Starting Preschool!

The milk and rice ball on the long corridor were still unfinished when I was tossed into the Uchiha clan's—

Preschool?

That's what it was called, right?

This place was underground, dim, vast, and sprawling like a honeycomb, known only to those on the inside.

No sooner had I arrived than a group of medical ninja swarmed me, drawing blood and running checks. My short, pale arms were pricked until they looked like a sieve, and the pain made me burst into tears—

As I cried, I remembered I was a boy, so I sniffled, wiped my nose, and stopped.

They used chakra to carefully probe my body and conducted a series of tests on my intelligence and reflexes.

This was just them scouting for good seedlings!

As expected, there is a reason for the prosperity and strength of a great clan.

The testing lasted for three days, including non-stop rapid-fire questions, hypnosis, a series of interrogation-like methods, food temptations, and more. I could only answer based on instinct, because lying would be seen right through.

"Your eyes are beautiful." A female medical ninja whispered a compliment. She wore latex gloves, gently flipped up my eyelid, and asked, "Does it hurt?"

She was very gentle; even though she wore gloves, her movements were soft, and her fingertips still held warmth.

"It doesn't hurt." I answered truthfully.

It really didn't hurt. She was the gentlest of all the medical ninja, and my eyes were clear and bright, pitch-black like ink. No nearsightedness, no astigmatism. Compared to the seven-diopter bottle bottoms I had in my past life, this was one of only two things I felt happy about.

"The test results are out. Very healthy, pure bloodline, sharp mind, quick reflexes, and extremely high talent." They didn't shy away from discussing me in my presence, and when they looked at me while talking to each other, their eyes were filled with hope.

"—He can be groomed as a priority."

My heart skipped a beat, and a spark of incredulous joy ignited within me.

The next day, I began the clan's special training.

Everyone participating in the special training was a child, ranging from four to seven years old. I looked around and realized that if I wanted to communicate with anyone, I had to look up.

I was the youngest member here, and the Uchiha crest on my back was as small as a bun. My fist, when clenched, wasn't even the size of an egg.

Standing with my hands behind my back, listening to the instructor's teachings, I felt a bit ridiculous, yet also strangely excited.

By the time I was three, I had already started using kunai.

In my past life, children of this age were still learning how to feed themselves, use the toilet, get dressed, and wash their faces. They were still laughing, playing, and crying in their parents' arms...

But in the ninja world, I already had to learn how to find an enemy's weakness and attempt to kill them.

The kunai was very heavy; for the body of a three-year-old, it was no different than swinging an axe. Under long-term training, my palms were constantly rubbed raw into blood blisters. Behind the blisters were calluses, and the slightest friction would cause tissue fluid and blood to seep out.

The instructor wrapped my hands in bandages and put on black fingerless gloves. But the training never stopped, and slowly, the blood would seep through, staining the bandages in mottled patches until it finally dripped onto the floor.

Fortunately, in the end, only calluses remained on my hands.

Along with the physical training came chakra guidance training.

I only tried guiding it once before I discovered something incredible—

I, damn it, might actually be a genius!

The chakra in my body was as obedient as my own hands and feet; it went where I told it to and did what I commanded! When no one was looking, I ran and jumped on the ceiling, covering the snow-white surface with footprints, laughing out loud with joy.

I'm going to make it big!

Ever since I discovered this, I rose to the top of the list for hard work!

What is talent?

It is the capital for showing off! It is the possibility of becoming stronger! It is the hope of survival!

After the daily special training ended, there was a two-hour assembly—I called it the Uchiha High-Level Brainwashing Meeting.

Similar to the political systems of my past life, they started from the history of the Uchiha, teaching us about the hardships our ancestors overcame and the blood and tears shed by our clansmen, telling us: without them, there would be no Uchiha today, and so on. This was to strengthen the clansmen's sense of belonging and honor. The ultimate goal was to make us loyal to the clan, emphasize dedication, downplay personal interests, and fear no sacrifice.

The children here were all too young, their thoughts simple and their minds immature. They easily believed everything and accepted everything. They often listened with tear-filled eyes and surging hearts; it looked like they were already prepared to sacrifice themselves for the Uchiha clan and dedicate their entire lives to it.

I also nodded along, tears streaming down my face, taking notes pile after pile—not because I took it to heart, but because they checked them and we had to memorize them! Wuwuwu.

When the special training first began, every single night, my palms would ache so much I could barely open them, and my arms and legs would be so sore and swollen I couldn't move. Although there were medical ninja to treat us every day, the exhaustion deep within the body couldn't be erased by medical jutsu.

"You've injured your bone!" The female medic treating me this time was someone I found very familiar; I recognized her as the medical ninja who had performed my initial check-up.

"Wuu... sorry!" When I was doing stake-striking training, the sound of others striking and shouting filled the air. Once my emotions were stirred up, I rarely paid attention to my physical condition. By the end of the day, there wasn't a place on me that didn't ache or feel numb, so the intermittent sharp pain in my leg hadn't caught my attention; I just thought it would be fine after a night's sleep.

"Why are you apologizing, little one?" The female ninja sighed. "Just how much force did you use? There's a crack in the bone."

I lowered my gaze, not knowing what to say, and just stared at her face with a silly grin.

The training intensity was always like this; I was already used to it.

"You..." She poked my forehead and said gently, "My name is Uchiha Saku. If you're ever feeling uncomfortable, come find me. Don't just endure it on your own, you hear?"

"I understand. Thank you, Saku-nee-san."

After the treatment ended, I lay exhausted on the dormitory's communal bed and closed my eyes to rest. This place was underground; after the lights went out, not a single sliver of light could penetrate, nor was there even the slightest breeze.

In the darkness, the sound of children sobbing and the occasional cry of pain drifted over, a form of mental torture no less severe than physical.

I have always been a light sleeper, and since coming here, I have slept even less. It is not that I do not want to sleep, but that I cannot. Every night, I rest in a daze.

Fortunately, this body is incredibly resilient. Even as a young child, after a few hours of light sleep and the nourishing circulation of chakra, I could revive full of energy. Thus, I practiced ever more diligently, training until I felt dizzy and my limbs refused to obey, only then collapsing onto the bed to fall into a dead sleep, waking up the next morning feeling completely refreshed.

This was not a difficult task for me; perhaps it was hard at the beginning, but once I grew accustomed to it, it became easy.

The word "persistence" was something I had worn thin in my previous life.

As I thought of these things and was just about to drift off, the corner of the bed suddenly sank. Something crawled up along my legs, and I was instantly jolted wide awake.

Then, a warm, small bundle—trembling like a newborn snow goose—snuggled up close, squeezing in beside me. Its arms and legs wrapped around me all at once, and as it let out an occasional sob, its breath sprayed against my collarbone, sending a shiver through me.

I dared not move, only opened my eyes wide and scanned downward, catching a vague glimpse of a pitiful, tear-streaked little face in the darkness.

What... what is this situation?

I wanted to move but dared not; the excessive intimacy left me completely rigid. My mind went blank.

Judging by the softness of the body, this was likely a girl.

I became even more rigid!

If it were a boy, it would be fine; I would have flipped him right off! But this was a girl—how, how could I possibly reject her?

Fortunately, she made no further moves. As if she had found a safe harbor, she clung tightly to my waist and sobbed until, exhausted from crying, she fell into a deep sleep.

She was asleep, but I felt as if I were holding a bomb. My heart hammered, my entire body was tense, and I dared not close my eyes for even a second, my mouth pulled into a downward curve, my face a mask of misery.

—What do I do now?!

After a night of indescribable suffering, I finally fell asleep just before the wake-up call sounded.

I felt as though I had only been dozing for less than five minutes when the little bundle on me vanished. Because I hadn't seen her face clearly, I didn't try to find her, and that girl never acknowledged me either!

Hmph!

And so, everything remained as usual.

Days passed one by one.

At the beginning, there were about thirty little Uchiha here; I counted them, and the ratio of boys to girls was equal.

After half a year of special training, only a dozen or so children remained. Some had withdrawn voluntarily, while others had been eliminated for failing to keep up with the progress.

Here, every month, people would conduct full-body examinations on us. Testing, scoring, judging. We were picked over like merchandise, scrutinized repeatedly, then the inferior products were discarded while the high-quality specimens were kept to be further polished.

Amidst the increasingly oppressive, suffocating special training and scrutiny, I instead developed a sense of fighting spirit.

This is likely the advantage of being an adult.

I know what kind of future I am facing, so I never treat any of this as suffering.

Among the remaining dozen or so children, I was the youngest, yet I grew the fastest. Gradually, some of the children began to habitually listen to me, taking me as their center.

Here, no child was permitted to use their own name; they only possessed their own numerical designation. However, the number of people here frequently decreased. When I first arrived, my number was two; now, my designation had become one.

Number One?

I felt something subtle in my heart.

In my previous life, I had never been Number One.

Children of five or six are at the age where they love to play, and in their spare time, they spontaneously labeled everyone. When referring to me, they added several adjectives.

"Look, that best-looking Uchiha took first place again!"

That's called being both strong and handsome!

"No wonder he's Number One; he's so smart! He gets full marks on everything! Ah~ I really want him to tutor me!"

That represents intelligence and ambition.

"But he's not even four years old yet! Just leave him to me, hahaha!"

This is the most important part—youth.

These words gradually formed another distinct version of me, one that even I hadn't noticed—a genius of the new generation of the Uchiha clan.

And unlike the one-sided infatuation of the girls, most of the boys found me an eyesore.

"What's so great about that ice block? Just showing off and acting cool all day!"

Acting cool? That's called silence is golden! Silence is golden!

"Exactly, he's not even as tall as a table when he stands up, what's there to be so cocky about!"

I rolled my eyes.

Do you think everyone is like you, growing only in height but not in brains?

"His face is as pale as a girl's; I really don't know what you all see in him!"

That remark actually hit the nail on the head...

I looked into the mirror and discovered that because I never got any sun, my complexion was pale, my hair reached my ears, my eyes were round and youthful, and my eyebrows were long and slender. My features were delicate; when I wasn't speaking, I really did look a bit like a girl.

As I was looking, I saw in the mirror that a girl was secretly watching me. The moment our eyes met, she immediately looked away, her face flushing bright red. She looked quite adorable in her shyness.

Sigh, the charm I radiate at all times, really~