Geniuses of the Academy

Once the morning classes ended, it was time for lunch.

When Namikaze Minato turned around, he saw Yakushi Nonō take two lunch boxes out of her backpack.

After opening them, she handed Natsuki a pair of chopsticks.

He suddenly felt a little unnecessary.

"Minato, want to eat together?"

Natsuki sent him an invitation to join their group.

Namikaze Minato agreed without much thought.

He sat across from Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō and opened his own lunch box.

"If you don't mind, have a taste."

Namikaze Minato said with a smile.

"Did you make it yourself?"

Natsuki asked curiously.

In the original story, nothing had been mentioned about Namikaze Minato's parents, whether their identities or whether they were alive.

But if their fate was unknown, they were probably dead. Namikaze Minato was most likely an orphan too.

"Mm."

Namikaze Minato nodded.

"Not bad."

Natsuki praised him after eating a piece of fried shrimp.

The original story had mentioned that Namikaze Minato was very skilled at cooking.

A thought suddenly struck Natsuki.

Would cooking trigger a new Character Template?

Chefs might not have much combat power, but satisfying one's appetite was still worthwhile.

In life, eating, drinking, and having fun were unavoidable.

Besides, a chef who didn't want to fight wasn't a good chef.

There were plenty of chefs with terrifying strength in the myriad worlds.

The three chatted as they ate.

Suddenly, Namikaze Minato gave a mysterious smile and asked, "Do you know which impressive upperclassmen are in the Academy?"

Natsuki shook his head.

Though he had been reborn, the original story's timeline was rather chaotic.

He only had a rough idea of the era he was in and knew of a few famous characters.

As for which classes they were in, he had no idea.

"Before class today, I checked the notice boards for every grade and found seven very impressive geniuses."

Namikaze Minato did not keep it to himself and began listing the seven people.

In the second year were Akimichi Choza, Nara Shikaku, and Yamanaka Inoichi.

They were the future clan heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, as well as the fathers of Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino.

In the third year was Nawaki.

Natsuki had already met him.

Naturally, he deserved to be called a genius.

Though he had been blown to death by an Explosive Tag the moment he entered the battlefield in the original story, Orochimaru would not have valued him if he lacked talent.

In the fifth year was Uchiha Mikoto.

She was the future wife of the Uchiha Clan head and would give birth to two famous sons, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi.

In the sixth year were Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga.

They were biological brothers.

Hyuga Hiashi was Hyuga Hinata's father and the future head of the Hyuga Clan.

Hizashi Hyuga, meanwhile, was Hyuga Neji's father.

"Ninja warfare is information warfare."

After hearing that, Natsuki joked, "Minato, looks like you're already preparing to become Hokage."

"I was just wandering around because I had nothing else to do."

Namikaze Minato shook his head and said modestly, "Besides, becoming Hokage isn't that easy. Maybe you have a better chance than I do."

Natsuki paused slightly.

His first thought was, Me beating Minato? Seriously?

But when he considered the cheat he had now, Minato defeating Sukuna might actually become reality.

"Intuition,"

Namikaze Minato explained.

Ever since meeting Natsuki, he had always given Minato a calm and steady impression.

Even when the topic of Hokage came up, he remained utterly unruffled.

Yet Natsuki had clearly said during his introduction that he wanted to become Hokage.

That meant he was confident.

If Natsuki knew what Namikaze Minato was thinking, he could only say that Minato was overthinking it.

His goal had never changed. He just wanted to survive.

But... becoming Hokage wasn't a bad idea either.

After all, he already had a cheat.

Could someone with a freshly acquired cheat really let himself be wronged?

I don't eat beef!

Once the lunch break ended, it was afternoon.

The afternoon was not for theory classes, but practical lessons.

It was not true combat training. They were being taught the most basic Ninja skill: how to refine Chakra.

Natsuki and Yakushi Nonō had learned it in advance. Root Ninja had taught them in order to test their talent.

Normally, refining Chakra within one day meant one had the bearing of a great emperor, while doing so within three days meant one was a genius.

It had taken Natsuki a month to refine Chakra, leaving him neither good nor bad.

Yakushi Nonō was different. She had only needed two days.

Natsuki had also discovered that his innate Chakra reserves were not very high.

Although Chakra could be refined afterward, he knew very well that Chakra gained through later refinement had limits.

True geniuses were born with enormous Chakra reserves, like Uzumaki Naruto.

As the saying went, you had to stop being human. The closer your bloodline was to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya or the Sage of Six Paths, the more Chakra you had.

Natsuki's bloodline concentration was not high enough.

Without any surprises, his limit would be Chunin.

Fortunately, he did not let pressure get to him. He could leave the pressure to the system.

Time slowly passed, and his first day at the Ninja Academy officially came to an end.

"Heading back together?"

Namikaze Minato turned around and asked.

"I still have something to do. You go ahead."

Natsuki shook his head.

"All right. See you tomorrow."

Seeing this, Namikaze Minato did not ask further. He stood up and left the classroom.

"We're going to the Hokage Building."

Natsuki looked at Yakushi Nonō.

"The Hokage Building?"

Yakushi Nonō tilted her head, confusion appearing on her small face.

"Don't you want to become a medical Ninja?"

Natsuki reached out and rubbed her head. "I'm planning to hire you a teacher."

"Huh?"

Yakushi Nonō let out a cute, startled sound.

Natsuki had just thought about it. It would seem strange if he directly hired someone to teach him anesthetics.

Since that was the case, he might as well spend a little more money and hire a private tutor.

In the original story, Yuhi Kurenai had been invited by the Kurama Clan to become Kurama Yakumo's teacher.

"Will it be expensive?"

Yakushi Nonō hesitated for a few seconds before asking.

"A good teacher will naturally be expensive."

Natsuki changed the subject. "But at this stage, we don't need such a good teacher. We'll hire a Genin first."

Upon hearing that, Yakushi Nonō immediately took out a wallet.

"I still have enough money to hire a Genin."

Natsuki stood up and said, "You can owe me for now."

His parents had left him quite a large inheritance.

On top of that, they had died for Konoha, so he had also received a substantial pension.

Besides the money, there were five Ninjutsu.

The E-Rank Three Body Technique, the D-Rank Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu, and the C-Rank Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage.

His parents had both been Chunin, so they did not know many Ninjutsu.

Yakushi Nonō wanted to speak but stopped herself. In the end, she nodded.

The two left the Ninja Academy and arrived at the Hokage Building.

Though it was already after work, there were still plenty of Ninja coming and going.

They went straight upstairs and entered the Mission Hall.

This was where Ninja accepted missions.

"I want to post a mission."

Natsuki walked up to a young female Ninja and got straight to the point.

"What kind of mission?"

The young female Ninja looked around and asked.

It was her first time seeing such a young child come to post a mission.

"I want to hire a medical Ninja as my teacher. How do I post that mission?"

Natsuki asked instead.

"What kind of medical Ninja? For how long? Do you need to specify a particular medical Ninja?"

The young female Ninja fired off three questions in a row.

"A Genin will do."

After thinking for a moment, Natsuki said, "Let's set it for half a year first. No specific person is needed."

"A D-Rank Mission. Ten thousand ryo."

After considering it briefly, the young female Ninja replied.

Ninja missions were divided into D-Rank, C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank, and S-Rank.

D-Rank was the lowest and safest, with rewards ranging from five hundred to ten thousand ryo.

Yakushi Nonō instinctively looked at Natsuki.

She felt that the price was somewhat difficult for them to afford.

After all, they were only orphans with no source of income.

"All right."

Natsuki nodded.

"Come back tomorrow."

After registering the mission for him, the young female Ninja said this.

"Thank you."

After saying that, Natsuki left the Hokage Building with Yakushi Nonō.

"Um..."

Yakushi Nonō stopped and looked at him.

"I'm not hiring a teacher just for you. I need to learn too."

Natsuki knew what she wanted to say, so he explained first.

"Thank you."

Yakushi Nonō said very seriously, "I'll pay you back someday."