The Ninja Academy's Entrance Test!

Months later.

Konoha's enormous war machine had begun to rumble into motion, and in September of Year 31, the Ninja Academy welcomed a new round of applicants.

This year's admissions were a little different from previous years. The minimum age for entering the Academy had been lowered by several years, and even children as young as five could qualify. They just had to pass a few tests first.

And with the Shinobi World so unstable, the major clans in Konoha had begun preparing for war. Even some clan children who hadn't originally planned to attend the Ninja Academy were now being enrolled at their families' insistence.

The clan leaders' reasoning was simple. If war really broke out, the older shinobi would be sent to the front lines first, followed by the younger Genin. The Ninja Academy produced more Genin than anywhere else, and if the war went badly, its students would become another source of manpower for the battlefield.

That made it necessary for the clan children to enter the Academy early and get to know the other kids. After all, shinobi fought in teams.

"Big bro~ Can I skip this school?" On a bright, sunny morning, Jiuming was led out by Tsunade and Kushina. It was the day of the Ninja Academy entrance exams, and the two of them were taking Jiuming to enroll.

Two little boys were accompanying the three of them. One was Minato Namikaze, with a head of bright blond hair. The other was an Energetic Youth with slightly brownish hair named Sarutobi Kotaro, the Third Hokage's son! These two were the friends who were currently teamed up with Kushina.

When they heard that Kushina was bringing her little brother to enroll at the Ninja Academy, both her teammates came along.

Although the age requirement for the Ninja Academy had been lowered, Jiuming technically wasn't five yet. He was only a few months short, though.

It had been Uzumaki Mito's idea for Jiuming to attend the Academy. She felt that the boy was too withdrawn, and that it was important for him to try spending time with children his own age. Mito had no intention of treating Jiuming like cannon fodder. He was family, and she would protect him if she could.

Uzumaki Mito simply hoped Jiuming would make a few friends his own age.

When they reached the Ninja Academy's gate, Jiuming whined. The way he said it was so sickeningly sweet that even he wanted to throw up, but he forced himself to do it anyway.

"Oh? This little brat's not very well-behaved, is he? He doesn't even want to go to school?"

"Kushina, you need to teach your little brother some manners!"

This was the first time Sarutobi Kotaro had met Jiuming. Seeing him act so spoiled, Kotaro decided he was an immature little brat and immediately put on the airs of a big brother to lecture him.

Minato, on the other hand, was speechless. It had been some time since Kushina's kidnapping, and ever since being assigned to a Genin team, Minato had been dropping by her house whenever he had time. He had occasionally seen Jiuming training with Uzumaki Mito in the dojo.

Minato knew that the boy was far more capable and mature than he was pretending to be.

Where'd this idiot come from? How dare he stick his nose in my business? Jiuming pursed his lips but kept looking at Kushina with an innocent expression. Meanwhile, he was already thinking about teaching Sarutobi Kotaro a lesson.

"Jiuming, you can't do that. There are lots of kids at the Academy. You can make friends with them and—" Kushina had been speaking to Jiuming in a sweet, cutesy voice, but then she suddenly remembered who she was talking to and swallowed the words "play together."

How could her little brother want to play with those brats? Other people's kids were childish and adorable, but her little brother wasn't like that!

"Brat, Grandmother wanted you to enroll. Staying cooped up at home and training on your own won't help you grow stronger. Here at the Academy, you'll meet opponents your own age."

"That's the best way for you to improve. And shinobi work together as a team, so you need to learn how to get along with your teammates."

Tsunade glanced at Jiuming, who was putting on an act, and spoke.

"Really? If everyone at the Academy is as weak as him, I'll be pretty disappointed."

Jiuming dropped the act. He casually stuck his left hand in his pocket and pointed his right thumb at Sarutobi Kotaro, his face full of disdain. Seeing the stark change in Jiuming, Kotaro froze for a moment, then suddenly realized he'd been fooled.

That expression, that tone—there was no way this was an immature little kid!

"You brat, just now you—" Sarutobi Kotaro bent down and studied Jiuming's face, still unable to believe it. The way Jiuming spoke was nothing like a little kid.

"Oh, come on. Can't my little brother act cute?"

Jiuming winked at Sarutobi Kotaro and deliberately put on a cute face. But Kotaro couldn't see anything cute in his expression.

"What an unlikeable brat..." Kotaro turned his head slightly, avoiding Jiuming's gaze. He looked instead at the students and parents gathered at the Academy's entrance. Quite a few faces in the crowd were familiar to him.

"Oh, it's Kotaro! What brings you here?"

A middle-aged man with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle called out to Jiuming's group from a distance. Beside him stood a teenage boy and a child of around eight. All three had the same pineapple-shaped hairstyle, so Jiuming immediately recognized which clan they belonged to.

The brains of Ino-Shika-Cho? The Nara Clan! I don't recognize any of them. Jiuming glanced over, while Sarutobi Kotaro had already run over to greet them.

"Shikaku, Uncle Nara, and little Shikaku, what are you all doing here today?"

Seeing people he knew, Sarutobi Kotaro got a little excited and greeted them with a smile.

"Shikaku? Is that teenage kid Shikamaru's dad?"

"The middle-aged man must be Shikaku's dad—Shikamaru's grandpa?"

"Then who's that little brat? Shikamaru's uncle? Shikaku's little brother?"

"I've never heard that Shikamaru had an uncle~"

Jiuming curiously watched the three members of the Nara Clan. He knew very few people in Konoha so far. Apart from the people around him, he had to rely on what he remembered from the anime.

But the relationships between the people he knew were clearly different from what he remembered. After all, the events of the story were still decades away. Many people who would appear in the story after the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars had already left this world for good.

The Ninja Academy... How many of my future classmates will die on the battlefield?

Children from civilian families without clan connections will mostly be cannon fodder, won't they?

Jiuming fell silent as he and the others reached the Ninja Academy's gate. Looking at the school, newly renovated for the incoming students, he found himself lost in thought. It wasn't that he was overly sentimental; he had simply come from a peaceful world and still couldn't adjust to this one.

Mito had protected Jiuming too well before. Deep down, he hadn't completely adapted to this world.

"Jiuming, we'll leave you here. The Academy has a test for children who enroll early, so go on in by yourself."

While Jiuming was still distracted, Tsunade gently patted his shoulder and gave him an encouraging look.

"Smack!"

"Jiuming, do your best!"

Kushina slapped Jiuming hard on the back. He winced in pain.

"That hurt!" Jiuming grumbled, turning to look at Kushina as he rubbed the spot she'd hit. After steadying himself, he set off toward the school.

He knew that from today on, he would truly be stepping onto the path of a shinobi. Blood, death, war, schemes, and all the rest would surround him. From then on, the only person he could rely on was himself!

Many other children entered the Ninja Academy alongside Jiuming. Compared to their smiles and excitement, Jiuming's expression seemed rather gloomy.

There was nothing he could do about it. Children this age were thrilled at the thought of becoming cool shinobi. They had no idea how cruel that path would be. And few of them could imagine that Konoha, which had remained relatively peaceful for so long, would face the two bloodiest Shinobi World Wars yet.