One day—just as Seijuro was in the middle of Leaf Cyclone: Omega Spin Edition—Yui showed up with a popsicle, tilted her head at his mini-tornado, and said with all the grace of a war general:
He didn't even argue. He just stopped mid-spin, walked over, and accepted the frozen bribe like a monk attaining enlightenment.
Who could say no to the foods of the gods? Ice cream was on top.
It's been a month. His stats had reached what they could in that time. He mostly focused on Earth and Fire. He had managed to do the Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu. As to how he learned it... don't worry about it.
He also learned the Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, and the Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique.
Two jutsu which were relatively low-ranked and went hand in hand—when you learned one, you could practically immediately learn the other.
Was fun testing it out.
Later that day, Seijuro stood once more in his usual black-and-blue training attire, calm and sharp like a boy-sized knife. He was dropped off near the Academy with minimal fuss.
Yui acted like a mom once more. Hm. He had a sneaking suspicion she knew his parents and was taking care of him for them.
As for his parents... well, they died. Both of them. One was a Chūnin, the other a Jōnin...
His mom died. His dad, who had the clan Kekkei Genkai, lost his shit and his Id took over. He destroyed a whole battalion but got killed in the process.
He had a sneaking suspicion the clan leader was responsible for the death since his dad was stronger than him and all.
Hm, he'd rather not think of himself as some sort of clan heir or some shit. His dad's money and belongings did belong to him though.
Enough about that. Time to focus on school.
The place was buzzing—parents, kids, future rivals, and overly enthusiastic students. Classic. Chapters first released on novel✦fire.net
He strolled past the crowd, hands in pockets, until he reached the giant placement board posted outside the main hall. A sea of names greeted him.
His eyes scanned the list, unconcerned, until—
"Seijuro Kurama – 1st Place – Class 1-A."
Inside Class 1-A, Seijuro took a seat near the back, where the lighting was perfect, the noise minimal, and the distractions few. He set his bag down with surgical precision, sat straight, and prepared for the chaos of first-day introductions.
Nawaki Senju entered like a sunshine explosion—messy hair, confident grin, and an aura of natural charisma that screamed "I make friends before breakfast." He immediately plopped down next to Seijuro with the energy of a puppy discovering friendship.
"Hey, I'm Nawaki!" he said proudly.
Hm. Seijuro felt like he was being stuck with a rival he didn't want.
Seijuro glanced sideways with a neutral nod. "Seijuro. Noted."
Friendly conversation: Achieved.
A moment later, the teacher walked in—strict posture, calm voice, and a whiteboard marker like it was a jutsu scroll. The room went quiet immediately.
"Welcome to Class 1-A. You're the top percentile of applicants this year, which means your curriculum will be accelerated. Before we begin, introduce yourselves—name, clan if you have one, and your dream."
"I'm Kenta! I wanna be Hokage!"
"My name's Riku, and I wanna be the strongest ninja ever!"
"Hiashi Hyūga. I want to become a strong and just leader of my clan."
"Mikoto Uchiha. My goal is to become a powerful kunoichi worthy of leading in battle."
Nawaki stood proudly, puffing out his chest. "Nawaki Senju! I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"
Nobody doubted him. His grandpa was Hashirama freakin' Senju, after all.
Then it was Seijuro's turn.
He stood, hands behind his back, voice calm and measured.
"Seijuro Kurama. I plan to become the world's greatest Genjutsu user."
Simple. Clean. Unshakable.
Well, it was to be expected from someone like him. Oh well.
"Choza Akimichi! My dream is to eat every type of dumpling in the Land of Fire!"
"Shikaku Nara... I'd like to become a cloud. Maybe take a nap..."
"Inoichi Yamanaka! I wanna marry a super pretty girl and live easy!"
The teacher nodded after the last introduction, seemingly unfazed by the dumpling-cloud ambitions.
"Very well. As I said, this is the advanced class. You'll be pushed harder than other students. We will begin immediately with chakra theory."
He began scribbling diagrams on the board—chakra coils, tenketsu points, the balance between physical and spiritual energy, and how refining chakra leads to better control, efficiency, and jutsu casting.
Seijuro didn't mind. He knew those shits already. In his hand right now, there was some clay. Yes, he was playing with clay in the middle of class.
He was using this to increase his control over the Earth element. Every day was a grind, dammit. He would use the lunch break to grind. If given the chance, he would grind any chance he could get. A war was starting—from what his nanny was telling him, tension was burning high, and there were sightings of three of the great villages near Uzushiogakure.
Hm. The Uzumaki were about to get squad wiped. There were no ifs or buts about it.
There went his hope about learning Uzumaki sealing.
Hm. He wanted to learn them so badly.
His only hope for it now would be... his gaze landed on Nawaki.
On second thought, maybe having him as a rival wouldn't be so bad.