Self-Introduction

The classroom was small, with four rows of long desks crammed with about thirty people.

The teacher pushed the door open and walked in, holding a roster, and stood at the podium.

He scanned the room, then spoke in a measured, unhurried tone.

"I am your homeroom teacher, and from today on, I will be responsible for your foundational courses."

"Let's start with self-introductions. One by one, stand up, state your name, and tell us your goal."

He opened the roster and read the first name.

The boy from the Sarutobi clan stood up, his back as straight as a wooden stake.

"Sarutobi—my goal is to become an excellent ninja, protect Konoha, and live up to the expectations of my clan."

He sat down.

The one from the Hyuga clan.

"Hyuga—to protect Konoha and carry on the glory of my clan."

He sat down.

The one from the Akimichi clan.

"Akimichi—to protect Konoha and live up to..."

Kitahara Kaede leaned back in his chair.

Protect Konoha, excellent ninja, clan expectations.

The same tired lines went around in circles, as if the parents had handed out a standardized answer sheet before the start of school.

Seven or eight more were called, all cut from the same mold.

Even the homeroom teacher began to drift off.

Until—

"Jiraiya."

The white-haired boy stood up with a jerk.

He braced his hands on the desk, chin tilted up, his voice louder than everyone else's combined.

"My name is Jiraiya!"

He looked around the classroom, his expression as solemn as if he were announcing something monumental.

"My goal—to become the strongest ninja!"

He paused, and everyone thought he was finished.

But he didn't sit down.

"And then—to save all the beautiful girls in this world!"

The classroom went silent for a beat, then exploded.

Several scions of noble families in the front row turned to look at him, their expressions like they had just seen a new species at the zoo.

Two students sitting together whispered to each other, not even bothering to hide their laughter.

Tsunade, sitting next to Kitahara Kaede, rested her elbows on the desk and uttered two words with a blank expression.

"Pervert."

Her voice wasn't loud.

But the classroom was small, and the rows in front and behind heard her clearly.

The laughter erupted again.

Far from being annoyed, Jiraiya winked at Tsunade.

"I call it universal love! My perspective is just different!"

The homeroom teacher watched him for two seconds, offered no comment, marked the roster, and turned the page.

Jiraiya sat back down carelessly, a smirk still playing on his lips.

But the hand he had resting under the desk clenched tightly.

He had caught those looks just now, every single one of them.

He had no clan, no surname, no background.

But so what? He would prove he was just as good.

The homeroom teacher tapped the desk and turned to the next page.

"Orochimaru."

The classroom quieted down.

The black-haired boy in the corner stood up.

His movements were slow—not out of hesitation, but out of a lack of urgency.

He stood at the boundary between shadow and sunlight, his pale face devoid of expression.

Golden slit pupils scanned the room.

"Orochimaru."

His voice wasn't high, but every word was clear.

"My goal—to master all the ninjutsu in this world and understand the essence of every technique."

Without another word, he sat down.

This time, no one in the classroom laughed.

It wasn't because they were scared.

It was because his tone had been too calm, calm enough to sound like he was stating a fact that had already been decided.

The teacher's pen paused on the roster for a second.

He gave Orochimaru an extra look, said nothing, and turned the page.

After those two spoke, the atmosphere in the classroom became a bit strange.

The "sense of normalcy" established by the previous twenty-some students had been shattered by these two.

"Tsunade."

Tsunade stood up.

She flicked her golden ponytail and put her hands on her hips.

"Tsunade. My grandfather is the First Hokage, and my grand-uncle is the Second Hokage."

She paused, her expression deadly serious.

"So, I am going to be an excellent ninja, too."

Once she finished, the teacher nodded, ready to turn the page.

Tsunade hadn't sat down yet.

"And—"

Tsunade's voice rang out again.

"I'm going to win all the money in every casino in the ninja world."

The teacher's pen stopped.

The classroom went quiet again.

It was different from the time with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's turn had been cold.

This time, it was bewilderment.

Two seconds later, a boy in the corner let out a snort of laughter and quickly covered his mouth.

Tsunade's gaze swept over.

The boy shrank back.

She sat down, smoothed her hair, and looked perfectly composed.

Kitahara Kaede watched from the side, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

Win all the money in every casino in the ninja world.

Given her future reputation as the "Legendary Sucker," this was probably the most absurd goal mentioned in the classroom today.

"Hagoromo Kaede."

Kitahara Kaede stood up.

A few people in the classroom who knew of the Hagoromo clan gave him an extra look—an old-line family that had allied with the Senju during the Warring States period; though their numbers had dwindled, their foundation remained.

"Hagoromo Kaede."

His voice was very flat.

"My goal—to protect the people I cherish."

He was done.

Even shorter than Orochimaru.

He sat down.

There was no ripple in the classroom.

Most people filed this under the "protect Konoha" category; there wasn't much difference.

But the teacher's hand, gripping the pen, paused.

He looked at Kitahara Kaede, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he simply wrote the name on the roster without a sound.

In the corner, Orochimaru's gaze lingered on his back.

Not "protect Konoha."

Not "become an excellent ninja."

It was "people I cherish."

The scope had narrowed.

From "everyone" to "people I cherish."

At this age, most people couldn't distinguish between "what they should say" and "what they want to say."

The twenty-some people before him had all said what they "should."

This person had said what he "wanted."

Orochimaru withdrew his gaze, his finger tapping unconsciously on the desk.

Interesting.

Not much, just a little.

The moment Kitahara Kaede's seat touched his chair, a hand reached over from the side.

It tugged at his sleeve.

Tsunade tilted her head toward him, lowering her voice.

"People you cherish?"

She blinked.

"Who?"

Kitahara Kaede didn't look at her.

He fished something out of his pocket and placed it on the corner of her desk.

A piece of candy.

Tsunade looked down at the candy, then back up at him.

"Don't change the subject."

"Didn't you bet that someone would make a fool of themselves today?"

Tsunade paused for a moment.

Kitahara Kaede gestured with his chin toward Jiraiya.

"I won the bet. What kind of dumplings do you want to eat?"

Tsunade's attention took a detour.

She unwrapped the candy, popped it into her mouth, and mumbled, "Three-color dumplings, two skewers, your treat."

"Deal."

Tsunade chewed the candy, her eyes drifting out the window.

Even though she had won the bet, that sentence was still stuck in her mind, refusing to leave.

People I cherish.

She couldn't say why, but she just felt that her name should have been in that answer.

But he hadn't said it.

She wanted to press him, but felt that asking would make her seem too invested.

Tsunade bit down hard on the candy.

Whatever.

He couldn't run away anyway.

Jiraiya rested his arms on the desk, his chin propped on the back of his hands.

He watched the two of them.

One handing something over, the other taking it.

They were talking in low, intermittent voices, and occasionally, when Tsunade leaned in, her golden ponytail brushed against the boy's shoulder.

Jiraiya watched for a few seconds.

He couldn't describe the feeling.

When he looked elsewhere, he happened to lock eyes with Orochimaru.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment across the room.

Orochimaru withdrew his gaze without expression, as if he had accidentally spotted a bug on the side of the road.

Jiraiya curled his lip.

This class sure had a lot of weirdos.