Chapter 8

Chapter 9: Classmates

"Hello, everyone. I am your future homeroom teacher, Sarutobi Heppu. I'm pleased to meet you all. Before we start the class, I'd like to get to know you better.

Let's start with self-introductions. Name, age, likes and dislikes, and dreams. We'll begin from the first row, left to right, and then the second row from right to left, and so on."

At 8 o'clock, a young ninja entered the classroom with a warm smile and said, then pointed to a hedgehog-haired student in the first row. The student stood up and confidently said:

"Uchiha Tenpu, five years old. I enjoy defeating members of the Hyuga clan and dislike the Hyuga clan. My dream is to prove that the Uchiha clan is the strongest clan of Sharingan users."

"Uchiha?!"

"Sharingan?"

The new students didn't learn the meaning of "stay quiet." In an instant, they started discussing. In the back row, the pineapple-haired ninja frowned and muttered, "Uchiha? What a troublesome clan."

Sarutobi Heppu cleared his throat and gestured for the next student to continue. He had nothing more to say about Uchiha Tenpu's introduction, given the historical grievances between the two clans. It wasn't something he, as a teacher, could resolve.

"Hayate Akira, my hobbies are..."

The introductions of the following students went smoothly, and Sarutobi Heppu breathed a sigh of relief. However, soon, a student with flowing hair and a smooth forehead stood up and said:

"Hyuga Chindo, six years old. I enjoy practicing Gentle Fist. I dislike the Uchiha clan. As for dreams, I don't have any for now. The Hyuga clan is already the strongest Dojutsu clan, so there's no need to prove anything!"

"What do you mean?!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Tenpu stood up and looked at Hyuga Chindo on the other end. Hyuga Chindo met his gaze fearlessly.

"Next!"

At this point, Sarutobi Heppu quickly interrupted and pointed to a student in the second row. The boy under the windbreaker stood up and said, "I'm Aburame."

After his introduction, he sat down. Sarutobi Heppu suddenly snapped back to attention and said, "Sorry, could you introduce yourself again? I spaced out and didn't hear clearly."

"Aburame Shibi."

As Aburame Shibi sat down, Sarutobi Heppu realized he hadn't heard anything except the name. He noticed other students were also a bit puzzled, as if wondering, "Did someone just speak?"

However, repeatedly asking Aburame Shibi to reintroduce himself would be a bit hurtful, so he turned to the student next to Aburame Shibi—a girl who stood up and said:

"I'm Inuzuka Tsume, almost five years old. I enjoy training dogs and dislike cats! My dream is to become the first female Hokage!"

Inuzuka Tsume's voice was very clear. Thanks to Aburame Shibi's matter, Sarutobi Heppu's ears were even itching from being attentive.

It seemed the issue wasn't his inability to hear Aburame Shibi's self-introduction; the issue was with Aburame Shibi.

Soon, one student after another started introducing themselves. Tatsuma also paid attention to these classmates. He paid special attention to the classmates from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio—Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Choza.

However, there was no red-haired girl in the class yet; she probably hadn't enrolled. After all, Tatsuma remembered that fiery girl with red hair as a transfer student.

There were thirty students in the class. Soon, it was Minato and Tatsuma's turn. Minato was a bit reserved and didn't dare to say he wanted to become Hokage. He simply said he wanted to be a reliable ninja like a Hokage.

After Minato introduced himself, Tatsuma stood up and said, "I'm Sakamoto Tatsuma, five years old. I enjoy making friends and training with friends."

Speaking up to this point, Minato shivered involuntarily, but Tatsuma didn't pay much attention to it and continued, "I don't have anything I dislike for now, and my dream is to gain people's recognition."

Tatsuma didn't use lofty words; after all, at his age, publicly declaring a commitment to maintain peace in the ninja world would only come across as empty words.

After Tatsuma, there were only two classmates left. Once everyone introduced themselves, Sarutobi Heppu began distributing textbooks. Ninja school students not only had combat classes but also theoretical classes.

However, when Tatsuma received the textbook and flipped through it, he realized it was different from what he had anticipated. In Tatsuma's imagination, the textbook should have focused more on the history of the ninja world, the Will of Fire, and similar topics.

But when Tatsuma looked through it, he found that the textbook contained more information about ninja tools and ninjutsu. Later on, it even had details about the characteristics of ninja from various villages, and the history part was quite superficial.

"Is it because things haven't settled down yet?"

Tatsuma muttered to himself. This kind of textbook didn't align with the comprehensive development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor. It was solely for cultivating the combat abilities of the ninja.

In these turbulent times, culture was a servant of the superstructure. Currently, Konoha couldn't afford to let its children grow up comprehensively and slowly. Instead, they needed batches of ninja reserves.

Minato noticed Tatsuma's furrowed brow and asked, "What's wrong?"

Tatsuma shook his head and said, "I just find the content a bit difficult to understand."

Minato was still young, and explaining to him wouldn't make him grasp the complexities. Moreover, it would add unnecessary complications. Upon hearing this, Minato smiled and said, "No worries, if you don't understand something in the future, I can help you."

"Well then, I'll be counting on you in the future."

In the following time, Sarutobi Heppu went over the matters to pay attention to during their school term, including class times, rest days, and the concept of semesters.

These matters didn't need to be discussed in the classroom, as the parents of those ninja clan children and descendants would handle everything. However, with Tatsuma and Minato, the two orphans, present, Sarutobi Heppu covered these topics. After his explanation, other ninja school teachers came in one after another to introduce themselves and their teaching content. Sarutobi Heppu left the classroom as well, presumably to visit other classes.

It took the entire morning to settle these trivial matters. Before the formal class in the afternoon, there was a lunch break. Some children chose to leave the ninja school, probably to go home for lunch.

Tatsuma and Minato took out the bento boxes they had prepared and intended to find some hot water to go along with their meal. Just at this moment, Nara Shikaku with his pineapple hairstyle, accompanied by Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza, walked toward them.

"I heard you say that you like making friends, right?"

As Tatsuma was contemplating the purpose of these three coming over, Shikaku took the initiative to speak up. Tatsuma nodded and asked, "That's right, I remember you said you don't like unnecessary social interactions."

However, at this moment, Shikaku showed a smile and said, "With you two, it should be effective communication. Let me introduce myself. I'm Nara Shikaku. This is Yamanaka Inoichi, and this is Akimichi Choza."

"Hello."

"Hi~ Hello."

Inoichi nodded, and Choza quickly swallowed the potato chips he was eating. They both nodded at Tatsuma and Minato, though Choza clung tightly to his bag of chips.

Tatsuma didn't mind; after all, he was aware of the Akimichi clan's food protectiveness from his previous life. He nodded back and smiled, "I'm Sakamoto Tatsuma."

After finishing his introduction, Tatsuma looked at Minato. Minato also smiled and said, "I'm Namikaze Minato."

"In that case, we won't disturb your lunch. Let's play chess together sometime."

Shikaku didn't show excessive enthusiasm; it wasn't his style. Moreover, part of the reason for approaching them was his father's instructions. So, he quickly left with Inoichi and Choza.

"It seems not all ninja clan children are arrogant."

Minato had a good impression of these three, and Tatsuma agreed, "These few are worth getting to know. Well done, Minato. You're attracting attention so quickly."

Hearing the words "well done, Minato," Minato shivered involuntarily, feeling that Tatsuma was about to propose another challenge. However, seeing Tatsuma heading straight to the water dispenser, Minato felt a bit deflated.