"Damn it..."
"What's so great about them? They're just a couple of pretty boys."
"Let's find a chance to teach those two a good lesson!"
The loud, lovestruck squeals of the girls nearby immediately drew the strong displeasure of an older boy.
"Shh... Keep your voice down!"
"That black-haired kid isn't just any ordinary brat."
"I'm sure you've heard of him too—the Uchiha Clan's genius, Shisui."
But another boy beside him quickly lowered his voice and warned him.
"W-what?!"
"That kid! He's the Uchiha Clan's genius, Shisui?!"
Clearly, this boy had heard of Uchiha Shisui too.
Shisui had displayed astonishing talent from a young age. Like Kakashi, the genius ninja from a previous class, he had already become a household name in Konoha at this age—the kind of kid every parent wished they had.
"If the Uchiha Clan's genius, Shisui, is too dangerous to mess with..."
"Then we can give that white-haired brat a good beating after school."
Just then, a malicious voice came from behind them.
"What do you think of that idea?"
"Hayate, and Senpai Kotetsu and Senpai Izumo..."
A brown-haired boy who looked about seven or eight years old.
He glared resentfully at Yu, who was outside on the field, signing up for the Ninja Academy entrance ceremony.
A distinct wound still marked his palm. This was Itachi, whom Yu had thoroughly beaten two months ago.
"Sounds good..."
"We'd like to see what's so special about the brat who beat Itachi up like that."
Behind Itachi were three boys lounging on the desks in the ninja classroom.
One had black bangs covering the right side of his face; another had long black hair parted down the middle like a hedgehog's spikes.
They casually toyed with two kunai and shuriken, looking every bit like the little tyrants of the Ninja Academy.
Only the boy sitting between them said nothing. His heavy dark circles made him look rather sickly.
"Yugao..."
"Hayate's going along with their nonsense... Aren't you going to stop him?"
It seemed she had overheard what Itachi and the others were saying.
Mitaraishi Anko, sitting casually on a desk nearby, wore a sly smile as she turned to look at the stunning purple-haired girl beside her.
"No matter how much they fool around usually..."
"Picking on someone who only enrolled today is going too far."
At Anko's words, the girl sitting properly in the chair beside her looked up with a helpless glint in her clear, dark eyes.
"Senpai Anko, come with me after school and help me stop them."
She had gorgeous purple hair, a flawless fair complexion, large dark eyes, and vivid red lips.
She was none other than Uzuki Yugao, a character who rarely appeared in the original story.
Two years older than Yu and Shisui, she was famous at the Ninja Academy as a beautiful girl and its school belle.
"Oh? You're looking out for your junior so much... Hahaha!"
"Yugao, don't tell me you've fallen for that white-haired brat too, just like those girls?!"
Seeing Uzuki Yugao's reaction, Anko grinned mischievously and teased her.
"Senpai Anko!"
Teased by Anko, Uzuki Yugao immediately turned red with embarrassment and protested.
Soon, the two girls were giggling and playfully bickering.
The school belle of the Ninja Academy smiled brightly, leaving all the boys around them staring in a daze.
"Students! Congratulations on your enrollment!"
"You will all become ninjas in the future. I hope you will learn much and make the most of your studies..."
Yu had no idea he was already being watched.
At that moment, he stood with all the other parents and children on the Ninja Academy's field.
Bored, he watched the old man onstage drone on and on. The man wore the red-and-white Hokage hat and a white Hokage cloak.
"This is making me sleepy..."
"Is this old man Third Hiruzen Sarutobi, the longest-serving Hokage?"
Looking at the Third presiding over the Ninja Academy entrance ceremony on the stage, Yu's clear, amber eyes filled with curiosity.
If he hadn't seen the occasional glint of wisdom in the old man's cloudy eyes, Yu might have thought he was just an ordinary old man, not the renowned "Professor of Ninjutsu" of the Ninja World.
The Ninja Academy had been founded by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
It was established during a time of war, to ensure the stability and efficiency of combat training and education. The academy provided all ninjas with a place to study the fundamentals.
After completing their basic studies at the Ninja Academy, students would become Genin.
They would be assigned to different teams, train under their teachers, and take on missions suited to their individual ranks, providing the village with a steady stream of talent every year.
As Yu understood it,
the Konoha Ninja Academy's curriculum was divided into five stages: enrollment, fundamentals, training, application, and graduation.
Anyone who completed these five stages could become a Genin and go out on missions as a capable ninja in their own right.
And now, with the Third Shinobi World War raging,
the studies of every Ninja Academy student were being shortened as much as possible.
The goal was to send more fighting strength to Konoha's front lines in the shortest possible time.
At last, after an entrance ceremony that lasted more than an hour,
"Next, the students of Class Three: Yamanaka Kazuya, Aburame Shiro, Inoue Nashida, Hyuga Setsuna, Nara Tomohisa, Yakushi Hane, Shiranui Itsuki..."
The Third onstage finally began announcing the class assignments for this year's Ninja Academy students.
"I didn't get assigned to Shisui's class?"
"But there are quite a few kids from prominent clans in my class..."
Yu didn't react much to being assigned to a different ninja class from Shisui.
But when he saw how many children from Konoha's prominent clans were in his Class Three, he couldn't help reflecting on it.
"What a shame. We didn't get assigned to the same ninja class, Yu."
After the entrance ceremony, Shisui came over to Yu and said goodbye with a hint of regret.
"We're both still at the Ninja Academy. There's plenty of time."
"See you tomorrow."
Facing Shisui, who looked so regretful, Yu didn't feel nearly as sentimental.
Could this kid be into guys?
Feeling Shisui's unusually intense enthusiasm toward him, Yu grumbled to himself.
Thinking of the strangely intimate bonds between Sasuke and Itachi, Itachi and Shisui, and the three Uchiha in the original story, Yu couldn't help shivering.
After waving goodbye to Shisui,
Yu set off straight for the Konoha Orphanage.
"Cut the crap, brat!"
"If you don't want a beating, hand over everything you've got on you!"
But he had barely gone past the Ninja Academy's gates
when a commotion from a nearby alley caught Yu's attention.
Before you continue