Chapter 38

"Hahaha!" The Third Generation laughed heartily. "Just call me Grandpa. No need to be so formal!"

"Huh?" Xunjing's expression stiffened. Was this old bastard trying to take advantage of me?

Tsunade shot the Third Generation a sidelong, sarcastic look and sneered. "Old man, are you bullying a child? If Xunjing really dared to call you that, would you dare accept it? Better hope Lady Chisato doesn't find out, or she'll beat you to death. Heh!"

This old bastard was truly shameless. He was clearly from the same generation as Lady Chisato, yet he wanted her son to call him Grandpa. He had no sense of propriety at all.

"Uh..." Only then did the Third Generation come to his senses. Reminded by Tsunade, he thought of the enraged Uchiha Chisato and shuddered all over, hurriedly waving his hands. "My mistake, my mistake! Sorry, sorry! I was just so happy to see my granddisciple that I got carried away and forgot about that. My fault! My fault!"

After saying that, the Third Generation quickly put on a nervous, apologetic expression and said to Xunjing, "Xunjing, I was confused. From now on, you should call me Uncle Hokage instead."

The Third Generation smiled and waved his hand. "I'm only one or two years older than your mother. Calling me Uncle would be appropriate."

"It's all that girl Tsunade's fault for misleading me, hahaha!"

"Don't mention such a small matter to your mother. No need to make her worry."

If that woman really found out about what happened today, even getting beaten up by Uchiha Chisato would have been for nothing—he knew full well that she would absolutely make a big deal out of it. Most of the time, reasoning with her was simply useless.

Xunjing nodded. "Alright, I understand."

He now fully understood just how influential his mother was. Even the Third Generation feared her so much; one could only imagine the chaos she had caused back then.

Xunjing was somewhat curious, but he did not dare ask his mother directly—he was afraid of getting beaten up.

Still, he would definitely tell his mother about this.

What? He had promised the Third Generation not to say anything?

So what if he broke his word?

The timing was simply not right yet. It was not suitable to confront the Third Generation head-on. The Uchiha Clan still needed several years of quiet development. Once they had accumulated enough strength, they could settle all their accounts at once.

Seeing that he had relented, the Third Generation secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good."

He then probed a few more times, hoping to draw some information out of Xunjing.

Tsunade directly cut off the Third Generation's probing.

The Third Generation immediately realized that with Tsunade there, it was basically impossible to get anything out of Xunjing. At the same time, he discovered that this boy was far sharper than he had imagined.

He simply stopped trying. After giving a few brief instructions, he had Tsunade take Xunjing to enroll at the academy.

Of course, he had not given up on the idea of winning Xunjing over.

Once Xunjing entered the Ninja Academy, there would be plenty of time to influence him gradually. How clever could a six-year-old brat really be? His values had not even taken shape yet. The Third Generation had all the time and methods he needed to pull the child to his side.

Tsunade brought Xunjing to the Ninja Academy.

She first stopped by the vice principal's office, explained the situation, introduced the homeroom teacher of the elite class, and only left after handing him over.

Homeroom teacher Kuroda Ichido led Xunjing into the elite class classroom—First Year Class A.

It happened to be right as the class bell rang.

The classroom immediately erupted.

"Wow, who is that? He's so handsome!"

"Judging by his clothes, he's from the Uchiha Clan, right? Why is he only enrolling now?"

"No idea."

"Qingyi, aren't you an Uchiha? You should know him, right? What's his name?"

The classroom's clamor abruptly fell silent for a moment when they saw the face at the door.

"Damn... isn't that Xunjing from the Great Elder's family? How does he look like a completely different person..."

"Seriously? I can't recognize him at all."

Whispers spread from the front rows to the back like ripples across water. No one noticed Xunjing calmly sweeping his gaze over the entire classroom, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Hey! You're Xunjing, right? Mikoto told me about you!"

A red-haired girl abruptly stood up and waved at him.

"My name's Kushina, Uzumaki Kushina! Remember it. If anyone gives you trouble from now on, just say I've got your back. Mikoto asked me to look after you, and I agreed!"

Her big-sister attitude left the entire class stunned.

Xunjing could not help smiling and nodded lightly. "Then I'll be counting on you."

"Kushina!! Sit down properly this instant!!"

The veins on homeroom teacher Kuroda Ichido's forehead bulged as he pointed at her and roared.

This girl was taking him less and less seriously. Yet he truly could not do anything about her—Lady Tsunade would tear his office apart, not to mention Lady Mito standing behind her. He could not afford to offend her. Not at all.

"Got it, got it."

Having achieved her goal, Kushina did not continue arguing with the teacher and sat back down carelessly.

Two rows away and slightly ahead of her, Minato Namikaze heard her bold declaration and could not help turning around for a glance. A smile appeared on his face as he thought, So Kushina has the potential to be such a big sister too? That's pretty interesting.

That one look, that one smile, fell into Kushina's eyes.

She slammed her hand on the desk and shot to her feet, glaring at Minato. "You blond sissy, were you laughing at me? Huh?"

"No, I wasn't..."

Minato was just about to explain.

"Uzumaki Kushina!!! Sit down right now!!"

The podium erupted again.

Kuroda Ichido then turned toward Minato. "Minato Namikaze, you too! Don't follow her lead and go bad!"

"Yes."

The two yielded at the same time. Minato once again lost his chance to explain.

Kushina gritted her teeth, already cursing Minato eight hundred times in her heart. It's all that sissy's fault. Otherwise, how could I have gotten scolded again?

And what did he mean by not following me and going bad?

Was he afraid I'd lead him astray?

Who was he looking down on!

It was blatant discrimination, naked discrimination.

At the front, Kuroda Ichido gestured for Xunjing to introduce himself. He walked up to the podium and briefly stated his name. Some people in the classroom whispered among themselves, while others secretly studied him.

But Xunjing knew—

This class was rather interesting.

Under the gaze of the whole class, Xunjing returned to his seat. Kushina waved to him, and he sat in the empty seat beside her.

Looking down, he saw that Uzumaki Kushina's favorability toward him had already reached 62 points.

That initial value was quite high.

Most likely, Sister Mikoto said good things about me.

Maybe Teacher Tsunade and Lady Mito mentioned me too.

He pondered this inwardly.

Over the following days, Xunjing went to school obediently every day.

With his intellect, he had finished learning everything the academy had to offer within a few days.

His relationship with Kushina also grew closer by the day.

Minato Namikaze took the initiative to come over and greet him, and the three of them quickly became familiar with one another.

Thanks to his social skills, Kushina and Minato's favorability rose steadily.

However, they were still some distance away from the 80 points required for the contract.

There was no rushing this. Xunjing could only take his time.

After school one day, Xunjing said to Kushina and Minato, "Kushina, Minato, I've already learned everything the academy has to teach."

"Staying any longer would just be a waste of time."

"Starting tomorrow, I plan to send a Shadow Clone to attend class."

"I'll free up my own time to train. I wanted to tell you both in advance."

Since they were friends, it was better to make something like this clear.

Otherwise, if they found out later, it could affect their friendship.

Kushina was stunned at first, then her eyes lit up. "Huh? Use a Shadow Clone to attend class? How did I not think of that!"

She had enrolled several months before Xunjing, and being clever herself, she had long since learned everything she was supposed to learn.

As for things she did not want to learn, she had no interest in touching them at all.

Going to school had long become torture for her.

She had even considered asking her grandmother to let her stop coming to school and study Sealing Arts instead.

That was what she truly wanted to do.

The moment she heard Xunjing's words, she immediately saw the light.

Why suspend school? Wouldn't sending a Shadow Clone solve everything?

Her grandmother would surely have nothing to say about it.

As for not knowing the Shadow Clone technique? She could learn it.

What was a mere Shadow Clone to a genius girl like her?