Early the next morning, Kushina led Naruto by the hand into the Uchiha Clan Compound.
"Mom, look!"
Naruto pointed into the distance.
Kushina looked in the direction he indicated. A brand-new building stood at the end of the street.
It was a three-story classroom building, its broad windows reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.
In front of it was an open plaza paved with smooth stone slabs.
"Is that Uchiha's Ninja Academy?"
"It's much bigger than Konoha's school."
Naruto tilted his little face upward, his eyes full of anticipation.
Kushina nodded.
"Let's go."
Only after crossing the plaza and approaching the classroom building did Kushina truly grasp the scale of the school.
Six entire classroom buildings stood in orderly rows.
Behind them was a spacious playground.
The playground was covered in fine, soft sand and equipped with climbing frames, horizontal bars, balance beams, and various other training facilities.
An artificial lake lay beside the playground, its water clear.
Several cherry trees grew along the lakeshore. Though it was not yet their flowering season, their lush branches and leaves cast a patch of green shade.
Kushina could not help marveling inwardly: A school like this is far grander than Konoha's Ninja Academy.
That Xuandou really didn't spare any expense.
At the entrance to the classroom building, quite a few parents were already taking their children inside.
The youngest children were only five, and the oldest were six or seven, their faces filled with curiosity and excitement about the unknown.
The parents chatted in small groups.
Occasionally, someone glanced at Kushina and Naruto, but none showed that familiar disgust or rejection. They merely took another curious look before returning to their own business.
Kushina relaxed a little.
Just then, Xuandou walked out of the classroom building.
He wore the deep-blue everyday