The Ninja Academy classroom was packed to the brim. Students from all three classes, A, B, and C, had been squeezed into a single room, making the air feel suffocating.
Jin walked in looking visibly exhausted.
"Over here!" Kushina waved. Namikaze Minato and Hyūga Kiyoshi were already seated, and they had saved a spot just for him. They had to thank "Red Hot Habanero" Kushina for that, since nobody dared fight her for a seat when she had that fierce look.
Jin walked over, collapsed onto the desk, and buried his head in his arms.
"Why are you always so tired whenever you come to school?" Kushina asked, genuinely confused. Jin rarely showed up to class, but whenever he did, he looked like he had not slept in days.
Jin lifted his head and looked at the three of them. The deep dark circles under his eyes were impossible to miss. "I did some intense training the day before yesterday and I still haven't recovered."
When Might Duy opened the Fifth Gate, Jin had no way to defend himself. Even so, this time he had endured dozens of seconds longer than the first time. That was a victory, without question. But his body had taken heavy damage, and even two days later, he still had not fully recovered. Of course, the fact that his shadow clones had not stopped training and studying ninjutsu also added to the accumulated fatigue.
"With who?!" Kushina asked, pleasantly surprised.
"None of your business." Jin rolled his eyes. One look at her face told him nothing good would come out of this.
"Tch, like I even wanted to know." Kushina pouted, pretending she did not care.
As Jin started drifting back to sleep, he felt someone tugging his sleeve. He raised his head and saw Minato wearing a bitter smile, and Kushina next to him, turned away and sulking.
Jin lay back down. If she "didn't want to know," then he was not going to tell her, just to annoy her. Minato shrugged helplessly at Kushina. Kushina clenched her fists in silence, grinding her teeth. Caught between the two of them, Minato threw a pleading look at Kiyoshi. Unfortunately, Kiyoshi turned his face away and ignored him. Minato sighed.
Jin did not care about his classmates' psychological drama. The classroom chatter was like a lullaby, and he gradually sank into sleep. Maybe there was something about the atmosphere of a classroom that made it the perfect place to doze off.
Half-asleep, he vaguely heard names being called and students filing out. Then he heard a familiar voice.
"Namikaze Minato... Uzumaki Kushina... Uchiha Jin! I'm your supervising teacher."
"Huh?!" Jin jolted awake and stared at the classroom door.
Jiraiya!!
He looked around and realized only the three of them remained in the now-empty room. Jiraiya stood there, looking at the newly awakened Jin with an amused grin.
"Surprised? Didn't expect it?"
Jin wiped sweat from his forehead and forced a smile whose meaning was hard to read. "It's more terror than surprise."
It felt like the history of the ninja world had been altered beyond repair. He had known his existence would create a butterfly effect sooner or later, but he had not expected it to happen this fast. Especially not Kushina becoming Jiraiya's student.
In the original future, Kushina's strength was not particularly remarkable. Aside from the Uzumaki clan's Fūinjutsu and the Kyūbi's power, she did not have much else to show. That was because she had not gotten a good teacher after graduation. But if she became Jiraiya's student, everything would change.
But why?
"You should already know who I am." Jiraiya stood on the platform with his chin lifted, proud and smug.
Kushina: "The pervert." Minato: "The unreliable Jōnin." Jin: "Hehe."
Jiraiya stumbled and nearly fell off the platform. His image was already ruined in his students' eyes before he had even begun. He steadied himself, dusted off his clothes, and tried to regain his composure.
"I think you all have a serious misunderstanding about me. To clear that up, let's do introductions again."
Without waiting for any reply, Jiraiya started. "I am the elite Jōnin, Jiraiya. Things I like, I want to write a literary masterpiece. Things I hate, I don't think there's anything in particular. My dream is peace in the ninja world."
Minato scratched his head but followed along. "I like reading books... I don't really hate anything... my dream... I want to become Hokage."
"I'm the one who's going to become Hokage!" Kushina protested loudly.
After she introduced herself, everyone looked at Jin.
Jin was still sitting in his chair, lost in thought. He was trying to figure out where the story would go now, and whether his prior knowledge would still be useful. Besides his Goldfinger, that was his greatest advantage.
"Jin, it's your turn," Minato said, tapping his shoulder to bring him back.
"Me?" Jin stroked his chin. "My name is Uchiha Jin. I like blond tsundere girls, gentle mature women with straight black hair..."
"Hold it right there!" Jiraiya immediately covered Jin's mouth. "You're supposed to say what you like, not your weird fetishes!" Can't you see Kushina's hair is already floating?!
"Introduce yourself properly!" Jiraiya flicked Jin on the forehead.
Jin rubbed the swelling on his head. This Jiraiya really hits hard. "Fine, fine." Jin gave in and continued, "I like ninjutsu, all kinds of ninjutsu. I hate anything I can't control. My dream... for now, I want to live for many years."
After all, his goal was longevity. First goal, live a thousand years.
"So it really is true." Jiraiya looked Jin up and down, evaluating him. His personality and appearance were not like Orochimaru's, but his inner essence was extremely similar. But he could not use ninjutsu, right? A researcher-type talent? Jiraiya knew the Four Forms they used were supposedly invented by Jin. No wonder Orochimaru had specifically asked him to take Uchiha Jin as a student.
"Don't tell me you awakened some weird fetish after looking at me," Jin said, folding his arms and shrinking back defensively.
"Stop dragging the conversation into weird places, brat!" Jiraiya ground his knuckles into Jin's head.
"Okay, okay, I get it!" Jin struggled to escape. Against an elite Jōnin like Jiraiya, he still had no chance.
"Alright, that's it for today. Tomorrow morning at five, we meet at the training ground. Remember, don't eat breakfast or you'll throw it all up." Jiraiya smiled maliciously.
Believe that if you want. Jin stared at the ceiling. In the future, Kakashi would use the exact same lie to trick Naruto and his team.
After leaving school, he split up with Minato and Kushina. On the way home, on a deserted, windy street, Jin ran into someone unexpected.
A man in a kimono, pale as a snake, blocked his path. His cold face did not look as malicious as it would in the future. It even carried a faint sense of righteousness. Time really was a cruel blade.
"What did you think of the teacher I chose for you?" Orochimaru asked.
I knew it. Jin sighed. Being placed on Jiraiya's team was Orochimaru's doing.
"Acceptable."
"You seem dissatisfied." Orochimaru sounded curious. Jiraiya was an elite Jōnin. Becoming his student was the dream of many.
"It's not dissatisfaction." Jin blew his bangs aside. "I just feel like our compatibility isn't great." He did not want to deal with frauds and prophecies. Who knew if the toads of Mount Myōboku would one day slap the label "Child of Darkness" on him? Jiraiya might try to kill him. For the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, Jin was a massive variable.
"Is that so?" Orochimaru did not comment. In the past, Jiraiya had been his best friend, bound by strong ties in order to protect the village. But now, he felt their paths were diverging beyond recovery.
Orochimaru spoke again, his voice dropping into a deep tone. "Young Jin, how much do you know about the village's darkness?"
Jin looked at Orochimaru in surprise. That was something you could talk about this casually? He scratched his head and put on an innocent smile. "The village is full of sunshine and light. How could there be any darkness?"
Orochimaru stared at Jin without blinking, then started laughing. "It seems you know quite a lot."
"Lord Orochimaru, please stop playing games. What's your real purpose for showing up here?" Jin asked directly. He had no patience for guessing.
"I hope you will accept my guidance tomorrow, after training."
"And Instructor Jiraiya?"
"He already agreed."
Jin stared at the smile on Orochimaru's pale, and in a way, handsome face. Then what was the point of all this? Jin could not understand, but he was shocked. Did this count as NTR?
Jiraiya was hiding in a tree. Yet he could not stop his gaze from settling on two figures walking down the street. A blond kunoichi and a light blue-haired ninja. Tsunade and her boyfriend, Katō Dan.
"I came too late, again." Heartbroken, Jiraiya held a notebook and began to sketch. Tsunade's portrait quickly appeared on the paper. Then, in the next moment, he viciously scratched it out until it turned completely black.
"Tsunade, I'm happy you managed to move on." Jiraiya's smile was bitter.
He looked up at the starry sky, and his thoughts returned to the three students he had received that afternoon. And to the Great Toad Sage's new prophecy.
"Little Jiraiya, I had another dream. I dreamed that light and darkness were intertwined, and I saw two possible paths for the ninja world."
"I don't understand what you mean, Great Sage."
"The Child of Prophecy has disappeared. In the ninja world, only the Child of Light and the Child of Darkness remain. They will bring a new revolution to the ninja world." "And the fate of the world will be decided by the victor between those two."
"If the Child of Light wins, the ninja world will have lasting peace."
"And if the Child of Darkness wins?"
"The ninja world will sink into eternal conflict and endless evolution. Ninjas will become gods, the starry sky will become a battlefield, and an unending war will begin."
"The Child of Light and the Child of Darkness will become your disciples. You must guide them, teach them, and help them grow."
"And then, make your choice."