Enrollment

Konoha, Year 30.

It was the sixth year since Uchiha Matsuri had arrived in this world.

That year, the Second Shinobi World War was drawing to a close. At the same time, the Ninja Academy, which had been temporarily closed due to the war and a shortage of personnel, officially reopened.

In his previous life, Uchiha Matsuri had been a seventeen-year-old high school student. After failing the college entrance examination, and burdened by the various debts his family had incurred during his school years, he lost his reason for a moment and chose to end his life by jumping off a building.

However, fate had other plans. Through a twist of circumstances, Uchiha Matsuri had come to the world of Naruto and taken possession of a newborn baby in the Uchiha Clan.

In Uchiha Matsuri's memories, his "parents" had both been capable jonin of the Uchiha Clan. When the Second Shinobi World War broke out, the number of medical ninja on Konoha's front lines became dangerously low. With no other choice, even his "mother," who was five months pregnant, was sent to the battlefield.

Then, with only a month left until her due date, enemy ninja launched a surprise attack on the medical ninja's base behind Konoha's lines.

His "mother" went into labor while fleeing. To protect this child born at the wrong time, both of his "parents" died in battle. The Konoha Ninja who came to their aid managed to rescue the newborn Uchiha Matsuri amid the chaos.

The Third Hokage entrusted Matsuri to Kagami Uchiha of the Uchiha Clan to raise.

But fate was unkind. When Uchiha Matsuri was four, Kagami Uchiha died in the war, and Matsuri became an orphan once again.

At that point, the Third Hokage's student, Lord Jiraiya, volunteered to adopt Uchiha Matsuri. (In fact, it was the Third Hokage who had arranged it.)

At the same time, the Uchiha Clan did not object. After all, having one of their own closely connected to the Hokage's circle was a good thing for a clan that was becoming increasingly marginalized.

From then on, Uchiha Matsuri lived in Jiraiya's home. Though Matsuri was only four years old at the time, his actual mental age was over twenty. So when Jiraiya went away on missions, Uchiha Matsuri could take care of himself just fine.

In the cool morning breeze, Jiraiya walked down the streets of Konoha, holding Uchiha Matsuri's hand.

Today was the first day of classes at the Ninja Academy. Jiraiya had filled out the new student registration form early and was taking the six-year-old Uchiha Matsuri to the academy.

As Jiraiya led him along by the hand, Uchiha Matsuri noticed the ninja on either side of the street casting respectful looks at Jiraiya.

"Ah, isn't that Lord Jiraiya, the Hokage's student?"

"Yeah! We're so lucky to see Lord Jiraiya in person. I wish he were my kid's jonin team leader."

"Who's that black-haired kid beside him?"

"I heard he's an orphan from the Uchiha Clan. Lord Jiraiya adopted him."

"With the Uchiha Clan's excellent bloodline, and having been taught by Lord Jiraiya, that kid's future is bound to be bright!"

"I'm so jealous."

In fact, as someone who had watched a bit of Naruto in his previous life, Uchiha Matsuri had been thrilled from the moment Jiraiya adopted him, thinking he'd hit the jackpot. But because of the war, Jiraiya spent most of his time away, and Matsuri hadn't received even the slightest bit of guidance from him. Thinking of it now, Uchiha Matsuri could only laugh bitterly to himself.

When they arrived at the Ninja Academy, perhaps because of Jiraiya's status, the ninja at the new student reception desk were not only unusually friendly but also surprisingly efficient. Uchiha Matsuri's enrollment was completed in no time.

"Matsuri, from today on, you're a student at the Ninja Academy. Make sure you listen to your teachers, and don't bring shame on me or the Uchiha Clan. Also, I'm heading to the front lines with my teammates Orochimaru and Tsunade today. I don't know when I'll be back, so make sure you take care of yourself while I'm away!" Jiraiya patted Matsuri's head and smiled warmly.

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya. I won't let you down!" Uchiha Matsuri replied with a grin.

Only after Jiraiya had disappeared from sight did Uchiha Matsuri follow the ninja in charge of reception toward the classroom.

Unlike the other children just starting school, Uchiha Matsuri's calm silence surprised the receptionist a little, but the ninja didn't pry.

"This is the classroom." The receptionist suddenly stopped, pointed to the door of the classroom in front of them, and said with a smile.

"Thank you, uncle."

Uchiha Matsuri smiled, then opened the classroom door.

Quite a few students were already seated inside. When they saw Uchiha Matsuri enter, they stopped talking among themselves.

"Look, is that guy from the Uchiha Clan?"

"Yeah, he has the Uchiha crest on his clothes!"

"Wow, that Uchiha boy is so cool."

Ignoring the children's chatter, Uchiha Matsuri walked straight to an empty seat at the back of the classroom, by the window. The seats around it were empty too.

In his previous life, Uchiha Matsuri had been quiet and introverted. That personality had naturally carried over when he came to the world of Naruto.

In his previous life, Uchiha Matsuri had been an obscure, plain-looking "four-eyes." In this life, though, he had sharp brows and bright eyes. Most people would have felt secretly pleased hearing girls gush over them, but Uchiha Matsuri remained unmoved and simply ignored the children's compliments.

What a pain. Uchiha Matsuri spun his pen idly and muttered to himself.

During his six years in this world, Uchiha Matsuri had long since figured things out.

Unlike his previous life, the world of Naruto was full of war and conspiracies. To survive here, he would either have to be an inconspicuous civilian or work hard to improve his strength and make sure he didn't get killed.

Unfortunately, as a member of the Uchiha Clan, the first option was clearly out of reach.

Although Uchiha Matsuri hadn't watched much of the Naruto anime in detail in his previous life, he clearly remembered the Root's massacre of the Uchiha Clan.

Since he couldn't live a peaceful life as an ordinary civilian, he could only work hard to improve his strength and become powerful.

Among ninja, however, there were different levels of strength: Chunin, jonin, and Kage Level. In every Shinobi World War, chunin were destined to be cannon fodder. And since he'd already decided to become a jonin, why not strive to become a Kage-level shinobi?

Besides, Konoha's secret techniques might include jutsu related to space-time travel, and only the Hokage, as the leader of the village, could access those scrolls.

All things considered, Uchiha Matsuri silently set a goal for himself: he would become a shinobi on the level of the Hokage.