Ninja Academy Begins (Please Bookmark)

Another ten days passed.

Having found a direction for solving the lifespan problem, Uchiha Kiyoshi felt much more at ease. For the past ten days, he had spent an hour every day in the small courtyard studying hand seals.

Uchiha Kiyoshi did not particularly hide his research into hand seals. Instead, he openly formed seals again and again in the courtyard, then recorded the results. There were no major movements involved anyway, and his family's small courtyard gave him enough room to work.

This did not arouse any suspicion. After all, many ninja took notes while practicing hand seals. Uchiha Kiyoshi was merely more frequent about it than most.

Afterward, Uchiha Kiyoshi went to the training ground from the special training period and practiced kunai throwing for one or two hours.

This training ground had originally been prepared for the younger generation undergoing special training. Although the special training had ended, no ninja besides the members of that training cohort came here to train. Until next year's special training began, Uchiha Kiyoshi and the others could still train here. It was much smaller than the official training grounds, but its facilities were complete and more than sufficient for Uchiha Kiyoshi's needs.

After practicing kunai throwing, Uchiha Kiyoshi continued practicing Taijutsu at the training ground.

He spent the afternoons in the Archives, searching for information.

Of course, after finding a direction, Uchiha Kiyoshi returned to his normal routine. He continued spending half his time looking through materials on Medical Ninjutsu, while using the rest to study Sealing Jutsu Basics.

Unfortunately, after ten days, Uchiha Kiyoshi still had not found a way to control Physical Energy, and his anxiety grew stronger.

Today was the day the Ninja Academy opened.

The Ninja Academy had been established by the Second Hokage, intended to provide civilians with a path to becoming ninja. In addition, every major ninja clan sent its younger members there to study.

Since the Ninja Academy was entirely under the Hokage's control, the constant indoctrination during their education meant that both civilian ninja and clan ninja trained there would revere the Will of Fire and become part of the Hokage faction's strength.

This was also one of the Hokage's methods for controlling the ninja clans.

But theory was ultimately just theory. Clan ninja grew up within their clans. Though they were influenced by the Ninja Academy, apart from a select few, most clan ninja had a strong sense of belonging to the village while still placing clan interests first when it came to major matters.

After all, many of a clan ninja's advantages were granted by their clan, while the Ninja Academy offered them little convenience in terms of resources.

Thinking of indoctrination, Uchiha Kiyoshi thought of a certain traitor again. Such an intelligent person—how could he fail to understand something so simple? Why insist on becoming someone else's weapon?

"Ah! Maybe I just don't understand the world of geniuses.

And Uchiha Shisui was actually on the clan's side. He was just too naïve. How had he raised someone so opposed to the clan?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi rubbed his brow and sighed.

"No wonder, in my previous life, the Uchiha Clan's general impression was that they were a bunch of lunatics...

The Uchiha Clan wasn't like that. Only after experiencing it firsthand did Uchiha Kiyoshi realize that many clan members were perfectly normal and had feelings of their own.

Only those 'geniuses' who progressed rapidly from childhood may have been affected by the Sharingan too early, making them seem like lunatics."

Thus, Uchiha Kiyoshi had rather mixed feelings about the Sharingan.

The awakening and evolution of the Sharingan both required intense emotional changes. That alone impacted a ninja's mental state, while the effects brought by awakening or evolving the Sharingan intensified that impact even further, making it easy for one to suffer a mental breakdown.

Ninja whose minds had been tempered over a long period and had matured could barely endure it. But geniuses were different.

No matter how intelligent they were, they could not avoid mental immaturity. They had experienced too little; even if they matured early, they would still be influenced without realizing it.

Thus, it created a paradox: the earlier one awakened the Sharingan and the faster it evolved, the more talented one was. Yet awakening the Sharingan too early could also cause mental problems.

Therefore, regardless of his talent with the Sharingan, Uchiha Kiyoshi would not awaken it too early. Since he did not know exactly how the Sharingan's influence arose, he would not take the risk. Only when he could fully control the situation would he consider awakening it.

In Uchiha Kiyoshi's heart, the most ideal awakening process belonged to none other than Uchiha Madara.

Uchiha Madara himself possessed extraordinary talent, and his strength had improved rapidly. Furthermore, he had not awakened his eyes especially early, but at around the age of eight. By then, Madara already possessed Chunin-level strength, and the power brought by the Sharingan did not exceed his control.

Moreover, Uchiha Madara had not relied too heavily on the Sharingan. His own Taijutsu and Ninjutsu were both excellent. Throughout his growth, the power of the Sharingan had always remained under Uchiha Madara's control.

This was also why the upper limit of strength throughout the Ninja World had reached a new peak in Uchiha Madara's generation.

Black Zetsu had chosen Uchiha Madara rather than other reincarnations of Indra because of this. Only an Indra reincarnation who truly controlled his own power had the greatest hope of awakening the Rinnegan.

It could be said that Uchiha Madara's development was a textbook example. Unlike Sasuke, who had lived in hatred since childhood, possessed an immature mind, and became arrogantly extreme at the slightest provocation.

When comparing Uchiha Madara and Sasuke, Uchiha Kiyoshi still approved of Madara more. Whether in talent or aptitude, he far surpassed Sasuke.

Returning to the matter at hand, Uchiha Kiyoshi got up early, exercised for a while, ate breakfast, packed a lunchbox for noon, and headed toward the Ninja Academy.

Today was the opening day of the Ninja Academy, a rather significant event for all of Konoha.

Along the way, Uchiha Kiyoshi occasionally saw parents bringing their children to the Ninja Academy.

When he arrived at the Ninja Academy gates, Uchiha Kiyoshi was stunned by the sight before him. What time was it? Yet the entrance was already as bustling as a marketplace.

Fortunately, there were not many Ninja Academy students. Most of those present were parents.

After waiting in line for ten minutes, it was finally Uchiha Kiyoshi's turn.

The middle-aged ninja handling registration glanced at the clan crest on Uchiha Kiyoshi's clothes, gave him a meaningful look, and then spoke.

"Your enrollment certificate."

Uchiha Kiyoshi was in no hurry. He took out a document and handed it over.

"Hello, this is my enrollment certificate."

The middle-aged ninja seemed surprised by Uchiha Kiyoshi's politeness and examined him again.

However, he found nothing unusual, so the middle-aged ninja continued with his work.

"Name."

Uchiha Kiyoshi muttered inwardly, Isn't it written on the certificate? But he still answered respectfully.

"Uchiha Kiyoshi."

The middle-aged ninja stamped Uchiha Kiyoshi's certificate, then looked up and said.

"All right, you can go in. You're in first-year Class 1. Turn right after entering and walk straight ahead. That building is for the first years, and Class 1 is on the first floor."

Apparently satisfied with Uchiha Kiyoshi's manners, the middle-aged ninja pointed out the way for him.

Uchiha Kiyoshi thanked him, took his certificate, and entered the school.

With the directions from the registration teacher, Uchiha Kiyoshi did not need to search for it himself. After entering, he turned right and headed straight for the first-year building.

There were only two classes on the entire first floor, so Uchiha Kiyoshi easily found his classroom.

After confirming that he had not entered the wrong classroom, Uchiha Kiyoshi stepped inside.

Uchiha Kiyoshi had arrived fairly early. There were only five or six people in the classroom. Sitting in the middle was a young man dressed in white, with a strip of cloth tied around his forehead. He lowered his head and read intently, though it was impossible to tell what he was reading.

Though he could not see the other boy's eyes, Uchiha Kiyoshi identified him as a ninja from the Hyuga Clan's Branch House from the distinctive cloth around his forehead and the clan crest on his clothes.

His gaze swept onward. Near the middle by the door, a fierce-looking boy with war paint on his face was holding and teasing a small dog. He was probably from the Inuzuka Clan. Behind him was a fat boy sleeping soundly with his head on the desk, with an empty snack bag beside him. He was probably from the Akimichi Clan.

The remaining two had no obvious distinguishing traits and were likely civilian ninja.

After making a rough assessment, Uchiha Kiyoshi walked to the back of the classroom and sat by the window in the last row.

He took out a copy of Introduction to Medical Ninjutsu and began reading. He had borrowed it from the clan Archives. Originally, Uchiha Kiyoshi had thought the Archives' materials were not allowed to be taken out. Uh... that was what he had thought.

It was only when Uchiha Kiyoshi told the elderly gatekeeper that he wanted to borrow the book to read at school that he learned those materials could be taken out as long as one paid. No wonder he had barely seen anyone in the entire Archives for so long.

"So this was possible. Sure enough, I don't understand the world of rich people."

That had been Uchiha Kiyoshi's first reaction at the time.

Since he had always had no money in his pocket, Uchiha Kiyoshi had never considered this possibility. He had assumed that the Archives' many materials were too valuable and could only be read there.

Reluctantly paying one thousand ryo, Uchiha Kiyoshi took away Introduction to Medical Ninjutsu with tears in his eyes.

Unlike other materials, this book was full of useful content. Uchiha Kiyoshi would need to read it for a long time, so borrowing it was relatively cost-effective.

Uchiha Yu had finally learned why this kid was always staying here to read. He had originally thought the boy was stingy and had been freeloading inside all this time. The clan's allowance was not small—surely he had enough money to pay for reading? Did he have to be this stingy?

"So he just didn't know about borrowing books. I mean, how could our Uchiha Clan possibly be this stingy?"

Uchiha Kiyoshi knew nothing of Uchiha Yu's thoughts.

Honestly, one thousand ryo for a book per month was already quite generous of the clan, but Uchiha Kiyoshi still felt terrible about spending it.

It could not be helped. A child with no source of income who lived entirely on an allowance naturally considered money extremely precious.

Besides, the money he saved was meant to buy ninja tools in the future. This one book had cost him the price of a kunai. How could Uchiha Kiyoshi not feel pained?

One kunai was enough for a week of training...

Please bookmark!!!