Uchiha Mikoto?

Uchiha Nagi chuckled. He was curious what Kushina's expression would be after she was directly rejected.

"No rush. We still have some time. Once we're all sure, we can ask Teacher Inoue for permission to take the exam."

At that, Namikaze Minato and Kushina both nodded.

Minato had it easy. He could take responsibility for himself, and every decision was his alone to make.

Uchiha Nagi, on the other hand, needed to discuss it with Uchiha Eri. As for Kushina, there was no need to say more.

Even during wartime, students couldn't graduate whenever they wanted. They first needed to get their teacher's approval to take the exam, then sit it alongside the students who were due to graduate.

Besides, Uchiha Nagi knew that as the war grew more intense, the age at which students entered Konoha Academy would also be adjusted. The usual starting age of six would be lowered.

Hatake Kakashi was the most famous example. During that extraordinary period, he entered the Academy at three, graduated at five, and became a Chunin at six.

Had Kakashi been born in peacetime, he wouldn't have been able to pull off such a "miracle"—he wouldn't even have started the Academy until he was six.

After school, Uchiha Nagi turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.

Meanwhile, at home, Uchiha Nagi looked at Uchiha Eri. The sudden outbreak of war had also reduced how often she took missions, so she was relaxing at home.

Uchiha Eri was already seventeen. Judging by Uchiha Nagi's estimate, she wasn't as well-endowed as Tsunade, but she certainly wasn't lacking.

"Eri, there's something I need to tell you."

"Hmm?" Eri looked at Uchiha Nagi, her gaze warm.

Uchiha Nagi told her that he planned to graduate early.

"Little Nagi wants to graduate early?" Eri was a little surprised, but her voice remained gentle.

"I've got a great teammate. If I miss my chance, it'll probably be a hassle to find a team for missions later," Uchiha Nagi explained casually.

Over the years, the few people close to him had gotten to know his personality well.

"That explains it."

Eri understood. She'd been wondering why Uchiha Nagi, who was so keen on taking it easy, suddenly wanted to graduate.

"If that's the case, then go ahead."

Eri had no intention of stopping him. She was the only one who knew how strong Uchiha Nagi really was. He was even stronger than she was, so why would she try to hold him back from graduating?

"Also, I remember graduates are assigned to teams at random, right? Can you be sure you'll end up with that teammate?" Uchiha Eri suddenly asked, having thought of something.

"Well, I can ask someone," Uchiha Nagi said with a chuckle.

If it were anyone else, it might be difficult, but with Namikaze Minato...

Jiraiya would probably notice Minato during the graduation exam. And Jiraiya was Tsunade's teammate—and probably wouldn't turn her down.

So all Uchiha Nagi had to do was ask Tsunade. That should just about settle it.

"I see." Uchiha Eri didn't ask whom Uchiha Nagi could approach. After thinking for a moment, her eyes lit up.

"Then, Little Nagi, doesn't your team still have one spot open?"

Uchiha Nagi nodded. As for Kushina, he'd already assumed she wouldn't graduate early.

"Could you let a younger girl I know join your team?" Uchiha Eri's eyes were shining.

She knew how strong Uchiha Nagi was, and the teammate he approved of couldn't be weak, either.

That meant the team would be exceptionally strong overall, which also meant it would be very safe.

So she wanted to help out a younger girl she occasionally ran into.

Uchiha Nagi eyed Uchiha Eri suspiciously. "Eri, you've spent most of your time on missions. When did you get a little sister?"

"Haven't I had more time off these past two years? You've been training, and I didn't have much to do at home, so I went out for a walk and met a very nice girl," Uchiha Eri explained.

"And don't worry, Little Nagi. She's not the kind of Uchiha who goes around talking about clan glory all the time."

Uchiha Nagi didn't find that particularly surprising. There were plenty of normal people in the Uchiha Clan.

The trouble was that most of them never awakened the Sharingan, so they had no say in clan affairs.

Besides, they usually lived in the Uchiha Clan Compound and rarely interacted with outsiders. People from other clans probably didn't even know these more ordinary Uchiha existed.

"Mm, I think it should be possible? I'm not sure."

Uchiha Nagi was a little conflicted. After all, this involved Jiraiya. With Tsunade's help, getting him to take one Uchiha might be fine, but asking him to take two would be pushing it.

So he couldn't give her a definite answer.

"Mm, it'd be great if it works out, but if it doesn't, then never mind." Uchiha Eri wasn't going to force the issue.

She just liked the girl and had a little idea in mind, but Uchiha Nagi still came first.

"Sure. What's her name?" Uchiha Nagi replied casually.

"Her name is... Uchiha Mikoto."

Uchiha Nagi stumbled and nearly fell. He stared at Uchiha Eri in disbelief. "Who did you say?!"

Seeing his reaction, Eri looked puzzled, too. "Little Nagi, do you know Mikoto as well?"

"More or less."

Uchiha Nagi's mouth twitched. Of course he knew her. He hadn't met her in person, but in the original story, she was the mother of Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha.

She wasn't going to be on the same team as Uchiha Fugaku, but on his?

Uchiha Nagi thought about it carefully. It did make sense. Uchiha Fugaku was a lot older than Uchiha Mikoto, so they couldn't very well be on the same team.

Still, hadn't he changed the plot a little too much?

Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Mikoto as teammates?

He remembered that in the original story, Minato's teammates were supposed to be two nobodies. Judging from the portraits, one seemed to be from the Akimichi Clan and the other from the Uchiha Clan.

"Come to think of it, Uchiha Enichi looks a bit like one of them. And could the other one be Akimichi Yoshimaru?"

Thinking of his classmate, Uchiha Nagi's mouth twitched.

And it wouldn't be strange if Akimichi Yoshimaru were a teammate, either. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was certainly famous in Konoha, but not every clan member happened to have a suitable teammate from the other two clans.

Usually, the ones who formed an Ino-Shika-Cho team were elites, like the three fifth-years who would all become clan heads in the future.