But all of that depended on passing the graduation exam.
The four of them had long surpassed the required standards. This was merely a formality.
Once they had finished, each of them received a brand-new Konoha Forehead Protector.
The silver-gray metal plate bore Konoha's spiraling leaf emblem, gleaming softly beneath the sunlight.
A ninja forehead protector was the mark of a ninja village's shinobi—and a ninja's pride!
Kushina turned her forehead protector over several times, then held it up against her forehead. "So this means I'm a Genin now? It feels like a dream..."
"If you want to stay an academy student for another two years, you can," Mirai remarked beside her.
"No way!" Kushina quickly tied on her forehead protector and tilted her head. "How does it look?"
"It's a little low on the left." Mirai reached out to adjust it, his fingers brushing the loose strands by her ear. "There."
Kushina's face reddened slightly. Before she could say anything,
Minato had already tied his own forehead protector neatly around his brow. His spiky golden hair was pressed into a faint line by the band.
He checked his reflection in the window glass and nodded in satisfaction. "It feels pretty great!"
Naori said nothing. She quietly put her forehead protector into her ninja tool pouch instead of wearing it,
as though she thought hanging a piece of metal from her forehead would ruin the overall harmony of her long, straight black hair.
"Well then," Minato said, turning around and extending a hand, "starting today, we're teammates. Please take care of me!"
Mirai looked at the enthusiastic hand offered to him. After hesitating for half a second, he placed his own hand on it. "...Likewise."
Kushina was third, eagerly placing her hand atop Mirai's.
Naori gave a slight nod in response and placed her hand on top of them all.
All four of them felt that something inside had changed.
That afternoon, Jiraiya was crouching on the roof outside the bathhouse. He held a little notebook in one hand and twirled a pen in the other, muttering to himself. "...Hmm, this angle is good today. I can see three-quarters of it clearly..."
"Inspiration is just bursting forth nonstop! Wahahahaha!"
A ninja hawk fluttered down onto his shoulder, a rolled-up letter hooked in its talons.
Without even raising his head, Jiraiya opened it. His expression changed from focus to confusion, from confusion to blank bewilderment, and finally his entire face fell.
"Ah—?!"
He snapped his notebook shut, his face full of the awkwardness of someone who had been caught red-handed. "Why me, old man?! I haven't even found the Child of Prophecy yet! How could I have time to lead students?"
But at the end of the letter was a handwritten note from Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Student assignment: Minato Namikaze, Izumi Uchiha, and Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Mirai Uzumaki.
Jiraiya, you must teach them well."
Jiraiya stared at those words for a long while, then scratched his head.
"One Uchiha, one Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and one civilian ninja," he murmured to himself. The frivolity on his face faded somewhat. "The old man really knows how to assign me missions."
He could not help thinking of his own days as classmates with Orochimaru and Tsunade. The three of them really were somewhat similar.
Jiraiya tucked his little notebook into his clothes, leaped down from the rooftop, and vanished into the light of dusk.
He probably would not have as much time to seek inspiration in the future!
Early the next morning, Classroom Seven.
The three of them arrived on time, but after waiting in the classroom for quite a while, there was still no sign of Jiraiya.
Mirai leaned against the window, looking at the empty corridor outside the classroom door, unable to stop himself from complaining inwardly—
In the original story, Kakashi had loved being late when teaching Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.
Minato Namikaze had been Kakashi's teacher, and he had also arrived late during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge.
And Jiraiya was Minato's teacher... So this tradition of being late had been passed down through the same lineage?
Just as he was thinking that, a figure finally appeared at the classroom door.
The young Jiraiya sauntered in slowly, dressed in a white outer robe with a mane of long white hair. He was still chewing on an onigiri in his hand. "Yo, everyone's here? Good, good."
"Jiraiya-sensei, you're late!" Mirai Uzumaki ruthlessly called him out!
"Haha, I happened to run into an old lady crossing the road on the way here, so I helped her over. That delayed me a little." Jiraiya scratched his head sheepishly.
Unfortunately, not one of the three little ones believed him.
Mirai Uzumaki even showed a hint of contempt. You think you're Obito? Obito really would help an old lady cross the road. You, Jiraiya, would at most be peeping into the women's bathhouse!
Unfortunately, Jiraiya did not know what Mirai Uzumaki was thinking. Otherwise, he would surely have been utterly suspicious. How did you know that?
Thick-skinned as ever, he walked to the front of the classroom, stuffed the rest of the onigiri into his mouth, brushed the rice grains from his hands, then looked around at the three little beans below.
"Alright, introduce yourselves first. What you like, what you hate, what your dreams are—just say whatever." He leaned against the lectern. "You first."
He pointed at Minato Namikaze.
Minato stood straight and cleared his throat. "My name is Minato Namikaze. I like reading and training. There's nothing in particular that I dislike. My dream is... to become Hokage!"
When he spoke those last few words, his eyes sparkled like a lake beneath the sunlight.
Jiraiya raised his brows. "Oh? Hokage... That's ambitious."
Then he looked at Mirai Uzumaki.
A trace of helplessness appeared on Mirai's face. Self-introductions really were a Konoha tradition.
"My name is Mirai Uzumaki. I like studying Sealing Jutsu and making friends. I hate parting in life and death—"
He paused. Mito's face flashed through his mind, but only for an instant.
"As for my dream—it's becoming Hokage too!"
Minato turned to look at him, then smiled and held out a fist. "Then we're rivals?"
Mirai raised his hand and bumped fists with him. "Yeah. Rivals."
Jiraiya gave Mirai another look. The child's expression was calm, but there had been a momentary hesitation in his voice when he spoke of hating parting in life and death.
Having just experienced Lady Mito's passing, there was no way it had not left a mark on the child's heart. If he had the chance, he would need to guide him properly.
A person's death was equivalent to writing an ending for a story.
If that ending was perfect, then there was nothing to dwell on or feel upset about.
Jiraiya did not ask further at the moment. He simply nodded. "Alright, next."
Izumi Uchiha spoke in a cool voice. "Izumi Uchiha. As for what I like... there's nothing I particularly like."
Her gaze drifted quickly to the side before returning.
The direction was—Mirai Uzumaki.
"There's nothing I particularly dislike either. My dream is for my family to be healthy and safe."
Mirai gave her a strange look. An Uchiha's dream was for her family to be healthy and safe?
The ending of the Uchiha Clan from the original story automatically surfaced in his mind: the night of the clan massacre by that great filial son!
That dream would not be easy to realize.
Jiraiya seemed to notice that the atmosphere had become a little subtle, so he clapped his hands and changed the subject:
"Mm-hmm, very good, very good. Everyone has dreams, and the world is full of hope!
Alright, introductions are over. Next comes the test. Let's head to the training ground first!"
Before you continue