Skipping a Grade

Yakushi.

It's not a very common surname.

As a key figure in the main storyline's shadow, an undercover spy, and one of Orochimaru's most outstanding disciples, Yakushi Kabuto's importance is second only to the "keywords."

For Satoru, his most significant impression of Yakushi Kabuto was his outstanding performance during the Sannin battle before Shippuden.

Later, during the period of the Sage-level free-for-all, Kabuto's role was reduced to merely advancing the plot.

Although he seemed to have been redeemed later, discussions about him were far less than those about other heavyweight characters.

But even so, Satoru knew that this Nono Yakushi was the adoptive mother who gave Kabuto the surname "Yakushi."

And their tragic story was one of the countless sins committed by Mr. Pot King.

A powerful medical ninja with great maternal and philanthropic spirit, forced by Mr. Pot King to become a spy…

Truly damnable.

Satoru's expression changed slightly, but Nono was, for now, only half a person he cared about.

There was too little information about her.

However…

"I wonder what the future will be like?"

With a slight smile, Satoru dispersed the Mage Eye, opened the Book of Medivh, invisible to others, and once again immersed himself in the study of magic.

The new semester began, and life at school remained peaceful and stable.

Until half a year later, when a transfer student arrived in the first year.

During lunch break, Choza and Shikaku were leaning next to Satoru, the three of them uniformly looking out the window.

The other classmates in the class were doing the same—but these mischievous brats, who feared no chaos, had complex expressions.

The boys looked like they had a toothache, while the girls were inexplicably excited, and some were even shouting encouragement…

In the plaza outside the window, a little girl with red hair and a round face was chasing and beating a few little boys. From their shouts and pleas, it could be discerned that they were likely from the same class.

"What batch is this now?"

Choza rubbed his head. The red-haired girl had just knocked down a chubby boy, who seemed to be his cousin:

"Is she going to beat up all the boys in the class?"

"It seems so…"

Shikaku wiped his sweat and pouted:

"As expected, women are so troublesome… I won't look for this type of girlfriend in the future. Including this batch, she has indeed beaten up nearly all the boys in the class."

"Hey, I found out!"

Inoichi Yamanaka, who had disappeared, suddenly appeared between the three of them. He whispered the intelligence he had gathered:

"Her surname is Uzumaki! The Uzumaki clan from Whirlpool Country! Look at that iconic red hair!"

"Oh? You found out information about her?"

Satoru was quite interested. As the wife of the Fourth Hokage and the mother of the savior Naruto, he naturally knew the great name of Kushina Uzumaki.

But he hadn't paid much attention to Kushina's situation when she was a child.

"Yes, Kushina Uzumaki, from the same country as the First Hokage's wife, Lady Mito Uzumaki—the now-destroyed Whirlpool Country."

Inoichi whispered to his companions the news he had painstakingly gathered:

"I heard that Lady Mito liked her very much and personally taught her!"

"So, this is…"

Choza looked at his cousin lying on the ground with a toothache, and asked doubtfully:

"Even Lady Mito wouldn't allow her to be so unrestrained!"

"Hmm…" Inoichi scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. "Well, they gave Kushina a nickname, calling her 'Tomato'…"

"Pfft!"

Choza and Shikaku covered their mouths, trying to suppress their laughter: "It's quite fitting~"

"Originally, when Kushina transferred, during the class interaction session, everyone would introduce themselves."

"She said she wanted to become a female Hokage, and the boys thought she was overestimating herself, so they kept teasing her and gave her nicknames."

Inoichi coughed lightly and said seriously:

"She had accepted it initially, but the younger students were somewhat hostile towards her as an outsider and wouldn't let it go, so she got angry and started dealing with them one by one… Not a single boy could beat her!"

"Hiss…"

Choza and Shikaku gasped. This was the truth behind what they saw, Kushina chasing and beating all the boys in the class:

"So scary!"

"That's why her nickname has now become 'Blood Red Chili'…"

Inoichi gave a wry smile. "They say the ones in the plaza now are the last batch. After these few, not a single boy in the entire class will have avoided her beatings."

"..."

Satoru twitched the corner of his mouth. That one remaining boy had to be Minato Namikaze. Could it be that this guy already had his sights set on Kushina, even at this age...

What a clever little devil...

"Why does she still not hit some people?" Shikaku asked. In his opinion, with Mito Uzumaki, someone with an even bigger backing than the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, behind her, Kushina could beat anyone up, not just in first grade...

Even in fifth or sixth grade, as long as she could win, she could still beat them, right?

"Ah, I heard that underclassman named Minato Namikaze also dreams of becoming Hokage. But Kushina thinks he's weird and effeminate. Although he didn't mock her, he just stood by and watched her get bullied without helping. So, even though she didn't hit him, she still dislikes him."

"Effeminate..."

Satoru almost burst out laughing. Was this how his future wife looked down on the Fourth Hokage when he was little?

"Ah... all the boys have been completely wiped out."

Choza patted his belly and sighed, wondering if he should go help his cousin get home. After a moment's thought, he decided against it.

"Can't afford to provoke them, can't afford to provoke them..."

Ring-ring-ring...

Lunch break ended, and the students, still somewhat unsatisfied, returned to their seats.

The homeroom teacher soon entered the classroom, but he was accompanied by a little girl.

The little girl had long, beige hair and wore a pair of black, round-framed glasses, making her look very well-behaved.

"Huh?"

Satoru looked confused. This was...

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce our new classmate who will be skipping grades to join our class—"

"Nono Yakushi!"

"..."

The entire class erupted in a clamor. Satoru rubbed his temples. What was going on? He'd heard of graduating early from the Ninja Academy, but was there such a thing as skipping grades?

But on second thought... it seemed that early graduation and skipping grades weren't mutually exclusive.

The first three years of the Ninja Academy were basically spent teaching basic theoretical knowledge, with the next three years entering the stages of practice and application.

This meant that if one learned theoretical knowledge quickly and well, and had a solid foundation, skipping the first three years wouldn't be an issue.

"Although Nono Yakushi is two years younger than you all, she has already completed the entire first-year curriculum in just six months!"

The homeroom teacher excitedly introduced the somewhat shy Nono. Having a genius student transfer into his class was a great honor for him as the homeroom teacher.

"Next, Nono will be studying the second-year curriculum with everyone..."

The homeroom teacher scanned the classroom, and Satoru keenly felt his gaze land on him.

"Oh no..."

"Then, for the first half of the second-year curriculum, I'll be entrusting Satoru, who has the most solid foundation, to help Nono catch up!"

The homeroom teacher caught Satoru completely off guard. He said to Nono, "Nono, you can sit next to Satoru—Satoru is always happy to help others, he'll definitely help you well!"

"The heck is 'happy to help'..."

Satoru grumbled silently. While Choza, Shikaku, and Inoichi covered their mouths and snickered, he watched the small Nono run to the seat beside him with her little bag and bow to him. "S-Satoru... Satoru, h-hello, I'm... Nono Yakushi..."

"Ah, please sit down, Nono," Satoru could only force a gentle smile. "I'm Satoru Mitokado. Welcome."

"Everyone welcome her!"

"Welcome, Nono!"

Satoru glared fiercely at the jeering Shikaku. With his cue, the entire class became excited: "Satoru! You have a big responsibility!"

"Shut up, you guys, unless you want me to beat all of you up!"