After that day's experience, Yūki finally officially entered the Ninja Academy and became a proud... elementary school student.
Yes, in Yūki's eyes, this place wasn't the "Ninja Academy" that sounded so cool and imposing but rather the legendary "elementary school for the mentally challenged."
Why say that? Because although the academic life at the Ninja Academy wasn't as boring as Yūki had initially imagined, his classmates were simply too much trouble.
If you've ever spent time with a large group of five- and six-year-olds, you'll know—the sudden noises and inexplicable chaos make it feel like you're in a free-range zoo. It was genuinely irritating Yūki.
For example:
"Damn it! Naruto! Kiba! You two, go stand outside! Running around openly during class! Now!"
"You guys over there! Naruto and Chōji! Actually eating bento behind your textbooks! Stop eating! Stand up for the rest of class!"
"Damn! Naruto and Shikamaru, stop sleeping! Go outside and run laps! Now!"
Since early morning, Teacher Iruka's deafening roars had never ceased. He wore a helpless expression, clearly exasperated by these problem students. Even Yūki felt some sympathy for this dedicated teacher.
But speaking of which, why was Naruto involved in every single incident? Did locking him in a trash can damage his brain? Or was he just naturally prone to trouble?
Watching Naruto get kicked out of the classroom by Iruka to run laps outside, Yūki, sitting by the window in the second-to-last row, couldn't help but pause the tip of his pen and shake his head at the scene.
Although this year's students had only been enrolled for about a month, four of them were undoubtedly the most conspicuous.
Of course, this wasn't a compliment. These guys were even jokingly called the "Clown Squad" of the Ninja Academy. If something went wrong, they were likely to blame, and the most egregious one was undoubtedly Uzumaki Naruto.
How to put it? From Yūki's understanding, Naruto was someone who couldn't stand being ignored—truly couldn't stand it. Before he took on the role of the future savior, his current goal was essentially to "get people's attention."
The reason for putting "attention" in quotes was that Naruto's original intention wasn't to show off. For him, the main goal was to make others acknowledge his existence.
However, although that was his original intention, due to his young age and lack of brains, he kept using the wrong methods to express himself, becoming a noisy, hyperactive idiot all day long.
"Tch, not only will you not gain others' recognition, but you'll be seen as a fool—even though you already are one."
Although Yūki could understand Naruto's feelings, understanding didn't mean acceptance. For Yūki, who was quiet by nature and had a "mission," this little brat jumping around all day like he was on stimulants was truly annoying.
Thud! Halfway through the afternoon classes, as recess began, a crisp sound marked the start of a new conflict.
"Ow! Who! Who put this stool under my feet? That hurts!"
At that moment, someone kicked a stool across a desk, landing right in front of Naruto, who was running around the classroom.
"Damn it! Kiba, it was you, wasn't it! You set this trap for me! If you have the guts, fight me openly! What kind of ninja only uses dirty tricks like this?!"
"What?! You're the clumsy one blaming me?! I'll beat you up!"
Kiba wasn't one to back down either. He put Akamaru on the desk and pounced on Naruto. The two started yelling and fighting, wrestling together in the classroom like two puppies.
Just like that, the classroom descended into even greater chaos. Anxious voices trying to break up the fight, cheers, and roars of laughter blended together—it was like a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred birds chirping strangely. The entire classroom sounded like a noisy marketplace.
Noise, so much noise! It's driving me crazy!
He endured it for a while, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. After a month of this torture, Yūki could no longer take it.
Will you two shut up!
As Yūki suddenly glared in that direction, the "pressure" around him immediately condensed like flowing water, gathering and pressing down on Naruto and Kiba!
"Pressure" was something inexplicable. Unlike "chakra," which was invisible yet tangible, "pressure" didn't actually exist in a physical sense.
Systematically speaking, "killing intent," "arrogance," and "anger" could all be classified as "pressure," and there was still much room for research in this area.
For example, when Yūki encountered Diavolo earlier, he was nearly terrified by the killing intent the latter emitted. In the original story, characters like Zabuza and Orochimaru had also used this ability to "bully the weak," proving its existence.
And although the "pressure" Yūki could control now was still very subtle, it was more than enough to deal with these two little brats.
"Guh!"
"Ah!"
After being hit by the "pressure" attack, Naruto and Kiba, who were wrestling, simultaneously froze in place.
To the two of them, it felt as if they were being targeted by some ferocious beast, ready to be devoured as lunch at any moment! This sense of insecurity and fear even made them tremble involuntarily!
"K-Kiba, what trick are you playing?!"
At that moment, Naruto boldly scanned the classroom but found nothing that could exert such immense pressure. So, he immediately pointed the finger at Kiba, thinking Kiba had used some method to create this effect and make him afraid.
"What?! You're blaming me again?! Looks like I need to teach you a lesson!"
Provoked like this, Kiba instantly forgot the intense pressure from moments ago. He rushed over and punched Naruto in the eye, giving him a panda-like appearance.
And Naruto wasn't one to take a beating lying down. He kicked Kiba in the stomach, and the fox-dog battle started all over again...
These two guys' nerves are thick as steel cables, aren't they?
Seeing them carry on like this, Yūki had no choice but to sigh. He immediately summoned "Princess Kaguya" and had her use her hair to plug her ears, then refocused on the textbook in his hands.
From Yūki's perspective, if you were going to do something, you might as well do it well. So, during his first month at the academy, he had been diligently studying all the knowledge a ninja needed to learn.
To become a qualified ninja, aside from mastering the three core skills of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, years of tradition had given each ninja village a very complete set of theoretical knowledge.
This included code-breaking, mission planning methods, reading sign language and lip language, celebratory actions after completing missions, postpartum care for sows, designing suicide plans after mission failures, etc. There was a vast amount of knowledge in every subject.
Of course, for a five-year-old who had just enrolled, the teachers weren't foolish enough to cram all this in so quickly. So, the initial lessons were very simple and easy to understand. But for Yūki, that wasn't the case.
Because what the teacher taught was too simple, he couldn't help but delve into more advanced knowledge points. Plus, Yūki had promised his father he would achieve "first place in exams." So, there was no room for even the slightest slack.
The first exam after enrollment would be in February next year, so there were about four months left.
Anyway, I'm bored at school. Why not finish all the upcoming coursework in one go, then just show up for exams and skip classes the rest of the time?
Yeah, isn't that a great idea? It satisfies Father's need to show off, and I get to live a carefree life for the next few years.
Instantly, a smile bloomed on Yūki's face, as if he could see a beautiful future life waving at him.