The Days of Going to School

For having to go to school again after being reborn, Higashino Makoto wasn't opposed to it—in fact, he was looking forward to it. After all, the Ninja Academy and the school from his previous life were two completely different things.

One focused on teaching scientific knowledge, the other on teaching you how to kill people.

Early in the morning, after finishing his routine exercise and enjoying a hearty breakfast, Higashino Makoto set off toward the school.

The sun shone overhead, flowers smiled, and a little bird said, "Early, early, early—why aren't you carrying your little backpack?"

Carry a backpack? No such thing. His ninja tool bags were enough—two on his lower back, one on his thigh.

Inside were kunai, shuriken, and other weapons.

That was the difference between the Ninja Academy and school in his past life. Here, even if someone carried a backpack, it was mostly filled with larger weapons that wouldn't fit in a tool bag, like fuma shuriken.

Of course, there was one small difference today. At least one of his tool bags held two pens and a small notebook.

That was it. Nothing more.

Halfway there, Higashino Makoto ran into Hayate Gekko and Uzuki Yugao waiting at an intersection, and the three of them walked together.

For some reason, looking at the two of them, Higashino Makoto suddenly felt like he was back in his previous life, walking with his village friends to middle school in the county town.

He never thought he'd get to experience something like this again. Maybe those guys from back then would never imagine he could be living in another world.

Life really was amazing. As long as you were alive, you could always run into interesting things—especially in this magical world.

When they reached the school, Hayate Gekko went off to his Second Year class, while Higashino Makoto and the others headed straight to Class 1-A. Just from the numbering, it was clear this was the elite class for top students.

The Ninja Academy used a typical Small Class System—27 students per class. If no one graduated early, they'd later be split into exactly nine squads.

The tiered classroom had three rows of long desks, both horizontally and vertically, with three students sitting behind each desk.

By now, most of the students had already arrived. Those who knew each other sat together, chatting excitedly with eager faces.

It was as if they'd take class today, graduate tomorrow, and sit on the Hokage's throne the day after.

Only Shisui sat alone by the window on the right side of the middle row. Whether it was because the clan crest on his clothes naturally repelled ordinary people, or because his mature-looking face stood out from the rest, no one could say.

Even so, his captivating Carlan Eyes were still striking, and several girls kept stealing glances at him.

When Higashino Makoto and Uzuki Yugao walked into the classroom, everyone turned to look at them. The boys wore expressions of barely concealed resentment—because along with Shisui, these two had been the top three in the entrance exam.

The girls were simpler. Their gazes all lingered on Higashino Makoto's face.

Let's just say the benefits of taking after his mom were obvious here. As Zhang Fei would put it: "I've got some fine looks!"

The little girl Uzuki Yugao, like a puppy whose food bowl had been stolen, shot fierce glares back at each of them in turn.

She wasn't the clueless little girl from two years ago anymore. By now, she'd instinctively learned to guard her food.

Higashino Makoto was a bit speechless. Sure enough, the girls of the Shinobi World are all Dumpling Spirits—starting to dip in vinegar at such a young age?

"You're pretty early."

Sitting down next to Shisui, Higashino Makoto spoke while pulling out the textbooks from under the desk to check them, flipping through until he found a small booklet.

"Nothing else to do, so I came early. So you were looking for this. See anything wrong with it, Makoto?"

The booklet in Higashino Makoto's hand was the semester's curriculum schedule. He glanced over it and nodded. "Yeah, compared to before, Humanities and Science classes have been cut way back. The extra time's all been given to Training and Combat classes."

"That's true. Why though?" Uzuki Yugao looked at her own Curriculum Manual and asked in confusion.

Shisui thought for a moment. "Because of the war. The village doesn't know how long this war will last. To prepare for any unfavorable situations that might come up, prioritizing the students' Combat Power is the best choice."

Higashino Makoto agreed with that assessment. "Right. This is the War Period. Whether we end up being used or not, focusing on boosting combat power first is the right call. Better safe than sorry. This place trains ninja, not scholars. Basic Knowledge isn't a necessity—if you need it later, you can always catch up."

Uzuki Yugao: "Huh? So that's how it is?"

"Of course. But anyone interested can self-study. As long as it doesn't interfere with training, the school won't care." Higashino Makoto looked at the textbooks in front of him—every subject was there.

These were all distributed directly to the classroom by the school, unlike in his past life where he had to go pick up his own textbooks.

And they were all free. The Ninja Academy didn't charge tuition either.

This was a place to train ninja to risk their lives for the village—basically a New Recruit Training Camp. Pay to attend? That'd be like paying to enlist. What kind of America behavior was that?

Soon, shortly after all the students had arrived, class time came.

A young ninja in a Green Vest walked into the classroom and stood at the Podium.

He looked to be in his twenties, of average height, wearing Black-rimmed Glasses, and was somewhat Handsome. His black hair had a distinctive style—as if it possessed an unyielding spirit, each strand standing straight up, making him look like a Saiyan.

For a moment, Higashino Makoto felt like he was seeing Nobita. He half-feared this Teacher might suddenly get angry, his hair turn yellow, and then slap poor Planet Earth into Cosmic Dust.

Luckily, he was overthinking it. The young Teacher wrote his name on the blackboard and looked at everyone. "Hello everyone, my name is Inoue Kuroiwa. From now on, I'll be your Homeroom Teacher. Now, I'd like the Students to come up one by one and introduce yourselves—include your dreams, hobbies, and so on, so we can all get to know each other. Let's start with the student in the front row on the left."

One by one, the students went up to introduce themselves.

Facing the whole class, some were nervous, some were cheerful, some were shy, and one even wore Sunglasses to look cool.

Then he said his surname was Aburame, and his name was Aburame Muta. Oh, that explained it. His true form was the Sunglasses—the entire male line of that clan were Sunglasses spirits.

As for dreams, most of them were about becoming Hokage, protecting the village, and things like that.

After all, a Konoha ninja who doesn't want to become Hokage isn't a good student.

The girls weren't as keen on becoming Hokage. Some wanted to be a ninja like Tsunade, others wanted to open a cake shop or a flower shop in the future, and a few even said outright that their dream was to marry a gentle, handsome, perfect husband.

What the hell, is this six years old? Did they get pumped full of hormone-boosted Kakarot or something? And when you say "gentle and handsome," could you stop staring at me?

When it was Uzuki Yugao's turn, the little girl wasn't shy at all: "My name is Uzuki Yugao. I like flower viewing. My dream is to have a large garden where I can collect and grow all kinds of famous flowers from the Shinobi World."

Yeah, Higashino Makoto had figured that out two years ago. When they went fishing, she couldn't sit still for twenty minutes, and spent the rest of the day picking flowers in the forest, along with a bunch of poisonous mushrooms.

If Hayate Gekko and Higashino Makoto hadn't both studied Wild Edible Plant Identification Knowledge beforehand, the four of them would've been flat on their backs after eating those.

When it was Higashino Makoto's turn, he looked at his classmates below, carefully memorized their faces, then said calmly, "My name is Higashino Makoto. I like training. My dream is to become a powerful ninja and protect my comrades."

Inoue Kuroiwa looked at the student with the best Entrance Test Score: "Higashino, don't you want to become Hokage?"

"Of course I do. But, Teacher Inoue, we need to broaden our perspective. If you can't become Hokage, does that mean you can't protect your comrades? Protecting comrades shouldn't depend on rank. It's a resolve every Konoha ninja should have."

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad. Higashino, you have a deep understanding of the Will of Fire. Alright, go back to your seat. Next."

"My name is Uchiha Shisui. I like eating grilled fish, especially with friends. My dream is for everyone in the village to understand each other, no matter where they come from, and become good friends."

"A very nice dream. Next."

It wasn't until the self-introduction session was over that Higashino Makoto sensed the feeling of being watched disappear. The Third's Crystal Ball sure came in handy.

The Ninja Academy was the Hokage's foundation, an important place to spread the Will of Fire to the young disciples of ninja clans. As Class A was the gathering spot for this year's top new students, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi not pay attention?

"Mutual understanding... Shisui, that really is a nice dream."

"Makoto, you think so too?"

"Of course. Mutual understanding isn't that hard. For example, say there's a ninja who hasn't eaten in days. He sees me holding a bag of bread and tries to snatch it. I understand his behavior, because he's starving to death."

"So would you give him the bread?"

"No, I'd beat him to death. Understanding doesn't mean agreeing. If I give him the bread, what do I eat?"

"Can't you just go buy another bag?"

Sure enough, even if he was mature for his age, he was still too young. Higashino Makoto looked at Shisui speechlessly: "Was I talking about the bread?"

Shisui: "Weren't you?"

Uzuki Yugao: "What are you two talking about? It's still a while until lunch."

Higashino Makoto, Uchiha Shisui: "..."

Forget it, let's just pay attention in class.

The first class was the glorious history of Konoha, with explanations of the Will of Fire sprinkled in throughout.

Sure enough, no matter how much they compressed the general knowledge class time, an in-depth interpretation of the Will of Fire was indispensable. For a Ninja Village, a ninja's strength was secondary; loyalty came first.

Just like the materials Higashino Makoto had seen at home or in the library, the history of Konoha's founding had been heavily edited. Many key events were missing, and the remaining ones were only briefly described, followed by long passages of deep analysis through the lens of the Will of Fire.

There were the First and Second Hokage's thoughts, but the most was the Third's ideology.

But the problem was, some of those events happened after the First and Second had already passed on, right? Were they doing reading comprehension in the Pure Land?

And what about the Uchiha's presence? They were one of the two founding clans of the village, after all.