Kushina at the Same Table

After parting ways with Uchiha Kurohane, Uchiha Mikoto returned home with a beaming smile, only to run into Uchiha Setsuna, who was heading out to have dinner with the clansmen.

Uchiha Setsuna cast a majestic glance at her and asked in a cold, stern voice.

"Mikoto, why are you smiling so happily? Did you encounter something good?"

"Something good? I suppose so. I saw Kurohane-kun training in the woods."

Uchiha Setsuna blinked, a flicker of confusion passing through his eyes, which were as sharp as a hawk's.

"What could be so special about that disgrace to the Uchiha?"

"Was he secretly practicing some kind of ninjutsu?"

Uchiha Mikoto instinctively wanted to reveal the immense strength Uchiha Kurohane had shown when he shattered a large tree with a single punch, but she quickly remembered that he had always kept his strength hidden. She pondered to herself.

That boy is very strange. Everyone else wants to show off their strength.

Yet he does the opposite, hiding his power and deliberately pretending to be weak.

Though I don't know the reason, he must have his motives.

Forget it, I'll help him out.

"Nothing special, he was just practicing taijutsu."

"Hmph, taijutsu? That guy really is hopeless."

The Uchiha were a clan skilled in Fire Release ninjutsu, and the clansmen took great pride in their ability to use it.

Uchiha Setsuna knew Uchiha Kurohane couldn't use Fire Release, so he looked down on him entirely.

"Hmph, you must have found it funny because his moves were so weak."

"That's normal. You have high talent; among the current clansmen, only Fugaku can compare to you. You should spend more time with Fugaku. That boy has a bright future and will surely become a pillar of our clan."

After saying this, Uchiha Setsuna used the Body Flicker Technique and departed.

Watching the direction in which he disappeared, Uchiha Mikoto thought to herself.

That's not right. Kurohane-kun's talent is far greater than Fugaku's.

His dreams are also much grander than Fugaku's.

Fugaku only wants to be the head of the Uchiha clan; his capacity is too small!

As a young, naive girl, Uchiha Mikoto was instinctively drawn to men who were physically strong and possessed great power.

Without realizing it, she had been captivated by Uchiha Kurohane's athletic traits and his immense strength...

The next morning at 9:00 AM.

Uchiha Kurohane walked into the ninja academy classroom with his hands in his pockets, his attention immediately caught by a flash of red.

Kushina Uzumaki was sitting obediently in the back row.

Although she wasn't speaking and appeared quiet, her long red hair was so dazzling—like a walking tomato—that it was truly hard not to notice her.

Uchiha Kurohane had important things to do at the moment, so he paid her no mind. Ignoring the noisy, rowdy students, he walked quickly to the second-to-last row by the window and sat down.

He took out his homework, stared at the blank page, and scratched the back of his head in frustration.

When he met Uchiha Mikoto last night, she had been all over him.

Between the head pats and the chin-tugging, Uchiha Kurohane had been stirred up by her; after returning home, he couldn't stop fantasizing about her and had no mood to do his homework.

Because the village was in a state of total war, students at the ninja academy could be sent to the battlefield at any moment.

The teachers were extremely strict with student management; if they caught anyone without their homework done, their vacation would be canceled.

Uchiha Kurohane had to finish his assignment before the teacher arrived for class.

"Ugh... The horizontal distance from point A to point B is 15 meters, the wind speed is 1 meter per second from the southeast. Please calculate the optimal angle and initial velocity for throwing a kunai..."

What a pain. This kind of thing is done by feel after enough practice; who actually calculates it?

Konoha's ninja academy didn't teach elemental ninjutsu, nor did it teach summoning techniques.

They just loved teaching these useless things.

So what if you become a top student like Sakura?

Aren't you still unable to use a single elemental ninjutsu?

When you get to the Chunin Exams, you can only use the Substitution Jutsu and engage in hand-to-hand combat with kunai.

This was the reason why Konoha's talent pool was drying up in the original story, unable to produce the next Hokage.

If they weren't willing to teach ninjas actual ninjutsu, how could civilian ninjas ever grow?

After living in the world of Naruto for nine years, Uchiha Kurohane understood that the solidification of class in the ninja world was actually even more severe than in his previous life.

Before he transmigrated, if you were a top student, you could get into the best universities.

But in Konoha, no matter how smart a civilian was, they had no way to learn ninjutsu.

In the end, they could only become beasts of burden to complete missions and cannon fodder on the battlefield.

This world is too dark!

Uchiha Kurohane grumbled to himself while rapidly working through his exercises.

Suddenly, a sweet-scented breeze drifted over, as if someone had leaned in close to him.

He turned his head to look and discovered that Kushina Uzumaki had snuck over at some point and taken the seat right next to him.

Uchiha Kurohane had homework to finish and no time to entertain Kushina, so he asked directly.

"What do you want?"

Kushina Uzumaki flashed a brilliant smile, revealing her snow-white teeth.

"No one is sitting here, right? I'm taking this spot. Do you mind?"

Uchiha Kurohane certainly didn't mind, but the teachers at the Ninja Academy might.

However, Kushina Uzumaki's status was far from ordinary; she was a member of the Uzumaki clan.

While children might not grasp the significance of that identity, adult ninjas certainly did.

Konoha and the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools were allies; Konoha ninjas even wore the Uzumaki clan's crest on their uniforms.

The relationship between the two villages was incredibly close.

Yet, when the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools was besieged by several other villages, Konoha had stood by and watched, failing to send any reinforcements.

They had only secretly sent people to bring Kushina over, which led to the destruction of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools.

And the reason Konoha saved Kushina Uzumaki wasn't out of a sudden pang of conscience, but because they needed her to become the next jinchuriki.

This practice of abandoning allies to prioritize one's own interests was utterly shameless.

Out of a guilty conscience, the teachers at the Ninja Academy would surely turn a blind eye to Kushina Uzumaki.

"I don't mind. Sit wherever you want."

Having received Uchiha Kurohane's consent, Kushina Uzumaki leaned her little head in to look at his workbook, then let out an exclamation of surprise.

"Wow~ you haven't done your homework at all! What were you doing last night?"

The Second Shinobi World War was raging outside the village; what did not doing homework matter? What was there to be so surprised about?

"I was training last night and didn't have time. Did you do yours?"

"Of course I did."

Kushina Uzumaki proudly puffed out her flat little chest, pulled out her workbook, and flipped it open for Uchiha Kurohane to see.

Although Kushina had a boisterous and seemingly rough personality, her handwriting was unexpectedly neat and beautiful.

Even with the page densely packed with writing, it didn't look crowded; instead, it was quite pleasing to the eye.

"Give it here, let me check if you got it right."

Uchiha Kurohane snatched Kushina's workbook and immediately began copying.

Kushina Uzumaki was stunned into silence.

"Why are you copying my homework? The teacher said we aren't allowed to copy, and we aren't allowed to lend our homework to classmates to copy either."

"If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, how would the teacher know?"

"Eh... your homework will be exactly the same as mine. Won't the teacher know?"

"Of course not. There are so many students in class; which teacher is going to remember the answers of two specific students? I'll just intentionally get a few questions wrong."

"..."

Although Kushina Uzumaki felt a bit uneasy, she didn't want Uchiha Kurohane to be punished by the teacher, so she pursed her little lips and said nothing more.

Just then, Namikaze Minato, who was sitting some distance away, turned his head. With his small eyes, he watched Kushina Uzumaki and Uchiha Kurohane huddled together, sniffled, and felt a twinge of regret in his heart...