The Person Who Shouldn't Appear

After waking up and washing up, Shinji arrived at the Ninja Academy early in the morning.

As soon as he entered the classroom, he froze.

There were dozens of people in the room, and he didn't recognize many of them. However, among the few familiar faces, there were two individuals who shouldn't have been there.

Suppressing his confusion, he sat down in his seat, relying on the original owner's memories.

At this moment, sympathetic and concerned gazes were cast his way.

Clearly, his classmates knew about the tragedy that had befallen the Uchiha Clan.

The Uchiha, Konoha's foremost prestigious clan, had been wiped out overnight by their young clan head, with only two children surviving.

The uproar this caused in the village was immense, as one could imagine!

Shinji, who had gradually grown accustomed to such looks, remained silent.

His eyes subtly flickered towards the red-haired little girl sitting in the front row near the podium, and the black-haired boy in front of him.

"What the hell is going on!"

Confusion swirled in his mind.

If he wasn't mistaken, the small, red-haired girl in the front row should be Karin, who possessed Uzumaki Clan blood, and the black-haired boy in front of him strongly resembled Haku from Kirigakure.

"Why are these two at Konoha's Ninja Academy?!"

Shinji searched through the fragmented memories left by the original owner but found no relevant information. It seemed the original owner had never paid attention to Karin and Haku as classmates.

He could only say, "As expected of an Uchiha."

Afterward, he turned his gaze to the boy with white eyes sitting at the other end of the classroom.

Neji Hyuga!

This was the only person the original owner cared about in his memories, and the person he considered a rival.

In the blink of an eye, the morning classes ended.

As a proud Uchiha, the original owner already had a distant relationship with his classmates. Coupled with Shinji's cold, unapproachable expression, no one had approached him all morning.

Shinji was content with the peace and quiet.

He didn't want to interact with people right now, mainly out of fear of revealing himself.

"If you don't mind, let's eat together!"

Suddenly, a voice pulled Shinji's wandering thoughts back.

Shinji looked up and saw the boy, who he suspected was Haku, sitting in front of him, offering him a food box.

Seeing Shinji's confused expression, the boy said, "Did you forget to bring your bento?"

Shinji then realized that lunch required bringing one's own bento. However, he didn't show it and took the opportunity to probe, "Your name is...?"

The boy didn't seem surprised or angry that Shinji didn't remember him and naturally introduced himself, "My name is Haku."

"It really is him!"

Shinji's heart tightened.

The water in the Ninja Academy runs deep!

The current Ninja Academy curriculum was simple.

It covered basic knowledge required for ninjas, such as survival skills in the wild, methods for tracking enemy footprints, and identifying the medicinal properties of various herbs.

The slightly more advanced courses merely explained the principles of extracting chakra from the human body.

As for the practical application of chakra to use ninjutsu, genjutsu, and the like, those were not yet covered.

In terms of taijutsu...

It mainly consisted of taijutsu sparring between students and ninja tool throwing practice.

Just like now, after finishing lunch, the students flocked to the training grounds. Some were chasing and playing, while others were sparring with each other.

"Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba..."

Shinji saw more familiar faces on the training grounds.

However, Naruto was a year below him, and their activity areas were different, so they didn't interact much.

Shifting his gaze to his own grade...

He noticed Neji, with a somber expression, not choosing to spar with others but instead practicing the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist alone against a wooden post in a corner.

After watching for a while, his expression gradually grew serious.

Neji was about the same age as him, only eight years old, but his taijutsu already looked incredibly sharp.

According to the original owner's memories, the original owner was no match for Neji in taijutsu, having lost miserably in several sparring sessions.

As a transmigrator, he was even less of a match.

This was because he realized that the children in the ninja world were completely different from the world he lived in. Here, eight-year-old children were agile, their offensive and defensive transitions smooth and natural, their attacks powerful and heavy, like martial arts masters.

"This is f***ing eight years old?"

He originally thought that he now possessed a Mangekyo Sharingan, enough to look down on these brats from the Ninja Academy from a high position.

But after observing for a while, without using his Sharingan, he found that he couldn't even deal with the nameless fodder of the same year.

Not to mention going up against someone like Neji, who had already earned the title of 'genius'.

"No, if the foundation is too poor, even with Mangekyo Sharingan, it will be difficult to unleash its full power!"

The power of a Kekkei Genkai varies depending on the user.

Moreover, the Mangekyo Sharingan is a consumable, not something that can be squandered without restraint.

At the same time, this also made him realize a problem.

That is, not counting the Mangekyo Sharingan, there was a significant gap between his strength and the original owner's strength. The original owner, a legitimate Uchiha, was second only to Neji in their grade, while he estimated his current strength was likely at the bottom of the grade.

If this gap couldn't be closed quickly, it might arouse the suspicion of some interested parties.

"This is so annoying, I'm not good at fighting!"

He was a bit troubled; knowing where the problem lay didn't mean it could be solved immediately.

Just then, Haku walked over to him and asked with some anticipation, "Classmate Shinji, can I practice Taijutsu with you?"

Fearing he would be exposed, Shinji inwardly lamented, but outwardly shook his head, "You're too weak."

Haku quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I was presumptuous."

Seeing Haku sincerely apologize to him, Shinji felt a little embarrassed.

Although he knew that Haku's appearance at Konoha's Ninja Academy was strange and there must be some conspiracy, he had to admit that Haku was a very considerate person and was very easy to get along with.

Evening.

School was over at the Ninja Academy.

Shinji walked towards his apartment, digesting what he had seen and heard at the Ninja Academy that day.

As he reached the end of the street, he noticed Haku was on the same path. After a brief chat, he asked in surprise, "Are you the one living next door to me?"

Haku nodded, "Classmate Shinji, please take care of me."

"Oh."

Shinji nodded.

Back home, Shinji collapsed onto his bed, letting his thoughts wander.

Haku and Karin appearing at Konoha's Ninja Academy and becoming his classmates was something he couldn't quite figure out.

"Is this a butterfly effect? Or a parallel universe?"

Shaking his head, he reined in his thoughts and unconsciously touched his chest.

The knife wound that had been deep enough to see bone had completely disappeared with the treatment of Medical Ninjutsu, but he still occasionally recalled the scene of the original owner's death in his fragmented memories.

That near-death experience was truly unpleasant.

[Plane under invasion.]

[Countdown: 1]

[Please be prepared, the invasion will be repelled after midnight tonight.]

Shinji shot up, looking at the wall clock.

The clock currently showed 8:05 PM, less than four hours until midnight!

New book period, seeking monthly passes and recommendation tickets for support! Please, everyone!