School Begins

A few days later.

The establishment of the Ninja Academy had long since become common knowledge throughout Konoha Village.

The civilians of the village were extremely excited when they learned of it.

They understood that with the establishment of the Ninja Academy, their children would have a chance to become shinobi. That would allow them to cross class boundaries and change their lives.

As for the shinobi clans, their reactions varied. Some were shocked, some confused, and some utterly dismissive...

Hokage Hashirama Senju had already issued a notice: once the Ninja Academy opened, all children of suitable age in the village could attend and study there.

The birth of the Ninja Academy would allow the village to train a batch of genin and chunin in a short time. The Senju brothers attached great importance to it.

Of course, there were certain requirements...

First, children generally had to be six or seven years old. Being a little older was fine as well.

Second, they needed to possess a talent for Chakra. This was the most important point; without shinobi talent, everything else was useless.

In addition, they had to be physically and mentally sound, love the village deeply, and be willing to devote themselves to it.

Today was the opening day of the Ninja Academy.

Before dawn, Tobirama Senju had already left home to prepare for the opening ceremony.

Dressed in black, Renye reluctantly headed toward the Ninja Academy.

Normally, he would still be cultivating at the training ground at this hour.

"Damn it, I never thought I'd actually have to go to school."

If Tobirama Senju had not made the decision on his own, Renye would not have had to get up early and suffer through school.

Just thinking about how he had an adult soul yet still had to go to school with a bunch of little brats made him feel incredibly irritated.

The only fortunate thing was that children in the Shinobi World generally matured early, so it would be somewhat better.

Renye spent a long time mentally preparing himself and finally managed to talk himself into it.

But as he walked, the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He stopped, turned around, and headed back home.

"I hate school more than anything. I'd rather go home and train."

Clearly, Renye had developed school aversion before he had even started attending.

Konoha Village was exceptionally lively.

Members of the major clans, dressed in extravagant clothing, gathered one after another in the direction of the Ninja Academy.

Even though they felt the academy's teaching quality was inferior to their clans', they still brought their children to enroll.

This was the Hokage's order. They could not refuse to show him respect...

Besides, this Hokage was Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi!

Only the major clans, such as the Uchiha and Hyuga, held such thoughts.

The smaller clans, on the other hand, were quite willing to send their own children to study at the Ninja Academy.

After all, their teaching quality might not actually be higher than the Ninja Academy's.

A large number of parents with children had gathered at the entrance of the Ninja Academy.

The heads of the major clans had also come to show their support, demonstrating their allegiance to Konoha.

Clans large and small, including the Uchiha, Senju, Hyuga, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and others, had all arrived.

As a result, the entrance to the school had long been packed solid.

Everyone present waited for the school gates to open.

In the early days of Konoha's founding, clan shinobi made up an overwhelming majority, accounting for more than ninety percent of all shinobi. Civilian shinobi made up less than ten percent.

On the school rooftop.

Tobirama Senju stood with his arms crossed, looking down at the crowd and nodding in satisfaction.

"Tobirama, can we open the gates now?" Hashirama Senju asked.

"Elder Brother, we can," Tobirama Senju said.

The reason he had not opened the gates immediately was that he wanted to see whether any clans had failed to come.

If a clan did not come, that meant they did not respect the Hokage.

That would give him reason to suspect their motives...

He did not know exactly which clans had come, but he knew perfectly well which ones had not.

However, judging from the situation, nearly all the major clans in the village had arrived.

Tobirama Senju was quite satisfied with that.

Only when the clans and the village were united could Konoha develop.

"I wonder if that brat has arrived."

Tobirama Senju scanned the crowd but did not spot Renye.

Remembering Renye's resistant expression when he had learned that he needed to attend school.

The expression on his face turned strange as he muttered,

"That brat wouldn't skip school, would he?"

Tobirama Senju felt that Renye really was capable of doing something like that.

With that thought in mind, his figure flashed, and he vanished from where he stood.

Tobirama Senju Residence.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Renye was practicing the release of ninjutsu at the training ground.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a chill down his back and instinctively turned around.

There, Tobirama Senju stood with his arms crossed, staring at him with a dark expression.

Renye's body stiffened. Somewhat awkwardly, he rubbed his nose and changed the subject. "Uncle, why are you back so early? It's not even mealtime yet."

He did not mention the Ninja Academy's opening at all.

"Brat, why aren't you going to school?" Tobirama Senju's voice was icy.

"School? What school?" Renye played dumb.

He wanted to find another excuse to delay things, but unfortunately, Tobirama Senju gave him no such chance.

"Heh heh."

Tobirama Senju sneered, grabbed Renye, and vanished from the spot.

Ninja Academy.

"People of Konoha!" Hashirama Senju's voice echoed through the campus. "Today, we welcome the opening ceremony of the Ninja Academy."

"This is not only the beginning of the children's pursuit of knowledge, but also an important moment for passing down the Will of Fire!"

Renye had just been dragged over when he heard Hashirama Senju begin preaching the ideals of the Will of Fire.

Going to school was already annoying enough, and now he had to listen to this nonsense about some will.

He curled his lip disdainfully. "So this is the Will of Fire?"

The core of the Will of Fire was protection, inheritance, and devotion.

Renye was not interested in it. In his view, only a big fist was what truly mattered.

It was precisely because Hashirama Senju was powerful that everyone was here listening to his speech. If it were someone else, would anyone still come to listen?

Renye had not expected Hashirama Senju to ramble on for so long. He spoke for over an hour.

When Hashirama Senju finally finished, enthusiastic applause immediately erupted below the stage.

"Damn it, he's finally done!" Renye was so moved that tears filled his eyes, and he hurriedly clapped.

Who knew how agonizing that hour had been!

At that moment, Hashirama Senju on the stage noticed Renye's expression and froze.

He thought Renye had been deeply moved by the Will of Fire he had preached. With a gratified expression, he looked in Renye's direction.

Little Renye really was such a good child!

Renye noticed Hashirama Senju's gratified expression and looked utterly bewildered, a huge question mark appearing over his head.

Why was Hashirama Senju looking at him like that?

Could it be... he had heard what Renye said just now?!

"Danzō, did you see that? Hokage-sama is looking at me with such a gratified expression!"

"Hiruzen, stop being so full of yourself. Hokage-sama is clearly looking at me!"

Hearing the conversation beside him, Renye turned his head in surprise.

He saw two children around eight or nine years old standing beside him, arguing endlessly.

These two were the future Third Hokage and the five-and-a-halfth Pot Hokage!

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura were set to be nine years old. Don't worry about the minor details.