The First Class

Teacher Nakamura nodded. "All right, let's begin class. First, we're going to talk about ninjas. Do you know what a ninja is?"

"Someone really strong!"

"Someone who can use ninjutsu!"

"A hero who protects the village!"

"..."

All the children began sharing their opinions. Most of their answers were positive, and Teacher Nakamura smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

"Those are all good answers. Ninjas have to carry out dangerous and difficult missions that ordinary people couldn't handle, so they need to be very strong physically. They also need a strong spirit to endure pain. The reason they're called ninjas is that they endure what ordinary people can't..."

Suddenly, a boy raised his hand and asked, "Teacher, what rank are you?"

"I'm a Chunin—or, rather, an Elite Chunin. Ahem. I'm one of the strongest people in the entire Ninja Academy," Nakamura Hino said proudly.

To his surprise, many of the students looked disappointed. "What? Teacher Nakamura is only a Chunin? I thought you'd at least be a Jonin!"

Class teacher Nakamura Hino's expression froze at the student's words.

"Yeah, I thought you were a Jonin too, teacher. I didn't realize you were so weak." Nakamura Hino felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart.

"Teacher, you've really let us down." Nakamura Hino felt another arrow pierce his heart.

"..." The students began whispering among themselves.

Hearing what the students were saying, class teacher Nakamura Hino blushed. He had clearly expected them to admire him, but instead they looked down on him, which naturally left him rather embarrassed.

But when he heard these insolent kids going too far, he could no longer hold back and snapped angrily, "Do you think Jonin grow on trees? There are only so many Jonin in the entire village. Becoming one means being the cream of the crop among Chunin. You children don't understand what being a Jonin—or the Hokage—really means!"

Mirai couldn't help chuckling at the class teacher's reaction. It was clear that these children all dreamed of becoming Hokage, but they didn't yet know much about what being a ninja actually entailed. Becoming a Jonin wasn't easy. Everything Nakamura Hino had said was true: Jonin were the cream of the crop among Chunin.

They had keen combat instincts and sound judgment. Jonin were the backbone of a ninja village's strength, and the village's power was closely tied to how many Jonin it had.

Every Jonin had formidable combat ability. The Land of Fire's Konoha Village, the greatest village in the Shinobi World, had a considerable number of Jonin—not quite two digits. That would be an exaggeration. There were probably fewer than twenty, counting both those known publicly and those operating in secret. Of course, that didn't include members of the major clans. The number would be higher if they were counted, but it still wouldn't reach three digits.

"Then, teacher, what does being a Jonin mean?"

"Jonin are important figures in Konoha Village, people who deserve great respect. And only Jonin can take on S-rank missions. If you want to become the Hokage, someone everyone respects, first you have to become an Elite Jonin. Before that, you have to become a Jonin, then a Special Jonin, an Elite Chunin, a Chunin, and a Genin. But you've only just started school. You aren't even Genin yet, so you've got a long way to go. Now you know how impressive your teacher is, right? Make sure you study hard."

"We understand, teacher!" all the students answered together. Nakamura Hino was finally satisfied and nodded.

"All right, let's continue the lesson. The morning classes are basic lessons. We'll study basic culture and theory, and the afternoon will be for practical training. So let's start with the basics. First, we need to learn about the history of the Ninja Academy. It was established by the Second Hokage..." Nakamura Hino began his lesson.

Mirai also began listening carefully. After all, this was a main quest, and having a super genius sitting beside him in the same class put a lot of pressure on him.

Failing a main quest meant being erased. Mirai didn't have the courage to test whether the system's threat was real. But the threat felt all too real to him. He had somehow ended up in this anime world, and somehow acquired a Mall System. The most unbelievable things had already happened, so why wouldn't the system take his life?

It looked like he really had to work hard at his studies. He refused to believe that he couldn't keep up with these children. He hadn't been a top student back on Earth, but he certainly hadn't been a slacker either. It would be too embarrassing if he couldn't even match them.

Back at the Hokage Office Building, Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato sat at his desk in the Hokage Office and continued working. The Hokage's duties were extremely complicated, and the Shinobi World had only just begun to stabilize. He had to handle the affairs of all the different factions.

"Creak!" The door to the Hokage Office swung open, and an elderly man walked in. He was quite old, but still seemed to be in good spirits. He held a pipe in his hand and puffed on it from time to time. On his head was a hat bearing the character for "three." If Mirai had been there to see him, he would have recognized him immediately: the Third Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Sasuke.

As soon as Namikaze Minato saw the Third Hokage enter, he stood up. "Lord Third!"

The Third waved a hand and smiled. "You're the Hokage now. There's no need to be so formal. What did you think of the students starting school today?"

Minato smiled. "They're all good kids. They all dream of becoming Hokage. Seeing them reminded me of when I was young. They're all promising."

"Were there any particularly promising ones?"

Namikaze Minato rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then smiled. "It's too soon to know much after only meeting them once. They've only just started, and haven't learned even the basics yet. Still, a few of them seemed to stand out. One girl from the Hyuga Clan had already awakened her Byakugan at such a young age, and there were two boys from the Uchiha Clan as well. The members of Konoha's two great clans really are extraordinary." He smiled wistfully as he spoke.

"Children from the Hyuga and Uchiha Clans? Those two clans keep such a tight rein on their members that it's almost impossible for them to become part of a new faction," the Third Hokage said with a frown.