Uchiha Mikoto

The moment they left the Ninja Academy, they saw a vast crowd of parents waiting outside. It looked much like the grand scene outside examination centers during college entrance exams in his previous life.

There were actually quite a few students at the Ninja Academy—at least several hundred per class—while even more parents waited outside.

In the original timeline, Kakashi told Naruto that each class only had twenty or thirty students, and that two-thirds of them would be sent back.

But in reality, if there were only that few graduates each year, Konoha would have no more than a thousand or so people at most and would have long since been wiped out by the other shinobi villages. Iwagakure alone could field ten thousand men just to kill the Third Raikage. As the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha could not possibly have far fewer ninja than the others. If anything, it would have more.

Those twenty or thirty were basically members of the elite class. There were some from other classes as well, but regardless, they were either the best of the best or top-tier second-generation shinobi. After graduation, they would all have jonin assigned to lead them.

Thanks to their talent or family background, their future prospects were bound to surpass those of ordinary ninja. Every one of them had the potential to become jonin. Only people like that were worth Konoha assigning several jonin as instructors for each year.

Jonin were extremely valuable combat assets. Even Hokage elections required votes from among the jonin, giving them considerable political standing. Not every Ninja Academy graduate was worthy of having a jonin lead their team.

The instructors decided whether you were good enough. If they thought you were, you followed them. If they did not, you were sent back, demoted a grade, and reassigned to other Special Jonin or chunin.

The latter was the normal outcome for the vast majority of Ninja Academy graduates. The luckier ones might have a Special Jonin leading them. Anyone who had made it to Special Jonin had at least one exceptional skill and met jonin standards in certain areas. But if the team leader was merely a chunin, they would mostly be treated as cannon fodder on the battlefield.

Uchiha Inabi and Uchiha Gen habitually headed toward the Clan Grounds. Just then, a lanky, long-haired middle-aged man appeared before them.

His name was Uchiha Shinno, a Konoha jonin and deputy captain of a Police Force division. He was also Inaho's father.

"It seems your results in this Graduation Exam were not very good."

Inaho, who had always acted arrogantly at the Ninja Academy, lowered his head.

"Who took first place?"

Inaho looked at Gen beside him.

"Congratulations, Gen. If Taki knew how outstanding you had become, he would surely be very happy."

Shinno's expression softened somewhat when he looked at Gen, though he still appeared stern.

Uchiha Taki had been the father of this body. Before Gen transmigrated here, Taki had already died in a mission to capture spies from an enemy village.

"Thank you for the praise, Uncle Shinno. But Inaho performed very well too. In the future, he will definitely become a powerful Uchiha just like you."

Uchiha Gen politely replied to Shinno.

"Not enough. If he wants to become an Uchiha stronger than his father, he needs to do more."

Uchiha Shinno shook his head and continued questioning Inaho.

"So did you place second or third this time?"

Throughout their years at the Ninja Academy, Inaho, Sarutobi Enju, and Gen had basically never fallen out of the top three.

"Third. Before the match, Sarutobi Enju held a mouthful of oil in his mouth to increase the power of his Fire Release, so..."

"A loss is a loss. There is nothing more to say. Still, losing to the Hokage's son and a clansman who performed better is understandable. It does not disgrace the family's name. This afternoon, come with me to the Clan Vault and choose a ninjutsu."

As one of the Ninja World's foremost clans, the Uchiha Clan had flourished for over a thousand years. Its members generally never lacked powerful ninjutsu to learn. Once they reached a certain ninja rank—for example, advancing from genin to chunin, or evolving their Two-Tomoe Sharingan into a Three-Tomoe Sharingan—they would be qualified to enter the Clan Vault and select certain ninjutsu.

"Yes, Father!"

"Gen, I had intended to bring you to the Clan Vault as well and offer you some advice on choosing ninjutsu. But I saw the Great Elder's granddaughter on the way here. She should be looking for you, so I will not overstep."

Uchiha Shinno turned to look toward the street corner.

A delicate black-haired girl was walking over from there with light steps and a smile in her eyes.

A bright red ribbon tied up her long, high ponytail. Over her light-blue short-sleeved shirt embroidered with the Uchiha Clan Crest, she wore a green Konoha Ninja vest. Her long legs were snowy white and straight, yet healthy and strong. Clean white bandages wrapped around her calves, and the blue combat boots made her already tall figure appear even more slender.

This girl was... Uchiha Mikoto?

Uchiha Gen recognized her identity at once.

They belonged to the same clan, so of course he knew Mikoto. Back then, she had been his senior at the Ninja Academy, three years ahead of him.

"Sister Mikoto."

Gen and Inaho spoke in unison.

"Uncle Shinno, Cousin Inaho, and Gen, hello."

The girl smiled gently at the three of them and gave a slight bow.

Uchiha Shinno said, "Mikoto, you came on Elder Gen's behalf, didn't you?"

"Yes. Grandfather has long heard of the newly emerged genius within the clan. Today happens to be the day the Ninja Academy graduates, so he specially sent me to invite Cousin Gen to his home for a chat."

Uchiha Gen was the current Great Elder of the Uchiha Clan. His status was second only to Uchiha Hisa, the Clan Head. He held the authority to enforce the Clan Rules and was responsible for coordinating the management, distribution, education, and inheritance of the clan's public resources.

In other words, both the Clan Vault and Clan Academy fell under his management. As a newly emerged genius of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Gen naturally could not avoid the Great Elder.

"Then I will take Inaho and leave first. Gen, if you need any help, you can tell me. There is no need to stand on ceremony with the Great Elder either."

Uchiha Shinno waved to Mikoto and Gen, then took Inaho away.

"Little Gen, shall we go?"

Uchiha Mikoto smiled, her clear gaze naturally settling on the boy before her.

His face was clean and his skin fair, with a trace of baby fat not yet faded away. He was still young and had clearly only recently begun developing, yet his features were handsome and well-defined, carrying a vibrant, youthful air.

It was the bearing of someone optimistic and confident in his own future.

With a cheat at his disposal, of course he had more confidence than others.

At a glance, he was brimming with youthful spirit.

"Ah, all right, Sister Mikoto."

Uchiha Gen and Mikoto walked side by side through Konoha's streets. The faint fragrance of the girl's hair drifted into his nose, while his gaze appeared vacant, as though he were daydreaming.

But in truth, he had diverted part of his attention to the system.

Originally, Gen had planned to return home, bathe, burn incense, pray to the Buddha, Guanyin, the Three Pure Ones, and the Sage of Six Paths, then draw the lottery.