Gathering Intelligence

Ninja education at the Ninja Academy generally followed the sequence of enrollment—basics—drills—practical application—graduation—genin.

During wartime, however, special mechanisms allowed upperclassmen at the Ninja Academy to graduate early and be sent to the battlefield.

That was one of the most inhumane aspects of the ninja world.

Of course, it was also something Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, had devoted his entire life to changing.

To put it bluntly, ninja were tools of war—mercenary groups born to fight and die in battle.

But with the establishment of villages, at least people had the chance to huddle together for warmth.

After Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, died in battle and the First Shinobi World War ended, Konoha enjoyed more than a decade of peace.

Thus, the Ninja Academy now followed peacetime educational policies. There was no longer any requirement to undergo the trial of blood and fire on the battlefield before becoming a genin.

Yet as Mitokado Homura's son, Satoru had still picked up certain signs from his father's casual remarks.

The peaceful, stable days would probably not last much longer.

Friction between the great nations had begun to crop up again. How long the Ninja Academy's stable environment could endure was anyone's guess.

Satoru swept his gaze over his classmates and felt little impatience at having to play along with children.

After all, it was hard to say how many of these children would live long enough to reach drinking age.

Most first-year classes focused on laying foundations.

Having already openly mastered the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique before enrolling, Satoru had undoubtedly far surpassed the others at the starting line.

Konoha had one commendable point—children from great clans held no special privileges at school. At most, teachers knew which prominent family a child came from and that their foundation was somewhat better.

The children were not particularly afraid of those from great clans either. On one hand, that was thanks to the Will of Fire; on the other, it was related to the nature of a ninja's profession.

As fellow ninja, enemies on the battlefield would not go easy on someone simply because they came from a prominent family. If anything, they were more likely to target them to make a name for themselves.

If they were rare kekkei genkai ninja, the situation would be even worse.

The people in power within the great clans undoubtedly understood this very well. Strength and achievements were the most important standards by which a ninja was judged, not birth.

After all, in this remarkable world, it was hardly uncommon for one person to create an entire great clan.

"Therefore, students, there is no need to worry about your backgrounds. The academy will impart ninja knowledge to everyone equally. As long as you work hard, anyone can hope to become an outstanding ninja!"

The homeroom teacher spoke eloquently from the podium. Some students below had shining eyes, some were drowsy, and others were unimpressed.

Seeing that his speech had apparently failed to inspire an enthusiastic response, the teacher seemed unable to save face and raised his voice.

"Let's not look too far back. The Third Hokage's three disciples—Elite Jonin Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade—are all exceptional ninja. Both Lord Jiraiya and Lord Orochimaru came from commoner backgrounds!"

"If Lord Orochimaru had been a rare genius from childhood, then Lord Jiraiya, who stood alongside him, had been utterly ordinary in his youth."

"Through unremitting effort, he eventually became a powerful ninja on equal footing with the genius Orochimaru and Tsunade, the First Hokage's granddaughter!"

Those three powerful ninja, elite even among jonin, finally energized the students, who could not help but begin dreaming of a beautiful future.

Indeed, the future Three Sannin—especially Jiraiya himself—were the protagonists of this era's inspirational tale.

"Jiraiya..."

Satoru's eyes shifted as he observed his classmates.

"Hmm... no blond hair."

In other words, whether Jiraiya and the others would be the jonin instructors leading his class upon graduation was uncertain.

Among his classmates, apart from Akimichi Choza, Shikaku Nara, and Inoichi Yamanaka, the rest should all be background characters.

Satoru could not help feeling a trace of relief.

"At least there are three who aren't background characters..."

Satoru had also looked through the upperclassmen's roster.

Although his father, Mitokado Homura, had worn a rather meaningful expression when he learned Satoru wanted to see the roster, Satoru still had to make the most of his current resources and gather information bit by bit.

Intelligence was an extremely important category of knowledge.

It was also a form of power that could not be overlooked.

Sure enough, among the students still enrolled, Satoru found several names he recognized.

"Second-year Aburame Shibi, third-year Uchiha Mikoto, fourth-year Nawaki, fifth-year Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi Hyuga..."

"But this fourth-year Nawaki... if I remember correctly, he was..."

Satoru's mouth twitched as he recalled the urgency he had felt upon first seeing Nawaki's name.

He was living in the same era as Konoha's crown prince... crown grandson...

Which meant that when this crown-grandson classmate graduated and died tragically, the Second Shinobi World War would be about to begin as well!

"Wouldn't that be in just two or three years?"

His instinctive tension upon seeing Nawaki's name had been noticed by his father, Mitokado Homura.

But his father had clearly misunderstood. He introduced Nawaki's background and offered a pointed piece of advice.

"With the three great Ino-Shika-Cho clans, maintaining good relations is beneficial—but as for Nawaki, you should regard him as a competitor."

"..."

Of course, Satoru knew what his father had misunderstood, but he could not say it aloud.

Everyone in Konoha who knew Nawaki knew what that blockhead shouted about all day.

Still, Nawaki had the capital to do so.

He was the grandson of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and God of Shinobi, and Mito Uzumaki, the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

The formidable bloodlines of the Senju and Uzumaki Clan were no mere decoration—his sister Tsunade's accomplishments illustrated that well enough.

Perhaps that was also the main reason he had died so early in battle?

Satoru appeared to be listening attentively, but he completely filtered out the homeroom teacher's endless basic indoctrination.

His thoughts had already begun spiraling uncontrollably toward the "darkness of Konoha."

"Was he too confident and careless? Did someone in the upper ranks do him in? Was there collusion with foreign enemies? Or did the enemy learn his identity and target him deliberately?"

Satoru repeatedly speculated. As one of the turning points in the downfall of the top scientist Orochimaru, Nawaki's special identity and early death were key matters capable of affecting the main plot.

"But... he's three grades above me, so there won't be any overlap between us..."

Satoru was not arrogant enough to warn Nawaki, "Hey, classmate, watch out for Exploding Tags in the future," or anything like that.

As for Nawaki's team leader, Orochimaru, Satoru could not avoid him fast enough.

There was no other reason. If the most troublesome and persistent people in Konoha included one so-called King of the Pot, then Orochimaru was another.

With Orochimaru's boundless thirst for knowledge, if he discovered anything unusual about Satoru, he would probably go to any lengths to turn Satoru into research material... perhaps.

Even if Orochimaru had not yet fallen into darkness and was still a fine young man devoted to the village and concerned for his friends, Satoru could not take that risk.

Fortunately... Orochimaru should be assigned to Nawaki's class. By the time Satoru graduated, Orochimaru should be busy with war, preparing to welcome his next bout of stimulation...

The contract was mailed out yesterday afternoon. Since today and tomorrow are the weekend, the status probably won't change, right...

Anyone looking to invest, hurry up! ●●