"Renya-san, can I not go to the Ninja Academy?"
At the Senju Hashirama residence, Renya had just arrived when he saw Uzumaki Mito standing at the door, holding little Tsunade's hand, waiting for him.
When Tsunade spotted Renya, the little girl blinked her big watery eyes and wore an expression full of grievance.
She hadn't had enough time to play at home yet and had no desire to go to school so soon.
Once school started, she'd have to wake up early every day, and she would never be able to sleep in whenever she wanted again.
"No, you can't," Renya replied with a gentle smile.
Was this girl already showing signs of hating school before even starting?
She really did have a bit of his old personality.
Renya couldn't help but feel nostalgic as he recalled his own days at the Ninja Academy.
Aside from the combat classes, he spent most of his time during cultural lessons either sleeping or preparing to sleep.
Because of that, he performed terribly and earned an "outstanding" score of five points on his cultural exams.
That was a stain on Renya's life he could never wash away—but fortunately, only Senju Tobirama and a handful of his classmates from back then knew about it.
Five points in the cultural exams directly set the record for the lowest score in the Ninja Academy's history, and to this day, no one had ever beaten it.
Students who later heard rumors that someone once scored five points in cultural studies were shocked beyond belief. It became a piece of legendary gossip passed around by incoming freshmen.
Thankfully, Renya's background was powerful enough that no teacher dared to publicly reveal his name.
All anyone knew was that during the first graduating class, there had been a certain "senior" who'd scored five points on the cultural exam…
Renya, who had applied for early graduation, had absolutely no idea this was a topic of conversation among students. And even if he did know, he would never admit to it.
As long as he never confessed, no one would ever know.
No one would ever suspect that the highly respected, widely feared "Poison Master of Konoha"—Renya-sama—once held the record for the lowest academic score in the Ninja Academy's history.
"Mhm, Renya, I'll leave little Tsuna to you," Uzumaki Mito greeted him with a smile.
"No problem, Mito-san."
Renya walked forward and took Tsunade's small hand.
"Tsunade, let's go get you signed up."
"Renya-san, I don't want to go to school," Tsunade resisted stubbornly, pointing at Tanihana nearby.
"Tanihana will be sad if I leave her!"
"Meow~" Tanihana's eyes revealed helplessness as she rubbed against Tsunade's pants, putting on a pitiful, clingy act.
"Even if you don't want to, you still have to go," Renya said, gently tugging her forward.
"Besides, you'll get to meet lots of new friends at school."
"Really?" Tsunade's eyes lit up instantly.
At home, she only had Tanihana to play with, and she'd been bored for a while now.
Now, hearing Renya's words, she suddenly felt that school might not be so bad after all.
At least she could meet new friends…
"Out of the way, stupid cat!"
Tsunade gave Tanihana a light kick, grinning as she grabbed Renya's hand.
"You stay home and play by yourself. I'm going to school!"
Renya chuckled and shook his head. At this age, little girls were so easy to persuade.
Just a few sentences and she'd gone from sulking to happily marching off to school.
He wondered if she'd still be this cheerful once she actually got there.
"Meow! Meow! Meow!"
Tanihana hid behind Uzumaki Mito, yowling at Tsunade angrily as if she were swearing at her.
Tsunade shot the cat a cold glare, and Tanihana immediately tucked her tail between her legs and fell silent, obediently retreating into place.
Judging by the cat's reaction, Tsunade had probably bullied her quite a lot.
Renya glanced at the ugly little cat with a trace of sympathy. When Hashirama had adopted her, he probably never imagined she'd end up getting bullied by his granddaughter.
This girl was already showing signs of her violent nature from a young age.
Hopefully, she wouldn't start bullying her classmates at the Ninja Academy…
...
At the entrance of the Ninja Academy.
By the time Renya arrived with Tsunade, many parents had already lined up with their children to register.
Renya immediately noticed that the number of civilian children present had increased several times compared to when he himself had enrolled.
Back then, most of the kids who came to register were from shinobi clans. Now, it was the opposite.
After years of development, more and more civilian children were entering the Academy.
Once they graduated and became shinobi, they would form the backbone of the village's middle ranks.
As time went on, Konoha's total shinobi population continued to grow, naturally strengthening the village as a whole.
While the number of jōnin determined whether a shinobi village was powerful, the size of its middle ranks was just as important.
Senju Tobirama, that cunning old fox, had completely changed the game by founding the Ninja Academy.
Thanks to this strategy, Konoha had broken free from a system where shinobi clans monopolized everything, giving civilians the chance to become ninja as well.
There was no denying it—Tobirama was a political genius.
With him around, Konoha's future would only get brighter.
"Renya-sama, what brings you here?"
"Heavens, it really is Renya-sama!"
As soon as nearby parents and children saw Renya, the crowd immediately erupted in excitement.
Renya's battlefield exploits had long spread throughout the village; his name was known to practically everyone.
Children idolized him, dreaming of one day becoming a shinobi as strong as him.
He was nothing short of a living hero to them.
"Hello, everyone."
Renya raised his hand and waved casually, surprised at just how popular he'd become in Konoha.
Perhaps this was what it meant to have the people's support?
If he weren't completely uninterested in becoming Hokage, he could have easily staged a little "palace coup" right here and now—pressuring the Second Hokage to step down.
But knowing Tobirama as well as he did, Renya had no doubt the old man would give up the position without hesitation if he ever asked.
After all, Tobirama had been subtly hinting for a while that Renya should take the title of Hokage—but Renya had always refused outright.
In the distance, a white-haired little brat was staring at him with sparkling eyes, shouting excitedly,
"I, the great Jiraiya, will definitely become just as amazing as Renya-sama one day!"
"…Is this kid even awake right now?"
The other children around him rolled their eyes at the absurd declaration, but Jiraiya didn't care about their opinions at all.
Then, suddenly realizing Renya's gaze had fallen on him, Jiraiya clenched his fists in pure excitement.
"Hahaha! Renya-sama looked at me!"
Renya, of course, noticed the white-haired brat from afar.
Who else could it be but Jiraiya himself?
He let his gaze linger on Jiraiya for a moment before scanning the crowd, trying to spot Orochimaru.
Unfortunately, there were simply too many people, and he couldn't find him.
Renya led Tsunade up to the registration desk, but before he could even speak, the teacher in charge immediately placed her into the best class.
This had obviously been arranged in advance by the Hokage.
"Tsunade, in school, if you understand the lessons, great—pay attention. If you don't, just put your head down and sleep. When you wake up, it'll be time to go home."
These were the words of an "experienced senior."
Renya gently ruffled Tsunade's hair, not wanting her to feel pressured about academics.
"Mhm, got it, Renya-san," Tsunade nodded obediently.
The registration teacher: "…"
Was this really the right way to educate children?
It seemed this matter would have to be reported directly to the Hokage.
What Renya didn't know was that his words just now would be relayed, word for word, straight into Senju Tobirama's ears.