Ninja Academy.
"My name's Jin. As you can see, I'm an Uchiha… though they're not exactly eager to admit it."
Jin spread his arms and shrugged, his attitude dripping with indifference. That relaxed posture made the Uchiha students in the classroom glare daggers at him. If Instructor Inoue weren't standing up on the podium, they would've already made sure he had a rough time.
No one had ever seen an Uchiha with talent this trashy.
Wearing a green tactical flak jacket and a Konoha forehead protector hanging from his neck was Inoue Satoru. Despite his youth, his head was already full of white hair.
"Ahem, ahem."
He coughed twice, a headache throbbing at his temples. He didn't need to think too hard to know this one was a "problem student."
He already had one in the class; getting another was… honestly, a giant pain.
"Student Jin has finished his introduction. You can take your seat."
Jin folded his arms and sat down. Immediately, whispers drifted to his ears. They twitched slightly. The strengthening from his "Basic Internal Energy" affected his whole body; naturally, his hearing was anything but weak.
"Isn't he that Uchiha who failed the ninja exam two years in a row?"
"How did he end up in our class?"
"Yeah, I heard all the ones who fail get dumped in Class C."
The Ninja Academy was divided into three classes: A, B, and C. Officially, they said there was no difference between them, but reality was brutally different. Class A was mostly children from ninja clans, plus a handful of civilian kids with exceptional grades. Class B held the few low-talent clan kids and the bulk of the civilian students. For example, a certain Uchiha, who had never managed to perform a single ninjutsu, had been stuck in Class B for years. And yet, for some mysterious reason, this time he'd been thrown into Class A.
No one had a clue what kind of shady arrangement that was.
As for Class C, that was, ironically, the "strongest" class. After all, all the repeaters who failed to become ninja and were sent back to the Academy got shoved into Class C. They were kings and tyrants during their school days, but produced nothing but trash once they became ninja. In everyday speech, it was known as the "Trash Concentration Camp."
Theoretically, as the Uchiha clan's "public disgrace," Jin should have gone straight to Class C. The first time he failed, his Uchiha status had let him stay in Class B. But now, even the Uchiha name shouldn't have been enough to protect him. So how had he been "demoted upward" into Class A?
Whatever the reason, Jin couldn't care less. In fact, he was pretty pleased.
Why? Jin turned his head and looked at the blond boy sitting beside him, grinning and baring his teeth.
"Yo, you must be Namikaze Minato, right? I heard you're always at the top of the rankings, permanently stuck in first place."
Namikaze Minato glanced at Jin's smile—a smile that moved skin but not eyes—and answered with a bright, sunny smile of his own, flawless and dazzling.
It was truly a direct clash between Evil and Justice.
(Jin: I'm not the Evil one here, okay!!)
"It's just the result of working hard. I'll be counting on your guidance this year, Senpai Jin."
"Don't worry about it, don't worry about it."
Jin clapped Minato on the shoulder, as if to say, "I'll protect you next year."
In that exact instant, a chilling killing intent surged from behind. Jin turned his head and saw a red-haired girl, her long hair fluttering as she stared at him with murderous fury. Her lips moved slowly, forming words, though no sound came out.
Reading lips was a basic skill for a ninja. Jin instantly decoded the message: "What do you think you're doing to my subordinate?!"
Jin answered with what he considered a "brilliant" smile and even gave her a thumbs-up.
BAM!
Irritated beyond reason, Uzumaki Kushina slammed her fist onto the desk so hard that every gaze in the room snapped toward her. The nickname "Bloody Red Hot Habanero" wasn't just for show. She instantly launched into a verbal attack.
"What are you looking at?!"
Everyone jerked their heads away at once, shivering like cicadas in winter. This was the "crazy lady" who had beaten up a Genin before even graduating from the Academy.
"Kushina, we're in the middle of class," Inoue Satoru warned, fully aware this little "great-aunt" wasn't someone to mess with.
Since Kushina didn't say anything more, the lesson continued.
Jin ignored the burning glare searing into his back and, listening to the droning explained material, started to feel drowsy. In this class, only those two were familiar to him; the rest didn't leave any impression at all.
The "subordinate" (unilaterally declared) of the Red Hot Habanero, Namikaze Minato, gave Jin an apologetic smile. Jin could feel the killing intent behind him practically overflowing. But none of that mattered.
He was just too sleepy.
Rocked to sleep by killing intent and Inoue Satoru's monotone, Jin drifted off into a deep slumber.
There was no need to listen anyway. Even though the final school year was supposed to be "intense," in practice, the material boiled down to three things.
The first, and by far the most common, was a thorough brainwashing with the Will of Fire. They droned on about how the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had expanded and glorified the village, with a small side note about the First Hokage founding the village and the Second Hokage's heroic sacrifice. As for other feats and historical details, they were nowhere in the textbooks; you had to look them up yourself. After all, how could the predecessors possibly compare to Sarutobi Hiruzen, the so-called "Strongest Hokage"?
The remaining lessons were ninjutsu training and practical combat drills.
When the bell finally rang to signal the end of the school day…
A few Uchiha clan members were looking to cause trouble for Jin. After all, having an Uchiha with zero talent for ninjutsu was far too embarrassing. For the clan, it would be much more convenient to just force him to drop out. Unfortunately, the "option to drop out" simply didn't exist for an Uchiha. That was a privilege reserved for civilian students.
On a narrow path at dusk, a boy and a girl walked home side by side. The golden afterglow of the setting sun lit up Kushina's profile, giving her a faint radiance, almost like a holy aura.
Namikaze Minato's cheeks were slightly flushed. Kushina, completely oblivious to any romantic atmosphere, was instead full of simmering anger.
"Minato, you're my subordinate! Don't you dare give that bastard any attention!"
That was her one and only subordinate. There was no way she was letting anyone steal him. When she noticed Minato's slightly reddened cheeks, a stab of irritation shot through her. That soft, slightly pretty-boy expression of his had always annoyed her.
Just then, as they passed under a tree, a body suddenly "folded" down from above. Kushina let out a sharp shriek—"Ahhh!"—and ducked behind Minato.
The moment she saw who it was, she charged forward again, red hair whipping around her like claws stirred by her rage.
"You damn Uchiha bastard!!"
Hanging upside down from a branch was Uchiha Jin.
"Hey, you were the one badmouthing me first. Scaring you a little counts as payback in kind."
"I wasn't scared!!" Kushina shot back stubbornly.
"That's not the point."
Jin looked at her wordlessly. If he had to deal with tsundere traits, he'd at least prefer a blonde girl (like in a certain anime). He turned to Namikaze Minato and smiled.
"Minato, how about a friendly spar between classmates?"
This was Namikaze Minato, one of the very few ninjas in the Naruto world who truly deserved to be called a "genius." Jin had had his eye on him for a while.
Minato scratched his head, intending to refuse. He didn't like that kind of pointless confrontation. But Kushina wouldn't have it. Planting her hands on her hips, she stepped in front of Minato.
"If you want to bully my subordinate, you'll have to get through me first!"
"That won't do," Jin said, shaking his head. "I'm scared I'll make you cry, and then people will come after me."
He was even more scared of aggravating the Kyūbi sealed inside her and making it break loose. Then he'd really be done for.
"I'm the one who's gonna beat you until you're bawling!! You bastard!!"
Kushina lunged at him and threw a right hook. It was so fast and heavy that the air itself seemed to hum. Unfortunately, no matter how strong a punch is, it's useless if it doesn't land.
Jin simply stepped back, dodging the right hook by a hair's breadth. Kushina immediately followed with a left hook, which he slipped past just as easily. No matter how wild her storm of punches became, Jin weaved left and right between the fading afterimages of her fists. Apart from the wind of her blows ruffling his hair, he remained completely unscathed.
Kushina eventually stopped, panting hard. Jin hadn't broken a sweat and still wore that playful smile.
"Is that all you've got?"
"Bastard!!"
Unwilling to accept it, Kushina snapped a right side kick at him. Jin stepped back again, moving just outside the kick's range, then stretched his left foot out and hooked her supporting left leg. Kushina's balance vanished in an instant; her body spun in the air and she went crashing to the ground, face first.
Jin clasped his hands behind his back, striking the pose of a great martial arts master.
"This style is called 'Wild Goose Landing on Sand.'"
"I'll kill you!!"
Kushina shot to her feet, fully intending to go all out, but Namikaze Minato rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her back.
"You can't beat him. I'll avenge you."
Kushina stared at Minato, doubtful. But Minato gave her that dazzling smile of his, brimming with confidence.
"Minato, take him down!!" she shouted.
Minato smiled calmly, released her, and stepped toward Jin. The two faced each other. A gentle breeze blew past.
Without a word, they moved in the next instant. Their bodies blurred into two dark shadows and clashed at high speed. The collision of fists and feet whipped up a gust that set Kushina's red hair and clothes fluttering. She watched, mouth hanging open, as they traded blows at dizzying speed.
"They're amazing… Are they really just Academy students?"
One was Namikaze Minato, the eternal number one in the rankings; the other was Uchiha Jin, known around school as pure trash. The taijutsu of both had already surpassed that of an average Genin. Kushina could also fight, but she relied entirely on brute physical strength and stamina. Those two, however… that was pure speed and technique.
Meanwhile, in the middle of that fight, Namikaze Minato's heart felt heavy. He had underestimated his opponent. Every time he clashed with Jin, the other's fists and feet felt incredibly heavy. If Jin weren't wearing short sleeves, Minato would've sworn he had metal blocks hidden up his arms.
And his reaction speed was absurd. Jin fought like a machine built for combat: his transitions between offense and defense were lightning-fast, and he slipped around every one of Minato's attacks. Yes, slipped around. From the very beginning until now, Minato hadn't landed a single clean hit. He was just getting beaten.
Jin's fist slammed into Minato's face. POOF.
Minato instantly burst into smoke, replaced by a wooden log—Kawarimi no Jutsu. His real body appeared behind Jin and launched a kick.
In that sliver of time—between the spark and the flint—Jin planted both hands on the substitution log, used it as a pivot, swung his body up in a spin, and drove a kick straight into Minato's chest, sending him flying.
THUD.
Minato slid across the ground for several meters, hurriedly adjusted his posture, and came to a stop on one knee. A sharp kunai was pressed against his forehead.
Minato looked up to see Jin's radiant grin. Jin's lips parted slightly.
"You lost."
Minato scratched his head. He didn't look the slightest bit discouraged; instead, he laughed openly.
"I lost."
He glanced over at the dumbstruck Uzumaki Kushina and said, a little embarrassed, "Looks like I can't beat Senpai Jin."
"He just bullies the younger ones, nothing special," Kushina snorted. She didn't blame Minato at all; instead, she shot Uchiha Jin a look of absolute contempt for picking on someone younger. After all, there was a two-year age gap between them.
But Minato turned to her with a serious expression.
"A loss is still a loss."
Seeing how serious he was, Kushina turned her head away with a pout.
"Don't say it like it's some absolute truth. I'm only this strong because I've got a secret," Jin said. "Want to learn it?"
At that moment, Jin finally let his "fox tail" show.
"I'll teach you."