Konoha.
Ninja Academy.
Yuzuru stood on the stage, delivering a speech to the students gathered below.
To be honest, he had always been quite resistant to this sort of thing. However, Fugaku had given him the honorary title of principal.
In Fugaku's words, as the principal of the Ninja Academy, how could he not properly encourage the flowers of the village?
In the end, even Kushina, Mikoto, Tsunade, and the others joined in with their pillow talk.
On top of that, the Ninja Academy had undergone reforms, and the graduation age had been raised to eighteen.
After some careful consideration, Yuzuru finally agreed.
Looking at the youthful faces below the stage, he felt a strange sense of displacement, as if a lifetime had passed.
It was now the sixtieth year of Konoha, already close to the point where the original storyline was set to begin.
Within Konoha's Ninja Academy, he truly discovered many "familiar" faces.
Among the academy instructors were Iruka, Mizuki, Ebisu, and others.
Among the students were Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Choji Akimichi…
Although their experiences and timelines differed greatly from the original, they had still gathered here all the same.
"Maybe this is the corrective force of fate."
Yuzuru murmured softly to himself. After saying just a few concise words, he brought his speech to an end.
In his previous life, what he hated most were leaders who loved to drone on endlessly from the podium. Naturally, he had no intention of doing something so irritating now.
In just a little over half an hour, the Ninja Academy's mobilization ceremony officially came to an end.
After the dismissal, the students returned to their respective classrooms.
"Wow! We finally got to see Lord Yuzuru. He's way more handsome than in the photos!"
"That's right. Compared to Lord Yuzuru, the boys in our school are basically unwatchable."
"Handsome and powerful—how can someone this perfect even exist in the world?"
Inside a senior classroom, a group of girls chatted excitedly.
Children in the ninja world matured early, so even a group of fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girls chatting together already showed faint signs of being rather aggressive.
In a corner, Izumi turned back to look at Itachi and softly said, "Itachi, we're classmates again."
Itachi smiled and nodded. "Izumi, I look forward to your guidance."
Izumi glanced around, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice. "Itachi, I didn't expect you to be Lord Yuzuru's child."
Itachi looked at her in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Lord Yuzuru told me himself."
"I see…" Itachi rubbed his chin. "Then please help me keep it a secret. From now on, let's be friends."
"Uh, well…"
Seeing Izumi hesitate, Itachi asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Izumi whispered, "Lord Yuzuru acknowledged me as his little sister, so I might not be able to interact with you as a friend."
"But as an elder, I'll do my best to take care of you."
Hearing this, Itachi froze.
By that logic… didn't that mean he would have to call Izumi 'aunt'?
Father really was…
Amazing.
————
————
Compared to the senior classes, the junior students were even more lively.
A pink-haired girl with a wide forehead sat alone in the very front row of the classroom, seriously reading the textbook in her hands.
Beside her, a girl with a blonde ponytail nudged her arm. "Sakura, a few handsome guys transferred into our class this time. Aren't you going to take a look?"
Sakura didn't even lift her head. "Ino, the Ninja Academy reform completely changed the textbooks. I need to properly preview the new material."
"And besides… in my eyes, no one can compare to Lord Yuzuru, who saved the village."
"Forget it…" Hearing her answer, Ino sighed.
The two of them had known each other since they were very young.
No matter what it was, they always had to compete, yet that never stopped them from being inseparable friends.
Originally, Sakura had been just like her—lively, loved dressing up, loved looking at handsome guys…
But in the recent war, her parents had been used as sacrifices for Edo Tensei by Hiruzen, Danzo, and the others, and both had died.
After becoming an orphan, Sakura's personality changed drastically. She became quiet and withdrawn, indifferent to everything around her.
As if the only thing left in her life was "studying."
Oh, and Uchiha Yuzuru as well…
Ever since Yuzuru personally killed Hiruzen, Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu—the four thieves—Sakura had become deeply infatuated with him. The walls of her home were plastered with posters of Yuzuru.
All Ino could do was sigh silently.
Lord Yuzuru was indeed very handsome, but someone standing so high above… how could he ever have anything to do with little nobodies like them?
Shaking the messy thoughts from her head, Ino looked toward the back row by the window.
There, four exceptionally handsome boys were chatting casually, all seeming to be in quite good spirits.
One of them was someone she recognized—Neji Hyuga, a genius ninja of the Hyuga clan.
He had originally been her senior by a year, but later followed the Hyuga clan in defecting to Kumogakure.
When she first heard the news, Ino had felt regretful for quite some time. She never expected that after the Ninja Academy reform, he would actually become her classmate.
"Ino, you're sneaking glances at handsome guys again."
A teasing voice came from behind.
Ino looked at the fang-toothed boy with a puppy perched on his head and said righteously, "Kiba, I'm looking openly and honestly, okay!"
"Do you know the three people next to Neji?"
Kiba glanced over and snorted. "Don't know them. They look plain."
Ino then looked at Choji. The chubby boy tore open a bag of chips and stuffed them into his mouth, mumbling, "I don't know either."
Ino tilted her head again. "Shikamaru, do you know?"
Shikamaru lay sprawled over his desk, looking half-asleep. "Why not just wait for the teacher to introduce them?"
"But I want to know now."
Shikamaru buried his head deeper into his desk. "Women are such a pain."
Next to them, a boy wearing sunglasses with his collar pulled up to his nose stared intently at Ino.
When he saw her turn away, he couldn't help but sigh. "As expected, I got ignored again."
"Though… I'm already used to it."
At that moment, a man with a horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose walked in.
"Hello, everyone. I'm the teacher in charge of your class. My name is Iruka Umino."
"Now… please introduce yourselves one by one."