Minato Namikaze

"This guy..."

Watching Uchiha Gen's retreating figure, the anger in Uchiha Haohuo's eyes only grew fiercer.

This guy! He'd ignored him, and now he'd even dared to ignore his big brother!!! Unforgivable!!!

"Hey, Haohuo, remember him. Maybe... he'll make a pretty good opponent. I have a feeling he'll be a genius, just like our cousin Fugaku."

Uchiha Baiyu rested a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. After watching Uchiha Gen disappear from sight, he smiled and spoke to Haohuo.

The force behind that specially made training shuriken he'd just blocked... It wasn't something a six-year-old should have been able to muster.

"What are you talking about, big brother? How could someone like him compare to our cousin Fugaku? Hmph! Besides, if you wanted me to beat him myself, couldn't you have told me sooner, big brother?!

"Now that arrogant jerk, Uchiha Gen, probably thinks I'm the kind of guy who runs to his big brother whenever he loses."

"Well, I was just bored and wanted to see who'd beaten our Haohuo. After all, our Haohuo even calls out someone else's name in his sleep. He must really care about him.

"Hey, how about I treat you to some red bean skewers? We can celebrate finally getting to start learning chakra. Zhiyue, you're invited too, of course."

"Yay! Long live Big Brother Baiyu!"

"Zhiyue, don't call him that! He's my big brother! You should call him cousin! And, big brother, I never called out his name in my sleep!! How could I possibly care about an arrogant jerk like him?!"

After leaving the woods, Uchiha Gen headed straight for his home in the Uchiha Clan Compound.

He didn't give the little incident much thought. Things like that happened all the time among the Uchiha. Once you fought someone, you were bound to end up in countless more fights with them.

That was just how the Uchiha were. Unless you beat them into submission, you ended up with an extremely "clingy" nuisance.

Compared to what had just happened, Uchiha Gen was much more excited about starting at the Ninja Academy.

The Ninja Academy had been founded by Konoha's Second Hokage, the naturally evil Tobirama Senju. Later, the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had incorporated the various ninja clans, and it had gradually grown into a cradle for nurturing geniuses.

Naturally, the Uchiha Clan was among those clans.

The next morning, it was still early. The sky retained a faint reddish glow from the rising sun.

Uchiha Gen strolled toward the Ninja Academy. Since it was the first day of school, Konoha's streets were especially lively.

He made his way through the crowds, and before long, the outline of the Ninja Academy's gates came into view.

At the same time, he saw hundreds of parents gathered outside the academy to send their children off to school.

"No familiar faces. The quality of this year's students... is a little disappointing. Still, at least there's a future Fourth Hokage. His strength should earn the Mist Space's recognition."

Looking at the crowd ahead, Uchiha Gen quickly scanned the children's faces and sighed inwardly. Of course, he kept those thoughts to himself. He was extremely careful not to say anything that might reveal he didn't belong in the Shinobi World.

After all, this was a world centered on ninja.

And ninja were experts at gathering information and hiding in the shadows. On top of that, there was a certain schemer lurking beneath Konoha, always looking for a chance to target the Uchiha.

Uchiha Gen wasn't sure whether that schemer had established Root yet.

Even so, he remained careful about everything he said and did. Once he left the Uchiha Clan Compound, he rarely spoke.

Loose lips sank ships. Ever since he'd fully absorbed all his memories, Uchiha Gen had felt a profound reverence for the fact that he had crossed into this world.

He knew all too well what kind of world lay beneath the surface of Naruto, the hot-blooded manga. Life... wasn't precious here.

"Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will burn. The fire will continue to illuminate this village and help the young leaves sprout..."

Inside the Ninja Academy, the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood at the podium, delivering an impassioned speech about the Will of Fire. In the prime of his life, Hiruzen's voice rang out with conviction.

At this point in the timeline, the Third was at the peak of his strength.

As Hiruzen delivered his stirring speech, the new students below him grew fired up, their eyes brimming with hope for the future.

"This Will of Fire... is really boring. It's an idealism completely detached from reality. An ideology with nothing but lofty ideals and no practical application is downright contradictory."

Uchiha Gen was getting bored as he listened among the students, so he began scanning the crowd.

It didn't take long for his gaze to settle on a blond kid.

"A genius considered to have the qualities of a true ninja, the future Fourth Hokage—the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze. I wonder if the Mist Space recognizes you yet."

Minato Namikaze looked just as excited as the other hot-blooded fools, watching Hiruzen Sarutobi onstage. Uchiha Gen looked at him expectantly.

Among everyone at the Ninja Academy, aside from the teachers, the ones most likely to earn him new chances to draw cards were Minato Namikaze and the children from the ninja clans.

But compared to those clan children, who had inherited techniques, Uchiha Gen had higher hopes for this blond kid, who hadn't yet shown his talent.

After all, this was Minato Namikaze.

A lot of fans had theorized that if not for plot-induced death, then based on the talent this Fourth Hokage had demonstrated...

That schemer probably wouldn't even dare close his eyes to sleep.

Minato Namikaze wasn't far from Uchiha Gen. Sensing someone watching him, he turned on instinct and spotted Uchiha Gen staring at him.

Minato smiled brightly at Uchiha Gen, then turned his attention back to Hiruzen Sarutobi onstage.