The graduating students dispersed one after another, and Higashino Shin's group also prepared to go for a meal.
At that moment, a middle-aged man of short stature walked out of the general classroom, followed by several Ninja Academy teachers, including Inoue Kuroiwa.
This middle-aged man was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
At this time, the Sandaime was only about 55 years old, not yet the elderly figure in Higashino Shin's memory. Although he had a kind face, one could still see the majesty of the former 'Hero of Shinobi'.
This was the first time Higashino Shin had close contact with this supreme power-holder of Konoha Village. During the last school opening ceremony, he had been quite far away.
Seeing the Hokage, one naturally couldn't just turn around and leave; that would be too rude.
"Hokage-sama!" The group performed a respectful bow.
"Good, good, ho ho ho ho." The Sandaime nodded happily, looking at everyone with affection, and took a few extra glances at the faces of Higashino Shin and Uchiha Shisui in particular.
He knew Shisui; after all, he was the descendant of his old friend Uchiha Kagami and was on his daily watch list.
As for Higashino Shin... "You're Higashino Shin, right? I remember you're the child of Jiro and Megumi. You're a good kid too."
"Eh? Does Hokage-sama know me? You even know my parents, that's amazing!"
"Haha, I know them, I know them. I even know your grandfather and eldest uncle. They were all heroes of Konoha, especially your mother; her Medical Ninjutsu was of a very high standard."
"Thank you for your recognition, Hokage-sama. They are all role models for my hard work."
"By the way, Shin, why didn't you graduate early like Shisui? I remember you were the top scorer in the entrance test, and Teacher Inoue also recommended you to me."
"Hokage-sama, I feel that my strength is still lacking. My father also said that only with great strength can one better protect companions and contribute to guarding Konoha.
So I still want to Cultivate for another year. Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the woodcutting, after all."
"'Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the woodcutting?' That's a simple yet philosophical way of putting it." The Third Hokage lightly brushed past the topic and turned to ask, "Where are you all going?"
"I'm planning to treat Hayate and Shisui to a meal to celebrate their successful graduation. Hokage-sama, why don't you join us!"
"Oh, a gathering. That's a nice idea, but this old man won't participate. I'd only make you feel constrained. You go ahead."
"Alright, goodbye, Hokage-sama."
The group bowed respectfully and left together.
"Kuroiwa, what are your thoughts on this student of yours?"
Inoue Kuroiwa lowered his head and answered respectfully, "He is mature in thought, powerful in strength, and has very solid theoretical knowledge of Ninja arts. He likes to do things according to his own plan.
And in the past six months, I've discovered something interesting: even when Shin fights against Shisui, his performance is as stable as ever. It's as if in his eyes, even someone as strong as Shisui is no different from any other classmate.
Sometimes, I even feel that if I were to face him, I might be far from being his match."
The Hokage was somewhat surprised. "Oh, is the evaluation that high? Even you feel inferior; he's truly a rare talent. Perhaps he's a Genius like Kakashi or Minato."
"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, it's my fault for not being able to persuade him to apply for graduation."
"No, no, what fault could there be? Your teaching results are very good. One year earlier or later makes no difference. Let him build more bonds with his classmates in school; that's a good thing!"
How should one describe the Third Hokage? In terms of being approachable, he was top-tier. If one ignores those conspiracy theories, he was actually a very good Hokage.
As for Danzo Shimura, he didn't dare to poach people from the school yet. The Ninja Academy was the Hokage's territory; the children inside received the purest will of fire education and were the Hokage's natural power base, which no one else was allowed to touch.
Moreover, Higashino Shin comes from a 'pure and loyal' civilian background, a Family of Heroes, with parents alive and friends all around. It's hard for darkness to take root in his heart, so he's not Danzo's type. Thus, the 'You Regret, I'm Hokage' drama won't happen to Higashino Shin.
I have to say it's a bit of a pity; if you haven't been targeted by Danzo, you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a Genius.
---
Inside Yakiniku Q, business was booming.
Usually, there aren't that many people eating here at noon; to be honest, the prices here aren't cheap.
But today was enrollment and graduation day, so many people chose this place, either to celebrate their child's enrollment or for friends to celebrate graduation together.
While eating, Higashino Shin asked, "Hayate, Shisui, now that you've both graduated, what are your plans? Will you be teaming up with the new students normally?"
Gekkō Hayate was very direct: "I should be teaming up normally; my father doesn't seem to have made any special arrangements for me."
His father's name was Gekko Yun Jian, a few years older than Higashino Shin's parents. He used to be a Tokubetsu Jōnin, but now it's heard he's already a formal Jonin.
The war caused great losses to the Village; even among the Jonin, there were many casualties. Naturally, someone would fill the vacant spots.
The high-level officials and the various clans didn't care about the Chunin or Genin, but the Registered Jonin in the Village were the focus of contention between the two sides.
Registered Jonin are automatically led by the Jonin Squad, which holds immense power. Who gets more slots and who gets fewer directly affects the introduction and execution of many policies.
There are many Ninjas with Jonin-level strength in the Village, but the number of those with the Jonin rank officially registered in the Village has always remained constant.
In the future, Uzumaki Naruto's Ninja registration number would be 012607, and he would be 12 at graduation. Does this mean Konoha only trained over ten thousand Ninjas in the 63 years since its founding?
Obviously, that's impossible. Large and medium-sized clans, especially the Uchiha, Hyuga, Sarutobi, and Ino–Shika–Chō, all have many Ninjas trained by themselves who are not registered within the Village.
After Hayate finished speaking, several people looked at Shisui.
Shisui was a bit unhappy: "As for me, I should be following the Seniors of my clan to train for a while, and then I might go to the Police Force."
He actually wanted to be like others, teaming up normally, following a team leader teacher normally, and getting to know more new friends.
But that was clearly unlikely.
Because he often hung out with Higashino Shin and the others, learning from each other, competing, and promoting each other, his strength was even greater than in the original story. For such a Genius, the Uchiha Clan was unwilling to let outsiders train him.
As for Uchiha Obito, he's already a Kizashi. You can't expect those arrogant guys in the Uchiha Clan to have any expectations for him. It's better to let him out to build bonds with the villagers, which can be considered making use of trash.
Higashino Shin thought for a moment and said, "That's fine too. It's wartime now, and various countries are sending out lots of spies. The security within the Village is also very important, and that's within your clan's scope of responsibility."
"But I want to go to the battlefield. Our companions in the Village are all fighting hard to protect Konoha, yet most of our clan can only stay in the Village. I feel this isn't good."
It wasn't just 'not very good'; this was actually Shisui's gentle way of putting it. After all, his personality was like this, and because he was young, he only felt there was a problem but couldn't figure out where it lay.
Usually walking through the Village, those villagers, especially those whose families had relatives die in battle, would look at the Clan Crest on the back of his clothes with very unfriendly eyes.
Uchiha Shisui wasn't a thick-skinned fool like Obito; on the contrary, he was very precocious and sensitive, so how could he not feel it?
It was just that some things weren't meant for someone his age to know.
Yūgao Uzuki and the others didn't know what to say. Higashino Shin knew, but he wouldn't speak recklessly.
In his previous life, speaking recklessly would get one beaten up; in the Ninja World, speaking recklessly could very well be a fatal matter.