The ninja academy classroom was packed to the brim, with all three classes crammed into a single room, making the space feel uncomfortably crowded.
Just then, Kin walked in, looking utterly exhausted.
"Over here!" Kushina waved at him.
Namikaze Minato and Hyuga Kiyoshi were already seated, having saved a spot for him—thanks largely to Kushina's fiery temper, as no one dared to challenge her for the seat.
Kin slumped into his chair and buried his face in his arms on the desk.
"Why do you always look so tired whenever I see you at school?" Kushina asked, baffled.
Uchiha Kin rarely showed up for class, but whenever he did, he was always worn out.
Kin lifted his head to look at the three of them, dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.
"Had a sparring match the day before yesterday. Still recovering."
Might Dai had opened the Fifth Gate, and Kin simply couldn't keep up.
Still, he'd lasted a few dozen seconds longer than the first time.
Small victories.
His body had taken a beating, though, and two days later, he still hadn't fully recovered.
Of course, it didn't help that his shadow clones hadn't slacked off on training or learning new jutsu.
"Who was it!?" Kushina's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"None of your business," Kin shot back, rolling his eyes. Her expression told him she was up to no good.
"Tch, like I care anyway," Kushina huffed, turning her head away. If he didn't want to tell her, fine. It wasn't like she was dying to know.
Just as Kin was about to doze off, he felt someone tugging at his sleeve. He looked up to see Minato offering an awkward smile, while Kushina stubbornly kept her face turned away.
Kin flopped back onto the desk. If she didn't want to know, he wouldn't tell her. Let her stew.
Minato shrugged helplessly at Kushina—there was nothing he could do.
Kushina clenched her fists silently, gritting her teeth.
Caught between the two, Minato cast a pleading glance at Kiyoshi, who promptly looked away.
Minato sighed.
Kin ignored their silent drama and let the classroom's noisy chatter lull him to sleep like a lullaby.
Maybe it was the classroom itself—some people just slept better in class.
In his drowsy state, he vaguely heard names being called as students were led out of the room one by one.
Until a familiar voice rang out.
"Namikaze Minato... Uzumaki Kushina... Uchiha Kin! I'll be your team's instructor."
"Huh?" Kin jerked awake, his eyes snapping to the figure at the classroom door.
Jiraiya!!
He glanced around and realized the classroom was empty except for the three of them.
Jiraiya grinned at Kin's startled expression.
"Surprised?"
Kin wiped his forehead and smirked.
"More like horrified."
It seemed the timeline of the ninja world had been completely altered. He'd known his butterfly effect would eventually change history, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
The biggest shock was Kushina becoming Jiraiya's student.
In the original timeline, Kushina's abilities were limited to the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques and the Nine-Tails' power—nothing else noteworthy.
That was because she'd never had a proper teacher after graduating from the academy.
But as Jiraiya's student? Everything would change.
Yet... why?
"You all know who I am," Jiraiya declared proudly from the podium.
Kushina: "Peeping Tom."
Minato: "Unreliable jonin."
Kin: "Heh."
Jiraiya stumbled and nearly fell off the podium.
His reputation among his students had clearly preceded him.
Brushing off the dust, he stood back up.
"Seems there are some misunderstandings. Let me reintroduce myself properly."
Without waiting for a response, he launched into his spiel:
"I'm Jiraiya, a jonin... Things I like... writing a great novel... Things I hate... not much, really... My dream is peace for the ninja world."
Minato scratched his head and followed suit:
"...I like reading... don't really hate anything... My dream is to become Hokage."
"I'm going to be Hokage!" Kushina protested loudly before continuing her own introduction.
Once she finished, all eyes turned to Kin.
Kin was still sitting in his chair, lost in thought, pondering how the ninja world's history would unfold and whether his foreknowledge would still be useful.
Aside from his cheat abilities, that was his biggest advantage.
"Kin, your turn," Minato nudged him, snapping him out of his reverie.
"Me?" Kin stroked his chin. "I'm Uchiha Kin. I like tsundere blondes and gentle, dark-haired older women—"
"Hold it right there!" Jiraiya lunged to cover Kin's mouth. This was supposed to be about hobbies, not weird fetishes!
Didn't he see Kushina's hair starting to float!?
"Give a proper introduction," Jiraiya growled, smacking Kin on the head.
This kid was completely off the rails.
Rubbing the fresh bump on his head, Kin relented.
"Fine, fine." He sighed. "I like ninjutsu—all kinds of ninjutsu. I hate anything unpredictable. As for my dream... for now, I just want to live a long life."
After all, his ultimate goal was immortality.
Starting with a modest target of a thousand years.
"Interesting," Jiraiya mused, studying Kin closely.
Though his personality and appearance were nothing like Orochimaru's, their core essence was eerily similar.
But wasn't Kin supposed to be unable to use ninjutsu? A research-type, perhaps?
Jiraiya knew the "Four Styles" they used were likely Kin's invention.
No wonder Orochimaru had begged him to take Kin as a student.
"You're not developing some weird hobbies, are you?" Kin asked warily, crossing his arms under Jiraiya's scrutiny.
"Stop steering the conversation into weird territory, brat!"
Jiraiya ruffled Kin's hair aggressively.
"Alright, alright, I get it," Kin grumbled, struggling free.
As an elite jonin, Jiraiya was still way out of his league.
"Alright, that's it for today. Meet at Training Ground 5 tomorrow at 5 a.m. And don't eat breakfast—you'll just puke it up."
Jiraiya's grin was downright malicious.
Yeah, right.
Kin rolled his eyes.
That was the exact same trick Kakashi would pull on Naruto in the future.
After parting ways with Minato and Kushina outside the academy, Kin headed home.
But on the way, he ran into someone unexpected.
A shadowy alley, a cold wind howling.
A man as serpentine as his namesake stood blocking his path, clad in traditional robes.
His cold, refined features lacked the malevolence of his future self—if anything, he even seemed somewhat righteous.
Time was one hell of a butcher.
"How do you like the teacher I picked for you?" Orochimaru asked first.
Of course.
Kin sighed. So it was Orochimaru's doing that he'd ended up on Jiraiya's team.
"It's... fine."
"You don't sound pleased."
Orochimaru seemed genuinely curious. Jiraiya was an elite jonin—many would kill to be his student.
"It's not that I'm displeased," Kin said, blowing his bangs out of his face. "But I can tell we're not a good match."
He didn't want anything to do with prophets. Who knew when the toads of Mount Myōboku might brand him the "Child of Darkness"?
And Jiraiya might just kill him for it.
After all, he was a major wildcard in the Great Toad Sage's prophecies.
"Is that so?" Orochimaru didn't press further.
Once, Jiraiya had been his closest friend, their bond tying them together in service to the village.
But now, he felt they were fundamentally different.
Orochimaru's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Kin, how much do you know about the darkness in this village?"
Kin blinked. Was this really a topic to discuss so casually?
He scratched his head and put on an innocent smile.
"The village is all sunshine and rainbows. What darkness could there possibly be?"
Orochimaru stared at him, unblinking, before finally smiling.
"It seems you know quite a bit."
"Lord Orochimaru, let's skip the riddles. Why are you really here?"
Kin wasn't in the mood for games.
"I'd like you to come to me for training after tomorrow."
"What about Jiraiya?"
"He's already agreed."
Kin looked up at Orochimaru's smiling face, pale but undeniably handsome.
So what was the point of this roundabout approach?
Kin didn't get it, but he was impressed.
Was this some kind of cuckoldry?
Jiraiya perched on a tree branch, his gaze fixed on two figures strolling down the street.
A blonde kunoichi and a blue-haired man.
Tsunade and her lover, Dan Katō.
"Too late again."
Heart heavy, Jiraiya scribbled in a notebook.
A sketch of Tsunade quickly took shape before being violently scribbled over.
"Tsunade... I'm glad you've moved on," he murmured, his smile bittersweet.
Gazing up at the starry sky, his thoughts drifted to the three students he'd received that afternoon.
And the Great Toad Sage's new prophecy.
"Little Jiraiya... I've had another dream. I saw light and darkness intertwined, and two paths for the ninja world."
"I don't understand."
"The Child of Prophecy is gone. Only the Child of Light and the Child of Darkness remain. They will bring change to the ninja world."
"And the fate of the world will be decided by the victor between them."
"If the Child of Light wins, the world will know lasting peace."
"And if the Child of Darkness wins?"
"The world will descend into endless conflict and infinite evolution. Shinobi will become gods, the stars will become battlefields, and war will rage without end."
"The Child of Light and the Child of Darkness will be your students. You must guide them, teach them, help them grow."
"And then... you must choose."
(End of Chapter)