After class, Nawaki ran over to Shin.
"Shin, I didn't expect you to end up in our class."
"Yeah. I'll be counting on you to look after us from now on." Shin smiled at Nawaki.
"No problem. In this class, I'm the—"
Nawaki gave a thumbs-up, hinting that he was the boss.
"Hi, let's get acquainted. I'm Nara Shikaku. These are Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza." Nara Shikaku walked over with Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza.
Shin's expression turned a little strange. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were actually in the same class as him now?
Well, Shin decided not to dwell on it for the moment. With the butterfly effect he'd caused, who knew what the timeline of the Naruto World looked like now?
Still, Shin figured the general course of events probably wouldn't change. For example, the Second Shinobi World War would definitely break out. But with Shin around, perhaps things would be different.
"Hello, I'm Uzumaki Shin. You can call me Shin. I'm from Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools."
Nara Shikaku's gaze flickered. He chatted with Shin for a while, then left.
Shin swept his gaze around the classroom. Since he'd already seen so many "familiar faces," there had to be more, right?
To his left and a little ahead, Shin saw two pairs of white eyes gazing his way. The boys looked rather alike. Could they be the brothers Hizashi Hyuga and Hyuga Hiashi?
His gaze continued to travel, stopping in front of the seats where Uzumaki Akiko and Uzumaki Kai sat. There was a boy with golden hair and a sunny smile sitting there.
No need to guess. It had to be Namikaze Minato, the future Fourth Hokage.
But Minato looked rather girlish at the moment. His hair was a little long, and his features were so delicate that anyone who didn't know him might think he was a handsome, boyish girl.
"So, are you happy now?"
Shin turned to Kushina and asked.
Kushina nodded. She'd been a little nervous at first, but now she felt pretty good about it.
Perhaps because there were four of them, and because there was also a red-haired Akimichi Choza in the class, no one had made the awful mistake of mocking Kushina's hair color.
Without anything bad happening, Kushina found she quite liked school. Well, it would've been even better if she hadn't been sitting next to Uchiha Mikoto.
"Shin, tell me: do you think she's prettier, or am I?"
Kushina leaned close to Shin's ear, glanced at Uchiha Mikoto, then asked him.
"Prettier? There's no such thing as 'prettier.' You're both cute."
They were only five, after all. Cute was the only way to describe them.
"Shin, you big dummy! I'm not talking to you anymore." Kushina turned away, cheeks puffed out in a huff.
Beside them, Mikoto cautiously poked Shin with her finger, then asked, "Are you two fighting?"
"Yeah. You know how it is with kids. They get angry sometimes." Shin chuckled.
"Hey! Do you always think of me as a kid?"
"Of course. You are a kid." Shin shrugged at the furious Kushina.
"Grr!"
Kushina bit down on Shin's arm and refused to let go.
"Kushina, you actually bit me! Let go right now, or don't blame me for what happens next. One Flick Finger Technique from me, and you'll be clutching your head and crying."
Shin threatened Kushina.
Only after Shin threatened her did Kushina let go. A faint bite mark had already been left on his arm.
"Look, you're almost bleeding." Shin pointed to his "wound." Well, aside from the tooth marks, there was nothing wrong with it.
But Kushina didn't know that. Feeling a little embarrassed, she hurriedly rubbed his arm and gazed up at him with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong, Shin. Don't be mad at me, okay? Please don't ignore me." Kushina looked at Shin, worried that he might stop talking to her.
"I'm not mad." Shin raised a hand and ruffled Kushina's hair.
Seeing that Shin really wasn't angry, Kushina giggled, then leaned her little head against him and nuzzled him affectionately.
Uchiha Mikoto watched them, feeling a little envious.
Then she thought about herself, and her mood darkened. She had no family, no friends, and a poor relationship with her clan. She'd always been all alone.
Shin noticed Uchiha Mikoto looking at him, so he turned to her. Mikoto met his eyes, then hurriedly lowered her head.
What do I do? He caught me staring. What do I do now? Uchiha Mikoto was incredibly nervous.
"I feel like I'm just in the way here," Nawaki said mournfully.
"Ah!"
Kushina had been resting comfortably in Shin's arms, but she quickly sat up. She looked at Nawaki, who was standing off to one side, and said irritably, "Why are you still standing here?"
"I wanted to talk to Shin, but you two ignored me," Nawaki grumbled.
Just then, the bell rang. Looking dejected, Nawaki returned to his seat.
Teacher Tanaka walked in, and the classroom's chatter died away. It seemed Teacher Tanaka had quite a lot of authority.
"Everyone, today we'll continue our lesson on chakra."
Teacher Tanaka began explaining the most basic chakra concepts. Shin already knew all of this—and even more than Teacher Tanaka did.
"Is this really what they teach at the Ninja Academy? How to refine chakra?" Kushina whispered to Shin.
If that was all, wouldn't it be boring? She'd already learned how to refine chakra, and she had a lot of it now.
Kushina had thought she'd be able to learn powerful ninjutsu at the Ninja Academy.
Most students who entered the Ninja Academy probably thought the same way. In reality, however, the academy only taught basic knowledge.
That wasn't to say the lessons were useless. The skills taught at the Ninja Academy were useful, but learning powerful ninjutsu was out of the question.
At most, they might learn E-rank techniques such as the Three Basic Techniques, along with setting traps and throwing Kunai and Shuriken.
As for learning other ninjutsu, you'd need to have a clan background and get techniques from your family. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until you became a real ninja and find another way to learn them.
Just then, Uchiha Mikoto suddenly handed Shin a notebook.
Shin took it and looked at Uchiha Mikoto.
"I took notes during the lesson. Maybe they'll be helpful to you," Uchiha Mikoto said softly.
"Thanks for these, Mikoto." Shin thanked her, then opened the notebook.
Her handwriting was elegant, far better than Shin's. Just looking at it was a pleasure.
Beside him, Uchiha Mikoto lowered her head, her cheeks flushed. Shin had just called her "Mikoto." Only close friends with a good relationship dropped the surname and called each other by their given names.
"Uzumaki Shin, are we friends now?" Uchiha Mikoto asked hopefully.
Shin paused for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah. You can just call me Shin, Mikoto. I'm not used to you calling me Uzumaki Shin."
"Thank you, Uzumaki... Shin."
Uchiha Mikoto was so happy. She finally had a friend.
Before you continue