Chapter 38

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

"Huh?" Xunjing's expression froze. Is this old bastard trying to pull rank on me?

Tsunade shot the Third a sidelong look and sneered. "Old man, are you picking on a kid? Even if Xunjing dared to call you that, would you dare answer? If Lady Jiri finds out, she'll pound you into the ground. Hah!"

The old bastard really had no shame. He was from the same generation as Lady Jiri, yet he wanted her son to call him Grandpa. He had no sense of propriety whatsoever.

"Uh..." Only then did the Third come to his senses. Tsunade's reminder brought an enraged Uchiha Chisato to mind, and he shuddered, waving his hands frantically. "My mistake, my mistake! Sorry, sorry! I got so excited seeing my student's student that I forgot all about that. My fault! My fault!"

The Third hurriedly put on a nervous, apologetic expression and said to Xunjing, "Xunjing, I wasn't thinking straight. From now on, just call me Uncle Hokage."

The Third waved a hand with a smile. "I'm a year or two older than your mother, so Uncle is perfectly appropriate."

"It's all that girl Tsunade's fault for misleading me. Haha!"

"Don't mention such a little thing to your mother. No need to worry her."

If that woman really found out about today, he would have to take whatever beating Uchiha Chisato gave him without complaint-he knew perfectly well that she would seize the excuse to make a fuss. Most of the time, reasoning with her was utterly pointless.

Xunjing nodded. "All right, I understand."

Now he truly understood just how much clout his mother had. Even the Third was this wary of her. Clearly, she must have caused quite a stir back in the day.

Xunjing was a little curious, but he didn't dare ask his mother directly-he was afraid she would beat him.

Still, he would definitely tell his mother about this.

What? He had promised the Third he wouldn't?

So what if he broke his word?

The timing simply wasn't right yet for a direct confrontation with the Third. The Uchiha still needed a few years to develop quietly. Once they had built up enough strength, there would be plenty of time to settle every score at once.

Seeing him agree, the Third secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, good."

Then he tried a few more probing questions, hoping to coax some information out of Xunjing.

Tsunade cut his probing short.

The Third immediately realized that with Tsunade present, he had virtually no chance of getting anything out of Xunjing. He also discovered that the boy was far shrewder than he had imagined.

He stopped wasting his efforts, gave a few brief instructions, and had Tsunade take Xunjing to enroll at the academy.

Of course, he hadn't abandoned the idea of winning Xunjing over.

Once the boy entered the Ninja Academy, there would be plenty of time to influence him gradually. How clever could a six-year-old brat possibly be? His worldview hadn't even taken shape yet. The Third had ample methods and time to bring the child over to his side.

Tsunade led Xunjing to the Ninja Academy.

She first stopped by the Vice Principal's Office, explained the situation, and introduced him to the Elite Class's homeroom teacher. Only after handing him over did she leave.

The homeroom teacher, Kuroda Ichido, brought Xunjing into the Elite Class-the classroom for First-Year Class A.

They arrived just as the bell rang.

The classroom instantly erupted.

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

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

"No idea."

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

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

"Whoa... isn't that Xunjing from the grand elder's family? How does he look like a completely different person...?"

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

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

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

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

"My name's Kushina, Uzumaki Kushina! Remember it! If anyone gives you trouble, tell them you're under my protection. Mikoto asked me to look after you, and I promised I would!"

Her big-sister-boss attitude left the whole class stunned for a moment.

Xunjing couldn't help smiling. He nodded lightly. "Sorry for the trouble, then."

"Kushina! Sit down and behave!"

A vein bulged on Kuroda Ichido's forehead as the homeroom teacher pointed at her and roared.

This girl showed him less respect by the day. But he really couldn't do anything about her-Lady Tsunade would tear his office apart, and Lady Mito stood behind her as well. He couldn't afford to cross her. Absolutely not.

"Okay, okay."

Having achieved her goal, Kushina didn't keep arguing with the teacher and plopped back into her seat.

Two rows diagonally ahead, Minato Namikaze heard her bold declaration and couldn't resist looking back with a smile. So Kushina has the makings of a big-sister boss, too? That's pretty interesting.

That single glance and smile caught Kushina's eye.

She slammed her hand on her desk and sprang up, glaring at Minato. "You blond sissy, are you laughing at me? Huh?"

"No, I wasn't..."

Minato was about to explain.

"Uzumaki Kushina! Sit down!"

Another furious shout erupted from the podium.

Kuroda Ichido then turned to Minato. "You too, Minato Namikaze! Don't pick up her bad habits!"

"Yes, sir."

Both of them backed down at once. Minato lost his chance to explain yet again.

Kushina gritted her teeth, having already cursed Minato hundreds of times in her head. It's all that sissy's fault. Otherwise, how would I have gotten yelled at again?

And what does he mean, don't pick up bad habits?

Is he afraid I'll be a bad influence on him?

Who does he think he's looking down on?

Discrimination, plain and simple. Blatant discrimination.

At the front, Kuroda Ichido motioned for Xunjing to introduce himself. Xunjing stepped up to the podium and briefly gave his name. Some students whispered among themselves, while others stole glances at him.

But Xunjing knew one thing-

This class was rather interesting.

Under the gaze of the entire class, Xunjing walked back toward the seats. Kushina beckoned to him, and he sat in the empty seat beside her.

Glancing down, he saw that Kushina Uzumaki's affection for him had already reached 62 points.

That was quite a high starting value.

Mikoto probably put in a good word for me.

Maybe Teacher Tsunade and Lady Mito mentioned me a few times, too.

He mulled it over.

Over the next few days, Xunjing dutifully attended the academy every day.

With his intellect, he mastered the academy's material in just a few days.

His relationship with Kushina grew warmer by the day as well.

Minato Namikaze took the initiative to come over and say hello, and the three soon became close.

Thanks to Xunjing's social skills, Kushina's and Minato's affection scores climbed rapidly.

Still, they remained some way short of the 80 points required for a contract.

There was no rushing this, so Xunjing could only keep working at it patiently.

After school that day, Xunjing told Kushina and Minato, "Kushina, Minato, I've already learned everything the academy teaches."

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

"Starting tomorrow, I'm planning to send a Shadow Clone to class."

"That'll free up time for me to train. I wanted to let you know beforehand."

Since they were friends, it was better to be upfront about something like this.

That way, discovering it later wouldn't hurt their friendship.

Kushina froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "Huh? Use a Shadow Clone to attend class? Why didn't I think of that?"

She had enrolled a few months before Xunjing, and being clever, she had long since learned everything she needed to.

As for anything she didn't want to learn, she had no interest in touching it.

Attending school had long since become torture for her.

She had even been thinking of begging her grandmother to let her stop coming to school and study Sealing Arts with her instead.

That was what she actually wanted to do.

Xunjing's words made everything click.

Why withdraw from school? She could simply send a Shadow Clone and be done with it.

Her grandmother would surely have no objections.

And if she didn't know how to use a Shadow Clone? She could learn.

What was one little Shadow Clone to a beautiful young genius like her?