"My name is Sarutobi Shin'nosuke. I'm a ninja from the Sarutobi clan. Although I'm the son of the Hokage, please don't give me any special treatment just because of that. Truthfully, I'm no different from anyone else—we're all inheritors of the Will of Fire, the future hope of Konoha.
My wish is to contribute to Konoha and eventually gain everyone's recognition just like my father did, becoming the Hokage." Though his tone sounded humble, nearly every word subtly highlighted the fact that his father was the Hokage. Shiyu Uchiha felt this was someone who came from a nouveau riche background and showed it off at every opportunity. After all, coming from such a family, this kind of behavior was quite normal.
He went on to share a bit about his interests before stepping down amidst enthusiastic applause. At this point, the audience looked visibly excited, as if they had been swept up in enthusiasm. What they were truly thinking, however, remained unclear—none of these people were easy to read.
In fact, take Shiyu Uchiha for example—he silently mocked him with his thoughts: "Your dad wasn't even chosen by popular vote, right? Where exactly did he get everyone's recognition? Go ask our Uchiha clan if there's anyone besides Kagami Uchiha and his son who actually respects him."
Soon after, several followers of Sarutobi Shin'nosuke quickly took the stage one after another to introduce themselves. Shiyu Uchiha quietly memorized their names and details. When only a few students remained to be introduced, Shiyu finally stepped forward.
Truthfully speaking, Shiyu didn't feel like revealing the truth, but he also didn't want to lie either. So in the end, borrowing Kakashi's famous line and modifying it slightly, he said: "My name is Shiyu Uchiha. The things I like—I won't tell you. The things I dislike—I still won't tell you. As for my dream for the future—well, I won't tell you that either. My hobbies are diverse, period."
Then, ignoring the astonished expressions around him, he returned to his seat without hesitation. Even the teacher seemed about to say something, hesitated, then stayed silent.
From Sarutobi Shin'nosuke's side came some whispers like, "Typical arrogant Uchiha," until Shin'nosuke stopped them with a meaningful glance. As for Shiyu, he remained expressionless—it was an expected scenario, after all.
Immediately afterwards, Shiyu's two desk mates also took turns introducing themselves, letting him learn their names. They were two cute girls—Shun Mizutani and Taki Tachibana. Both came from minor ninja clans, nearly ruined ones, carrying the last hopes of their families. Their dreams were also much alike—restoring their clans' honor and becoming powerful ninja.
During this round of introductions, what struck Shiyu most was sensing something unusual about the relationship between these two girls beside him, although he couldn't pinpoint exactly what made it special at this moment.
Besides those two, Shiyu also noticed Chiharu Aburame from the Aburame clan and Teru Inuzuka from the Inuzuka clan, believing both worth befriending. He hadn't found anyone else interesting yet.
Finally came a plump boy introducing himself last—Osamu Akimichi from the Akimichi clan. Shiyu similarly planned to get to know him when possible.
Now, let's introduce the Ninja Academy: the current Konoha Academy evolved from the original Konoha Academy School. It gained attention when it produced large numbers of ninja for the First Great Ninja World War, thus receiving special emphasis from Tobirama Senju.
However, Tobirama didn't live long enough to further strengthen the Ninja Academy; he only left behind a plan. Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi, who fully understood the school's importance, implemented a series of policies based on that plan, eventually elevating the academy to great heights. This prompted the four major ninja villages to follow suit and adopt similar systems.
The Ninja Academy has six grades in total, with each grade divided into between 18 and 23 classes depending on annual student numbers—usually maintaining around 20 classes.
The enrollment requirements are simple: applicants must be citizens of Konoha Village and possess the ability to refine chakra.
Each class generally contains about 60 students. For every grade there is one Class A, and two to three Class B groups—the exact number varying accordingly. This is because most major ninja clans have their own training systems.
Both Class A and Class B only accept students who successfully refined chakra before the age of six. The top performers go to Class A while others enter Class B, which varies somewhat in size depending on these students' numbers. All other students are placed in Class C.
Each year during the promotion exams, several students are advanced to either Class B or even Class A. Naturally, there are also cases where students are demoted. Overall, however, the numbers remain fairly stable.
Under normal circumstances, the Konoha Ninja Academy produces over 1,000 qualified genin annually. Ten years later, approximately two-thirds of them typically survive, with about 200 expected to be promoted to chunin. Twenty years later, roughly half survive, and fewer than 20 will become jonin. During wartime periods, these figures change significantly.
As for upper ranks, on average three to five jonin emerge per graduating class. Approximately once every one to two years, an elite jonin might appear, and perhaps every five to ten years someone might reach Kage-level strength—but this is quite random and could vary.
Of course, these rules don't apply to the generation born right after The Great Ninja World War ended. Since their parents were seasoned veterans fresh from battlefields, this generation was of unusually high quality. Konoha's Twelve Strong Shinobi (Jūni no Kyōsha) essentially represent this group.
Moreover, larger clans usually train their own members, so overall numbers aren't much lower than what the Academy produces. One representative example is the Sarutobi clan—they dispatched three thousand chunin directly during the Fourth Great Ninja World War, capable of fielding an army independently. Although still doing well at present, the Sarutobi clan is nevertheless far behind both Uchiha and Hyuga clans in terms of strength.
If even the Sarutobi clan was being overshadowed, you can imagine the state of the lesser clans—clearly, many small ninja families had been leeching off Konoha for too long, possibly even appropriating assets belonging to the Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki clans.
On the first day of school, campus life remained very peaceful, with no fights breaking out. However, Shiyu Uchiha felt this calm wouldn't last more than a few days. Once students got familiar with each other, friction inevitably occurred, escalating naturally into conflicts.
Especially by second grade, fighting became almost a required skill. After all, here in a ninja-training environment, being good at combat—even without causing serious consequences—was actually a bonus point.
Besides theory classes, each grade level has one required practical course per year.
The first year curriculum covered chakra fundamentals and the Chakra Extraction Technique. Naturally, basic literacy and textbook reading were part of the foundation—the textbook in use was the Will of Fire, reportedly personally authored by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The second year included hand-to-hand combat training and corresponding battle practice courses. Students also studied ninja fundamentals, including both theory and practice—Ninja Ethics, History of the Ninja World, trap setting, and other essential ninja skills. These classes were supposed to build a solid foundation for future ninjas, though Shiyu Uchiha privately referred to them in his mind as "the basics for cannon fodder—from enrollment to burial."
Third-year courses involved the Shuriken Throwing Technique and explosive tag applications. The Shuriken Throwing Technique was divided into three categories: Kunai Throwing Technique, Shuriken Throwing Technique, and Senbon Throwing Technique. Students were required to learn all three but only needed to pass one. Additional coursework included wilderness survival training.
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