the stone statue of the Yondaime Hokage.

Earlier, he had asked the system about how to obtain the Flying Thunder God Technique and found out this was the location.

When he reached the top of the mountain, he respectfully knelt three times before the statue of the Fourth Hokage and murmured, "I'm sorry, father whom I have never met. To become stronger, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you a bit."

After saying that, he leapt up and boldly sat atop the statue's head...