Chapter 35 (Patreon)

Yujiro turned his head.

Uchiha Izumi.

A girl who always seemed to have a gentle smile on her face.

At that moment, Izumi was looking at him with clear expectation in her eyes.

Yujiro had no reason to dislike her.

So he nodded.

“Sure.”

“Hehe~ Thank you.” Izumi’s pretty face immediately bloomed into a bright smile.

Facing a cute girl like that, even Yujiro’s mood improved a little.

The girls gathered around them all looked at Yugao and Izumi with envy.

During yesterday’s enrollment registration, both of them had already been beside Yujiro.

Because of that, the other girls knew very well that even if they tried to sit beside him, they would probably be rejected.

Yujiro closed his eyes and rested.

He was actually a little curious about what his first class in the Naruto world would be like.

“Yujiro-san… I wanted to sit next to you too.”

Suddenly, a voice filled with quiet resentment reached Yujiro’s ears.

He opened his eyes and saw Itachi standing there.

“Itachi, you’re late,” Yujiro said with a smile.

“Yujiro-san…”

Uchiha Itachi clenched his teeth, then silently walked to the seat behind Yujiro and sat down.

Yujiro scratched his head but didn’t say anything.

Soon, the first class at the Ninja Academy began.

A teacher walked into the classroom with a textbook in his hand.

After briefly introducing himself, he opened the book and began speaking.

“Our village, Konohagakure, was built through the efforts of the First Hokage…”

The moment Yujiro heard the first sentence, he lost interest.

Built entirely through the First Hokage’s efforts?

Then what about the Uchiha clan?

Yujiro suddenly understood something.

No wonder the people of Konoha, from the higher-ups down to ordinary villagers, never had a good impression of the Uchiha clan.

So it started from here.

The Uchiha’s contributions were erased.

Everything was credited to the Hokage.

No wonder the Hokage were so deeply worshipped in Konoha.

Behind him, Uchiha Itachi also noticed something strange.

But he didn’t think too deeply about it.

After all, there were still many secrets within the clan that he didn’t fully understand.

“The Third Hokage, Lord Sarutobi Hiruzen, is also recognized as the strongest Hokage!”

At the podium, the teacher read the line loudly from the textbook.

“Pfft…”

Yujiro couldn’t hold it in anymore.

This time, he really couldn’t.

So that was where the whole “strongest Hokage” thing came from.

Amazing.

Really amazing.

“The Third Hokage is the strongest Hokage?” Yujiro shook his head and laughed.

“Yujiro-san,” Itachi quietly reminded him from behind.

“Itachi,” Yujiro said casually, “this academy can’t teach us anything.”

With that, Yujiro slowly stood up.

The teacher on the podium paused.

“Student, is something wrong?”

“Bathroom,” Yujiro replied casually.

“Ah… go ahead.”

Yujiro picked up his black blade and walked out of the classroom as if nothing had happened.

Just as the academy teacher was about to continue the lesson, Itachi also stood up and raised his hand.

“What is it?”

“Bathroom.”

“...Go.”

Itachi gave an awkward smile and left the classroom.

The moment he stepped outside, he saw Yujiro waiting by the door.

Yujiro leaned against the wall, his expression indifferent.

“Yujiro-san,” Itachi said softly.

“Let’s go.”

After saying that, Yujiro walked toward the outside of the academy.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu.”

Bang!

Bang!

Two clouds of white smoke appeared, and two shadow clones took the place of Yujiro and Itachi.

At that moment, Yujiro suddenly felt the hairs on his body rise.

Someone was watching him.

Who?

There was no one nearby.

Which meant…

It was probably the Third Hokage, using that crystal ball of his to peek again.

Still, Yujiro didn’t care much about Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He gave his shadow clone a small nod, then leapt up with his blade and vaulted over the academy wall.

Itachi gave his own shadow clone a bitter smile before following after him.

The two shadow clones returned to the classroom to “study.”

“Yujiro-san, skipping class on the first day doesn’t seem very good,” Itachi said as he and Yujiro moved quickly across the branches.

Hearing Itachi’s question, Yujiro actually thought about it seriously.

After a long moment, he said, “Then from now on, we’ll skip every day.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked off the branch beneath him and vanished forward.

“Every day…”

Itachi swallowed.

That sounded even worse.

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at the familiar mountain behind Konoha.

Two people had already been waiting there for quite some time.

“Yujiro, you really came,” Kakashi said helplessly.

When Kakashi met Yujiro that morning, Yujiro had told him to inform Shisui and wait at the mountain behind Konoha.

But Kakashi hadn’t expected him to actually skip class.

“Skipping class is bad behavior, you know,” Shisui said, scratching his head.

Yujiro tilted his head and looked at Shisui and Kakashi.

Then he swung his black blade lightly.

“In that case, I’ll hit harder during training.”

Shisui: “…”

Kakashi: “…”

And so, the devil’s training began.

Yujiro faced all three of them at once without any problem.

On top of that, he also planned to test the new move he had just developed.

…

High above Konoha, on the Hokage Rock, Sarutobi Hiruzen was looking into the crystal ball in his hand.

Inside the crystal ball was Yujiro, just after he had used the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

“Is Sarutobi-sensei interested in Yujiro as well?”

At that moment, a cold presence suddenly appeared behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.

“You’re here,” Hiruzen said, raising his pipe and taking a long drag.

Orochimaru let out a low, hoarse laugh.

“It’s rare to see you so concerned about a child who only just entered the Ninja Academy.”

“It’s nothing. I was only taking a look.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen closed the crystal ball and sighed.

He looked at Orochimaru, and a trace of hesitation flashed through his eyes.

“Orochimaru,” Hiruzen said quietly after a long pause, “restrain yourself for a while.”

“Oh?” Orochimaru’s pupils narrowed slightly, and the corners of his mouth lifted. “I wonder what exactly I need to restrain.”

“You and I both know.” Hiruzen sighed. “Minato has already found a clue.”

“If he truly gathers enough evidence… I will stop you myself.”

“Yourself?”

Orochimaru shook his head and laughed.

“I won’t stop.”

After saying that, Orochimaru turned around and slowly walked away.

Sarutobi Hiruzen watched his back, his face filled with struggle.

In the end, that struggle turned into a single sigh.

In the distance, Orochimaru’s figure gradually disappeared.

“Sensei…”

“You really are soft-hearted.”