Shin didn't reject the idea of going to school again after being reborn. On the contrary, he was genuinely looking forward to it.
After all, the Ninja Academy was completely different from the schools of his previous life.
One taught science and general knowledge. The other taught you how to kill people.
Early in the morning, after finishing his routine exercise and enjoying a delicious breakfast, Shin set out for school.
The sun was shining in the sky, flowers were smiling, and the little birds seemed to chirp.
As for a schoolbag? That didn't exist.
A ninja tool pouch was more than enough. Shin wore two on his lower back and one strapped to his thigh. Inside were weapons like kunai and shuriken.
This was the difference between the Ninja Academy and the schools of his previous life.
Here, even if you carried a schoolbag, it would mostly be filled with oversized weapons that couldn't fit into a tool pouch—things like Fūma Shuriken and the like.
Of course, there was still one small difference from his usual loadout. One of the tool pouches now contained two pens and a small notebook.
That was it. Nothing more.
On the way, Shin ran into Gekkō Hayate and Yūgao Uzuki, who were waiting at the intersection. The three of them walked together.
For some reason, looking at the two of them, Shin suddenly felt as if he were once again walking to a county junior high school with childhood friends from the same village in his previous life.
He had never thought something like this could happen again. Perhaps those people from back then would never have imagined that he was now living in another world.
Life truly was magical.
As long as you were alive, you could always encounter interesting things—especially in a world as extraordinary as this one.
After arriving at the academy, Hayate headed to his second-grade classroom, while Shin and Yūgao went directly to First-Year Class A.
From the ranking alone, it was obvious that this was an elite class.
The Ninja Academy followed a typical small-class system, with twenty-seven students per class. If no one graduated early, they could later be divided perfectly into nine squads.
The classroom itself had long desks arranged in neat rows, both horizontally and vertically, with three students seated behind each desk.
By now, more than half of the class had already arrived. Those who knew each other sat together, chatting animatedly, their faces filled with excitement.
It was as if they would attend class today, graduate tomorrow, and sit on the Hokage's throne the day after.
Only Shisui, seated alone by the window on the right side in the middle row, stood apart from the rest.
It was hard to say whether this was because the clan crest on his clothes had an innate "keep-out" effect, or because his calm, precocious demeanor simply didn't fit in with the others.
Even so, his large, expressive eyes were undeniably attractive, and several girls couldn't help but sneak glances in his direction.
When Shin and Yūgao entered the classroom, every head turned at once.
The boys' expressions carried a hint of defiance. After all, the two of them—along with Shisui—had taken the top three spots in the entrance exam.
The girls, on the other hand, were far more straightforward. Their gazes lingered almost entirely on Shin.
It had to be said—the advantages of inheriting his mother's looks were clearly on display here.
Little Yūgao immediately bristled, glaring back at them one by one like a puppy whose food bowl had been stolen.
She was no longer the clueless little girl from two years ago. By now, she had instinctively learned how to protect her "food."
Shin was at a loss for words. As expected, girls in the Ninja World were all "dumpling spirits," weren't they? Starting to get jealous at such a young age?
"You arrived quite early."
Sitting down beside Shisui, Shin spoke while pulling the teaching materials from under the desk and flipping through them until he found a thin booklet.
"I didn't have anything else to do, so I came early," Shisui replied calmly. "So this is what you were looking for. Did you notice anything unusual, Shin?"
The booklet in Shin's hand was the course schedule for the semester. He skimmed through it and nodded.
"As expected. Compared to before, history and science classes have been heavily compressed. The extra time has been given to training and combat-focused courses."
"It really is!" Yūgao exclaimed as she checked her own schedule. "Why is that?"
Shisui thought for a moment before answering, "Because of the war. The Village doesn't know how long it will last. To prepare for potential worst-case scenarios, prioritizing combat ability is the most practical decision."
Shin nodded in agreement. "That's right. It's wartime now. Whether they end up needing us or not, focusing on combat strength first is the correct approach."
"Better safe than sorry. This place trains ninja, not scholars. Basic knowledge isn't a necessity—we can always make up for it later."
Yūgao Uzuki blinked. "Ah… so that's how it is?"
"Of course," Shin said. "That said, anyone interested can still study on their own. As long as it doesn't interfere with training, the academy won't stop you."
He glanced down at the teaching materials in front of him. Every subject was still included.
All of it had been distributed directly to the classroom by the academy—unlike his previous life, where he'd had to queue up to collect textbooks himself.
And it was all free. The Ninja Academy didn't charge tuition.
After all, this was a place that trained ninja to risk their lives for the Village—essentially a boot camp.
Paying to attend? Wouldn't that be like paying to join the army?
What kind of behavior would that be?
---
Soon after all the students had arrived, it was time for the first class to begin.
A young ninja wearing a green flak jacket walked into the classroom and stepped onto the podium.
He looked to be in his twenties, of average height, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and was fairly handsome.
His black hair was especially striking—as if it possessed an unyielding soul—each strand standing upright in defiance, almost like a Saiyan.
For a brief moment, Shin saw Gohan.
He was genuinely afraid that this man might suddenly lose his temper, his hair turning golden as his chakra exploded, and then casually slap poor ninja planet into cosmic dust with a single palm.
Fortunately, that was just his imagination running wild.
The young teacher calmly wrote his name on the blackboard, turned to face the class, and said,
"Hello, everyone. My name is Inoue Kuroiwa. From today onward, I will be the homeroom teacher for this class."
"Now, please come up one by one and introduce yourselves—your name, your dreams, your hobbies, anything you like—so everyone can get to know each other. Let's start with the student in the front row on the left."
The students began going up in turn.
Facing the entire class, some were nervous, some cheerful, some shy, and some even wore sunglasses in an effort to look cool.
Then one boy introduced himself, saying his surname was Aburame and his name was Aburame Muta.
Ah—then it made sense.
Those sunglasses were his true form. The men of that entire clan were basically sunglasses lovers.
As for dreams, most of the boys declared they wanted to become Hokage, protect the Village, or uphold justice.
After all, a Konoha ninja who doesn't want to become Hokage isn't a proper student.
The girls, however, had fewer Hokage aspirants.
Some wanted to become ninja like Senju Tsunade, others dreamed of opening a cake shop or a flower shop in the future.
One even bluntly declared that her dream was to marry a gentle, handsome, and perfect husband.
Is this really a group of six-year-olds? Are their brains stuffed with some hormone-enhanced version of a drug?
And when you say "gentle and handsome," could you please stop staring directly at me?
When it was Yūgao's turn, the little girl showed no trace of shyness at all.
"My name is Yūgao Uzuki. I like viewing flowers. My dream is to have a large garden where I can collect and grow famous flowers from all over the Ninja World."
Shin had already seen through her two years ago.
When they went fishing, she couldn't even sit still for twenty minutes.
The rest of the day had been spent wandering through the forest picking flowers—and incidentally collecting a whole bundle of poisonous mushrooms.
If Hayate and Shin hadn't studied how to identify edible wild plants in advance, the four of them would've been lying in coffins right after lunch.
When it was Shin's turn, he stood up and looked at the students below, carefully memorizing their faces. Then he spoke calmly.
"My name is Shin. My hobby is cultivating. My dream is to become a powerful ninja and protect my companions."
Inoue Kuroiwa looked at the student who had achieved the best results in the entrance exam and asked with interest, "Higashino-kun, don't you want to become Hokage?"
"I certainly do," Shin replied evenly. "But, Teacher Inoue, I think we should broaden our perspective.
If one doesn't become Hokage, can they not protect their companions? Protecting comrades shouldn't depend on rank—it's an awareness every Konoha ninja should have."
"Ahahaha! Not bad, not bad." Inoue Kuroiwa laughed. "Higashino-kun's understanding of the will of fire is quite profound. Alright, return to your seat. Next."
"My name is Uchiha Shisui. My hobby is eating grilled fish, especially when I'm eating with friends.
My dream is that people in the Village—no matter where they come from—can understand each other and become good friends."
"That's a very nice dream," the teacher said warmly. "Next."
Only after the self-introduction segment ended did Shin feel the sensation of being watched finally fade away.
The Third Hokage's crystal ball really was useful.
The Ninja Academy was the Hokage's ideological stronghold, an important place for spreading the will of fire to the children of ninja families. And Class A was where this year's top students had gathered—of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen would be paying close attention.
"Mutual understanding…Shisui, that really is a good dream."
"Shin," Shisui whispered, "do you also think it's possible?"
"Of course it's possible," Shin replied. "Mutual understanding isn't actually difficult.
For example, if a ninja has been starving for several days and sees me holding a bag of bread and tries to snatch it, I can understand his behavior—because he's about to starve."
"So would you give him the bread?" Shisui asked.
"No," Shin said flatly. "I would beat him to death. Understanding doesn't mean agreement. If I give him the bread, what will I eat?"
"Can't you just buy another bag?" As expected—even if he was precocious, Shisui was still a kid.
Shin looked at him speechlessly. "Am I talking about the bread?"
Shisui blinked. "Aren't you?"
Yūgao tilted her head. "What are you two talking about? It's still early for lunch."
Shin, Shisui: "…"
Forget it. Better to just focus on class.
The first lesson covered the glorious history of Konoha, with frequent digressions explaining the will of fire.
As expected, even though general knowledge classes had been shortened, an in-depth interpretation of the will of fire was still indispensable.
In a ninja village, strength came second—loyalty came first.
Just like the materials Shin had read at home or in the library, the history of Konoha's founding had clearly been heavily edited.
Many crucial events were missing entirely, while those that remained were summarized briefly before being followed by long, solemn interpretations steeped in the will of fire.
There were explanations attributed to the First and Second Hokage, but the majority of the commentary clearly reflected the Third Hokage's own thoughts.
The problem was… when some of these events supposedly happened, the First and Second Hokage were already dead, weren't they?
Did they do their reading comprehension exercises in the Pure Land?
And where, exactly, was the Uchiha Clan's presence in all of this?
They were, after all, one of the two founding clans of Konoha.