Konoha Drunkard

"Shikamaru, do you think my dad will put me in the same class as Sakura? Who will be my teacher?"

In the classroom, Naruto, wearing his father's ninja headband, kept bombarding the small rocket launcher lying on the table.

"...Can you please be quiet? How would I know about the Hokage's decision? Women are such a hassle."

After Shikamaru finished speaking while lying on the table, he turned to the other side and continued sleeping. For a newly graduated genin, who his team leader is is very important. Just like it's easier to rise to the top if you follow the right leader, if the team leader is an ordinary jonin, then it will be very difficult to get ahead. After all, most ordinary jonins rise to the top by accumulating seniority, and as their students, they naturally have to follow suit. Moreover, who wouldn't want their team leader to be a powerful ninja?

However, Naruto's mentor Shikamaru isn't worried about him being an mediocre Jonin. After all, he's a second-generation Hokage, and his mentor can't be mediocre either. Otherwise, it would be a joke if the village couldn't protect him and the Hokage's son ended up dying outside.

However, with so many famous Jonin in the village, how could he possibly guess who Naruto's instructor was? And his father would never tell a little kid like him such a thing.

"Huh? Why isn't Karin here? Doesn't she have to be assigned to a different class?"

Naruto suddenly realized that the mastermind behind last night's prison break chase was nowhere to be seen today. It's graduation and class assignment time, how come he still hasn't shown up?

"...Are you stupid? Karin went to the sealing squad first thing this morning. She's not a combatant."

Kiba Inuzuka's husky-like face, echoing his older brother's words, gave Naruto a disdainful look. Those with sealing jutsu talent were Konoha's treasures; the village wouldn't let them waste time on low-level tasks. Since the Uzumaki clan joined Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been incredibly protective of them. The Uzumaki children's schooling was merely to strengthen their bonds with their village comrades. Upon graduation, they were assigned to sealing jutsu classes. Of course, there were some oddballs with Uzumaki blood but no sealing jutsu talent, like Shanks and Garp. Shanks was clumsy; he could manage hand seals with one hand, but the Uzumaki clan's sealing jutsu was too complex for him. Garp, on the other hand, simply had dyslexia; just reading a bunch of words gave him a headache, let alone learning complex sealing jutsu. Simple, fist-based solutions suited him better… a typical illiterate.

"That's so unfair! That brat got a job in a government agency before she even graduated, what are we then!"

Naruto complained, saying that they were still waiting here for the class assignments and for the teachers to come and pick them up, while others had already been assigned classes.

"...If you can learn sealing techniques, I think the sealing team will welcome you. Quiet down, look how calm Sasuke is."

Ino stared at the second male lead, who was surrounded by a group of girls, with a lovesick look on her face. If she hadn't arrived late and couldn't squeeze in, she wouldn't be sitting here listening to Naruto, that idiot, rambling on and on.

"Damn it! It's that bastard Sasuke again!"

The name Sasuke is a taboo subject for Naruto. He gets inexplicably angry whenever he hears the name Sasuke, especially when he sees his dream girl with the wide forehead among the group of girls, and she's the closest to that bastard. Naruto can't stand it anymore.

With a leap, he jumped onto the table in front of the second male lead and squatted down, intending to take a good look at what was so handsome about this bastard and why he was so popular with girls. To be honest, he had fought this bastard countless times over the years, but he had never really observed how handsome this bastard was. Anyway, every time he saw this bastard, he would rush up and fight and then get fought. Today was the first time he had seriously looked him over.

However, in the eyes of the second male lead, Naruto's actions were clearly a provocation. "This idiot can't beat me in a fight, so does he think he can scare me with his eyes? Doesn't he know that the advantage of the Uchiha clan lies in their eyes?" The second male lead glared fiercely at Naruto, who was squatting on the table in front of him.

"Hey, this bastard dares to glare at me? Who's afraid of who!"

Seeing that the second male lead was glaring at him fiercely, Naruto naturally couldn't back down and glared back just as fiercely.

"Idiot Naruto, get down here!"

"Yeah, that guy who even needs connections to graduate, and he's glaring at Sasuke like that! Get down here!"

"......"

Naruto has really angered the girls around him, and several tough girls rolled up their sleeves, ready to beat him up.

However, in order to maintain a ladylike image in front of the second male lead, she ultimately held back.

But fate is a mysterious thing. While the two minor characters behind Naruto were engrossed in their discussion, their movements became so exaggerated that one of them took a small step back. And that small step sparked a deeply moving and unforgettable romance...!

625. They kissed!

They kissed!

They kissed!

An eerie silence fell over the classroom, as if the event had been frozen in time. Everyone stared dumbfounded at the savior and the second male lead. Even the little guy who had been dozing off earlier was now asleep, watching the two male leads without any shock. Since they hadn't seen the prelude, they only saw the two of them kissing. How much true love must they have to do something like this?

A wave of nausea surged from my stomach to my throat. I recalled the faint garlic smell when Naruto spoke earlier; Naruto must have eaten garlic this morning. How could Sasuke even bring himself to eat it? My worldview has completely crumbled.

"Crack!"

The sound of a camera shutter echoed the sound of hearts breaking for all the girls present; their beloved Sasuke's first kiss was gone just like that...

"Haha, that's the kiss of the century!"

Shanks looked at the photo in his hand with great satisfaction. He had finally witnessed history. He had finally captured the classic kiss that ignited camaraderie in the Naruto world. He had waited a long time to take this photo and almost forgot. Fortunately, Karin told him this morning when she came over for breakfast that today was the day the graduating class was divided into different classes. Otherwise, he would have almost forgotten that the kiss of the century was happening today. Luckily, he made it in time, and the timing was just right. The two of them were already kissing as soon as he arrived.

Perhaps I could consider holding a film festival or something after a while, which would be a good way to make some money from ticket sales. It's been getting harder and harder to make money lately, and I haven't had any business for several years. I can't just sit around and do nothing.

"You damn old man! Give me the photos!"

The savior, who was still in a daze, came to his senses and looked at the evidence in Shanks' hand. He was so angry that he jumped up and down. It was bad enough that his first kiss was gone, but he didn't expect that this wicked old man would take a picture of it. How could he ever face anyone again!

"Bastard! I'm going to kill you!"

Sasuke glared menacingly at the savior. He didn't care about his first kiss, but being kissed by a guy was a big deal, especially since this bastard had eaten garlic for breakfast! That was absolutely disgusting!

"Young man, you have a bright future. To thank you for making this kiss of the century happen, I've decided to take you under my wing from today onwards. From now on, when you go out, just mention my name!"

Shanks ignored the savior shouting for bloodshed and instead turned to the brat who had caused all this, patting him on the shoulder with obvious appreciation. Otherwise, he might not have been able to get this juicy scoop from the kid.

"........."

The extra was now in a panic. He didn't know who this old man who wanted to take him as his underling was, but he knew that he was doomed after today. One of the two was the great genius Uchiha Sasuke, and he was no match for him at all.

The other one is even more outrageous. This is the son of the Hokage. He seems to see his own end right in front of him. What will he do in the future?

"Old man, bring me the photos!"

The Savior lunged at Shanks, not caring whether he could win or not; he had to get the photos back and destroy them no matter what, and he absolutely couldn't let that old bastard spread them.

"Haha! Don't get so excited. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. This is my great-uncle's personal possession. Don't threaten to beat or kill me at the drop of a hat. That's not good."

Shanks grabbed the Savior's head to stop him from lunging at him. He was joking; if something happened to him after he lunged at him, he didn't want to taste that garlicky mouth.

"Naruto! You bastard! I'm going to kill you!"

At this moment, the girls in the classroom also came to their senses, and one by one they rolled up their sleeves and surrounded Shanks and Naruto with great momentum.

"Take care of yourself!"

Surrounded by a group of fierce-looking girls, even the seasoned Shanks felt immense pressure and abandoned his savior, running away on his own. The second male lead is really popular; his first kiss was stolen, yet so many girls stood up for him.

"Ouch... Ouch!!"

The savior stared blankly at the fierce-looking girls around him. He was about to yell at Shanks for abandoning him when he was swallowed up by the crowd before he could finish his sentence, letting out heart-wrenching screams.

"Old man, why did you come here? Is this really the right thing to do?"

The little rocket launcher looked helplessly at Shanks as the savior was being beaten up by a group of girls.

"I just heard that you're going to be divided into different classes today, so I came to check on my grandson's studies."

Shanks made up a random excuse. Of course, he couldn't say that he was bored and had nothing better to do, so he came to film the savior and the second male lead's kiss of the century.

"...Oh? You know who my team leader is?"

Shikamaru asked curiously, his biggest concern being that he shouldn't run into those troublesome teachers, otherwise he would feel terrible.

"What's so hard to guess? Who else could it be but Asuma? There are only a handful of elite Jonin in the village. And you're the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Minato wouldn't dare let those minor characters lead you, especially with your future Konoha Grand Marshal on board."

Shanks was very sad. Two years ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son, that perfect little green seedling who was like a Minato clone, still died. He left Hiruzen Sarutobi with a grandson and then left just like that, without any hesitation.

Shanks has to take the blame for this, because he had forgotten that Little Green Sprout was supposed to die after giving birth to a son. When he heard that Little Green Sprout had sacrificed herself to cover the retreat of her comrades, Shanks was saddened for a long time. Hiruzen Sarutobi's eldest son was indeed a good child. If it weren't for Minato, the position of Hokage would have been his.

After learning of his eldest son's death, Hiruzen Sarutobi, a great tyrant who hadn't shed a tear for decades since the deaths of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, also shed tears.

His family business would soon be inherited by that rebellious son, Asuma. Just thinking about Asuma made Hiruzen Sarutobi want to cry. He didn't know what Asuma had thought of at Kakashi and Kurenai's wedding, but during the years Asuma was away, every so often a pregnant woman would come to their door demanding Asuma take responsibility, claiming that the father of her unborn child was Asuma. This resulted in over a dozen unborn grandchildren! Even Hiruzen Sarutobi would be furious enough to cause his blood pressure to spike. If it weren't for Konoha's advanced medical care, he might have been dead for years. But what angered him even more was what followed. An investigation by the Anbu revealed that these pregnant women had indeed interacted with Asuma, but during the same period, they had also interacted with other people. Therefore, it was difficult to confirm whether the child was Asuma's. However, one thing was certain: among those women, Asuma's wealth was definitely the highest.

626. Asma is one in ten who is right.

What was Hiruzen Sarutobi supposed to do? Of course, he'd just have to swallow his anger and raise the children. Only after these girls gave birth would he know if they were actually Sarutobi's offspring. But what happened next infuriated Hiruzen once again. The ten-plus children were born one after another, and after Tsunade's authoritative verification, none of them were from his Sarutobi family. In other words, he had raised them for nothing for a year. And during that year, because they were pregnant, Biwako indulged their every whim before the children were born. After all, these women might be carrying her grandchildren, and it would be terrible if the pregnancy was disrupted. These girls lived like empresses in his family. During this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart was bleeding. That was all money! And in the end, none of them were even from his Sarutobi family.

This youngest son's marksmanship is even worse than his; he missed a single shot out of ten or so. That's incredibly unlucky...

Fortunately, the family's future depended on the perfection of the eldest son, so Hiruzen Sarutobi could tolerate the younger son's unreliability. However, it seemed fate was against him; his perfect eldest son became a hero in an operation, leaving him to bury his son. He was old, his grandson was still young, and the family fortune was about to be inherited by his younger son. How could he not shed tears?

To be fair, although Asuma has let himself go, after a few years of hard work, his strength has really improved. He's one of the top players in his generation. If he were to fight Kamen Rider, he might have a chance to beat him if he could withstand Kamen Rider's initial onslaught. But if he were to fight Greenskin Guy, who has opened several gates, the chances would be slim. Even Kamen Rider would avoid Greenskin Guy once he opens several gates, because this guy fights like he doesn't care about his life, and everyone is afraid of him.

This brings the plot back to square one. Asuma is undoubtedly the leader of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Among this group of Jonin leaders, only Kakashi and Asuma are somewhat noteworthy. The girl with colored contact lenses is basically just there to enhance the visual appeal.

"...Although I don't mean to belittle anyone, will Mom feel comfortable having Lord Asuma as our teacher?"

In recent years, Asma has basically dominated the village headlines. Now, a bunch of pregnant women have come looking for the sons of three generations of adults to take responsibility. How could the paparazzi let such a big news story go unnoticed? How could those gossipy people remain silent? Even his mother, who usually doesn't talk about others, often uses this as an example to educate him.

"Your mom's probably overjoyed. If you could learn even half of Asuma's skills, your Nara family wouldn't have to worry about anything. But... his marksmanship can't be as terrible as his. He's so useless, missing not a single shot in over ten attempts..."

Even Shanks has to admit he has to admire Asuma. Perhaps this is fate, just like Kakashi and the girl with the colored contacts back then. They initially thought Kakashi's reputation as a Konoha technician was well-deserved, but it turned out to be just a beautiful dream. To this day, no one knows if they've even tried, and the girl with the colored contacts hasn't made a move yet.

"...Who is this old man? He looks familiar, like I've seen him somewhere before."

"Damn it, he actually filmed Sasuke's embarrassing moment. Do you think this old man will use it to blackmail Sasuke?"

"That must be it. Didn't you hear Shikamaru call him 'grandpa' just now? What kind of good person could the grandpa of such a scoundrel be..."

After those girls finished beating up Shanks, they weren't satisfied and started targeting Shanks, the slovenly old man.

"Hey! What are you girls doing? My old bones can't take your messing around! Don't come any closer... or I'll call for help!"

As Shanks was engrossed in chatting with his friend, Shanks noticed the growing killing intent around him. The group of girls were rubbing their fists together and closing in on him. This was going to be the death of him. They were all young girls; he couldn't possibly fight them head-on. Even using Conqueror's Haki to knock them out wouldn't work. If word got out, he'd be the laughingstock of everyone. "Breaking news! Breaking news! Konoha's Shanks is bullying a group of recent graduates at school! He's really getting worse!"

But if he got beaten up by these girls, it would be even more embarrassing. Shanks was suddenly at his wit's end. It seems that in a fight between men and women, it's always the men who suffer. At this moment, Shanks finally understood how his grandson would feel during the Chunin Exams.

Before things got bad, Little Rocketeer gave Shanks a helpless look and ran away. Women were all troublesome, and he couldn't afford to mess with them. Anyway, his grandfather was tough enough that these people couldn't hurt him.

"boom!"

"Quiet down, everyone! Go back to your seats! Huh? Lord Shanks, what are you doing here? Why are you all crowding around Lord Shanks? Hurry up and go back to your seats, don't you want to graduate?!"

Just as the group of girls were about to start fighting, his savior, the all-powerful Iruka, appeared. It has to be said that Iruka, who is usually very polite to everyone, actually has a certain domineering presence in front of the students. With his shout, he rescued Shanks.

"What?! Lord Shanks? Saga! I remember now, Shikamaru's grandfather is the Red-Haired Shanks of Konoha, it's in the textbooks. No wonder this old man looks so familiar..."

Iruka's shout reminded some of the students who usually paid attention in class that Shikamaru's grandfather was indeed the Red-Haired Lord of Konoha. However... the image of this disheveled old man was vastly different from the awesome Red-Haired Lord they had imagined.

"Haha, nothing much. I came to talk to Shikamaru about something. Once we're done, you can go back to what you're doing. I'll be going now. Goodbye!"

After being rescued, Shanks told Iruka what had happened and then ran away. What had become of the children these days? Although they were violent before, at least they knew how to respect their elders. Look at these kids now, they even wanted to beat up an old man like him. The world is going to the dogs.

"We need to have a serious talk with Minato about the education of the next generation of children. This is outrageous."

As Shanks walked out of the school, he gathered his thoughts to have a serious talk with Minato, the Fourth Hokage. Respect for elders and care for the young was a tradition of Konoha, and an advantage that allowed them to outshine other ninja villages. Now these girls were actually willing to beat him up for some pretty boy second male lead—it was outrageous! (Koharu Utatane)

627. Savior's Signature Ninjutsu

The class assignment caused the savior's emotions to shift from great joy to great sorrow. How could someone as outstanding as him be in the same class as Sasuke, that jerk who dragged everyone down? Heaven really has no eyes. And where is Kakashi? .....

The other children had been picked up by their teachers, leaving only the two boys in the classroom. Although the second male lead was very anxious, he still looked relaxed, arms crossed, looking out the window at the scenery.

Ever since Iruka found out that the savior's crush was in the same class as the second male lead, she hasn't listened to a word he says, and is staring at him with a lovesick expression.