Iruka smiled awkwardly at Yoruha.
"Don't mind him, Yoruha. Naruto just has a bad memory."
Even as he said it, Iruka felt how flimsy that excuse sounded.
No matter how bad someone's memory was, there was no way they could forget a classmate they'd spent six years with.
To his surprise, Yoruha didn't seem angry at all.
He smiled lightly. "It's fine. I'm just not very good at socializing."
"Don't say that," Iruka replied earnestly. "It's just that Naruto's memory really is terrible."
For the first time, Naruto properly looked at Yoruha.
"Iruka-sensei, did Yoruha pass the graduation exam?"
Iruka turned his head toward him, forcing a smile. "Of course he did. The only one who didn't pass was you. What have you even been studying all these years?"
Naruto scratched his head awkwardly. "Iruka-sensei, I'm just bad at the Clone Technique, that's all! My Sexy Jutsu works perfectly though!"
The mention of that jutsu made Iruka's face flush red with anger.
"Don't bring up that indecent technique ever again!" he shouted.
Naruto shrank his neck and muttered under his breath, "But you got a nosebleed when you saw it..."
"Shut up! Not another word—"
Being called out made Iruka's old face turn crimson with embarrassment.
Yoruha paid no mind to their exchange.
He smiled at Teuchi behind the counter. "Uncle, one bowl of tonkotsu ramen, please."
Teuchi started cooking while grinning. "So you passed the academy exam, huh? You'll be a real ninja now."
"Today I'll add two eggs for you!"
He had always gotten along well with Yoruha.
Yoruha smiled. "Thanks, Uncle."
At that moment, Ayame brought over a bowl of beef topping and placed it in front of him, smiling warmly.
"Congratulations, little brother Yoruha. I'm happy for you too."
Because Yoruha looked good, often came to Ichiraku, and was always polite, Ayame had a particularly good impression of him.
By the time Iruka and Naruto finished their talk, Yoruha had nearly finished eating.
Because the two of them were there, he ate much faster than usual.
When he was done, Yoruha stood up and said politely, "Iruka-sensei, Naruto, enjoy your meal. I'll be going now."
Iruka froze for a moment. He hadn't expected Yoruha to eat so quickly.
Then he glanced at Naruto and immediately understood.
But he didn't blame Yoruha. After all, Yoruha's parents had died in the Nine-Tails' attack.
It was perfectly normal for him not to like Naruto.
Naruto, unaware of any of this, laughed cheerfully and waved goodbye.
"See you, Yoruha! Let's hang out sometime!"
Yoruha gave a faint smile but said nothing as he left.
Polite, yet distant.
Naruto couldn't tell the difference, but Iruka could.
"He's already better than most people," Iruka thought. "At least there isn't that obvious disgust in his eyes when he looks at Naruto."
What Iruka didn't know was that Yoruha's distance wasn't due to hatred—it was simply because he didn't want any trouble.
---
When Yoruha returned home, he lay on his bed, closed his eyes, and wondered when the reward would arrive.
Was the AFK System even real?
He waited all the way until midnight.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, a voice echoed in his mind.
"You have been AFK for one day. Congratulations — Chakra limit removed."
Yoruha frowned. He wasn't sure what that reward meant.
Then suddenly, faint blue light began to radiate from his body.
Having already learned how to extract chakra, he recognized it immediately — this glow was chakra.
But what shocked him was its intensity.
The chakra was so dense it had become visible to the naked eye.
"Such rich chakra... this must be at least ten times what I had before."
"So this is my reward?"
In the next instant, all that chakra surged violently into his body.
Yoruha felt a wave of pure comfort — so soothing that he nearly let out a sound he shouldn't.
If he hadn't bitten down on his blanket, his neighbors might have thought he was doing something... questionable.
After a long while, he finally finished absorbing all the chakra.
"Incredible... I can actually absorb chakra from the outside world."
Normally, a ninja's chakra was extracted from within their own cells.
That was how Yoruha had done it before.
He used to worry that extracting too much would weaken his body — but apparently, he'd been overthinking.
This world, while familiar, wasn't identical to the one he knew from memory.
Many of the "rules" he remembered didn't apply here.
In this world, drawing chakra didn't damage the body unless one overdid it.
However, the amount of chakra one could generate still depended heavily on physical constitution.
Simply put, those born into ninja clans usually had stronger bodies — and much greater chakra reserves — than commoners.
Yoruha's chakra reserves had always been quite ordinary, since both his parents were just civilian ninja.
Before tonight, his chakra amount couldn't even compare to Sasuke's — the gap was about tenfold.
And compared to Naruto's, it was a difference of tens of thousands of times — even without counting the Nine-Tails' chakra.
Just Naruto's Uzumaki bloodline alone granted him a massive reserve.
As he grew older, Naruto's chakra would only increase further, and the gap between them would widen even more.
In this world, bloodline meant everything.
Without a special bloodline, at best, one could shine briefly like Might Guy — a rare exception.
Now, however, Yoruha felt that his chakra had multiplied a hundredfold.
He was roughly at jōnin level now.
And more importantly—he could draw chakra directly from the environment.
That meant he could replenish chakra anytime, anywhere—something most ninja could never do.
The energy of the natural world was vastly greater than what existed within a human body.
Now, Yoruha could feel that energy endlessly flowing into him — pure and potent.
What he didn't realize was that the chakra he was absorbing wasn't ordinary chakra at all, but natural energy—far higher in quality.
Natural energy not only strengthened one's power but also nourished the body.
Yoruha's physique had never been exceptional; in fact, it had been limiting his chakra capacity.
If he'd had a body like Naruto's, his chakra reserve now would have surpassed even Naruto's by a hundredfold.
At this moment, Yoruha simply felt incredible — more relaxed and refreshed than soaking in a hot spring.
"This system is amazing. Such a huge surprise on the very first day."
"It's just a pity... aside from the Three Basic Techniques, I don't know any other jutsu."
His parents hadn't left him any scrolls either.
They'd both been only ordinary chūnin, without any special ninjutsu to pass down.
"Well, one step at a time. Maybe the AFK System will give me more later."
"A hundredfold increase in chakra is already incredible."
"Now my chakra reserves must be far greater than Sasuke's."
Sasuke's chakra was indeed higher than most students', but compared to Naruto's, it was still much less.
Of course, no one could really compare to Naruto.
The Uchiha clan was known for having large chakra reserves, but even they couldn't match the Uzumaki or Senju clans.
After all, without enough chakra, it was nearly impossible to awaken or sustain the Sharingan—let alone the Eternal Mangekyō.
---
Advance chapters at Ko-Fi (currently at Chapter 50)
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27