An all-star lineup

The crystal ball before him held a densely packed mass of Byakugan eyes.

It was a rather creepy sight.

"Clan head, eighty percent purity is the limit of what our research has been able to achieve with the Byakugan."

"And we only have one pair."

The researcher named Sano gave his report.

"Only eighty percent?"

He sighed, then recalled the scene from his dream.

"No, that's not enough. It has to be at least ninety-nine percent."

"Or reach one hundred percent purity."

He did not know when the scene from his dream would come to pass. Perhaps ten years later, perhaps a hundred, or perhaps a thousand.

But no matter what, he had to prepare.

For himself, and for his descendants.

The next day.

Yui and Hyuga Feng walked together along the road to the Ninja Academy.

"Yui, I'm heading into the classroom first," Nai Hyuga told her. "Remember to find the teacher. She'll take you to the classroom."

Nai Hyuga parted ways with Yui at the gate, even though she could have taken her to the classroom herself.

But Yui needed to get acquainted with the teacher first, then have the teacher introduce her to everyone in the class.

"You're the new student? Yui Hyuga, right?" Yamada Hideko asked the little girl before her.

"Yes... My name is Yui Hyuga..."

Yamada Hideko was a little speechless. She had been about to go teach when Lord Hokage suddenly saddled her with another student.

"Then follow me. I'll take you to get acquainted with the class."

With that, Yamada Hideko led Yui toward the classroom.

"Why is the teacher so late today?"

Inside the classroom, the students chattered noisily, all discussing their teacher's late arrival.

Nai Hyuga sat at a desk in the very back row.

She was the only one sitting in that row.

At that moment, she was gazing blankly at the scenery outside the window.

"Why isn't Yui here yet...?" she murmured.

Although everyone in the classroom had known one another for less than a day, they were already getting along quite comfortably.

In fact, most of the students in this class were late entrants placed here by their clans.

Their average age was over six.

Children generally entered the Ninja Academy to study at four.

But children from ninja clans were different. They usually had a stronger foundation.

That was why they only came to the Ninja Academy at six.

Children from civilian families, however, did not have the training resources that clans possessed.

So they could only begin studying at the Ninja Academy earlier than children from clans.

Knock, knock, knock-

"All right, all right, stop talking. Class is starting."

Yamada Hideko knocked on the door.

At the sound of their teacher's voice, the noisy classroom instantly fell silent.

Yamada Hideko walked to the front of the classroom.

As everyone watched, a pale-skinned girl followed Yamada Hideko inside.

The girl had a pair of pure white eyes. One glance was enough to tell that she belonged to the Hyuga Clan.

Unlike the other members of the Hyuga Clan, however, this Hyuga girl had a blue-green mark inscribed on her forehead.

"Before we begin the lesson, let me introduce our new classmate."

Yamada Hideko took Yui by the hand and led her to the front.

"She comes from the Hyuga Clan and will be joining our class from now on. Her name is Yui Hyuga."

At that, Yui Hyuga began introducing herself.

"My name is Yui Hyuga. I'm six years old, and I'm from Konoha's Hyuga Clan."

"As for hobbies, I like learning ninjutsu. Nothing else."

The moment everyone saw Yui, they began whispering among themselves.

"Orochimaru, look. That girl's skin is just as pale as yours."

On the left side of the classroom, a white-haired child with spiky hair was whispering to a pale-skinned child.

Orochimaru ignored the remark, simply staring at the little girl at the front. There was no telling what he was thinking.

In a seat in the middle, Hatake Sakumo stared blankly at Yui at the front.

"Yui Hyuga? Didn't she say she couldn't come to the Ninja Academy?" he murmured.

"Sakumo... do you know that little girl?" asked the little girl sitting beside Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo nodded.

"We met once..."

Yui swept a curious gaze over the seated students, marveling inwardly.

Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Dan Katō, Hatake Sakumo, Might Duy.

What an all-star lineup.

Finally, her gaze settled on the little girl in the back row.

Nai Hyuga was watching the newly arrived Yui intently.

When Yui looked her way, Nai somehow felt a pang of guilt.

Startled by that strange feeling, she hurriedly averted her eyes, pretending their gazes had never met.

"Yui, go find an empty seat!" Yamada Hideko said.

Yui nodded, then headed toward Nai Hyuga.

Ignoring the idle chatter in the classroom, Yui walked straight toward Nai Hyuga.

Climbing the steps, she reached Nai Hyuga's side and sat down.

"Nai, can I sit beside you?"

At that, Nai Hyuga acted as though she had only just noticed Yui beside her.

"Yui? You're here already? Of course you can sit here."

"No one's sitting beside me anyway."

"All right, all right, quiet down. We're starting the lesson now."

Only after hearing Yamada Hideko's words from the front did everyone stop talking.

"Today's lesson covers the basic theory of ninjutsu. Make sure you remember it, everyone. I'll be asking questions later."

After saying that, Yamada Hideko picked up a piece of chalk and began teaching.

As she listened to the lesson, Yui found herself becoming interested.

To be honest, the lesson was very dry, much like the math classes in Yui's previous life.

But she did not dislike math, so she listened with keen interest.

The others in the classroom, however, did not share that interest. Most had slumped over their desks.

Only three or four scattered students were listening attentively.

Yui took a look and realized they were all familiar faces.

Dan Katō, Orochimaru, Hatake Sakumo.

As expected, geniuses tend to enjoy learning.

Beside her, Nai Hyuga was already growing drowsy.

Her eyes were half-closed. If she had not noticed that Yui was still listening beside her, she would have put her head down long ago.

This is so hard to get through.

Yui sighed as she watched Nai Hyuga struggle to stay awake.

"Why force yourself to keep this up...?"

"If you want to sleep, go ahead!"

Yui gently stroked Nai Hyuga's hair, coaxing her to sleep.

In the end, Nai Hyuga drifted into a deep sleep under those gentle strokes.

From the front, Yamada Hideko surveyed the situation and sighed.

Today was not too bad. Four students were still listening attentively.

Still, this material really was dull and tedious for these children.

I should discuss the lesson structure with the Lord Third sometime.

I can't have the entire class sleeping through every lesson.