Chapter 1: Ninja School – Guaranteed to Teach You Until You Learn
April had arrived, bringing new life to everything. Cherry blossoms bloomed, and the lively chatter of merchants and nobles filled the streets of Konoha.
For the parents of school-age children, however, nothing was more important than sending their mischievous kids off to school.
Tsuruma Nobuyuki's mother was among them. Her six-year-old son, a transmigrator with the memories of an adult, was about to begin his journey at the Ninja Academy.
As for his father, a Genin, he had already sacrificed his life during the Nine-Tails' attack six years ago.
Holding her son's hand tightly, Nobuyuki's mother was filled with a mix of tension, anxiety, and anticipation.
Everyone in Konoha knew that their village was built around its ninja.
The village's economy relied heavily on funding from the daimyo and missions commissioned by merchants and nobles. That money, funneled through mission payments and government subsidies, mostly ended up in the hands of the ninja.
Ordinary villagers made their living by serving and supporting the ninja in various ways.
For a family like Nobuyuki's, which had no steady source of income beyond the savings left by his late father and the small government compensation for fallen ninja, enrolling him in the Ninja Academy was a necessity.
Yet, as a mother living in Konoha, she also understood the cruel reality behind the seemingly glamorous life of a shinobi.
More than a third of new ninja ended up severely injured or disabled within their first year after graduation. At least ten percent died.
In times of war or disasters like the Nine-Tails' attack, the mortality rate for Genin skyrocketed past fifty percent—with no upper limit.
As a mother, she naturally wished for her son to live a safe and peaceful life.
But as a common villager, she had no choice.
Nobuyuki understood his mother's dilemma all too well.
Yet, he neither despaired over the cruel reality of the shinobi world nor dreamed of leading a revolution to change it.
In both his past life and this one, he had always been an ordinary person.
"Fortunately, I have a system!"
"Otherwise, I'd just be cannon fodder. I might as well start preparing my own coffin now!"
Relieved by this advantage, Nobuyuki willed his system panel to appear in front of him. A semi-transparent screen materialized.
Host: Tsuruma Nobuyuki
Race: Human (Shinobi World)
Skills: Chakra Refining Technique (Lv3 | 50/225 EXP)
Chakra: 10 / 135 / 450
The system interface was simple. Only the skills and chakra sections required special attention.
Skill Levels:
Lv1: Equivalent to a lower-grade student at the Ninja Academy.
Lv2: Equivalent to an upper-grade student.
Lv3: Standard Genin level.
The Chakra Refining Technique, as the name suggests, allowed him to refine chakra.
At level 3, he could extract up to 30% of his total chakra reserves.
The chakra section had three numbers:
10 – His currently available chakra.
135 – The total chakra he could refine.
450 – His body's maximum chakra potential.
Based on what he'd gathered from talking to ninja in his neighborhood, the average adult ninja had three to five times the chakra they possessed during their time at the Academy.
"If this data is accurate, my chakra cap in the future should be somewhere between 1,300 and 2,200."
"I just don't know if these numbers would count as average chakra, elite chakra, or something ridiculously high like Naruto's chakra reserves."
At the thought of Naruto, Nobuyuki instinctively scanned the crowd, searching for the most famous chakra monster of all.
It didn't take long to spot him.
Naruto, with his unmistakable blond hair—identical to the Fourth Hokage's—was half-hidden behind a tree, watching the other kids with a mix of envy and hesitation.
Even though he tried to keep a low profile, he still stood out like a firefly in the night.
Nobuyuki barely glanced at him for two seconds before Naruto noticed and shrank back instinctively.
A second later, however, he realized it was just another kid looking at him. His expression changed from nervousness to frustration, and he glared back in irritation.
Nobuyuki merely shrugged.
Reality wasn't like the manga.
Although Naruto was destined to become the world's savior, he didn't have the luxury of artistic filters and dramatic close-ups in real life.
Despite the strong genetic inheritance from Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, his rough upbringing had left him looking dirty and unkempt—not exactly the adorable child that would instantly win hearts.
Still, Nobuyuki had a soft spot for the protagonist and offered him a friendly smile.
Who knew? Maybe one day, Naruto would be the one saving his life on the battlefield.
Before he could do anything else, his mother yanked him back, stepping between him and Naruto protectively.
"Nobuyuki, stay away from that demon fox!" she whispered in a serious and fearful tone.
She glanced at Naruto warily, as if expecting him to transform into the Nine-Tails and snatch her son away—just as the beast had taken her husband.
Nobuyuki didn't argue.
At six years old, his words carried no weight.
His mother had suffered too much loss. She had no time or energy to question whether Naruto was the demon fox that had ruined her life.
Sighing internally, Nobuyuki made a quiet promise to himself.
"While avoiding becoming cannon fodder, I should also try to improve our family's situation."
Just then, the wooden gates of the Ninja Academy creaked open.
A young instructor, Umino Iruka, walked out. A bandage covered the bridge of his nose, and he greeted the gathered families with a warm smile.
"Parents, please come forward to register your children!"
Contrary to the fanfiction clichés where students had to pass an entrance exam, the Academy only had two requirements for admission:
1. The child must be of the required age.
2. They must have proof of residence in Konoha.
The reason was simple—there just weren't that many school-age children in Konoha.
First, a significant number of ninja never lived long enough to have children.
Second, those who did survive often witnessed so much cruelty and bloodshed that they chose to remain single.
Finally, even the ones who managed to find love and settle down rarely had more than one child.
Throughout the entire Naruto storyline, most families strictly followed an unspoken one-child policy.
Among Konoha's next generation, only Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga—both from noble clans—had known siblings.
With such low birth rates, the Academy couldn't afford to be selective.
As long as a child met the basic criteria, they were in.
And so, Nobuyuki took his first step toward his future as a shinobi.