The Minotaur is Invincible

September 11, morning.

Class 4-1 was in the middle of a lesson when two figures suddenly appeared at the doorway—one tall, one short.

Yuya, the teacher, walked over. After a brief exchange, he brought the shorter figure up to the podium.

Instantly, the entire class's attention converged on that small figure.

Among the students, one child's eyes flickered with interest—Namikaze Minato.

As for the rest, most were fixated on Uzumaki Kushina's hair, brimming with curiosity.

After all, in this shinobi world, red hair was an extremely rare color. With Uzumaki Mito's red fading away, Konoha couldn't boast a single redhead anymore.

Uzumaki Kushina, now under the scrutiny of the whole class, looked timid, her eyes darting away, afraid to meet anyone's gaze.

Sensing her nervousness, Yuya patted her shoulder and began introducing her to the class: "This is the student who will officially be transferring into our school starting today..."

Before he could finish, the once-timid Uzumaki Kushina seemed to muster up her courage, suddenly lifting her head, closing her eyes, and shouting: "I'm Uzumaki Kushina!"

Whether it was because she'd been looking down the whole time or an accent issue, her self-introduction came out a bit shrill.

No sooner had she blurted out her name than she blushed and covered her mouth with her hands.

Her outburst triggered a wave of laughter across the classroom.

"Look at that hair color, I can't believe it!"

"How does it get that red? So weird!"

"Chubby round face, red hair—this one looks just like a tomato."

"First time seeing hair like that. With that accent, she's not from another village, is she?"

"Huh? No way, I don't want to share a class with an outsider. The other classes will make fun of us!"

"..."

The pointing and mocking voices stung Uzumaki Kushina's pride.

Just as she was about to fire back with some bold declaration to keep them from looking down on her, a voice silenced the entire room.

"So noisy..."

Those light, airy words hit like a chill seeping into their bones. The loudmouths all shuddered, instinctively clamping their mouths shut and lowering their heads to shrink their presence.

This reaction doused the anger rising in Uzumaki Kushina's chest, and she instinctively looked toward the source of the voice.

At the back of the classroom, occupying a desk all to himself, Gojo Yoru sat with one hand propping up his cheek and the other holding a pencil, as if disturbed while working on a problem. He lifted his head to scan the room, and his striking ice-blue eyes met Uzumaki Kushina's navy-blue ones.

A few seconds later, Gojo Yoru looked away and said flatly, "You sit here."

Yuya's eyes lit up, and he smiled at Kushina. "Kushina, you'll sit next to Gojo Yoru. He's the Top Student of the fourth grade. If you have any questions you don't understand, you can ask him directly."

After that, he turned to Gojo Yoru. "Gojo Yoru, look after your deskmate."

Knowing full well that Gojo Yoru was just prickly by nature, Yuya felt comfortable pairing them up.

But the other students, unaware of Gojo Yoru's true personality, looked at Uzumaki Kushina with pity.

Being deskmates with the big demon lord—what a poor soul!

"I... I understand."

At that moment, Uzumaki Kushina was full of curiosity about Gojo Yoru, who had stood up for her.

Hearing Teacher Yuya's arrangement, she quickly responded and scurried over to sit beside him.

During all this, she didn't notice a certain gaze following her every move—warm, and unusually tinged with a hint of regret.

Settling in next to Gojo Yoru, Uzumaki Kushina immediately tried to introduce herself politely again: "H-Hello, I'm Uzumaki Kushina."

The expected response never came.

Gojo Yoru just glanced at her, lifted his pencil, and pointed to a neatly stacked pile of books beside him. "These are last semester's notes. Flip through them if you want."

With that, he ignored her completely.

So cold!

Meeting Gojo Yoru's gaze up close, Uzumaki Kushina finally understood why those kids had reacted the way they did.

White hair and eyebrows, and those eyes—cold enough on their own.

But that look and that voice carried an overwhelming pressure.

If Teacher Yuya hadn't said he was the Top Student, she would've pegged Gojo Yoru as the class delinquent.

At the same time, her curiosity about him deepened.

His appearance and his earlier act of stepping in were a total contrast.

An aloof personality, a warm-hearted gesture—clearly someone with a story.

And after the classmates' mockery, Uzumaki Kushina only felt goodwill toward Gojo Yoru. She wanted to get to know this deskmate.

But for now, she couldn't find any topic to start with, so she just sat quietly beside him.

Since she was in the very last row and all the classmates had their backs to her, Uzumaki Kushina felt bold enough to size them up.

The next second, Uzumaki Kushina immediately locked eyes with someone.

When everyone else had their backs turned, that one head swiveling around to sneak a peek at her was way too conspicuous.

But not knowing whether this person had just been laughing at her, Uzumaki Kushina simply shot him a fierce glare.

Namikaze Minato was so startled by Uzumaki Kushina's look that he quickly averted his gaze.

Gojo Yoru, who had been pretending to focus on his worksheet while actually keeping an eye on Uzumaki Kushina the whole time, nearly broke character and laughed out loud at the scene.

A cuckold who knows the plot is unstoppable!

Having shattered their "dream" resonance, Namikaze Minato's chances of catching Uzumaki Kushina's attention again were probably shot.

After all, during the Original Work's Ninja Academy days, his interactions with Uzumaki Kushina were nearly zero—he only dared to watch her from the shadows, like a male version of Hyuga Hinata.

And when Uzumaki Kushina caught him, she thought he was gloating and enjoying her embarrassment.

Without the Cloud Ninja incident's heroic rescue, who knows how long it would have taken Namikaze Minato to change Uzumaki Kushina's opinion of him.

Now that Gojo Yoru—a cuckold warrior who understood Uzumaki Kushina's personality—was in the picture, by the time Minato worked up the courage to approach her, he'd probably be greeted by an Anbu warning.

While writing reading comprehension answers in his book, Gojo Yoru pondered how to interact with Uzumaki Kushina next, and what approach would quickly raise her favorability without arousing suspicion from the higher-ups.

What Gojo Yoru didn't know was that his earnest note-taking was also being watched by someone else.

In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen—still in his prime as the "Hero of the Ninja World"—had already picked up the habit of smoking his pipe, puffing out clouds of smoke.

Having watched Uzumaki Kushina's entire entry into Class 4-1 through the Crystal Viewing Technique, Sarutobi Hiruzen fixed his gaze on Gojo Yoru inside the crystal ball. His eyes narrowed slightly beneath the haze of smoke, and he murmured, "Sa and Mio's child, huh..."