Ninja Academy

Three days later, the Ninja Academy opened. Yamanaka Seiko held Yamanaka Tohru's little hand and brought him to the entrance. In his previous life, his parents had not gotten along, and he had always gone to school alone from childhood to adulthood. This was the first time anyone had seen him off at the school gates!

After saying goodbye to Yamanaka Seiko, Yamanaka Tohru turned and entered the academy. It looked much the same as it had in the anime. He glanced around casually, shook his head, and headed toward the training grounds.

On the day he enrolled, one of the academy teachers had told Yamanaka Tohru to arrive early today. The Third Hokage would be coming to explain the Will of Fire to the newly enrolled students.

Yamanaka Tohru inwardly rejected such obvious brainwashing, but he had to give the future "big boss" some face. A few minutes later, he stood on the training grounds with Kakashi's dead-fish eyes from the original story. There was still half an hour before the Third Hokage's speech, and only a handful of people had arrived.

"The Third Hokage is here!"

"Wow! It really is the Third Hokage!"

Just as Yamanaka Tohru was counting ants with his head lowered, the training grounds grew noisy. The Third Hokage's arrival ignited the atmosphere among the crowd. Yamanaka Tohru looked up at Sarutobi Hiruzen, hailed as the "Professor of Ninjutsu" and the "Hero of Shinobi."

The Third Hokage was in his prime at the time, warmly greeting the students around him. He was no exception when passing by Yamanaka Tohru. His gentle smile showed not the slightest trace of a shinobi hero's bearing.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was proficient in ninjutsu of all five elements. He had been a disciple of the First and Second Hokage, and with his summoning technique, Enma, he stood at the pinnacle of the entire shinobi world. Moreover, the Third Hokage had no Kekkei Genkai. The fact that he had reached this point through his own efforts was truly admirable.

The Third Hokage held great prestige in the village. Even the children at the Ninja Academy looked at him with worshipful expressions. Standing on the platform, he began his speech to the several hundred new students below.

"Where the leaves dance, fire burns. The firelight illuminates the village, and then new leaves sprout once more!"

He opened with the very words he would speak before his death. The Third Hokage's speech was rather plain. At least, to Yamanaka Tohru, who had listened to countless lectures in his previous life, it was not particularly stirring. The Third Hokage merely relied on his prestige in Konoha and the Will of Fire passed down by word of mouth throughout the village to give these new academy students a deeper sense of belonging.

As for the speech's effect, one only had to look at the new students around him, who resembled fanatical believers. It was undoubtedly a tremendous success! After the Third Hokage left, the Ninja Academy's principal announced the class assignments.

Yamanaka Tohru strolled into the classroom and sat in the last row with his eyes closed, resting. He had no interest in fooling around with a bunch of brats.

The students gradually arrived, and when the class was nearly full, a middle-aged man entered, walked to the podium, and said, "Students! I'm your homeroom teacher, Yamashiro Ginichi. You can call me Yamashiro-sensei!"

Yamanaka Tohru opened his eyes and swept his gaze around. Sure enough, they were all "familiar faces."

"Students, let's start with introductions! Tell us your name, hobbies, and dreams. We'll begin with the person on the far left of the first row!"

"My name is Mizuki Bu. I want to become the greatest genjutsu ninja!"

"My name is—"

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't want to tell you what I like, and I have all kinds of dreams!" Starting with Kakashi's bizarre self-introduction, the Jonin from the original story made their appearances one after another.

Mitarashi Anko, Yūhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Might Guy, Nohara Rin, Shiranui Genma.

"My name is Yamanaka Tohru. There are many things I like, and my dream is to become the strongest ninja!"

Yamanaka Tohru had no idea that his dream had made Yamashiro Ginichi mark him as a student of special concern. Among all the students Yamashiro Ginichi had taught, Yamanaka Tohru was the first who wanted to become the strongest ninja. This dream, which strayed from Konoha's ideals, made Yamashiro Ginichi intensely curious about him.

"Everyone's dreams are great! I hope all of you can make them come true! Next, come collect your student registration forms from me. Fill them out and hand them in. Tomorrow, you'll officially become students of the Ninja Academy."

After receiving their registration forms, the new students left the academy in small groups.

"Yamashiro-sensei!" Just as Yamanaka Tohru was about to leave, Nohara Rin, who had been sitting in front of him, called out to Yamashiro Ginichi.

"What is it, Nohara?"

"Yamashiro-sensei, could you give me Uchiha Obito's registration form? I'll deliver it to him."

"Of course! I was planning to visit Obito's home and give him the form myself, so I'll leave it to you, Nohara!" Delighted to save himself the trouble, Yamashiro Ginichi handed the registration form to Nohara Rin.

"Thank you, Yamashiro-sensei! Kakashi, let's go!"

"Mm." Kakashi, standing by the door, nodded.

Sure enough, the bond between those three had begun when they were young. Watching Kakashi and Nohara Rin ahead of him, Yamanaka Tohru sighed.

"Yamanaka, come with us!" Nohara Rin, walking beside Kakashi, invited the "stalking pervert" behind them.

"Sure!" Yamanaka Tohru did not refuse. He was also looking forward to meeting Uchiha Obito.

Just as Yamanaka Tohru remembered, Uchiha Obito appeared right on time after the three of them left the school gates!

"Idiot Obito, you were even late for the Ninja Academy's opening day. The entrance ceremony is already over!" Kakashi mocked the sweat-drenched Obito.

"You can't become a ninja without a registration form!" Looking at Obito before him, who had none of the bearing of the future final boss, Yamanaka Tohru could not help teasing him as well.

"I only helped an old lady cross the street, then helped a lost white cat find its home, and then a black cat blocked my path. How did I end up this late?!" Obito's words left Yamanaka Tohru with black lines all over his face. So Kakashi had copied even his excuses for being late from Obito!

"Obito, don't worry! I already collected your registration form for you. Take it home, fill it out, and give it to the teacher tomorrow!" Just as in the original story, Nohara Rin was endlessly tolerant of Obito.

Nohara Rin's smile even made Yamanaka Tohru momentarily dazed. No wonder Obito chose to overturn the world for Rin!

Obito took the registration form excitedly and repeatedly thanked Nohara Rin. Kakashi expressed his dissatisfaction with Obito's lateness, while Yamanaka Tohru smiled as he watched the noisy group before him.

"Hey! Who are you? How dare you laugh at the future Hokage!" After bickering with Kakashi for a while, Obito noticed Yamanaka Tohru behind them.

"Obito, this is Yamanaka Tohru. He's our classmate!" Nohara Rin knew Obito's temper. He could offend people if he was not careful, so Rin hurriedly interrupted his provocation and gave Yamanaka Tohru an apologetic look.

Yamanaka Tohru shook his head to show it was fine, then held out his hand. "Yamanaka Tohru. Please take care of me!"

"Uchiha Obito! The future Hokage. Please take care of me!"

"Then, Future Hokage-sama, don't be late tomorrow!" Yamanaka Tohru teased.

"Shut up! I definitely won't be late tomorrow!"

"You've said that plenty of times already!" Kakashi retorted.

"You two bastards!" Obito and Kakashi started bickering again.