Enrollment

Ninja Academy

Eight in the morning

The entrance to the Ninja Academy was packed with people. They were all children and parents who had come to enroll.

Uesugi Yayoi walked over alone, dark circles under his eyes but full of energy. He blended into the crowd, looking utterly ordinary.

Today was the Ninja Academy's annual enrollment day, and Uesugi Yayoi had naturally heard about it.

Otherwise, at this hour, he'd absolutely be lying at home, fast asleep.

At the moment, he was mixed in with the crowd. He couldn't stand out; he had to look plain so no one would notice him.

He just had to graduate without drawing attention, become an ordinary Genin who could earn a living, and grow up in peace.

Uesugi Yayoi had plenty of potential. There was no need to force his growth by going out to test himself on the battlefield.

He had a basic understanding of the Ninja World. The old-timers in the comments section had always offered their own takes on it.

To sum it up, in the Ninja World, it wasn't about how good your village was, but how bad the others were.

Compared to other places, Konoha didn't seem so hard to accept after all. Uesugi Yayoi was good at adapting, so he decided to keep his head down.

Before the official start of classes, the Ninja Academy held an opening ceremony.

Uesugi Yayoi wasn't interested. It was just the same old brainwashing routine.

Still, the middle-aged man standing on the raised platform in a ceremonial robe, smiling benevolently as if the whole world were a spring breeze, gave Uesugi Yayoi pause.

"Hokage, I hope you can hold on to that open-mindedness for a few more years."

Compared to the Third Shinobi World War, before the Second Ninja World War had even begun, the Third Hokage had undoubtedly been an excellent Hokage.

Even the Uchiha Clan had been on relatively friendly terms with him. But after the Third War, that was no longer the case.

The older you got, the more you had to worry about.

At that age, he should have retired and let the next generation take over. That was the way to keep Konoha prosperous.

But after the Fourth Hokage's death in the Nine-Tails Incident, the Third Hokage had returned to office. He clearly wasn't qualified to continue serving as a wise Hokage.

Still, none of that had anything to do with Uesugi Yayoi. If he managed to live that long, he'd already have built up some capital by then.

Whether he left or kept working for someone else, he'd be able to live well.

After an impassioned speech, Uesugi Yayoi was assigned to Class A.

Uesugi Yayoi wasn't among the first to enter, but neither was he among the last.

The classroom was full of children chattering, whispering—or, more accurately, talking without any restraint.

Following the names written on the desks, Uesugi Yayoi found his seat.

Second seat in the fifth row from the left, by the window.

Unfortunately, someone had already taken the seat on the inside.

A girl with pure white eyes sat there quietly. Her gaze held not a trace of impurity, like pristine snow and ice.

From the way she sat, she had the air of a well-bred young lady, though her expression was a little cold.

The moment Uesugi Yayoi saw those pure white eyes, he recognized them. They were far too distinctive.

The Byakugan, one of the Three Great Eye Techniques of the Ninja World.

"Hello, I'm Uesugi Yayoi."

Uesugi Yayoi sat down and greeted her casually.

"Hyuga Rin. Hello."

As if sensing someone had arrived, the girl turned slightly toward Uesugi Yayoi and gave a small nod.

She had a delicate, adorable face, beautiful pure white eyes, and soft hair cascading around her. Her tone was a little cool, but she was very polite.

Uesugi Yayoi wasn't interested in little girls.

After exchanging names to leave an impression on his desk mate for the next few years at the Ninja Academy, Uesugi Yayoi began flipping through the books on his desk.

Boring, boring, and more boring.

The original owner had already studied all this at home. Come to think of it, his house really did have a lot of books.

And then there was that huge amount of chakra and his strong physique.

After his Blood Rage the day before, Uesugi Yayoi had tried using the Chakra Refining Method from one of the books. As soon as he started refining chakra, a vast amount suddenly surged through his body.

Uesugi Yayoi suspected he was from the Senju Clan, and not of low standing, either.

He could tell from the Ten-Tails consciousness the day before that he definitely had blood from Hagoromo's Lineage.

Hagoromo's Lineage was divided into the Senju and the Uchiha. Uesugi Yayoi had no Sharingan, but he had a huge chakra reserve and vitality. His family's collection of books was also clearly larger than an ordinary civilian's. By every measure, he seemed to be from the Senju Clan.

Thinking about the previous night made Uesugi Yayoi's heart skip a beat.

The two different bloodlines had fought each other all night. Luckily, they had started to fuse and reached a balance.

For now, as long as he didn't force himself to use a high-level Blood Rage, the balance wouldn't break.

However, his Dragon Clan bloodline seemed to have been stimulated. Its Blood Rage was clearly accelerating, while his Ten-Tails bloodline, though it benefited from Blood Rage too, wasn't developing quickly, as if it were missing something.

Uesugi Yayoi had to keep the two in balance. Otherwise, if one of the bloodlines completely suppressed the other—

Uesugi Yayoi had no idea what would happen. He just had a bad feeling about it.

Fortunately, he still had time, since neither bloodline's Blood Rage was progressing quickly.

The process of losing balance completely was bound to be a long one.

He casually opened the Will of Fire on his desk and pretended to read as he began to zone out.

Uesugi Yayoi didn't agree with any of the ideas described in the Will of Fire.

Without any rules or restrictions, a mere verbal promise to sacrifice was too easily turned into a tool for the higher-ups.

That meant many who truly believed in it might never receive any support, while those who exploited it could stand at the very summit of the Will of Fire and hurt the people who genuinely believed in it.

But none of that mattered to him.

Konoha might be a terrorist organization, and the Will of Fire might be bullshit for all he knew. But as a member of the village, he couldn't go against the mainstream.

Though he had nothing but contempt for the way they burned the leaves to nourish the roots buried deep underground, Uesugi Yayoi couldn't do anything about it. He was one of the leaves himself, still growing and soon to be tossed into the flames.

If he couldn't even protect himself, he had no right to pity anyone else.

This self-contradictory, nonsensical, empty philosophy was only good for brainwashing young children and naive fools. It was useless for anything else.

The Will of Fire was outdated—or rather, it needed an update.

"Congratulations on becoming students at the Ninja Academy. I'm your homeroom teacher, and barring any surprises, I'll be your teacher until you graduate.

"My hobbies are ramen and fishing, and my dream is to become a great Ninja."

Just then, a voice rang out. Uesugi Yayoi looked up at the teacher at the front of the classroom.

It was time for introductions.

Uesugi Yayoi was a little curious about his desk mate's self-introduction.

Most of the students in front had said pretty ordinary things: taking walks, playing, becoming Hokage.

Soon, it was Hyuga Rin's turn.

"My name is Hyuga Rin. My hobby is training, and my dream is to become a powerful kunoichi."

Hyuga Rin finished and sat down naturally, poised and graceful. One couldn't help admiring the upbringing of the Hyuga Clan.

Applause rang out through the classroom.

"There wasn't any applause before. Does being cute mean you can get away with anything?"

Watching the teacher at the front of the classroom clap, Uesugi Yayoi decided that being cute really did let you get away with anything.

"My name is Uesugi Yayoi. My hobby is reading, and my dream is to become someone who contributes to the village."

"Ahem."

Though he despised it in his heart, his body was still very honest.

If he wanted to get ahead, he had to act the part. Besides, it was only natural for a child of the Senju Clan to want to contribute to Konoha, right?

"Good. You've got a lot of spirit. Sit down."

The teacher offered a perfunctory word of encouragement.

The introductions continued.

"My name is Uchiha Yan. My hobby is eating dango, and my dream is to try every kind of dango in the Ninja World."

A little girl with a purple ponytail and a neat hairstyle stood up. Her delicate features were exquisitely sculpted, and her clear, gentle voice rang out.

"She's so cute. Too bad she's an Uchiha."

"What's wrong with being an Uchiha? Cuteness has nothing to do with clan!"

Voices rose and fell through the classroom. Evidently, people had been discussing the Uchiha ever since the village was founded.

Uesugi Yayoi also turned to look at the girl who had spoken.

She was seated right behind him. When Uesugi Yayoi looked back, she smiled at him.

Uesugi Yayoi smiled back.

Her smile was gentle, nothing like the village's stereotypical image of the Uchiha.

She seemed more like a child of the Hyuga Clan, while his own desk mate seemed more like a haughty Uchiha.