Minato Namikaze

"Look, that's Hyuga Soji, the genius ninja from the Hyuga Clan Main Family," said some random passerby.

"I heard he'd already met the graduation standards before even enrolling," said another random passerby.

"Tch, it must be fake. Otherwise, why would he still come to school?" said some jealous passerby.

"That's true," said that passerby's friend.

"But he's so handsome, so elegant," said some unknown precocious girl with a crush.

It was time for the Ninja Academy's new students to begin school, and Hyuga Soji got up early and came to the school entrance with his grandfather.

Hyuga Kumokawa left afterward. Teachers were stationed nearby to keep watch. After warning Soji not to run around after school and telling him that someone would be sent to pick him up, Hyuga Kumokawa departed.

As an elder of the Main House, and with the clan now in such turbulent times, Hyuga Kumokawa had to remain ready at all times to command clan members onto the battlefield.

Soji simply stood there quietly, with an empty space around him. Given the Hyuga Clan's reputation, it was only natural that ordinary children did not dare approach him.

The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan was already intimidating to ordinary people, and Soji himself wore an expression that kept strangers away.

In truth, Soji was not cold or unsociable. It was just that he had been a young man in his twenties in his previous life, and now that he was suddenly surrounded by a group of six-year-old brats, he had no idea what to talk to them about.

Thus, whether the other children's comments were envious or mocking, Soji could only pretend not to hear them.

At that moment, Soji recalled a famous saying: geniuses were always lonely. He felt it fit the current scene perfectly.

The other children nearby were happily discussing things with their friends, making Soji stand out all the more.

Still, Soji did not care much about any of it. He had come to school to learn, and he had little interest in anything else.

"Hello, may I be your friend?"

Just as Soji's mind had drifted elsewhere and he was wondering why school had not started yet, he heard those words beside him.

Who was this? Someone was actually striking up a conversation with him?

It sounded like a boy, though. His voice was very magnetic.

Soji gathered his wandering thoughts and looked at the person speaking to him.

The first thing he saw was a head of golden hair. Sky-blue eyes seemed to reflect the heavens, and he wore a white hooded outfit. His handsome face carried a faint smile as he looked at Hyuga Soji.

Seeing that face, Soji froze for a moment. The features before him slowly overlapped with an image from his memories of his previous life.

A key figure who did not appear often in the story, yet was present throughout the entirety of Naruto—Minato Namikaze!

The future Fourth Hokage, known as the Golden Flash, and also the biological father of the Child of Destiny, Naruto Uzumaki!

Good grief! Soji had never expected to meet such an important figure on his very first day outside the clan grounds.

And judging by how small he was now, he should not be much older than Soji. Could they be in the same class?

"What is it? Is there something on my face?"

Seeing Soji remain silent for so long while staring fixedly at his face, Minato Namikaze thought there might really be something on it. He could not help rubbing his little face.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry. I was thinking about something else just now. Hello, my name is Hyuga Soji. I'd be happy to be your friend. Please take care of me."

Having come back to his senses, Soji naturally would not refuse a future great man's request for friendship. Besides, even if this were not Minato Namikaze, Soji would not have refused. He simply was not used to taking the initiative to talk to others his age.

"My name is Minato Namikaze. Please take care of me as well. But Soji-kun, I've long heard people in the village mention your reputation as the Hyuga Clan's genius."

"Uh, is that so?" Unsure whether Minato Namikaze was teasing him or being sincere, Soji felt rather awkward and could only laugh it off.

"Soji-kun, let me introduce you to some new friends. Come with me."

Minato Namikaze then took the lead toward the other children gathered together, and Soji followed behind, joining them.

Just like in my previous life's memories, he's a gentle, kind-hearted guy.

Soji was deeply grateful that Minato Namikaze had introduced him to the others immediately after meeting him.

He could tell that Minato Namikaze had probably seen him standing alone and worried that his classmates might isolate him later, so he had deliberately come over to speak with him.

Although Soji did not care much about that, more friends meant more paths. He did not want to remain alone forever, either. Humans were social creatures, and being lonely for too long could wear one down.

From that first impression alone, Minato Namikaze had already earned Soji's full favor.

In Hyuga Soji's eyes, Minato Namikaze was a tolerant, warm-hearted, sunny, handsome, gentle child with a hint of shyness.

With a friend like this in the future, Soji would probably not be lonely!

"Hello, I'm Inoichi Yamanaka. Please take care of me."

"I'm Choza Akimichi."

"Ah, I'm Shikaku Nara."

"I'm Inuzuka..."

"I'm Aburame..."

"Also, I'm..."

After everyone had introduced themselves, Hyuga Soji discovered that all the children present already knew Minato Namikaze!

At that point, Soji could not help admiring Minato Namikaze's personal charm. Before even enrolling, he had somehow gotten to know all his future classmates. That was absurdly impressive.

Whether they disliked Soji, liked him, or were merely curious about him, they could all interact amicably with Minato Namikaze.

Soji could not help grumbling inwardly: What a social butterfly.

No wonder Minato Namikaze would be able to surpass Orochimaru and become the Fourth Hokage in the future. He had already built his team from the ground up.

Soji's generation should count as the future backbone of the village. By the time the story began, these people would all be in their prime and would surely occupy a large number of positions among Konoha's upper ranks.

Especially since the older generation's Ino-Shika-Cho were among them. The future status of those three could be said to rank only below the Hokage and the Council of Elders—they were absolute high-ranking figures!

Shikaku Nara, in particular, would become the head of the Jonin Council!

Of course, aside from Ino-Shika-Cho, there were also members of other clans, such as this generation from the Aburame Clan and the Inuzuka Clan.

After everyone finished introducing themselves, Soji quickly blended into the group as well. After all, he was not deliberately trying to act aloof.

Once they realized that although Soji had the title of genius, he did not put on any airs while speaking with them, they gradually accepted him too.

Next, the children chatted happily together. Some discussed their hobbies, some talked about food, and the girls discussed which clothes looked good.

Naturally, there were also some mischievous children discussing how they would prank others in the future.

But what they talked about most was their anticipation for the next four years at the Ninja Academy.

Time passed quickly amid the children's chatter. While talking with Minato Namikaze, Soji realized without noticing that an hour had already passed.

The teachers maintaining order at the scene checked the time, nodded to one another, and prepared to have the students line up and enter their classrooms.

Just then, they suddenly saw a crowd in the distance. A group of people was heading toward the Ninja Academy, making the teachers standing guard tense up.

All the children stopped talking and looked toward the approaching group.

"Who's coming?"

Hyuga Soji asked Minato Namikaze beside him.

Minato blinked his innocent eyes and shook his head. He did not know either. Why did Soji seem to think he was omniscient? He was only six years old!

The two of them then looked into the distance along with the other children.

Only when the group drew closer did the teachers on guard gradually relax. The sight had simply been a little too exaggerated.

After all, war was approaching, and many of the children here were the offspring of the current generation's core members of ninja clans—the future rulers of those clans. If anything happened to them, it would be an absolute earthquake for Konoha.

At this point, everyone could finally see who had come. There were more than a dozen people, and their clothes all bore the emblem of the Uchiha Flame Fan.

Walking at the front was a child around six years old. His childish face carried a proud expression. Though he was walking, his eyes were tilted upward at a forty-five-degree angle, looking at the buildings around the school, while both hands remained in his pockets.

Beside the child were Uchiha members who looked to be in their teens or twenties. Some had their eyes closed, some glanced around them, and some simply stared up at the sky. In any case, very few of them were properly watching where they were going.

Not every Uchiha present was like that, but most of the group looked as though they did not care about anyone else.

Only after seeing them did Soji realize what had felt missing after he had introduced himself to all the children. There had been no children from the Uchiha Clan.

Now, the students of this year's Ninja Academy had truly all arrived.

"May I ask why the members of the Security Force have come here?"

As soon as the group of Uchiha stopped at the school entrance, a teacher immediately stepped forward to speak with them.

"Hello, teacher. Our Security Force merely happened to be passing by, so we brought our clan's child here to start school along the way."

The one who spoke was the leading Uchiha member, and also one of the few who had been seriously watching the road while walking.

"Homura, you'll be studying at the Ninja Academy for the next four years. You must not tarnish the reputation of our Uchiha Clan, understand?"

It was still the leading Uchiha member speaking, but this time he was addressing the arrogant child at the front.

"I know. You're so annoying," muttered the child named Homura.

"Then Homura will be in the teachers' care from now on." Seemingly long accustomed to the child's attitude, the leading Uchiha member bowed to the teacher before him.

"Ah, no need to be so polite. Taking care of the school's children is the duty of us teachers," the teacher said, waving his hands repeatedly.

Finally, the leading Uchiha member left the Ninja Academy entrance with the rest of his clansmen.

As for the arrogant child called Homura, he directly passed all the children present and headed into the school first.

A teacher immediately ran over and led the other students after him toward the classrooms.

Yet no matter how one looked at it, it seemed as though that Uchiha child was the leader of everyone present.

"Does the Uchiha Clan always like arriving at the last minute?" Hyuga Soji could not help complaining about the Uchiha Clan.

"Haha, maybe they just happened to have something to deal with today." Kind-hearted Minato Namikaze laughed it off, making excuses for the Uchiha Clan's last-minute arrival.

Then the group of children entered the school, ready to begin their new school lives.

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