Two-Tails and Nine-Tails Collide [Please Vote]

Two-Tails and Nine-Tails Collide [Please Vote]

Led by Shikashin, Toneri entered the sixth-year classroom, where class was already in session.

In less than a year, they would have to undergo their graduation assessment.

Those who passed would become registered Konoha ninja. Those who failed... would either return for another year of study or go back to being ordinary people and live peaceful, stable lives.

When the teacher saw Shikashin appear at the classroom door with Toneri, he froze for a moment.

That morning, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already informed all the schoolteachers that there might be a transfer student.

Chitaka Nakai had not expected this transfer student to be placed directly into a graduation class...

But that was not something he needed to concern himself with. "Lord Shikashin, this child is...?"

Shikashin said with a smile, "This child is Toneri, the transfer student the Third Hokage mentioned. Don't mind him. Just continue teaching whatever you were teaching."

Chitaka Nakai nodded. Regardless of the child's identity, within the Ninja Academy, teachers treated everyone equally.

After handing Toneri over to Chitaka Nakai, Shikashin left with satisfaction.

Nakai hesitated slightly, but out of a teacher's sense of responsibility, he still asked, "Toneri, how old are you?"

Toneri maintained the shy expression of a well-behaved student and answered without changing his expression, "Teacher, I'm eleven this year."

Chitaka Nakai: "..."

In the end, he did not dwell on Toneri's age and led him into the classroom.

Since this was already a graduation class, there were not many students in the room.

Some had failed to extract Chakra from the beginning and dropped out, while others, like Minato Namikaze, had applied to graduate early, become ninja, and left.

However, those who had remained until now had all extracted at least a certain amount of Chakra, even if not all of them could become ninja. They also had some foundation in taijutsu and ninja tool throwing.

Among them were some who fully possessed the strength of genin, or even surpassed it, but were not permitted to graduate early.

They were the so-called reserve ninja. When Konoha's war situation became dire, these people could immediately become genin and join the war.

Now that the Second Shinobi World War had ended, Konoha had naturally raised the requirements for early graduation considerably.

"Toneri, introduce yourself first." Chitaka Nakai led Toneri up to the podium.

Dozens of eyes stared at him, but Toneri, who had seen far greater occasions, did not feel nervous at all.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Toneri. My favorite animal is cats. What I hate most is not having enough to eat. My greatest dream is to open a Cat Cafe of my own in Konoha!"

After speaking, Toneri gave everyone a slight bow.

Chitaka Nakai smiled. "Alright, let's welcome our new classmate. Toneri, find an empty seat."

With Chitaka Nakai taking the lead in applauding, the students in the classroom cooperated readily enough.

Toneri swept his gaze across the room, as though searching for something.

Very quickly, he spotted the girl seated at the very back of the classroom...

With a head full of long red hair, she sat alone in a corner. He walked straight toward her.

"He's a little short, but he seems pretty handsome."

As he walked down the aisle, he could vaguely hear several girls whispering about him. More of them were probably simply curious about him.

A transfer student in a graduation class was still a very rare sight.

Aside from that, a few boys looked at Toneri with a trace of resentment and faint hostility in their eyes.

Were these kids really this mature already, with such complicated thoughts?

Was it my fault for being handsome?

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" Toneri asked the red-haired girl, who had been sitting there without any reaction.

Kushina Uzumaki looked at Toneri with slight surprise. He was the first person who had ever asked to sit beside her.

But when her eyes met his seemingly pure gaze, her head suddenly rang, and she heard a voice rise in her mind.

"Stupid cat!!!"

At the same time, Toneri heard the Two-Tails' surprised yet faintly hostile voice in his mind.

"Why is that stupid fox here?!"

As though fate were playing a joke, the Nine-Tails and the Two-Tails, who had not met for who knew how many years, had encountered one another after being sealed inside Jinchūriki!

Kushina froze because of the Nine-Tails' influence.

But Toneri was not affected much by the Two-Tails.

He had long been mentally prepared for this situation.

Since she had not objected, that meant she agreed, right? Toneri plopped down beside Kushina.

Seeing Toneri take his seat, Chitaka Nakai continued the lesson.

However, Toneri and Kushina's attention was clearly no longer on the lesson.

Kushina, whose full name was Kushina Uzumaki, was a survivor of the Uzumaki Clan from Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools, and one of the few remaining members of the Uzumaki Clan in the world.

Konohagakure's only Jinchūriki, with the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts—the Nine-Tails—sealed inside her!

She was also the future Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze's wife, and Naruto's mother!

She was the main reason Toneri had gone against his own intentions and given up on starting from the lower grades, then lying low at the Ninja Academy until becoming a jonin before graduating!

It was not that Toneri had his eye on her, or that he wanted to get anything from her...

Well, he did want to get something from her...

But he could not make it obvious, right?

As Konoha's sole Jinchūriki, there were no fewer Anbu Ninja watching her than there were watching him. If he approached her rashly, the Konoha High Command would definitely take notice.

Going to school was the most natural method Toneri could think of, and the one most capable of lowering everyone's guard to the minimum.

Don't ask. I'm eleven years old!

Toneri had come prepared, so after he sat beside Kushina, he quickly calmed the restless Two-Tails within him.

But it was not so easy for Kushina. The Nine-Tails' Chakra gradually leaked from her body. If not for the much stronger seal on her, and if not for her grasp of some of the Uzumaki clan's Sealing Jutsu principles, that sudden outburst might have caused her to transform directly into a Tailed Beast.

After finally suppressing the furious Nine-Tails, she looked at Toneri with shock filling her eyes.

Ever since the Nine-Tails had been sealed inside her, this was the first time she had seen it so violent. Its Chakra, brimming with hatred, continuously battered her mind.

Toneri seemed to sense what was happening inside Kushina. He reached out and lightly patted her shoulder, then said with a smile, "Your hair... is really beautiful!"

Her hair... was beautiful?

As she listened to Toneri's words, the violent Nine-Tails inside her slowly calmed down the instant his hand touched her shoulder.

When they came into contact, the Two-Tails inside Toneri and the Nine-Tails inside Kushina communicated with each other.

Meanwhile, Kushina was still caught up in Toneri's words.

With just one sentence, her favorability toward Toneri instantly rose from negative to positive.

Tool Person Number Three, Kushina: conquest progress, 20%!

He was the second person she had met who praised her hair as beautiful. The first person to say that had already applied for early graduation to become a ninja.

However, as the Nine-Tails' Chakra within her gradually settled, Kushina also realized that this short little guy sitting beside her had a ferocious beast sealed inside him too, just like her.

The two of them were both Jinchūriki!

All of a sudden, Kushina felt a sense of shared misery.

I really have been muted, yet you people are actually gloating! Don't you think I'm pitiful? I won't be able to interact with you anymore, or let you see me go "waaah, waaah," let alone punch those "waaah, waaah" weirdos one at a time!

Today seems to be World Book Day. Shouldn't you give me a recommendation vote to prove that you've been reading?