Chapter 5 — Setting the Rules
A sharp gleam flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
He knew Tsunade had agreed. After all, Uchiha Tendō's talent was obvious to everyone. In the future, he would undoubtedly become one of the Uchiha's upper echelon—perhaps even the clan head.
It should be known that the position of Uchiha clan leader was still determined by strength and ability.
Judging from Uchiha Tendō's personality, as long as he became Tsunade's disciple, then in time… he would be able to easily keep the entire Uchiha clan in check.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi took another long, satisfied puff from his pipe.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, four months went by.
Today was the first day of registration for the second semester at the Ninja Academy!
"System, open the status panel."
With a single thought from Uchiha Tendō, his character panel immediately appeared in his mind.
[Host: Uchiha Tendō]
[Spiritual Power: 1000]
[Physique: 256]
[Bloodline Limit: Two-Tomoe Sharingan]
[Tailed Beast: Groudon (Fusion Rate 3.45%)]
[Skills: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Uchiha-Style Taijutsu, Electroweb, Flamethrower…]
[Items: A Box of Instant Noodles from Professor Oak, Several Ninjutsu Scrolls, Touko's Tennis Cap…]
Uchiha Tendō didn't even know how to begin complaining about this Pokémon Sign-In System.
Over the past four months, he had signed in four times.
Aside from the C-rank Electroweb and the A-rank Flamethrower being somewhat useful… what were the other two even supposed to be?
Professor Oak's instant noodles were at least edible. But Touko's tennis cap? Was he supposed to wear a girl's tennis cap?
The drop rate of this garbage system was truly "touching." Was it produced by some shady game company or something?
That said, Uchiha Tendō had never placed all his hopes on the system. In his view, in this life, the only one you could truly rely on was himself.
During these four months, aside from carefully taking care of little Akihō, he had not relaxed his training for even a moment.
At present, his main focus was on taijutsu and swordsmanship. As for chakra reserves, he wasn't worried in the slightest. Setting aside the fact that the Uchiha naturally possessed more chakra than average ninja, as long as his physical condition steadily improved, the fusion rate with Groudon's power would continue to rise. When that time came, his chakra reserves would be enough to surpass even the Nine-Tails!
The arrival of a certain blond kid interrupted Uchiha Tendō's wandering thoughts.
"Minato, you're late again."
Facing Uchiha Tendō's expressionless gaze, Namikaze Minato scratched the back of his head awkwardly, offering an embarrassed smile.
"Tendō, I was helping an old lady cross the street just now, so I was a little late."
"I promise! I definitely won't be late next time!"
Uchiha Tendō ignored Minato's solemn oath and walked toward the Ninja Academy while holding little Akihō in his arms.
He had heard Minato's promises far too many times. He was long used to it.
Seeing that Tendō wasn't angry, Minato quickly followed after him.
The two had actually met three years ago.
At the time, Minato was being beaten up by several children from the Shimura clan. Those kids had already refined chakra, so ganging up on a chakra-less Minato was effortless.
Ever since Shimura Danzō rose to a high-ranking position within the village, the Shimura clan's status in Konoha had soared. Its members had grown increasingly arrogant and domineering.
Simply because they disliked Minato's head of blond hair, those children had surrounded and attacked him, striking viciously.
Minato had been beaten until his consciousness blurred. Just when he thought he would be beaten to death—
Uchiha Tendō appeared.
A punch. A kick. A clean shoulder throw.
He easily dealt with those Shimura children.
Afterward, he brought Minato to Konoha Hospital.
From that day on, the two became very close friends.
Four months ago, after hearing from Honda Takeshi that Uchiha Tendō had taken a leave from school, Minato immediately rushed to his house to ask about it. After learning the situation, he had even wanted to drop out as well, hoping to help his friend through the hardship.
"Minato, for a civilian ninja like you, the knowledge taught at the Academy is very important. You don't want to end up only being able to look up at my back, do you?"
In the end, he was persuaded by that single sentence from Uchiha Tendō.
Even so, every day after school, Minato tirelessly helped Tendō with chores so that he could focus on caring for little Akihō.
Soon, the two arrived at the Ninja Academy.
Minato pushed the classroom door open first, making sure no one would accidentally bump into Uchiha Tendō behind him.
Smack—
A chalkboard eraser fell directly onto his head, bouncing off and landing on the floor.
Seeing Minato frozen in place, the classroom erupted in loud laughter.
"Hahaha! Minato, you're so slow!"
"Seriously, you couldn't even dodge something that simple? And you're supposed to be first in the class!"
Minato swallowed subconsciously as he looked at his laughing classmates, his body trembling slightly.
He wasn't afraid of being mocked.
He just had a bad feeling that things were about to get serious.
Sure enough, several shuriken sliced through the air toward the laughing students.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sharp sound of shuriken embedding into wooden boards rang out, and the laughter in the classroom stopped abruptly.
Minato let out a helpless smile.
He knew this would happen.
Originally half-asleep, Nara Shikaku touched the small tuft of hair that had just been sliced off and stared at the black-haired boy at the doorway, his heart screaming wildly.
Damn it!! Why did you have to pull a prank?! Now we're all in trouble!!!
Uchiha Tendō slowly walked to the podium, his expression proud. His dark eyes swept across every student in the classroom with faint disdain.
"I, Uchiha Tendō, have returned. I will now lay down three rules."
"First, do not play pranks in this classroom."
"Second, do not make loud noise in this classroom."
"Third, you must strictly abide by the first two rules."