As the center of attention, Auron didn't have much in mind. He had simply established the persona he wanted. Now, he was guessing why a masked ninja was standing in his courtyard.
"Night, you did well on the mission. Lord Danzo asked me to give you these," Hirasuise handed Auron two scrolls.
Auron took the scrolls and nodded calmly, saying nothing. Root ninjas didn't need to engage in much conversation.
Hirasuise also said nothing more. After handing over the scrolls, she quickly vanished to avoid exposing Auron's identity.
Once he sensed Hirasuise's presence fading, Auron returned to his room and unrolled the two scrolls.
One contained a Fire Release ninjutsu—Great Fire Dragon Technique.
The other was Danzo's recognition of Auron's work and his latest instructions.
Danzo first praised Auron for effectively integrating himself into the ninja academy's operations, noting his initiative, and rewarded him with a powerful fire technique.
He then warned Auron not to become complacent and instructed him to continue progressing at the academy. He was to closely monitor Uchiha Shisui and also pay attention to other Uchiha students.
Lastly, Danzo dangled a carrot: if Auron maintained his current performance, Danzo would arrange for him to be promoted to Special Jōnin and take on an important role at the academy.
After reading it, Auron conjured fire in his palm and burned both scrolls to ash.
"Special Jōnin, important role, huh." Auron chuckled.
If it were the original host of his body, they might be fired up by Danzo's praise and promises. But Auron...
The fire technique was one he already knew. He had no desire for a Special Jōnin promotion.
So internally, he felt nothing—he only wanted to laugh.
As he prepared for his main body to train while a shadow clone studied, he suddenly realized he'd read all the ninjutsu books at home.
After a moment's thought, he decided to head to the Konoha library to borrow more books.
Konoha had a large library established during the Second Hokage's era, with many books and documents, including low-rank ninjutsu.
Of course, only D and C-rank techniques were available—no forbidden or high-level jutsu. Borrowing fees weren't cheap either.
Not that it mattered to Auron, since he wasn't borrowing actual jutsu scrolls. He was looking for information related to ninjutsu and sealing techniques, specifically those involving binding curses.
He wanted to see if he could find a way to break the "Tongue Curse Seal of Absolute Obedience" placed on him.
While it wasn't as disgusting as the Hyūga's Caged Bird Seal, having someone else's curse seal on his body was unpleasant.
Walking through Konoha's streets, watching the crowds, Auron felt a little dazed.
He'd been in the Naruto world for over half a month, but this was his first time his main body went out. Even for grocery shopping, he usually sent a clone.
His unique status and the world's danger kept him feeling unsafe.
After half a month of "hacks," he knew more jutsu and had more chakra. Auron finally felt confident he wouldn't die from a stray AoE.
At the library, Auron handed his ninja ID booklet to the on-duty ninja. It recorded his basic info, including name and registration number.
The library was only open to ninja.
The guard checked and let Auron in without issue.
As Auron was about to search for materials, he ran into someone familiar—blond-haired, warm-smiling Minato Namikaze.
Sensing Auron's gaze, Minato looked back. They nodded politely, and passed each other—Auron entering, Minato exiting.
[Name: Minato Namikaze][Chakra: 40,000][Potential: S][Assessment: Slays Jōnin like slaughtering chickens. One more look and you'll explode.]
Auron maintained a neutral expression, but was shocked inside.
This was the first time he saw someone with over 10,000 chakra—Minato had 40,000, equal to eighty six-year-old Shisuis.
The assessment was terrifying—like killing Jōnin was nothing.
At this time, Minato didn't yet carry the "Yellow Flash" title. To the public, he was just a strong Jōnin. His teacher Jiraiya was more famous and a top Hokage candidate.
Still, Auron figured the evaluation was fair. With Flying Thunder God mastered, Minato could easily kill ordinary Jōnin.
Speed-type ninjas absolutely dominated weaker enemies.
"If only Minato already had a son in the academy," Auron thought wistfully. That way, he'd have an excuse to get close to him.
He actually wanted to befriend Minato, who was skilled in sealing techniques—something Auron desperately wanted to learn.
Cursed seals were a branch of fūinjutsu (sealing techniques).
Having Minato as a consultant would make removing his tongue curse much easier.
As for Kushina—her status as a Jinchūriki made things complicated. Auron didn't want that kind of trouble.
After picking out two books on sealing and three unrelated ones, Auron registered and paid before leaving the library.
In the South Mirror Forest of Konoha, Auron was guiding his students in pre-exam training.
"You two haven't forgotten what you said before, right? You must pass tomorrow's theory exam," Auron reminded Obito and Might Guy.
"Of course! If I fail, I'll accept any punishment you give, Teacher Auron!" Obito said confidently.
Though they mostly trained ninjutsu and rarely studied theory, they had just done a past exam paper—Obito scored 30 points.
That was already above the passing average, which was usually just over 50. He felt solid.
"Right! If I fail, I'll run 800 laps around Konoha!" Might Guy shouted boldly. He also scored 30 points.
"Not only will I pass theory, I'm going to be #1 in combat!" After training under Auron for over half a month, Obito felt he could crush his former self.
"I'm not handing over first place so easily!" Might Guy wasn't backing down.
Auron smiled but said nothing. Knowing the overall strength of fourth-year students, he figured neither of them might get first place—there was a strong Hyūga student in Class 1.
That Hyūga only had A-level potential, but Obito hadn't awakened the Sharingan, and Might Guy hadn't mastered the Eight Gates.
Too many unknowns at this level.
Auron glanced at Shisui quietly reading—he was sure Shisui would absolutely crush the whole grade in both theory and combat.
If there were cross-grade exams, Shisui might even top the whole school.
"I wonder if good exam results will earn me system rewards," Auron mused.
"My first exam… I'm nervous. I don't know if the questions will be hard."
"Hope not. If I fail, I'll get beaten at home."
"Shouldn't be too bad. Didn't Teacher Auron give us practice tests? Passing should be easy."
In Class 1, many students were clearly nervous—first-time exam jitters.
"Anko, Izumo, you nervous?" Kotetsu asked Kamizuki Izumo.
"What's there to be nervous about? It's just a little test. Watch me ace it." Anko grinned.
"Really? You're not nervous? This isn't like before—grades will be posted," Izumo replied.
"I'm a bit nervous. I only got 80 on Teacher Yuharu's mock test. If the real one is harder, I might only get 60–70." Kotetsu nodded.
"My mock score was 87, but I feel the same—might only get 60–70 on the real one," Izumo said with a pained expression.
"Wait—you guys scored that high?" Anko was stunned. She'd only gotten a bit over 60.
"Mock scores are lies anyway," Izumo sighed.
"Let's all try harder. I heard if the class does badly, they might replace our teacher—and then it won't be Teacher Auron anymore." Kotetsu revealed a rumor he heard.
"Replace Auron?! Anyone but him!" Anko objected.
Though he was homeroom teacher, Auron didn't teach every class. Still, he was clearly the students' favorite.
"Yeah, other teachers are boring. Only Teacher Auron makes class fun and easy to understand," Izumo agreed.
"Let's tell everyone. Motivate them," Izumo suggested, thinking of scenes from novels where troops are roused before battle.
Anko thought it was a great idea. She stood on her seat and announced the news to the whole class.
Her words caused an uproar—nobody wanted Auron to be replaced.
"Everyone, study hard! If we do badly and get a boring taijutsu teacher, we're doomed!" Kotetsu shouted.
"Let's all pass—we won't let Teacher Auron be taken from us!"
"Anyone who fails is letting down the class! Auron's teaching was already excellent!"
Shisui didn't join the ruckus. It didn't matter to him—he'd simply ace both theory and combat. With results like that, no one would dare replace Auron.
"Everyone, settle down. The test's about to begin. Just do your best."
Auron's voice rang out, quieting the room instantly. He was already at the door.
"I believe you all will do great." Auron smiled and quickly headed to the classroom he'd be proctoring.