Going to School

As time quietly passed, the weather gradually changed. The air, which had still carried a hint of heat, seemed to be gently brushed by an invisible hand, and the temperature slowly dropped.

The wind was no longer as scorching as it had been in summer. Now it carried a touch of coolness as it softly brushed against people's faces and hair.

Meanwhile, the once lush green leaves had quietly taken on a faint yellow hue.

And the best thing to do in this season was...

"Master Qile, it's time to get up! Today's an important day, isn't it? You said you'd go to school with Kagami." Yeling's gentle voice rang through the room.

Qile had been hoping to laze in bed a little longer, but as soon as he heard that, he sat up with great reluctance...

There was no denying it: getting up early every day was torture...

He recalled how Madara had told him one evening that he would be leaving the next day.

Sure enough, several months had passed since then, and Madara had yet to show up again.

All this time, Qile had been training diligently according to plan, with Kagami always by his side.

Of course, there had been a few exceptional circumstances, such as when an urgent matter came up at Kagami's house and he couldn't come train with Qile.

One thing worth mentioning was that Kagami's enrollment had finally been settled, and today was the day he went to register at the school.

At present, Kagami was the only child in the entire Uchiha Clan to attend the Ninja Academy.

It wasn't that there were no other children of the right age, but their elders didn't seem particularly keen on sending them to school.

To avoid being branded with the "Uchiha don't support the Hokage's work" label, Uchiha Yan, Kagami's guardian, had "volunteered" to send him to school.

That said, Kagami attending the Ninja Academy wasn't entirely a bad thing. After all, he could learn about things there that were unavailable within the clan, broadening his horizons and knowledge.

As for whether Kagami might be bullied at school, there was no need to worry about that. After all, his surname was Uchiha! Especially while Madara was still part of the clan, nobody would dare provoke him lightly.

Every morning, everything still followed the usual routine: after getting up, getting dressed, and washing up, Qile would stand sleepily in the courtyard and repeatedly practice his Hand Seals.

"Ah, sorry, Qile. I'm late again!" After quite a while, Kagami finally showed up at an unhurried pace, his face full of guilt.

Qile merely shrugged helplessly and said nothing.

Ever since they'd started training together several months ago, Kagami had been great in every way except one!

He was always late!

By Qile's rough estimate, Kagami was late at least seven or eight days out of every ten. Before long, Qile had gotten used to it.

Once the two had finished training and eaten breakfast, they set off for the Ninja Academy with Yeling.

As soon as they entered the school grounds, Qile spotted Sarutobi Hiruzen and three others busily helping the new students get acquainted with the place. When the group noticed Qile and the others, they hurried over.

"Hey? I thought you'd graduated. What are you doing here now? Shouldn't you be out carrying out missions?" Qile looked at them in confusion, his eyes shining with curiosity.

Perhaps his arrival had caused some subtle changes to the original course of events.

Tobirama hadn't taken Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other three under his wing to teach them personally. Instead, a jōnin named Senju Heye had become their teacher.

When Qile heard the news, he'd been eager to learn from Tobirama, so he couldn't help feeling that all the hardships he'd endured over the past few months had been for nothing.

"Ugh, don't even bring it up!" Utatane Koharu sighed helplessly, looking bored as she complained. "It's all because of Teacher Heye! She said there weren't enough teachers at the school and that we needed to help welcome the new students. It's such a pain. I don't want to do this boring job at all!"

As she spoke, she fiddled with her fingers nonstop, clearly having no interest in welcoming new students.

Just then, Mitokado Homura seemed to remember something and asked thoughtfully, "Hey, Kagami, isn't today your enrollment day too? So you're here to register?" He scratched his head, apparently unsure whether he remembered correctly.

Kagami gave a slight nod and answered with a hint of nervousness, "Yeah... That's right. Today's officially my first day at school."

Seeing him like that, Utatane Koharu wore a sly smile and sauntered over to Kagami's side. In a teasing tone, she said, "Heh, let me tell you, I just heard some important news. There's going to be an entrance assessment later! You'll have to do well to get into one of the top classes."

Qile's eyes suddenly lit up. He seemed to spring to life as he hurriedly asked, "Really? When does it start? Is it a ninjutsu match?"

Qile had been feeling bored, but the thought of watching a fight had perked him right up!

Danzo, standing nearby, raised the corners of his mouth slightly. After spending the past few months around Qile, he knew his personality all too well. Taking his time, he replied, "We're not sure exactly when. But judging by last year's schedule, I think the Hokage will have to give a speech first. The assessment will officially begin after he's finished."

Sure enough, when Qile heard they had to listen to a speech first, his enthusiasm—so recently kindled—was instantly doused, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him.

But just then, Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped forward and clapped Qile on the shoulder, then burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Danzo's just trying to scare you! Actually, the Hokage didn't give the speech last year. Lord Tobirama did instead."

"Think about it! The Hokage didn't come the first year, so he's even less likely to come this year. He's a very busy man, after all! So don't worry!"

"And you know what Lord Tobirama's like, right? He's decisive, swift, and precise! He'll only say a few words, so it won't take long."