The days of being mocked and humiliated felt as though they had happened only yesterday. Back then, I had fantasized countless times about suddenly gaining great power one day, so I could teach those who had bullied me a lesson.
But no matter how I prayed, such a thing never happened. In the end, I died just like that, hastily and meaninglessly.
When I opened my eyes again, however, I had gained the power I had once longed for.
I had also overcome the fear in my heart, stepped onto a campus once more, and even made friends.
Hey, the me from back then, did you see it? I had regained the confidence I once possessed.
"Although school has only just begun, the Ninja Academy is not a place for playing house. So today, we'll immediately begin our first lesson! First is the most important thing a ninja must understand: chakra. Whether it's ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu, chakra is indispensable. It is the source of our power as ninja..."
The Chunin teacher on the podium was explaining chakra. But I could not absorb a word of it. After all, this was stuff anyone who had watched the anime could understand, not to mention that I had my loving mother and Teacher Hill, who was like a god, to teach me.
So-called chakra was a peculiar kind of energy. In short, in this world, chakra, brought by Kaguya, was something that stood above everything else.
But honestly, after reading the scroll Mom had left me, my first thought was that this world's people used chakra in an incredibly extravagant and wasteful way.
The method Hill taught me for converting chakra into Battle Aura was simple. First, draw out the chakra inside the body and tear it into strands. Then knead those strands together into something new and attach it to the body. That was Battle Aura.
Using only the chakra consumed by a small Fire Release ninjutsu, I could break a tree stump with a single Battle Aura-enhanced punch. And it was not truly expended.
My chakra reserves were not actually that high. Even if I had trained continuously since infancy, at most, I would be on par with Kakashi when he became Hokage in the future.
No wonder Hill had never let me learn ninjutsu. She had only taught me Battle Aura and trained my physical abilities.
Otherwise, without an absurd amount of chakra, it would be difficult to make a name for myself by flinging ninjutsu around.
By comparison, Battle Aura was far more cost-effective. Besides, the chakra required for Battle Aura was actually different from that used for ninjutsu.
How should I put it? It was something like glycogen and creatine.
Battle Aura was the storage type. As long as I did not deliberately use it, such as to destroy or defend against something, it was barely consumed at all.
Therefore, I could keep Battle Aura active twenty-four hours a day, effectively guarding against unknown dangers.
Unfortunately, the amount of energy it could store was limited. Otherwise, after saving it up for a few years, I might be able to shatter Susanoo with a single slash.
The most crucial part was that after chakra formed Battle Aura, the Battle Aura remained, while the chakra used to form it began to recover.
One portion of chakra, two uses. Its value for the cost was simply outrageous.
And once I mastered Haki, I would basically have no use for ninjutsu. The Mythical Zoan Fruit allowed me to control Lightning, Flame, and wind anyway, so I did not lack ranged attacks.
Compared to me, who was practically wandering off in spirit, Rin beside me was furiously taking notes, afraid of missing even a tiny bit of knowledge.
After all, Rin was not from a major clan. This basic knowledge should be especially important to her. Later, I should ask Hill to help revise her notes as well.
Obito behind us... well, he had been extremely serious at first, but soon started dozing off. Although he aspired to become Hokage, that did not mean he would listen during theory classes.
There was definitely a reason he was dead last, but since he was the late-bloomer type, I would let him be.
As for Kakashi Hatake, the super genius, I even had reason to suspect that the one sitting here was his Shadow Clone.
The children from the other major clans were also absentminded. After all, their elders had all been ninja, and the talented ones had perhaps already learned their clans' secret techniques.
For them, coming to the Ninja Academy was basically about socializing, as well as going through the motions. It was not quite guaranteed graduation, but there was certainly not much need for them to study.
The textbooks and such had been handed out long ago. With just a casual glance, it was clear that the Ninja Academy could hardly teach much useful battlefield knowledge.
The people who came to teach were all Chunin. Those who chose teaching certainly did not have much real combat experience on the battlefield.
If they were truly outstanding ninja, they definitely would not be standing at a podium.
[Teacher Hill, do I need to learn any ninjutsu or anything now?]
Mom had rarely given me a scroll, so naturally I still wanted to learn from it. But my training schedule was already packed, and learning ninjutsu also took time.
So it was better to ask my teacher about this sort of question.
[Most ninjutsu would not provide a direct benefit to Lord Qingyue at present. With Battle Aura enveloping your body, you can fight opponents above your level. It is estimated that by age twelve, your physical strength combined with Battle Aura will allow you to completely ignore ninjutsu cast by Chunin-level opponents.]
Those were already incredibly exaggerated figures. It could be said that once I was twelve, fighting Chunin would be as easy as killing chickens. Even some Jonin would be unable to pose much threat to me.
[Treat learning things like the Clone Technique as merely going through the motions. For now, your focus should remain on cultivating Haki and Battle Aura. Techniques like the Body Flicker and Substitution Technique are not very practical; the movement techniques created through Battle Aura will be enough.]
That made sense too. Having eaten a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, I naturally had to capitalize on its close-combat advantages.
Then I could slack off in class without worry!
Fortunately, the Ninja Academy let out fairly early. With some adjustments, it would not affect my daily training.
Ah, I almost forgot—Hatake Sakumo!
Going by the timeline, his suicide incident would happen soon. Preventing him from failing his mission was definitely unrealistic. All I could do was figure out how to keep him from committing suicide after it happened.
I needed to spend more time around Kakashi. Hatake Sakumo's suicide could probably only be resolved by Kakashi himself.
"Alright, today's theory class ends here. This afternoon, we'll conduct a practical assessment outside!"
Class was finally over. I immediately took Rin's notes and began revising them.
"Is something wrong? Did I write something down incorrectly?"
"Not really. It just feels like the teacher did not explain things very concisely, so I'm helping you rewrite it to make it a little easier to understand."
I really wanted to teach Rin how to cultivate Battle Aura, but thinking about how she wanted to become a medical ninja, there was not much need for it.
Besides, cultivating Battle Aura consumed a great deal of energy. It would be awful if it kept her from paying proper attention in class.
The school did not provide lunch during the noon break. Everyone brought bento from home.
Since my parents were not home, and I had no talent for cooking in either of my lives, I had shamelessly asked Rin to prepare one for me the day before.
Though we were only five, children in this world were really capable.
Rin had increased the portion of rice in my bento. She knew I underwent exhausting training every day.
The meat was simple grilled fish and some pork, while the vegetables were salad.
It would have gotten cold anyway. If she prepared cooked vegetables, they would turn yellow and taste bad instead, so salad was better.
After finding Obito and Kakashi, the four of us ate our bentos together.
Neither of them had adults at home, so they had simply bought quick food like bread and milk. Thankfully, thoughtful Rin had prepared an extra portion of dishes and shared them with the two of them.
"Say, Obito, aren't you trying to become Hokage? Isn't dozing off in class a bad idea?" Seeing him sleep through the entire lesson, I could not help reminding him.
"You slacked off through the whole class too..." the scarecrow in a mask said coldly.
"How could I be considered slacking off? I was taking a reasonable break."
That was not a lie. If I did not rest properly, I would never withstand Hill's training. A child could die from it.
If this world had jeeps, I felt certain Hill would start one without hesitation and drive straight at me while shouting for me not to run.
Heh. I had no obligation not to run.
"Qingyue wasn't slacking off. He even helped revise my notes, and made them easy to understand. How could he have done that if he hadn't listened?"
I was so touched. Rin was already defending her husband!
"What? You're serious?" Kakashi wore an incredulous expression. "But that guy was obviously..."
Heh heh, Hatake Clan's masked man, this was the special treatment granted to a noble reincarnator.
"Sigh, there's nothing I can do. The material here is just too simple for me, so it makes me look like I'm slacking off during class." I mocked them while imitating Light Yagami's expression as he tried to hold back laughter.
"As expected of Qingyue. You're the only one capable of pulling off such a shameless pose..."
The lunch break ended amid our banter.
The afternoon was for the practical assessment. According to the teacher, the purpose of this test was to gauge everyone's strength, so future combat simulations could be assigned according to ability.
"Then, who will be the first group to come up and demonstrate?"
The moment the teacher finished speaking, Obito, sitting behind me, immediately volunteered.
"Kakashi and I will go first!"
"Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, is it? Neither of you paid much attention in class this morning, so let's see what you're capable of!"
Hatake Thousand Years of Death wore a speechless expression. He seemed to have wanted to fight me or delay his turn as much as possible, but Obito had directly called him out.
After the two took the field, they formed the Seal of Opposition at the teacher's instruction.
As soon as the teacher said, "Begin," Obito took the initiative, stepping forward and throwing a punch that Kakashi easily dodged.
Realizing he had exposed an opening, Obito immediately adjusted his stance and prepared to throw another punch, only for Kakashi to send him into the air with an uppercut.
It was not over yet. Kakashi threw a flurry of punches, battering him before finally knocking Obito flying.
Seeing this, the teacher had already prepared to raise his hand and announce the end, but Obito got up again and charged at Kakashi.
The result was obvious. Obito did not land a single hit on Kakashi before being easily suppressed.
"That's enough! Obito, Kakashi, form the Seal of Reconciliation!"
Obito, looking thoroughly unwilling to accept it, reluctantly held out his hand. Kakashi, meanwhile, looked disdainful, as though Obito had never been worth his attention.
Next, in order not to draw too much attention, I voluntarily chose Rin as my opponent. Although it led many people to gossip that I was bullying a girl, I did not care at all.
After walking up hand in hand with Rin, I assumed a serious stance and waited for her to attack first.
Of course, I could not use my real strength. Basically, I followed Rin's movements and fought her in what was more like a guided match.
Perhaps everyone else saw me as someone who could only tie with a girl, but the teacher, Rin, and Kakashi all knew what I was doing.
That was enough.
Before you continue