Nawaki still didn’t want to see anyone.
Yet every morning, he would get up right on time and watch Might Dai run past the front gate, shouting his slogans while enduring the curses of everyone around him.
Day after day, year after year, Might Dai had persevered through countless mornings and nights.
As he ran toward the first rays of the morning sun, his figure seemed to glow.
Perhaps
Nawaki should do something too.
Crying and regretting what had happened were meaningless.
All they did was waste his own life and the lives his comrades had sacrificed.
Instead of wasting time on that, he might as well think of a way to become stronger.
Since he couldn’t use ninjutsu right now, he would start with the most basic form of combat
Taijutsu.
No matter what his future looked like, he shouldn’t simply throw his life away.
The following morning, Isamu slowly opened his eyes when he heard movement coming from the room next door.
He saw Nawaki leave the Senju residence and wait at the intersection for someone.
Isamu frowned.
Surely he wasn’t waiting for
In the distance, a green-clad figure emerged from the darkness.
Nawaki walked over.
After the two exchanged a few words, Nawaki began running after Might Dai into the distance.
The energetic slogans hadn’t changed.
Neither had the curses.
But this time, no one dared throw anything at Might Dai anymore.
Because following behind him was a young man no one had expected to see.
The grandson of the First and Second Hokage
Nawaki Senju.
What an idiot!
Isamu couldn’t understand Nawaki’s actions at all.
He had an incredibly powerful older sister right beside him, yet he had chosen to learn this seemingly pointless form of training from a Genin.
In ninja terms, Might Dai was someone without talent.
Of course, as an outsider, Isamu couldn’t exactly say, “Following him won’t get you anywhere.”
Isamu had also come to understand something about Konoha.
Here, whether you were strong or not wasn’t necessarily the most important thing.
As long as you believed in the Will of Fire, you were a good brother.
At the very least
You could count as one on the surface.
So Isamu decided not to say anything that might undermine unity.
He believed that it wouldn’t be long before Nawaki understood this for himself and turned to Tsunade for guidance.
For now, it was probably just the pride of youth getting in the way.
Nawaki simply didn’t want to lower his head and rely on his older sister.
Seeing that Nawaki had regained his fighting spirit, Tsunade’s attitude changed somewhat.
However, until Nawaki possessed a certain level of strength, she absolutely refused to let him leave the village to participate in wartime missions.
She also had her own work to do.
The Ninja Academy’s medical curriculum couldn’t be delayed any longer.
“I’m taking you to the Ninja Academy tomorrow.”
The situation along the borders was becoming increasingly grim, and Tsunade intended to launch her medical course as soon as possible.
This time, the course would only be available to senior students.
Traditionally, medical-nin were selected from among Genin who had already graduated from the Ninja Academy.
What Tsunade was doing was simply moving that process forward.
For shinobi, having one more medical-nin on the front lines meant wounded comrades could receive treatment sooner.
And that could potentially change the outcome of a battle.
“Jiraiya mentioned before that he wants to take on a disciple.
Apparently, he plans to have the boy graduate early this year”
“Although I’ve met him a few times, I don’t really understand what Jiraiya sees in him.”
“When the time comes, you two can have a proper spar.”
“I know you have plenty of tricks up your sleeve, so there’s no need to hold back against him Ideally, I’d like him to experience the cruelty of the shinobi world before he goes to war.”
“Not just him.
The other students should learn some of these things too.
You need to make them understand that conflict between shinobi is brutal.”
Some time ago, Jiraiya had said that he’d taken an interest in a student at the Ninja Academy and wanted to train him.
In the end, Jiraiya himself had left the village first
Before departing, he had also asked Tsunade to look after the boy.
So why not let Isamu find out just how “excellent” this student really was?
Besides, Isamu had spent several years wandering the shinobi world.
Perhaps he could teach this boy some things that could never be learned at the Ninja Academy.
“Understood.”
Isamu naturally understood what Tsunade meant.
In other words:
Friendship first, a tie for first place.
Tsunade also seemed to have the intention of making Isamu the whetstone against which these “students” could sharpen themselves.
When Tsunade arrived at the classroom she had prepared in advance, it was already packed with students.
The students were all quite excited about this newly added medical course.
Because their instructor was Tsunade!
That alone was enough to make these students, who were filled with anticipation for their shinobi careers, burn with excitement.
She was already emerging as one of Konoha’s leading figures among the new generation.
She was the granddaughter of both the First and Second Hokage and a disciple of the Third Hokage.
She was the ultimate example of Konoha’s legacy.
In this world, which had yet to completely move beyond bloodline-based thinking, one could practically feel the strength of her Will of Fire at first glance.
Look at her a second time, and you’d practically catch fire yourself!
Isamu followed behind Tsunade and looked at the blazing excitement in the eyes of these “peers” of his.
He simply couldn’t understand this kind of hero worship.
Tsunade briefly introduced Isamu.
She only said that he had come to Konoha from another village to study and was also serving as her assistant.
Then, at her signal, Isamu took a seat in the front row.
He was paired with a red-haired girl.
The red-haired girl turned toward him and smiled gently.
“Hello, Isamu.
My name is Kushina.”
The warm winter sunlight filtered through the gaps between the trees, scattering specks of light across the ground and illuminating Kushina.
The girl narrowed her eyes contentedly, basking in the warmth.
For a moment, Isamu felt as though he had returned to his school days in his previous life.
But then his brows furrowed.
His passive ability, Sensory Perception, made him particularly sensitive to certain forms of hostility.
Just now, he had sensed a fleeting trace of hostility that immediately put him on guard.
He followed the sensation with his eyes.
There, a blond-haired boy was smiling at him.
The smile didn’t seem fake.
But that fleeting hostility he’d sensed was real as well.
Smiling on the outside while plotting behind the scenes.
This guy might even be thinking about gathering a few friends and ganging up on me.
Who was this guy?
Isamu began wondering what he had done to provoke him.
But Tsunade had already begun teaching the medical course, forcing Isamu to shift his attention back to the lesson.
This first class didn’t cover anything particularly advanced.
Tsunade was merely explaining some basic first-aid measures and applications of medical ninjutsu.
By the standards of his previous life, this was essentially an introductory lesson intended to spark their interest.
However, many of the students seemed disappointed.
If the person standing at the front hadn’t been Tsunade, some of them probably would already have put their heads down and fallen asleep.
“Medical ninjutsu can greatly shorten the recovery time of the wounded.”
“You may not have experienced this yourselves yet, but today, you’ll have the opportunity to experience it firsthand.”
The moment they heard this, everyone became interested.
Pure theory could certainly be boring.
But actually experiencing it themselves was another matter entirely.
“Isamu.”
Tsunade called his name.
“Here.”
Isamu stood up, knowing that the main event had arrived.
Tsunade’s gaze shifted toward the corner of the classroom.
“Minato.”
When the blond-haired boy stood up, Isamu immediately understood.
So your name is Minato Namikaze.
No wonder you were hostile toward me earlier Looks like you were a little interested in testing yourself against me.
“You two will have a spar in the school’s training ground later.”
“Don’t worry about injuries.
Today’s purpose is simply to let everyone experience medical ninjutsu firsthand.”
With Tsunade and the other Academy instructors present, there was naturally no need to worry about anyone getting seriously hurt.
In that case
I’ll have a proper spar with you.
Isamu looked at the blond-haired boy and gave him a smile that sent a chill down Minato’s spine.
Training Ground
An instructor stood nearby, preparing to guide the two of them through the traditional Seal of Reconciliation.
“Wait.
Could I get a short sword?”
One of the observing instructors tossed him an ordinary standard-issue short sword.
Isamu caught it securely.
After forming the Opposing Seal under the instructor’s guidance, he heard a girl nearby mutter,
“How shameless.
He’s using a short sword against kunai.”
Having a longer weapon naturally provided an advantage.
That much was obvious.
But ultimately, it depended on the person wielding the weapon.
You couldn’t simply determine the outcome based on the weapon itself.
Is this really the level of Konoha’s shinobi?
Isamu stopped moving.
Then he loudly addressed the girl who had spoken.
“Speak louder.
I couldn’t hear you!”
The girl who had been called out immediately flushed red.
She wanted to argue, but the teacher beside her stopped her.
The two combatants had already formed the Opposing Seal.
That meant they had both accepted the match.
Now that the battle had begun, outsiders had no business interfering with it.
It wasn’t merely disrespectful toward Isamu.
It was also disrespectful toward Minato.
Minato was just about to say something on the girl’s behalf when Isamu suddenly attacked while he was distracted.