The Ninja Academy.
"My name is Kin. As you can see, I'm an Uchiha—though they're not too keen on admitting it," Kin said, shrugging with an indifferent attitude that made the Uchiha students in the class glare at him. If it weren't for their teacher, Inoue, standing at the front, they would have taught him a lesson on the spot.
No Uchiha had ever seen talent as useless as his.
Inoue Satoru, wearing a green ninja vest and a Konoha forehead protector, his young face contrasted by his entirely white hair, cleared his throat. He could already feel a headache coming on. Without a doubt, this was another problem student.
The class already had one, and adding another was... still a big problem!
"Kin, you've introduced yourself. You may sit down now."
Kin sat down with his arms crossed, catching the whispers around him with a slight twitch of his ears.
The enhancements from his foundational internal arts were comprehensive, and his hearing was no exception.
"Isn't he that Uchiha who failed the ninja exam for two years straight?"
"Why is he in our class?"
"Yeah, shouldn't those who fail go to Class C?"
The Ninja Academy was divided into three classes—A, B, and C. Officially, there was no difference between them, but in reality, Class A was mostly filled with children from ninja clans or exceptionally talented civilian kids.
Class B consisted of a few less-talented clan kids and the majority of civilian students. For instance, a certain Uchiha, who had never managed to perform a single ninjutsu, had been stuck in Class B for years. Yet somehow, he'd been moved to Class A this time.
No one knew what the deal was.
As for Class C? That was the "strongest" class of all, since it was where those who washed out of active ninja duty ended up.
Kings and queens in their school days, but long-term failures in their ninja careers.
Colloquially known as the "trash bin."
By all rights, as the Uchiha clan's publicly acknowledged disgrace, Kin should have been sent to Class C. After failing his first exam, he'd been kept in Class B solely because of his Uchiha name. This time, even that shouldn't have saved him.
Yet here he was, back in Class A.
Whatever the reason, Kin didn't care. In fact, he was quite pleased.
Because—
Kin turned to the blond boy beside him and flashed a grin.
"Hey, you're Namikaze Minato, right? I've heard you're the perennial top-ranked student."
Minato met Kin's somewhat forced smile with a flawless, sunny grin of his own.
It was like a face-off between evil and justice.
(Kin: I'm definitely not the evil one here!)
"Just the result of hard work. I'll be counting on your guidance this year, Kin-senpai."
"Sure, sure."
Kin patted Minato's shoulder as if to say, I've got your back this year.
Just then, a wave of killing intent surged from behind him.
Kin turned to see a red-haired girl glaring daggers at him, her lips moving soundlessly.
Thanks to his basic ninja training in lip-reading, Kin deciphered her words:
"What are you doing to my underling?!"
Kin responded with what he thought was a dazzling smile and a thumbs-up.
"Bang!" Uzumaki Kushina slammed her fist on the desk, drawing the attention of the entire class.
Her reputation as the "Red Hot Habanero" was well-earned.
She didn't hold back.
"What are you all looking at?!"
The rest of the class quickly averted their eyes. This was the same girl who had beaten up a genin before even graduating from the academy.
"Kushina, we're in class," Inoue reminded her gently. This little lady was even more untouchable.
With Kushina ignoring the reprimand, the lesson continued.
Kin ignored the hostile gaze burning into his back and began to doze off.
The only two people in the class he recognized were these two. The others were complete strangers.
Minato, the self-proclaimed underling of the "Red Hot Habanero," gave Kin an apologetic smile.
Kin could practically feel the murderous intent radiating from behind him.
But it didn't matter. He was too sleepy.
Lulled by the mix of killing intent and Inoue's droning lecture, Kin fell sound asleep.
There was no point in listening. The final year's curriculum, though intense, boiled down to three things:
First and foremost—brainwashing with the "Will of Fire."
Endless lectures about how the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had "glorified the village," sprinkled with a few tales of the First Hokage's founding of Konoha and the Second's heroic sacrifice.
As for other achievements? Those weren't in the textbooks. You'd have to dig for them yourself.
After all, how could the "strongest" Hokage, Hiruzen, ever be compared to his predecessors?
The rest of the classes were ninjutsu training and combat drills.
When the dismissal bell rang, a few Uchiha clan members tried to corner Kin. As an Uchiha with zero ninjutsu talent, he was an embarrassment. They'd rather force him to drop out.
But dropping out was never an option for an Uchiha.
That privilege was reserved for civilian students.
On a path bathed in twilight, a boy and a girl walked home together.
The setting sun cast a golden glow on Kushina's profile, giving her an almost sacred aura.
Minato's cheeks flushed slightly.
Kushina, completely oblivious, was still fuming.
"Minato, you're my underling. Don't go giving that jerk a friendly look."
He was her one and only underling—no one else got to claim him. Though she had to admit, his slightly effeminate demeanor was a bit of a sore point.
Just then, a figure dropped from a tree right in front of them, startling Kushina into a shriek as she hid behind Minato.
Once she realized who it was, her hair practically bristled with rage.
"You Uchiha jerk!!"
It was Uchiha Kin, hanging upside-down from a branch.
"Well, you were badmouthing me first. Consider this payback," Kin said.
"I wasn't scared at all!!" Kushina retorted, her pride wounded.
"That's not the issue here."
Kin sighed. If he had to deal with tsunderes, he'd prefer a blonde.
Turning to Minato, he grinned. "Minato, how about a friendly spar between classmates?"
This was Namikaze Minato, one of the few true geniuses in the ninja world. Kin had his eyes on him.
Minato scratched his head, hesitant. He wasn't fond of random challenges.
Kushina, however, stepped in, hands on her hips.
"If you want to bully my underling, you'll have to go through me first!"
"No way," Kin refused. "I'd probably make you cry, and then someone would come after me."
Not to mention the risk of her Nine-Tails chakra flaring up—that would be a disaster.
"I'll make you cry first, you jerk!!"
Kushina charged, her right hook slicing through the air with a sharp whoosh.
But the strongest punch was useless if it didn't land.
Kin took a single step back, just enough to evade the strike. Kushina followed up with a left hook, but he dodged that too.
No matter how relentless her assault, Kin weaved through her punches effortlessly, his hair barely ruffled by the wind from her blows.
By the time Kushina stopped, panting, Kin hadn't even broken a sweat. He smirked.
"That's all you've got?"
"You bastard!!"
Kushina, furious, lashed out with a right roundhouse kick. Kin stepped back again, but this time, he hooked his foot behind her standing leg, sending her spinning through the air before she landed flat on her back.
Kin clasped his hands behind his back, exuding the air of a master.
"That's called the 'Flat Sand Falling Goose Style.'"
"I'll kill you!!"
Kushina scrambled up, ready to attack again, but Minato caught her from behind.
"You're no match for him. Let me handle this."
Kushina eyed him skeptically, but Minato's confident smile reassured her.
"Minato, beat him to a pulp!!" she yelled.
Minato nodded and stepped forward, facing Kin.
The two stood opposite each other.
A breeze stirred.
Without a word, they moved.
Two blurs clashed, fists and feet colliding with such force that the resulting gust of wind sent Kushina's hair and clothes fluttering.
Her jaw dropped as she watched the exchange.
"Are they really just academy students?"
One was Minato, the undisputed top of their class. The other was Kin, the so-called "failure" of the Uchiha clan. Yet their taijutsu surpassed even that of most genin.
She could hold her own in a fight, but that was purely due to her physical prowess.
These two were all about speed and technique.
But Minato, in the thick of the battle, was sweating.
He'd underestimated his opponent.
Every strike from Kin carried immense force. If not for Kin's short sleeves, Minato would've suspected he had weights hidden in them.
And his reflexes were unnaturally fast.
Kin fought like a machine built for slaughter, seamlessly switching between offense and defense. Worse, Minato hadn't landed a single hit—he was the one taking all the blows.
Kin's fist connected with Minato's face.
"Thud."
Minato vanished in a puff of smoke, replaced by a log. His real body reappeared behind Kin, launching a kick.
In the blink of an eye, Kin grabbed the log, spun it around, and delivered a spinning kick to Minato's chest, sending him flying.
"Crash."
Minato skidded across the ground before regaining his footing, kneeling on one knee.
A sharp kunai pressed against his forehead.
He looked up to see Kin's grinning face.
"You lose."
Minato scratched his head, unfazed, and smiled back.
"Yeah, I lost."
He glanced at Kushina, who was still gaping, and added sheepishly, "I couldn't beat Kin-senpai."
"He's just picking on someone younger. It's nothing special," Kushina huffed, though she didn't blame Minato. She just shot Kin a disdainful look.
The two-year age gap was undeniable.
But Minato shook his head seriously. "A loss is a loss."
Kushina turned away with a pout.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. My strength comes with a secret," Kin interjected, his grin widening.
"Want me to teach you?"
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(End of Chapter)