When the morning classes ended, it was time for lunch.
The moment Minato turned around, he saw Yakushi Nono taking out two lunch boxes from her schoolbag.
After opening them, she handed a pair of chopsticks to Natsuki.
He immediately felt like a third wheel.
“Minato, want to eat with us?”
Natsuki extended the invitation.
Minato did not think much of it and agreed right away.
He sat across from Natsuki and Yakushi Nono, then opened his own lunch box.
“If you don’t mind, you can try some.”
Minato said it with a smile.
“Did you make it yourself?”
Natsuki asked curiously.
In the original story, there was never any mention of Minato’s parents, whether they were alive or dead.
But when a character’s parents were never mentioned at all, that usually meant they were dead.
Minato was probably an orphan too.
“Yeah.”
Minato nodded.
“It’s really good.”
Natsuki picked up a piece of fried shrimp, tasted it, and praised him.
The original story did mention that Minato was quite skilled at cooking.
A thought suddenly crossed Natsuki’s mind.
Would cooking trigger a new character template?
Chefs might not sound very combat-oriented, but satisfying your appetite was still worthwhile.
After all, life was about eating, drinking, and enjoying yourself.
Besides, a chef who did not want to fight was not a good chef.
Across the myriad worlds, there were plenty of chefs with terrifying strength.
The three of them ate and chatted at the same time.
Then Minato suddenly smiled mysteriously and asked, “Do you know which senpai at the academy are especially impressive?”
Natsuki shook his head.
He might have been reincarnated, but the original Naruto timeline was pretty messy.
He only had a rough idea of the era he was currently in, and only knew a few famous characters by name.
As for which class they were in, he had no clue.
“Before class today, I went around and checked the bulletin boards for each grade,” Minato said openly.
“I found seven really outstanding prodigies.”
In second year, there were Akimichi Choza, Nara Shikaku, and Yamanaka Inoichi.
They were the future clan heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and also the fathers of Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino.
In third year, there was Nawaki.
Natsuki had already met him.
He definitely deserved to be called a genius.
Even though, in the original story, he died soon after reaching the battlefield, blown up by explosive tags, there was no way Orochimaru would have valued him if he had no talent.
In fifth year, there was Uchiha Mikoto.
She would one day become the wife of the Uchiha clan head and give birth to two very famous sons: Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi.
In sixth year, there were Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi.
They were twin brothers.
Hiashi was Hinata’s father and the future head of the Hyuga clan.
Hizashi, meanwhile, was Neji’s father.
“Ninja battles are intelligence battles.”
After hearing all that, Natsuki joked, “Minato, looks like you’re already preparing for the position of Hokage.”
“I was just wandering around because I had nothing better to do.”
Minato shook his head and answered modestly, “Besides, becoming Hokage isn’t that easy.
You might have a better chance than I do.”
Natsuki froze slightly.
His first reaction was: Me?
Beating Minato?
Seriously?
But then he thought about the cheat he had just gained, and suddenly Minato beating Sukuna did not seem entirely impossible as a future scenario.
“It’s just a feeling,”
Minato explained.
Ever since meeting Natsuki, he had given off an impression of being calm, steady, and composed.
Even when the topic of Hokage came up, he barely reacted.
And yet, Natsuki had clearly said during introductions that he wanted to become Hokage.
That could only mean he was confident.
If Natsuki had known what Minato was thinking, he would have said Minato was reading way too much into it.
His goal had never changed.
He just wanted to survive.
But… becoming Hokage was not out of the question.
After all, he had a cheat now.
And if he had just gotten a cheat, why should he make himself suffer?
After lunch break, the afternoon classes began.
The afternoon was not theory class, but practical class.
Not real combat, of course.
It was a lesson on the most basic skill of all for a ninja: how to refine chakra.
Natsuki and Yakushi Nono had already learned it in advance.
It had been taught to them by Root ninja for the purpose of testing their aptitude.
Normally, if someone could refine chakra in a single day, they were basically destined for greatness.
If they could do it in three days, they were considered a genius.
Natsuki had taken a whole month to refine chakra, which put him in a very average middle ground.
Yakushi Nono, however, was different.
She had only taken two days.
Natsuki had also realized that his natural chakra reserves were not very large.
Although chakra could be improved through training, he knew very well that acquired chakra also had its limits.
True geniuses were born with massive reserves of chakra—like Uzumaki Naruto.
Same old story: in this world, the less human you were, the better.
The closer your bloodline was to Kaguya Otsutsuki or the Sage of Six Paths, the more chakra you had.
Natsuki’s lineage simply was not that concentrated.
Barring some miracle, his ceiling was probably chunin.
Fortunately, he was not the type to carry pressure himself.
He could just leave all that pressure to the system.
Time passed slowly, and Natsuki’s first day at the Ninja Academy finally came to an end.
“Heading back together?”
Minato turned around and asked.
“I still have something to do.
You go ahead.”
Natsuki shook his head.
“All right.
See you tomorrow.”
Seeing that, Minato did not ask any more questions.
He got up and left the classroom.
“We’re going to the Hokage Building.”
Natsuki turned to Yakushi Nono and said.
“The Hokage Building?”
Yakushi Nono tilted her head, her small face filled with confusion.
“Don’t you want to become a medical ninja?”
Natsuki reached out and patted her on the head.
“I’m planning to find you a teacher.”
“Huh?”
Yakushi Nono let out a cute, startled sound.
Natsuki had thought it over just now.
Asking someone directly to teach him how to make anesthetics would seem strange.
In that case, he might as well spend a little more money and hire a tutor.
In the original story, Kurenai Yuhi had once been invited by the Kurama clan to act as Kurama Yakumo’s teacher.
“Would it be very expensive?”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Yakushi Nono asked.
“A good teacher is naturally expensive.”
Natsuki changed tone and continued, “But at this stage, we don’t need someone that good.
For now, a genin will do.”
As soon as she heard that, Yakushi Nono took out a wallet.
“I do have enough to hire a genin.”
Natsuki stood up and said, “You can owe me for now.”
His parents had left him a decent inheritance.
And since they had died for Konoha, he had also received a fairly generous compensation payment.
Besides money, they had also left behind five jutsu.
The E-rank Three Basic Techniques, the D-rank Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu, and the C-rank Earth Release: Underground Submarine Voyage.
Both his parents had been chunin, so they did not know very many techniques.
Yakushi Nono looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end she only nodded.
The two of them left the Ninja Academy and headed for the Hokage Building.
Even though it was already past working hours, plenty of ninja were still coming and going.
They went straight upstairs and entered the mission hall.
This was where ninja accepted missions.
“I’d like to post a mission.”
Natsuki walked up to a young female ninja and got straight to the point.
“What kind of mission?”
The young female ninja glanced left and right as she asked.
This was the first time she had ever seen such a small child come to post a mission.
“I’d like to hire a medical ninja to be my teacher.
How do I post that kind of mission?”
Natsuki asked in return.
“What kind of medical ninja?
For how long?
Do you want to specify a particular person?”
The young female ninja fired off three questions in a row.
“A genin is fine.”
After thinking for a moment, Natsuki said, “Let’s start with half a year.
No specific person.”
“That would be a D-rank mission.
Ten thousand ryo.”
After a brief pause, the young female ninja gave her answer.
Ninja missions were ranked D, C, B, A, and S.
D-rank was the lowest and safest, with payment ranging from five hundred to ten thousand ryo.
Yakushi Nono instinctively looked at Natsuki.
To her, that price felt far beyond what they could afford.
After all, they were just orphans with no source of income.
“All right.”
Natsuki nodded.
“Come back tomorrow.”
After registering the request for him, the female ninja spoke again.
“Thank you.”
After saying that, Natsuki left the Hokage Building with Yakushi Nono.
“Um…”
Yakushi Nono stopped walking and looked at him.
“I’m not hiring a teacher just for you.
I’m learning too.”
Natsuki already knew what she wanted to say, so he explained first.
“Thank you.”
Yakushi Nono said it with complete sincerity.
“I’ll pay you back someday.”