Kushina Uzumaki

Chiyu walked through Konoha's streets toward the Ninja Academy.

There was no helping it. Where he lived was too remote, so he had to pass through Konoha's streets to get to the Ninja Academy.

He wasn't some masochist. Being cursed at like that made him feel awful too.

After arriving at his class at the Ninja Academy, Chiyu habitually headed for the seat in the farthest corner and sat down.

There was no one in front of him or to his right, because no one was willing to share a desk with him.

Chiyu had already been enrolled for three years, and he studied diligently in class.

After all, if Chiyu wanted to change his circumstances, there was no other way besides becoming stronger.

When they had first started learning to refine Chakra, Chiyu had tried it immediately.

Chiyu felt that his talent seemed pretty decent. Ordinary people needed one or two days to refine Chakra for the first time, while Chiyu had succeeded in just half a day.

However, there was someone with even better talent than Chiyu: Minato Namikaze, a civilian ninja.

Over the past three years, Minato Namikaze had defeated the talented students of ninja clans such as the Uchiha Clan, Hyuga, and Nara, becoming the top student in the entire academy.

Moreover, with his sunny personality and handsome looks, Minato Namikaze was very popular at school.

Unlike Chiyu. Though he was handsome too, everyone disliked him.

Chiyu lay sprawled across his desk, waiting for class to begin.

Other than attending school and waiting for Kushina Uzumaki to appear, there was nothing else Chiyu could do now.

Chiyu was currently thinking things over in his mind.

Having seen through the falsehood of Konoha Village, Chiyu sorted through his memories and realized that Kushina Uzumaki's experiences were somewhat strange.

When Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had still been Genin, Kushina Uzumaki had been kidnapped by three Kumogakure ninjas, each at least a Tokubetsu Jonin.

When they neared the border and Kushina Uzumaki began to despair, Minato Namikaze alone found the trail she had left and followed it. As a Genin, he defeated the three Cloud Ninja and successfully played the hero rescuing the damsel.

That was very strange.

Leaving aside whether Minato Namikaze at the time had been capable of taking on three Cloud Ninja who were at least Tokubetsu Jonin, it was strange enough that so many people in Konoha had been unable to find three Kumogakure ninjas.

Were the village's Sensor Ninja just freeloading?

Chiyu began brainstorming from the worst possible angle. Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him, and he abruptly raised his head to look at Minato Namikaze, who was chatting with someone.

Nine-Tails Container!

Kushina Uzumaki was not yet the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Because Mito Uzumaki, the first Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was nearing the end of her life, Konoha selected Kushina as the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki for strategic reasons, in order to maintain the Tailed Beast Balance, and secretly brought her to Konoha.

Thus, Kushina Uzumaki had been brought to Konoha precisely because Konoha wanted her to become the second Nine-Tails Container.

Kushina Uzumaki had no right to choose at all.

According to Kushina Uzumaki in his memories, the loneliness and suffocating oppression that came with it had nearly made her unable to breathe. Though she was unwilling, she had no choice but to accept that cruel reality.

And why had Kushina Uzumaki said that? The first reason was naturally because she could not change the outcome.

The second reason was likely her bond with Minato Namikaze. Kushina Uzumaki loved Minato Namikaze, so if she wanted to remain in Konoha, she had to accept that cruel reality as well.

It was very likely that from the moment Minato Namikaze rescued Kushina Uzumaki from those three Cloud Ninja, the Konoha High Command had been secretly pushing things along.

Perhaps Konoha had been planning this from even earlier.

They had made Kushina Uzumaki, the orphan of the Uzumaki Clan, form a bond with Minato Namikaze. Using that bond as a lock, they bound Kushina Uzumaki and made her willingly become Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

And the result was obvious. Konoha had succeeded.

If Chiyu's guess was correct, then Kushina Uzumaki had been nothing but a tool from the very beginning.

Minato Namikaze seemed to sense Chiyu's gaze and looked over at him.

Chiyu immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere.

Seeing that Chiyu was not looking at him, Minato Namikaze thought he had been mistaken. He turned back and continued chatting with the people around him.

Chiyu's heart pounded wildly.

If his guess was right, then Konoha was far darker than he had imagined. Perhaps Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage, was a tool as well.

Chiyu took a deep breath. He had to stay calm now.

Whether these were the truth or not did not matter to him. He would leave Konoha sooner or later, so increasing his strength was what he should be doing now.

The coming Third Great Ninja War would be a critical period for obtaining Witness Points. If he lacked strength, forget about earning Witness Points—he would not even be able to guarantee his own life.

The classroom door suddenly opened.

Their instructor, Shota Hayabusa, entered the classroom.

When Chiyu saw the small figure following behind Shota Hayabusa, his eyes immediately lit up.

After waiting three years at the Ninja Academy, she had finally appeared!

Kushina Uzumaki!

Kushina Uzumaki stood beside Shota Hayabusa, looking shy and reserved.

Shota Hayabusa introduced her to everyone. "This is the student transferring into our school starting today..."

After taking a deep breath, Kushina Uzumaki closed her eyes, gathered her courage, and loudly introduced herself, "I'm Kushina Uzumaki, ya know!"

Kushina Uzumaki suddenly covered her mouth, looking embarrassed and uneasy.

She had unconsciously blurted out her verbal tic, "ya know."

Watching Kushina Uzumaki, Chiyu thought she was pretty cute after all.

However, the other students began mocking Kushina Uzumaki.

"Look at that hair color. Unbelievable."

"How does someone's hair even get that red?"

"That's so weird."

Kushina Uzumaki self-consciously grabbed at her red hair.

Shota Hayabusa scolded them, "Enough, enough! Quiet down, all of you!"

Hearing the mocking laughter, Kushina Uzumaki's body trembled slightly, and her little fists clenched tightly.

As if making a vow, Kushina Uzumaki loudly declared, "I... I'm going to become this village's first female Hokage!"

Upon hearing Kushina Uzumaki's words, everyone present fell silent. They all stared at Kushina Uzumaki in stunned disbelief.

At that moment, Minato Namikaze stood up with a sunny smile. "I also want to become an outstanding Hokage recognized by the villagers."

Kushina Uzumaki pouted at Minato Namikaze. She felt that he was a little effeminate and did not look reliable at all. How could he possibly become Hokage?

Next, Shota Hayabusa was going to arrange a seat for Kushina Uzumaki.

However, most of the seats in the classroom were occupied, and the only empty seats were around Chiyu.

When he saw Chiyu, Shota Hayabusa frowned, his eyes filled with disgust.

"There's no helping it. Go find an empty seat over there and sit there for now."

Kushina Uzumaki looked in the direction Shota Hayabusa was pointing. The classroom was clearly so large, yet no one was sitting around Chiyu. It was obvious that he was being isolated.

At the same time, Kushina Uzumaki noticed that many people in the class seemed to be looking at her with a certain gloating expression.

Kushina Uzumaki immediately became unhappy. Fuming, she walked toward Chiyu, found an empty seat, and sat down.