After breakfast, Hayato Ren led Konan toward the Ninja Academy.
Along the way, they encountered many "trainee" ninjas, most of whom wore expressions of naive and foolish smiles.
In their view, becoming a ninja was the first step toward their glorious lives.
Next would be punching Sand Ninjas and kicking Stone Ninjas, then reaching the peak of life and marrying a beautiful rich girl.
Unfortunately, most ninjas' careers stopped at the Genin level.
They made a living by doing tasks like catching cats and finding dogs every day, with Might Dai being a typical example.
The only difference was that Might Dai was a wolf in sheep's clothing, while most others were truly mediocre.
Moreover, this was only the treatment ninjas received during peacetime.
If a large-scale war broke out, all these Genin would be dragged to the frontlines to serve as cannon fodder.
Konan's generation was quite unlucky, if Hayato Ren remembered correctly.
The Third Ninja World War would break out within a year or two.
After the Third Kazekage, known as the "Strongest Wind Shadow," was solo-killed by Akasuna no Sasori, the Third Ninja World War would begin.
Speaking of which, Hayato Ren actually had deep connections with Akasuna no Sasori.
Years ago, Sasori's cheap father had been killed by Hayato Ren himself.
After seeing Konan back to her classroom, Hayato Ren went to the office to have tea with Nawaki.
Over the years, through his own efforts and the help of the Senju clan, Nawaki had risen to become the dean of the Ninja Academy.
Given time, he might even reach the positions of vice-principal or principal, which in a way could be considered having students everywhere.
In the office, another acquaintance of Hayato Ren was already chatting with Nawaki.
This person was Namikaze Minato.
Currently, Minato was successful in both love and war - not only had he married some random member of the Uzumaki Clan, but he had also learned the Flying Thunder God Technique from the Book of Sealing.
He became one of only two ninjas in the entire Leaf who could use Space Ninjutsu.
Upon seeing Hayato Ren arrive, Minato immediately showed a warm smile.
"Ren, you're here too."
Hayato Ren nodded, looking at the smile on Minato's face while thinking to himself.
[The plot correction force is quite strong. It seems the future "protagonist" Uzumaki Naruto will still be born. If that's the case, a certain filial son will also appear in the Uchiha clan.]
"I told you Ren would be the last to arrive. He's always been like this - if he can arrive exactly on time, he'll never come early."
Nawaki said to Minato beside him while making exaggerated facial expressions.
Hayato Ren walked over to Nawaki and gave the back of his head a solid slap.
This earned him a furious glare from Nawaki.
If Hayato Ren didn't have the status of "brother-in-law," Nawaki would definitely have pounced on him to fight.
It definitely wasn't because of their difference in strength that made Nawaki hesitate to act. At least that's what Nawaki probably thought.
"How have my three students been performing in school normally?"
Hayato Ren asked Nawaki.
Upon hearing this, Nawaki took out a report card from the drawer. After glancing at it a few times, he replied:
"Your little sister Konan goes without saying—she's even more impressive than you were back in the day. She's consistently held the top position in both theoretical and practical combat. Yuhi Kurenai's scores in both areas are quite good too. It's just that Nohara Rin... while her theoretical scores are decent, her practical combat skills are rather average. How did you end up choosing her?"
After speaking, Nawaki showed a thoughtful expression.
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead heavily and exchanged a look with Namikaze Minato.
Simultaneously, both men revealed identical looks of disdain on their faces.
At the same time, two large hands landed on Hayato Ren's shoulders.
"Ren, as a Team Leader, you must maintain your professional ethics. You absolutely mustn't learn from my older sister—it would be too embarrassing if word got out," Nawaki said with grave concern.
"That's right, one shouldn't act like that, at the very least one shouldn't..." Minato chimed in from the side.
The corner of Hayato Ren's mouth twitched several times—clearly these two had gotten the wrong idea.
Though he couldn't blame them for misunderstanding, since all three members of Hayato Ren's team happened to be the most attractive students in the Ninja Academy.
Coupled with Tsunade's "leading by example" precedent...
Hayato Ren's motives were indeed somewhat questionable.
In response, Hayato Ren could only flip them both off with middle fingers. Then he changed the subject:
"By the way Minato, who are the three members of your team?"
"I believe it's Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and Inoue Shiki," Minato scratched his head and answered.
Because Hayato Ren had intervened, Uchiha Obito couldn't be in the same class as his goddess.
However, Minato's class assignment still followed the Leaf's traditional structure: one top student (Kakashi), one underachiever (Uchiha Obito), and one average student (Inoue Shiki).
The only unusual aspect was the gender ratio, as teams typically consisted of two boys and one girl.
Because White Fang hadn't died, Kakashi's personality wasn't as extreme as in the original story.
Still, he somewhat looked down on Uchiha Obito, who had poor grades and was constantly late.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Obito held deep resentment toward Kakashi, the epitome of "that perfect kid from another family."
Without Nohara Rin there to mediate between them, would Minato's class end up exploding?
Thinking this, Hayato Ren couldn't help but cast a sympathetic look toward Minato.
Then, Hayato Ren reached out and patted Minato's shoulder, saying:
"Kakashi's father White Fang and I have some connection. Make sure to look after him regularly. That kid has real talent too—you can't hold back in teaching him."
"Since you put it that way, Young Master Ren, I have no choice but to obediently follow your instructions," Minato nodded, though his words were filled with teasing undertones.
"Hey now, I'm the head instructor of this academy! Are you two just going to make deals right in front of me like I don't exist? This is exactly why I hate people who rely on connections the most."
Upon hearing Nawaki's words, both Hayato Ren and Minato raised their middle fingers in unison to express their respect.
The biggest beneficiary of nepotism in the entire Ninja Academy was standing right here—and he had the nerve to say such things.
If not for his Senju clan status, Nawaki would have needed at least five more years to reach his current position.
Time flew by during the Three Swordsmen's conversation.
Namikaze Minato glanced at the clock nearby and rose to take his leave:
"It's about time I went to meet my lovely subordinates. Ren, would you like to come with me?"
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