When Kana asked that question, she was more probing than serious, not really expecting a single sentence to make Ryūzu agree.
So after Ryūzu firmly refused, she didn't bring it up again.
Following that, Naruto continued leading them, stopping and going at a relaxed pace. During the day, they strolled through towns, exploring and having fun. By night, he and Kana would discuss ways to strengthen the Uzumaki clan.
It took five days before the group of four finally returned to the Land of Waves.
Once there, Naruto settled everyone in, leaving behind a shadow clone, while his real body returned to Konoha—after all, he'd been away for quite some time.
Fortunately, with Kurama helping his shadow clone gather chakra, it stayed intact, and no one noticed anything was off.
In addition, he received good news: the shadow clones he left at the Iburi residence had finally mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Now, Naruto's proficiency in the technique was on par with Minato's—no start-up delay, no cooldown time. He could use Flying Thunder God: Second Step, Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder, and even set up the Flying Thunder God Barrier.
As for that overly complex-sounding move, Rasengan Flash Super Dance Howl: Stage Three? Don't be fooled by the grandiose name—it was just the Flying Thunder God paired with a flash bomb.
The essence of it was teleporting with Flying Thunder God, throwing in a flash bomb to blind the enemy, and then delivering the finishing blow.
Enemies who could be fooled by a flash bomb weren't difficult to deal with in the first place. For those who were tougher, an extra flash bomb wouldn't make much difference.
That's why Minato's self-created technique never really found its time to shine.
Naruto absorbed all the experience his shadow clones had accumulated. After resting, he created a hundred more clones, instructing them to work on developing the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
As for him? He finally settled down to attend school.
"Ugh, this is so boring!"
Listening to the unknown teacher droning on at the front of the classroom, Naruto let out a long yawn, utterly bored.
Alright, he admitted it—he regretted coming here. He never should've subjected himself to this torture.
What was this nonsense?
Something about ninja songs and ninja machines—how when the enemy stirs in large numbers, it's the perfect time to strike. That a quiet place is dangerous to hide in, and the most important thing for a ninja is to seize the right moment—the moment the enemy grows weary and careless...
What a load of garbage. Sure, he understood the general idea, but the phrasing was just nonsensical.
Listening to this drivel, he'd rather regale everyone with the glorious tales of the Third Hokage—the most powerful and greatest Hokage in history—or, well, his illustrious wartime exploits, at least.
Across the room, Shikamaru was yawning too.
The two bored souls met eyes and couldn't help but start making faces at each other.
Shikamaru: What a coincidence, you're bored too?
Naruto: Yeah, wanna ditch class together?
Shikamaru: Sure, but we need to create a distraction first.
Naruto: That's your job, obviously.
Shikamaru: Man, what a drag…
"Hey, Uzumaki Naruto! Nara Shikamaru! What are you two doing?" The teacher finally snapped, slamming his hands on the desk. "Are you two even listening to the lesson? And what's with those faces—are you flirting with each other?!"
From the front of the room, the teacher had clearly caught every detail of their antics, his patience wearing thin. Here he was, delivering what he thought was a riveting lesson, only to be ignored by these two slackers.
"Teacher, I have a question!" Shikamaru suddenly stood up, raising his hand.
The teacher frowned. "Ask quickly, but don't think for a second that you'll get out of this! As soon as you're done, both of you are heading to the back of the room to stand as punishment."
They were troublemakers, after all. Punishing them didn't faze the teacher in the slightest.
"Look this way!" Naruto suddenly leaped onto his desk, forming a hand seal and shouting, "Sexy Jutsu!"
Poof!
In a puff of smoke, a massive, voluptuous woman appeared, barely clothed, striking seductive poses. Her sheer size almost crushed the desk beneath her.
Pfft—
Everyone's attention snapped to Naruto, and many students immediately burst out laughing, their eyes glazing over in shock.
The teacher's reaction was even more extreme—he choked, blood gushing from his mouth as he collapsed backward, completely out cold.
"Run for it!" Naruto slapped the dazed Shikamaru, then leaped out of the classroom window.
Shikamaru snapped out of it, quickly pulling Choji along and following suit.
Of course, the fourth member of the class-skipping squad wasn't far behind.
Kiba, lagging just a bit, soon caught up with them.
Minutes later, the four of them sprinted to their usual hideout—a quiet, hidden spot perfect for skipping classes.
One by one, they flopped to the ground, and the next thing they knew, they were all howling with laughter.
"Naruto, you went way too far!" Kiba wheezed, tears streaming down his face. "You actually turned into that guy's wife! He's gonna kill you the next time he sees you."
The memory of what had just happened was too much. No matter how they thought about it, the scene of their teacher's wife, naked and seductive, prancing around the classroom was beyond hilarious. No wonder the teacher's blood pressure had spiked.
Shikamaru, recovering from his laughter, sighed. "You said I should come up with something. I was going to have him write the question on the board, and we'd run when his back was turned. But no, you had to pull this stunt. Now he definitely hates us. What a pain."
Shikamaru's plan, while still infuriating for the teacher, wouldn't have caused as much trouble. After all, as far as the teacher was concerned, they were hopeless cases.
But with Naruto's over-the-top move, they had well and truly earned the teacher's ire.
Naruto, grinning cheekily, shrugged. "He deserved it! We weren't even doing anything wrong, and he was already threatening to make us stand in the back. I had to mess with him a little. Besides, everyone knows it was my transformation jutsu. It's not like his wife really ran around naked!"
"Pfft…" Kiba, who had just calmed down, burst into laughter again.
Shikamaru playfully scolded, "You're getting sneakier. If it were up to me, I'd never let you off the hook!"
Choji, pulling out a few bags of chips from his pocket, handed one to each of them. "Shikamaru wouldn't bother. You hate trouble too much to get into a fight over something so small."
The others were left speechless—was that just a small issue?
Then again, for Choji, if it didn't involve food, it probably wasn't worth worrying about.
Naruto grinned, throwing an arm around Shikamaru's shoulders. "Hey, how about you lend me your future wife? You wouldn't mind, right?"
"Get lost!" Shikamaru flipped him off.
Shikamaru took it as a joke, not taking Naruto seriously. He assumed Naruto was just talking about using his future wife as material for the Sexy Jutsu.
Besides, it wasn't like Shikamaru even knew who his future wife would be.
But little did he know, Naruto wasn't joking. He was thinking of borrowing Temari—and not giving her back.
After all, isn't that what friends are for? But when it comes down to it, women are what really matter!