Ninja Academy

(Skipping ahead: Shisui's death and some other trivial matters I'll gloss over directly. I still want to write more about what concerns the protagonist.)

Days passed one after another, and in the blink of an eye Josuke had turned six. Enrolling in the Ninja Academy was just a few days away.

A few more things had happened over these three years.

First, Shisui—the Uchiha clan's genius ninja, famed alongside Itachi—had died. Josuke certainly couldn't have known the details, but based on the timeline from the Naruto era, he could roughly guess when it happened.

Second, within the Uchiha clan, the hatred toward Konoha was growing deeper and deeper, reaching the brink of eruption. These past few days, his good older brother Itachi had been missing, not coming home for several days.

His so-called father Fugaku also kept locking himself in his room, lost in thought.

Josuke couldn't stop it. He was still too weak.

Three years had let Josuke learn chakra refinement, as well as low-level ninjutsu like Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique and Phoenix Sage Fire. He'd even tested his chakra nature and found he had all five—Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Water. That was actually pretty great.

But Josuke was puzzled. Why did he have Water? Uchiha brats having Water—could it be he possessed the Second Hokage's majestic bearing?

He didn't dare think about it. Recalling the past, tears wouldn't dry.

Of course, in terms of friendships, Josuke and Sasuke had gotten to know Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, and others over these three years, and they'd all become good friends. As for Sakura and the other girls, Josuke didn't know a single one yet.

But Josuke figured that with him and Sasuke having identical faces, they'd definitely sweep a whole crowd off their feet. Heh.

Naruto had also changed a lot over these three years, making more friends.

Choji and Shikamaru were among his good buddies.

Josuke's current plan for himself was to bolt out of the village right after the Third Hokage kicked the bucket, and see if he could train in ninjutsu with Orochimaru or Jiraiya—ideally learning senjutsu too.

That way, when he faced the angry little brat—no, Six Paths Obito and Madara—he could at least trade blows with them.

For now, he definitely had to keep practicing ninjutsu. He also planned to train in the Eight Inner Gates with Emperor Gai. He knew he couldn't learn the later gates, so Josuke's plan was to master up through the Third Gate and the early part of the Fourth Gate as a transition.

Plus, the Eight Inner Gates would lay a foundation for Josuke's future physical strength.

Yosh. That was settled.

Even as Josuke's mind wandered, his ninjutsu practice didn't stop.

After a simple hand seal sequence, a surge of energy erupted from within Josuke!

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

A fireball appeared in front of Josuke, speeding toward the wooden post ahead!

With a loud bang, the wooden post was blasted to pieces by the Great Fireball.

Josuke lightly wiped the sweat from his brow.

At his current level, releasing four fireballs drained his mana completely. He could only use Phoenix Sage Fire three times. His blue bar was still too low.

But that made sense. He wasn't even a genin yet. Though, Konoha genin...

Well...

Thinking this, Josuke formed hand seals again.

Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire! (Changed it, changed it—ancestral legacy.)

Little fireballs scattered forward like blossoms, bursting in midair one after another.

Phoenix Sage Fire and Great Fireball Technique were the ninjutsu Josuke was best at right now. Each had its own merits, but Phoenix Sage Fire clearly demanded a higher level of chakra control.

"Huff."

After unleashing Phoenix Sage Fire.

Josuke's chakra was nearly bottomed out. He was panting heavily. He really was still too useless.

But remembering he was only six and had plenty of time, Josuke didn't dwell on it.

Soon, the day of the Ninja Academy's opening arrived, and Josuke's path as a ninja began.

"Be careful out there."

Early that morning, Mikoto had prepared breakfast, waiting for the two little ones to wake up.

Breakfast was rice balls.

Josuke grabbed a rice ball and stuffed it into his mouth.

Mikoto scolded him from the side, "Eat slowly. No one's going to take it from you."

Josuke flashed his big white teeth and grinned.

"Alright, Mom. Sasuke and I are heading to school. From now on, we're full-fledged ninja!"

Josuke was a little excited. He'd been waiting for this day for a long time.

Well, not that long, actually.

In that moment, Mikoto felt time had flown by in the blink of an eye. Her two children had grown up...

After finishing breakfast, the two left the house under Mikoto's watchful gaze.

"Sasuke, we're going to be ninja."

Josuke said to Sasuke.

Sasuke sneered, "Look at you getting all excited. I'm going to surpass Brother Itachi, you know."

Josuke rolled his eyes at him—the king of posing never missed a chance to show off, no matter the time or place.

The two moved quickly, and before long, they arrived at Konoha Ninja Academy.

After confirming their class assignments at the new student reception desk by the entrance, they headed to their classroom.

The moment Josuke pushed open the door, he saw Naruto greeting Shikamaru. Naruto spotted Josuke and waved enthusiastically.

"Josuke, over here!"

Naruto pointed at the empty seat beside him.

Josuke was speechless.

"Naruto, you don't actually think seats are first-come-first-served, do you? There's a seating chart."

Josuke pointed to the white paper posted on the wall.

Sasuke coolly added, "Idiot."

Leaving Naruto frozen in place like a statue.

Josuke found his own seat according to the chart, and his desk mate surprised him greatly.

It was Lee!

Josuke remembered that Lee should have been in the year above. But... why was it like this?

Probably because of the Butterfly Effect ☜ When in doubt, blame the Butterfly Effect.

Josuke's existence had slightly altered Lee's life path, but not by much.

As for why it happened and why it was only a little, the comment section could fill in the gaps.

It turned out that Josuke's arrival, combined with the Nine-Tails' Attack, had delayed Lee's enrollment by a year.

But this was truly a stroke of luck—finding what he sought without even looking.

If he won over Lee, wouldn't Emperor Gai teach him the Eight Inner Gates?

So Josuke enthusiastically stepped forward to greet him.

"Hello, I'm Uchiha Josuke. Nice to meet you."

Josuke gave a slight smile and extended his hand.

Seeing that his assigned desk mate was so outgoing, Lee felt a bit less awkward.

So he shook Josuke's hand and replied.

"I'm Rock Lee. Everyone calls me Lee or Little Lee. Nice to meet you too! Let's burn our youth together!"

Lee had already entered half-youth mode, his words carrying a hint of chuunibyou energy.

Soon enough, the two hit it off.

Not far away, two girls were commenting on a pair of equally handsome guys.

"Ino, look at Sasuke—he's so cool and aloof. I really like him."

The two girls were none other than Konoha's early famous Plastic Sisters, Ino and Sakura.

Ino nodded, resting her chin on her left hand as she looked toward Josuke's direction. "I think Josuke is really good-looking too."

Josuke had no idea Ino was secretly checking him out right then. If he knew, he'd definitely blurt out, "What the hell."

So Sakura said, "Then... you can't like my Sasuke. Josuke is yours."

Ino's face flushed slightly, and she lightly tapped Sakura.

"Sakura, what nonsense are you talking about? This young lady is just admiring a handsome guy's looks."

The classroom was noisy, so Josuke naturally couldn't hear what others were saying.

By now, Josuke had completely charmed Lee. With a barrage of sweet talk and treats, he successfully got Lee to promise to take him to meet his future teacher.

That teacher, needless to say, was none other than Emperor Gai.