His Mind Was Different from an Ordinary Child's

When Tobirama found Hashirama, he happened upon him losing all his money.

His big brother was great in every way, except that he liked gambling a little too much and had absolutely no skill at it. He was the sort who was terrible at it but loved playing anyway.

Hashirama saw through his younger brother's Transformation Technique at a glance and held out his hand. "Pay up."

Tobirama's face darkened. He clenched his fist and said in a low voice, "I have something important to discuss with you."

In disguise, Hashirama looked at his younger brother, whose tone didn't sound like a joke... All right, his younger brother didn't even have a joking side.

The two of them left the gambling den and sat beneath a large tree.

"Go on, what is it?" Though he was still in disguise, Hashirama had gone back to using his own voice.

Tobirama thought for a moment, then said, "I have two plans for that Wetland Bridge."

Hashirama burst out laughing. "That's my brother—you came up with two plans just like that. As expected of the Second Hokage."

Tobirama remained expressionless at the praise. Don't think he didn't know that, to you, the Hokage's seat was more like a shackle.

You handed the position to me and went off to enjoy yourself. Must be nice. Meanwhile, I got stuck with all the work.

Forget it. No time for that. Back to business.

So Tobirama told Yuya about both plans: the one where five jonin could finish the job in a day, and the one Yuya had suggested, hiring several hundred people to build the bridge.

Hashirama stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then looked up at Tobirama in surprise. "Did Yuya really come up with that?"

Tobirama's face remained blank. "Yeah. And he said that instead of paying five jonin to build the bridge, it'd be better to split the money among the hundreds of workers."

Hashirama laughed heartily.

Then he looked at Tobirama and said, "I don't know exactly how he came up with it, but in this respect alone, he's better suited than you to sit in that seat."

Tobirama knew Hashirama was joking. Being Hokage wasn't just about being able to handle a construction plan for a bridge. You also had to earn the support of the entire village—and most importantly, you needed the strength to back it up.

Yuya was still too young. It was impossible.

"What I'm curious about... is how he came up with that idea." Tobirama narrowed his eyes at Hashirama.

Hashirama understood at once. "You wouldn't be... trying to slack off, would you?"

Tobirama immediately got angry. "What do you mean, slack off? I'm going to see the next generation of Konoha! And if that brat really has a talent for this sort of thing, we can train him to become an advisor someday."

Hashirama nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, you're absolutely right. You're not trying to slack off, you're not trying to shirk your duties, and you're not avoiding work."

Tobirama's fists clenched. You bastard, you're out there enjoying yourself every day, dumping all that work on me. I finally found a chance to get away, and I'm not even allowed to enjoy it?

I'm the Hokage!

Hashirama and Tobirama transformed into teachers from the academy. The two teachers had gone on a mission that day, so the brothers could borrow their identities.

In truth, the Ninja Academy at the time was more like a kindergarten than a school.

It gave children a chance to get to know other kids their age from the village.

The teachers at the academy were responsible enough, but they were ninjas who spent their days learning ninjutsu and going on missions. When had they ever learned how to teach?

Children were always getting into mischief, and most of them came from the major clans. They couldn't exactly beat them, so many ninjas would rather run thousands of miles and exhaust themselves than keep suffering there.

So every day, some teacher would take leave for one "unavoidable reason" or another.

Hashirama and Tobirama slipped in with ease. They even filled in as teachers for a while, but they didn't mind the kids fooling around in class. They were children, after all. It was fine for them to be a little mischievous.

But during recess, they saw Yuya standing on a desk, telling the other children about his journey across the western continent. Hashirama and Tobirama were both curious.

Why had he gone west in the first place?

He'd barely explained that before launching into tales of battles with ninjas and wild beasts...

Wait, which ninjas had he fought? Hadn't he just gotten beaten up the whole time?

The brothers were eager to tease him, but the children were all listening so intently that, in the end, they decided not to go over and grab the little brat.

During lunch break, after Yuya finished the bento Mito had prepared for him, he set his sights on everyone else's lunches.

"Oh? Kazuko, your bento doesn't look very good today." Yuya approached Hyuga Kazuko first.

The little girl frowned at him. "What are you trying to say?!"

Yuya shook his head with a sigh. "Your bento looks like it won't taste good. Who made it for you?"

The girl glared at him angrily. "My mom made this for me! How dare you say it doesn't taste good?! You haven't even tried it!"

Yuya curled his lip disdainfully and reached out with his chopsticks. "Then I'll see if it tastes good."

He picked up the big meatball and chicken drumstick with a few quick motions and popped them into his mouth. He chewed a few times, then nodded. "Mm, not bad. It really is tasty. I'm sorry for saying it wasn't."

Kazuko immediately lifted her chin proudly. "You'd better know it."

Then she started eating her rice, happily enjoying it with the few greens in her lunchbox.

Yuya looked around and settled on another girl. He walked over and slicked back his hair with a showy gesture. "Hey, Rou, your Uchiha bento doesn't look very good. I wonder which tastes better, yours or the Hyuga Clan's."

Rou Uchiha glanced at Yuya, then at Kazuko. The Hyuga and Uchiha were both major clans in Konoha.

Rou pushed her bento toward Yuya and said solemnly, "Please give it a fair assessment."

Yuya nodded, then popped the fish and rabbit into his mouth.

"Not bad, not bad. Your two clans are tied today. I'll judge again tomorrow!"

Hashirama and Tobirama, secretly watching from outside the window, were dumbfounded.

They looked at each other, confirming one thing.

That little Yuya's thoughts were definitely different from those of other children.

Yuya returned home. Hashirama hadn't gone to the gambling den today, which was unusual. Instead, he had waited at home for him.

As soon as Yuya came back, Senju Hashirama got straight to the point. "If I put you in charge of the construction plan for the Wetland Bridge, could you handle it?"

Yuya blinked and looked at Hashirama, then at Uzumaki Mito.

All right, his sensei's wife had her eyes closed, apparently with no plans to speak.

"Um, I could, but I'm so young that ordinary people wouldn't follow my orders."

Hashirama raised his eyebrows.

A normal child, hearing him ask that, would at least have been confused, even if they didn't refuse outright...

Why had this little brat just gone straight along with the question?

This kid really was...

Nothing like an ordinary child...