Ninja Academy

" You want to go to school?"

Tsunade stared at the little fellow bowing before her and was momentarily stunned.

She had only just returned to Konoha two days ago. As a war orphan, Yueshu should have been sent to live somewhere like an orphanage, but Tsunade had kept him by her side because his temperament reminded her of Nawaki.

"Yes, please."

Yueshu was still bowing. This had happened entirely because the system had suddenly triggered another mission earlier.

"Mission triggered: Enroll in the Ninja Academy. Mission reward: one draw."

Regardless of why the mission had appeared, Yueshu had already wanted to go to school, so now he could kill two birds with one stone.

The system was his golden finger, the advantage that let him establish himself in the Naruto world. Every draw was a chance to grow stronger.

"Hmm..."

Tsunade scratched her head. Looking at Yueshu, who was still bowing, she could only sigh helplessly.

"Fine, fine. I'll go talk to the Third Hokage in a bit."

"Really?"

Hearing Tsunade, Yueshu immediately lifted his head, excitement written all over his face.

"Don't worry. It's not like I'd lie to you."

Tsunade nearly laughed. It was only school, yet the little brat in front of her was this excited.

Yueshu smiled to himself. This would give him a chance to meet some of the characters from the original story, and he'd also get another draw.

Tsunade watched all of this from the side, completely unaware that even her own mood had improved.

And just as she'd promised, Tsunade went to pass the word to the Third Hokage that very day. The result was that Yueshu received a notice the next morning.

It told him to start school the following morning.

By then, the system had also notified him that the mission was complete. He now had three draws saved up, and he planned to use them all at once before school.

"System, draw."

Yueshu sat in his room. He was living at Tsunade's house now.

"Congratulations, host. You obtained Sword Mastery (C-rank), Three-Tomoe Sharingan (B-rank), and Senju Bloodline (unawakened) (A-rank)."

The electronic voice sounded in his mind, and Yueshu froze.

It wasn't for any particular reason. He just hadn't expected his three consecutive draws to be so astonishingly lucky. He was practically the luckiest person alive.

With three draws, he'd pulled the bloodlines of the two most overpowered clans in Naruto. They weren't complete, but he was still practically the luckiest person alive.

Before long, Yueshu could feel the changes in his body.

His eyesight had improved, a surge of strength welled up within him, and his mind was filled with knowledge of sword techniques.

A rush of excitement came over Yueshu. Without paying attention to anything else, he hurried straight into the bathroom.

A handsome face appeared in the mirror. Apart from his refined features, the most striking thing was his pair of blood-red eyes.

Three tomoe circled each pupil, making them look incredibly cool.

"Guess I'm one of the red-eyed crowd now."

Yueshu grinned. Then he blinked, and the Sharingan vanished, leaving behind ordinary black pupils.

The Sharingan was the unique bloodline power of the Uchiha Clan. He wasn't an Uchiha, so he couldn't let anyone see it.

Just as Yueshu was making plans, the door suddenly swung open.

"What are you doing in your room, Yueshu? Come on, I'm taking you out for a meal."

Yueshu sighed. He didn't even need to look. He already knew who it was from her voice: Tsunade, who had taken him in.

"You start school tomorrow. We should celebrate."

Without waiting to see what Yueshu thought, Tsunade grabbed him and carried him outside.

"Hey, if we're going, then we're going! But don't grab me by the neck! I'm going to die!"

Yueshu struggled to pry Tsunade's hand loose. It took all he had just to catch his breath.

"Oh?"

Tsunade let go of Yueshu and looked him up and down.

"What is it?"

Yueshu felt uneasy under her gaze and asked.

"You've gotten quite a bit stronger."

"Just a little."

There was no point trying to hide it from Tsunade, one of the Sannin, so Yueshu simply admitted it.

"Still a long way to go."

Tsunade lightly tapped Yueshu on the head with the edge of her hand, then dusted off her hands, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Come on, let's eat."

Yueshu smiled helplessly and rubbed his head before following the spirited Tsunade.

Tsunade hadn't left Konoha yet, and she wasn't constantly gambling like she was in the original story. She was at just the right age, with the looks and heart of a young woman. Everything was just right, like a slightly unripe red apple.

She hadn't sent him to an orphanage and had treated him with genuine kindness. Yueshu didn't know why, and Jiraiya's words clearly weren't enough to explain Tsunade treating him this way, but he remembered her kindness all the same.

As it happened, Yueshu also came across a pleasant surprise while they were out eating.

Everyone knew Ichiraku Ramen. Yueshu hadn't expected it to already exist at this time, but the person he encountered wasn't the familiar Otsutsuki Ichiraku. It was Otsutsuki Ichiraku's father. The Otsutsuki Ichiraku who would later be so well hidden in Konoha was still just a kid, a little older than Yueshu.

The day passed just like that, and Yueshu finally welcomed his first day of school.

He got up early the next morning and was ready to go, while Tsunade was still sleeping soundly beside him, showing no sign of acting like a guardian. Yueshu had to wake her up himself.

"I'll leave this kid in your hands."

"Don't worry, Lady Tsunade. I'll do my best to teach him."

After Tsunade took Yueshu to the school and spoke with his teacher, his school life officially began.

"We have a new student joining our class today. Let's have him come in and introduce himself."

As soon as the teacher finished speaking, Yueshu walked into the classroom.

The whole class turned to look at him, and Yueshu's gaze swept around the room.

He had to admit, someone there was far more unexpected than he'd imagined.

A boy with golden hair and gentle features, his eyes touched with warmth, like a little sun, caught Yueshu's attention.

Yueshu knew this boy very well. Anyone who had watched Naruto knew who he was.

Minato Namikaze, the future Yellow Flash and Fourth Hokage, a brilliant ninja and the protagonist's father.

Yueshu truly hadn't expected to run into Minato Namikaze, let alone end up in the same class as him.

Still, it wasn't a bad thing. His life was about to get a lot more interesting.

The Yellow Flash, huh?

Yueshu looked at Minato Namikaze. He wanted to test Minato's strength, and it would be a good chance to see how strong he was now.

After a brief self-introduction, Yueshu ended up sitting not far from Minato.

Yueshu met Minato's eyes again and nodded. Minato nodded back.

Just as Yueshu had noticed Minato, Minato had noticed him too. He could sense that Yueshu was different from the others—a formidable rival. That made Minato pay a little more attention to him.

After one theory lesson, as if by routine, the other students in the class crowded around the "transfer student," Yueshu.

Yueshu had no intention of getting off on the wrong foot with his classmates, so he managed to respond to pretty much everyone.

"Himegami, nice to meet you. I'm Minato Namikaze."

A while later, Minato came over and greeted Yueshu with a bright smile.

Yueshu smiled back, and after that brief exchange, the two of them struck up a connection.

There was nothing special about the first day of class. It wasn't much different from school before Yueshu had crossed over; it was just a tedious routine. Perhaps because the school year had only just begun, they spent most of their time on history and hadn't even started learning to refine chakra.

"How was school?"

When Yueshu got home, Tsunade was enjoying a small drink nearby, her face already slightly flushed.

"Don't drink too much."

Yueshu gave her a reminder, then went into the kitchen to make dinner.

Before crossing over, Yueshu had lived alone, so he was pretty good at cooking. Since he didn't want to freeload, he'd volunteered to take responsibility for the meals.

"You're still a little squirt, and you've already learned to boss people around."

Tsunade took another small sip and laughed heartily.

"Drinking too much isn't good for you. School wasn't much fun today, but I did meet a pretty good classmate."

"You're so young."

Tsunade put down her cup and stretched out on the tatami. Her lightly flushed cheeks made her look especially alluring.

"You're only in your twenties, and you're already going on about being young."

Yueshu answered as he cooked, thanks to the kitchen being right beside the living room.

"Your twenties aren't young. You're getting old. Being a ninja isn't exactly a long-lived profession."

"I think it's fine. This is just the right age, isn't it? Your twenties."

This kind of pointless conversation was part of Yueshu and Tsunade's daily routine. It was ordinary, but Yueshu liked it.

Tsunade didn't reply. Yueshu paused what he was doing and heard her soft, steady breathing. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he chopped the vegetables more gently.

The sun was already beginning to set, and the light of dusk spread across the room, warm yet cool. A blanket covered Tsunade, and soft sounds came from the kitchen, drifting out along with the fragrant smell of food.