Chapter 9 - The Academy

In the early morning of Konoha, a young batch of children drifted towards the Academy, many holding the hands of their parents or hovering nearby. Among them two elderly men walked slowly as two very young children walked beside them. Until their eyes met and two tongue clicks came from as they looked at each other in disdain before revealing a smile.

The two old men were Uchiha Maru and Senju Taiyō while the two younglings were Kagami and Mira. Which Kagami greeted happily while Mira crossed her arms and huffed. Yesterday Mira challenged him to yet another sparring session which ended in his win.

Upon looking at the multifloor school where dozens of children walked through the gate leaving their parents behind. Kagami saw that the oldest seemed to be at most ten among the students. While many ranged between five and eight with Kagami feeling he was the youngest at four.

Why didn't he count Mira as the same age? Well she had her fifth birthday in the past couple weeks. Hence, she was already five and will gloat over him for the next couple months at being older than him.

However, despite her childish behavior as he wrote this down in a notebook so in the future when she begins to fret over her age. He can pull it out and say how she gloated at being older then him now. He had given her a book he wrote himself on how to practice chakra nature transformation and a few small jutsu like the water bird he showed her.

Upon reaching the gate the two old men bent down slightly looking at the two. Uchiha Maru is the first to speak."Now, you two be careful and good at the academy. Many of these students are from civilian families and thus won't have the strength of you two."

'Nor the ones from the clans.' Taiyō thought before he added on from his friend. "Now you two promise me something."

"Promise what?" Kagami asked, slightly confused.

Last night Taiyō made him promise a bunch of things like not unleashing devastating jutsu at the academy, testing random machines on the other students, grilling the teachers on questions many probably don't understand, and so on. Now there was another one so he was slightly curious about what it is.

"Please have fun and make more friends." Taiyō stated while looking at Kagami eyes.

Taking a breath of relief as it was such a simple request, Kagami nodded alongside Mira. After which both turned and entered the school yard where a little over a dozen children gathered. Where a chunin stood before them all waiting for all the new students gathered.

Looking around at the other new students which he assumed will be his classmates. Kagami noticed that none of them were much older than him as the older ones walked right into the building. Studying a few faces, he sighed as he didn't see any from the show that he could easily recognize.

'If I remember correctly, Kakashi is currently around nine as well as his teammates Obito and Rin. Minato also mentioned that both Obito and Rin should soon become chunin. Which means Itachi should be around two or three years old now.' Kagami guessed lightly.

While he didn't have the timeline completely memorized, he could guess the rough ages of a few memorable characters. Such as Kakashi who became Sixth Hokage, while Itachi who was a strange tragic hero who many fans either loved or hated.

After waiting around fifteen minutes a few more children appeared. The total number only reached about seventeen or so. The chunin who was waiting patiently began to pass out the papers in his hands.

Looking at the paper as it entered his hands. Kagami looked it over which basically stated an overview of what they will be taught and what to be expected of them outside of classes. Finally there is a waiver of an agreement that will enlist them to become a part of the trainees of the village.

While the enlistment as a trainee doesn't give them much benefits compared to the civilians. It allows them access to another part of the library, and a small discount on training gear.

After signing his name as did Mira, they passed the waiver back and were led to a fairly wide classroom. Sitting down beside Mira as they sat towards the middle of the class, the chunin teacher who was waiting stood at the front of the classroom.

Listening to the man give an introduction to the academy and what they would be taught. Compared to Naruto and Baruto times, Kagami realized there weren't as many subjects. It was more based around practical skills such as traps, chakra control and physical skills. Math, history and the like were downgraded to a quick overview of the basics.

'No wonder so many could graduate early, but only a few would stand out in the future. Unless one really puts in the effort between missions and training, most would probably end up as chunin at most.' Kagami thought to himself.

He wasn't looking down on them as chunin weren't bad, but experience and physical arts can only carry one so far. Unless one solely focuses on physical skills like Might Guy and Rock Lee while also learning the Eight Inner Gates. Most will be average at best and when Fourth Great Shinobi War breaks out, well only luck will save them.

'Well, before getting ahead of myself many will either die in this war or in missions. The lucky ones will only be crippled and return to civilian life or the extremely lucky ones will continue to serve.' Kagami thought to himself.

While it slightly saddened him about how true this statement was, he couldn't change it. He didn't have the strength to change it nor the ability to stay by everyone's side. However, he didn't allow it to hold him down as this is everyone's choice much like how many entered the military in his previous life. Many gladly serve their country, so Kagami let the depressing thought disappear.