Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As the sun rose, so were the children forced to leave their beds by an instructor and raise. The instructor rang a bell as he walked inside the dormitory. Utakata rose without a complaint, even if he still had heavy eyelids. He grimaced at the light and cold floor under his bare feet. So, he dressed fast and looked around, seeing other kids barely managing to get up so early.

A stern instructor was waiting for them. Utakata could feel that the instructor's chakra was probably the strongest of anyone he ever met before. The instructor was a seasoned shinobi; his weathered expression only confirmed it. After seeing their instructor's stern face, the other children didn't take long to get up from their beds.

"You have ten minutes to wash up," The instructor informed them. "And then fifteen minutes to eat breakfast. Anyone at least a minute late at their first class will be punished severely."

Utakata rushed with everyone else to the washroom. They didn't have time to take showers, so they just washed their faces and left for the communal area of the academy. It still surprised him how big the Academy is of Village Hidden in the Mist. The academy he remembered from the show was just one building. The mist has taken a different approach to teaching their shinobi than the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Once they reached the cafeteria, Utakata was shocked at all the food he was getting—a whole bowl of gruel. It was warm too. It was a significant upgrade compared to the few spoons of cold concrete they got in the orphanage. Utakata dug in his meal with a happy expression. He had forgotten how good was the feeling of a full stomach.

"What the crap is this?" A kid from a nearby table yelled out as he looked at his food.

Arrogant fool, Utakata could only think that the kid was from a well-off family. But as he turned to look around, he quickly found that the kid wasn't the only one unsatisfied with the food. With a glance, Utakata could tell who came from poverty and who from wealth. Twenty children like Utakata enjoyed their warm meal, while another thirty barely touched it.

Utakata was entirely surprised by the sheer number of the first years. Fifty seemed quite a lot. He thought there are twenty to thirty students yearly, as having more would be hard for instructors to watch over them. Maybe he was mistaken, but part of him was suspicious. For now, he put down his thoughts and left the cafeteria for the class.

After a few minutes of wandering the academy, Utakata found his classroom. At first, he didn't notice anything out of the place, so he took a random seat. But as more and more students started to get inside, he could tell the classroom was cramped. After taking a better look around, he noticed more chairs than usual, as the space between the children was too small for comfort.

This discovery let Utakata confirm that it wasn't unusual for so many students to attend the academy simultaneously. He could come to only one conclusion. The Third Shinobi War was coming. The village elders knew that, so he accepted more students than usual. Utakata didn't know what to do with that information, so he didn't think about it.

Once all the students had gathered, the instructor started his lesson. At first, it was interesting to hear of the legendary shinobi who came from the Mist and the stories of the previous Mizukage. Still, Utakata soon understood that the instructor was brainwashing them. Explaining the culture of the Mist with a glorified history, Utakata understood that the instructor wanted the children to accept that the Bloody Mist era was normal and something to strive for.

Knowing all that, Utakata didn't listen as tentatively as the lesson first started. He mostly ignored the instructor and rested, trying not to fall asleep. The class was one and a half hours long, and Utakata didn't learn anything he wanted. Yet he didn't complain and stretched in the break between the classes. Another class was about shinobi arts, so he had to be focused.

…

It was afternoon when Utakata was left to eat lunch. After three classes and almost five hours, they could eat the second meal of the day. It was a feast to him, sausages with mashed potatoes and sliced tomatoes, a soup full of vegetables, and a loaf of bread. Even if the lessons weren't anything interesting, Utakata would happily attend them as long as he could eat as well as this.

Even the kids from wealthy families didn't complain this time and ate silently. They devoured their food even faster than children from poverty, which concerned him. They probably were hungry since they barely ate breakfast. Utakata ate his lunch even quicker because he believed some bigger kids would try to take lunch from others.

"Eat faster," Utakata advised a kid sitting next to him, as he didn't want any attention to be gathered on him.

"What?" The kid didn't understand.

"Look around you," Utakata said. "The bigger kids won't find the lunch fulfilling and will take away from others. So, finish before they do, so they don't target you. Once you become their target, you won't escape it. They will pick on you from then on."

"Thanks," The kid muttered and started to take bigger bites and chew faster.

Utakata didn't reply and finished his food. He didn't remember the last time he had eaten so much, and feeling full was still surreal. Of course, he could probably eat another portion, but he knew that he had to pace himself and overeating might cause problems when they started physical training later in the day.

"Hey! Are you going to eat that?" Utakata heard one of the bigger boys coming to the table next to him. "Gimme that."

Good thing he finished eating before they could pick on him. It would be troublesome to deal with them. The kid next to him let out a sigh of relief, looking at his empty plate. Two other kids joined the bully once the first guy started to pick on the weaker ones. Utakata felt sorry for the kid that became the target, but he couldn't do anything about that.

"Thanks for the warning," The kid next to Utakata once again thanked him. "I am Jin."

"Utakata, I want to warn you not to get too close to anyone."

"Why? Nobody is trustworthy?" Jin asked.

"No, but I heard that to graduate from the academy, you must kill one of your classmates," Utakata explained. "It would be unfortunate if you had to kill one of your friends."

"I thought it was just a rumor. They wouldn't make us do something like this, would they?" Jin looked at an instructor eating not far away.

"Who knows?" Utakata wasn't too concerned. "It is better to be safe than sorry."

Jin kept silent as they walked from the cafeteria to the training grounds. They waited outside for everyone else to gather. The sun was warm, but the wind was still chilly as it was spring, and the winter's cold didn't leave the Land of Water. Utakata's thin jacket didn't protect him well from the wind. But he was used to the cold, so it didn't bother him much.

…

Though it was only the first day of the academy, the instructors didn't hold anything back. No matter where you are from, you are expected not to fail. You can't rest until the instructor tells you. Utakata had watched as one of his classmates was kicked back into the training once he fell to the ground, unable to continue. It didn't help; soon, the kid lost consciousness and was carried away.

The exercises were brutal, even if they only meant to better stamina and nothing else. Running for who knew how long was only meant to be a warm-up. By the end of the day, five kids lost consciousness from tiredness. Utakata barely held himself, too. His legs were killing him. His lungs demanded too much air for him to be able to get.

Once the physical training for today ended, they were let to rest for the rest of the day. Utakata could only wash himself in the dormitory and then lay in bed, waiting for dinner. Most of the kids who came from orphanages are dead tired too. Some didn't even manage to wash themselves before collapsing. And only half of them could get up and walk to the cafeteria.

"Jin, get up," Utakata stopped by one of the beds where Jin was resting.

"I am fine, Utakata. I don't think I could eat anything even if I tried."

"Get up," Utakata dind't listen to Jin. "Tomorrow won't be easier. You need food. Even if you must force yourself, you must eat to survive."

Jin grumbled something but, in the end, got up from the bed and followed Utakata. Once they reached the cafeteria, Utakata was surprised that every kid apart from orphans was there. It only showed the difference between them. Utakata could only sigh at how much better the situation the other kids were in.

At least the food was plentiful and delicious. Chicken with rice for dinner was more than Utakata could ask for. A jelly for dessert was just a cherry to the pie. As in lunch, Jin and Utakata ate fast, not letting bigger kids take the food from them and make them targets. Utakata had just started a new life that he enjoyed and didn't want to be a target for others to bully.

"Give it here, you lowborn," One of the bigger kids who finished first started to take food from the others. "You should be happy serving one of the Hoshigaki clan like me. You of the lower caste don't deserve any better."

"Caste?" Jin asked.

"You won't see it from we came from," Utakata replied. "The Bloody Mist have a caste system that determines how important you are to the village."

"And we are the lowest of the caste?"

"We are," Utakata confirmed.

"That's sad," Jin said as he prepared to leave the cafeteria. "Will we always have to be the lowest?"

"Become strong enough, and you will be respected."

Utakata didn't try to explain it further. Jin was just a kid, and he came from nothing like him. No matter how unfair and outdated the system was, it was still the system of the village. Nothing can be changed, but you can still thrive for a better life as long as you become stronger. Jin will understand it, too, if he continues his path.

But even with all of it, the best way to avoid trouble as the lowest caste was to not get on the wrong side of the highest caste—the clans and shinobi families who created the Village Hidden in Mist. The descendants of the founders ruled the mist. And from what he understood, the Third Mizukage didn't want it to change.

There still was a lot that Utakata didn't understand about the village, as his knowledge was lacking. He would have to learn more about it if he had time and energy. He had to focus on surviving another day of lessons and physical training. If not for the better future than for the food he would get every day he endured.

…

The five kids that passed out yesterday didn't return today. It put Utakata on edge, and he was concerned about what happened to them. He ate his breakfast slowly, as it was gruel again, and the bigger kids barely ate their portion, so there was no way they would take it from others. As he ate, he waited for the kids to show, ready to compensate for yesterday's lacking performance.

They didn't appear at lunch, and as the physical training started, Utakata was even more concerned. Were the kids kicked out of the academy? Utakata couldn't help himself but ask. Was one failure to meet the instructor's expectations mean it was all over for them? Then Utakata started to wonder what happened to these kids.

Will the orphanage take them back even though they are failures? The orphanage Utakata grew up at didn't provide much, but he didn't think he could survive without a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in. It was hard enough with it. Dread filled Utakata thinking about it, but it filled his determination to survive even more.