For someone who had been reborn and now had to go to school again, Higashino Makoto did not feel any aversion. On the contrary, he was rather looking forward to it. After all, the ninja academy was completely different from the school education of his previous life.
One focused primarily on teaching scientific knowledge; the other focused primarily on teaching you how to kill people.
Early in the morning, after finishing his routine training and eating a satisfying breakfast, Higashino Makoto set out for school.
On the way, Higashino Makoto ran into Gekkō Hayate and Uzuki Yūgao waiting at the intersection, and the three of them walked together as companions.
For some reason, as Higashino Makoto looked at the two of them, he suddenly felt as though he were back in his previous life, walking with childhood friends from the same village on the way to middle school in the county seat.
He never expected that such a thing could happen again. Perhaps those people from the past would never have imagined that he could still live in another world.
Life truly was miraculous. As long as one was alive, one could always encounter interesting things—especially in this fantastical world.
After arriving at the school, Gekkō Hayate went to his second-year class, while Higashino Makoto and the other headed straight to First Year, Class A. Just from the ranking, it was clear that this was an elite class for top students.
The ninja academy employed a typical small-class system. Each class had twenty-seven students, and if no one graduated early, they would later be neatly divided into nine squads.
The tiered classroom was also arranged with long, rectangular desks laid out in three rows lengthwise and crosswise, with three students seated behind each desk.
At this moment, more than half of the students in the class had already arrived. Those who were familiar with one another were sitting together, chatting animatedly, their faces filled with excitement.
It was as if attending class today meant graduating tomorrow, and the day after that, directly sitting on the Hokage's seat.
Only Shisui, seated alone at the middle-right position by the outer window, stood apart. It was unclear whether this was because the clan crest on his clothing came with a built-in "keep muggles away" effect, or because of that prematurely mature face that did not quite fit in with the others.
Even so, his pair of captivating, large eyes were still very pleasing to look at, and several girls could not help but glance over from time to time.
When Higashino Makoto and Uzuki Yūgao walked into the classroom, everyone instinctively looked over. The boys showed varying degrees of dissatisfaction on their faces, because together with Shisui, they were the three who had run at the very front during the entrance examination.
The girls were much simpler. Their gazes all settled on Higashino Makoto's face.
It could only be said that the advantage of inheriting his looks from his mother was on full display here.
The little girl Uzuki Yūgao was like a puppy whose food bowl had been snatched away, glaring back fiercely at each of them.
She was no longer the little girl who understood nothing two years ago. At this moment, she had instinctively learned to guard her food.
Higashino Makoto felt somewhat speechless. It seemed that the girls of the ninja world matured early—already understanding things like jealousy at such a young age.
"You're here pretty early."
Sitting down beside Shisui, Higashino Makoto spoke while taking out the teaching materials from under the desk to check them, pulling out a small booklet from among them.
"Since there was nothing to do, I came early. So you were looking for this. Have you noticed any problems, Makoto?"
The small booklet in Higashino Makoto's hand was the course schedule for this semester. After giving it a rough look, he nodded and said, "As expected, compared to before, the humanities and history courses, as well as the mathematics and science courses, have been greatly compressed. The extra time has all been given to training and practical combat courses."
"That's really true. But why?" Uzuki Yūgao looked at her own course handbook and voiced her confusion.
Shisui thought for a moment and said, "Because of the war. The village does not know how long this war will last. In order to deal with unfavorable situations that may arise in the future, prioritizing the improvement of students' combat strength is the best choice."
Higashino Makoto also agreed with this assessment: "That's right. It's a time of war now. Regardless of whether we'll actually be needed then, prioritizing the improvement of combat strength is the correct choice."
"Better to be prepared than not. This place trains ninja, not scholars. Basic academic knowledge isn't a necessity. If it's needed later, it can always be made up then."
Uzuki Yūgao said, "Ah? So that's how it is?"
"Of course it is. That said, anyone who's interested can study on their own. As long as it doesn't affect training, the school won't interfere," Higashino Makoto said as he looked at the teaching materials in front of him. Every subject was included.
These were all distributed directly by the school to the classroom. Unlike in his previous life, there was no need to go collect textbooks oneself.
And they were all free. The ninja academy did not charge tuition.
This was a place that trained ninja to risk their lives for the village—essentially equivalent to a recruit training camp. Paying to attend school? Wouldn't that be the same as paying to enlist?
...
Soon, after all the students had arrived, class time began.
A young ninja wearing a green flak vest walked into the classroom and stood at the lectern.
He looked to be in his twenties, of average height, wearing black-rimmed glasses. His appearance was somewhat handsome, and his black hair was very distinctive, as if it carried an unyielding soul—each strand standing upright, making him look like a Saiyan.
For a brief moment, Higashino Makoto felt as though he was looking at some strange cross between Nobita and Gohan. He was genuinely afraid that this man might suddenly get angry, his hair turning yellow, and then slap poor Earth-kun into cosmic dust with a single palm.
Fortunately, he was overthinking it. The young teacher wrote his name on the blackboard, then looked at everyone and said, "Hello, everyone. My name is Inoue Kuroiwa. From now on, I will be the homeroom teacher for this class."
"Now, please come up and introduce yourselves—your aspirations, your interests, and so on—so everyone can get to know each other. We'll start with the student in the front row on the left."
After that, the students went up one by one to introduce themselves.
Facing all their classmates, some were nervous, some were cheerful, some were shy, and some even wore sunglasses to look cool.
Then he heard someone say that his surname was Aburame, and his name was Aburame Muta. Oh—then that made sense. Sunglasses were basically his true body. An entire clan of men who were sunglasses incarnate.
As for ideals, most of them were things like becoming the Hokage or protecting the village.
After all, a Konoha ninja who did not want to become Hokage was not a good student.
The girls were not as keen on becoming Hokage. Either they wanted to become a ninja like Tsunade, or they wanted to open some kind of cake shop or flower shop in the future. Some even directly said that their ideal was to marry a gentle, handsome, perfect husband.
What the hell—were these really six-year-olds? Were their brains stuffed with hormone-enhanced fertilizer or something? And when you talk about "gentle and handsome," could you stop staring at me?
When it was Uzuki Yūgao's turn, the little girl showed no stage fright at all. "My name is Uzuki Yūgao. I like appreciating flowers, and my ideal is to have a big garden where I can collect and grow all kinds of famous flowers from the ninja world."
Yes—Higashino Makoto had already noticed two years ago. When fishing, her patience lasted less than twenty minutes, and she spent the rest of the day picking flowers in the forest, incidentally gathering a pile of poisonous mushrooms.
If Gekkō Hayate and Higashino Makoto had not both learned how to identify edible wild plants in advance, the four of them would have been lying flat on the spot after eating.
When it was Higashino Makoto's turn, he looked at the classmates below, carefully memorized their appearances, and then said calmly, "My name is Higashino Makoto. I enjoy training. My ideal is to become a strong ninja and protect my companions."
Inoue Kuroiwa looked at this student with the best entrance exam results. "Student Higashino, don't you want to become Hokage?"
"Of course I do. But, Inoue-sensei, we should broaden our perspective. If one can't become Hokage, does that mean one can't protect their companions? Protecting one's companions should not depend on rank or position. It is something every Konoha ninja ought to be resolved to do."
"Ahahaha, very good, very good. Student Higashino has a deep understanding of the Will of Fire. All right, return to your seat. Next."
"My name is Uchiha Shisui. My hobby is eating grilled fish—especially eating grilled fish together with friends. My ideal is that the people in the village, regardless of where they come from, can understand one another and become good friends."
"A very nice ideal. Next."
Only after the self-introduction segment was completely finished did Higashino Makoto sense that the feeling of being watched had disappeared. The Third Hokage's crystal ball really was convenient.
The ninja academy was the Hokage's fundamental base. It was an important place for instilling the Will of Fire in the younger generation of ninja clans. As this year's elite incoming class, Class A was something Sarutobi Hiruzen could not possibly ignore.
"Mutual understanding, Shisui—now that really is a fine ideal."
"Makoto, you think so too?"
"Of course. Mutual understanding isn't actually difficult. For example, if there's a ninja who's been starving for several days and sees me holding a bag of bread, and he comes up trying to snatch it, I can understand that behavior—because he's about to starve to death."
"So would you give him the bread?"
"No. I'd beat him to death. Understanding doesn't mean agreement. If I give him the bread, what am I supposed to eat?"
"Can't you just go buy another bag?"
Sure enough, no matter how precocious he was, he was still too young. Higashino Makoto looked at Shisui, speechless. "Is that what I was talking about—the bread?"
Shisui said, "Isn't it?"
Uzuki Yūgao said, "What are you two even talking about? It's still a long way from lunchtime."
Higashino Makoto and Uchiha Shisui: "…"
Forget it. Better to just pay attention in class.
...
The first lesson was Konoha's glorious history, interspersed throughout with explanations of the Will of Fire.
As expected, even if the time allotted to general knowledge courses was greatly compressed, an in-depth interpretation of the Will of Fire was indispensable. For a ninja village, a ninja's strength was secondary; loyalty was the priority.
Just like the materials Higashino Makoto had seen at home or in the library, the history of Konoha's founding had been heavily edited. Many key events were missing. The remaining ones were described only briefly, followed by long passages of "profound interpretation" through the lens of the Will of Fire.
The First and Second Hokage were both mentioned, but the Third Hokage's ideology appeared the most.
The problem was that when some of those events took place, the First and Second Hokage were already long dead. Were they doing reading comprehension exercises in the Pure Land?
And where were the Uchiha? They were one of the two founding clans of the village, after all.
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