7 Chapter – 6 The Konoha Ninja Academy
One Week Later, Uchiha Sasuke's Apartment
Ram – Snake – Tiger, after weaving the hand sign, Sasuke used the technique, 'Shadow Clone Jutsu!' Immediately with a poof of smoke, an entity appeared beside him. However, unlike the Clone Jutsu, he learned a week ago that it was just a hologram with no mass, weight, or physical form, the entity he had created this time is different it has a physical form and can be interacted with. It's possible to even touch it.
"Alright then… I will be going to the academy, meanwhile, I want you to start working on Genjutsu," Sasuke spoke to his clone as he picked up the Shinobi bag from the bed.
"Leave it to me," the Shadow Clone Sasuke nodded as he picked up a few scrolls about the theory of Genjutsu and started to read them.
Genjutsu, it's a vast field of Jutsu, from a very basic Genjutsu that is the Clone Jutsu to the highest rank of Genjutsu like the Tsukuyomi, Kotoamatsukami, and Infinite Tsukuyomi, it's not a ninja art that can be mastered within just a day or two, aside from vivid imagination, attention to finer details, very high level of Chakra control, and high mental strength is needed, but of course, the effect is also very good.
Sasuke intends to build up a solid foundation for Genjutsu with the theories and mechanisms before actually learning Jutsu of the said art.
As for why start with Genjutsu? The main reason is that Genjutsu is his favorite ninja art, the other reason is that his mental strength is very strong, so much so that despite being only a little over seven years old he already has a three-tomoe Sharingan. Considering his high mental strength, it makes sense to use it to his advantage, right? Genjutsu is the field where mental strength is most utilized, therefore, among the three conventional ninja arts, Sasuke has decided to start with Genjutsu.
Besides, the Genjutsu practice won't create a big movement. For practicing taijutsu, ninjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, and most other field of shinobi arts, he would have to go to different training grounds, but Genjutsu is not the same, there won't be any large movements. Moreover, Sasuke can also use his Shadow Clone to practice Genjutsu and perfect this ninja art. Granted, Genjutsu doesn't work that well on the Shadow Clones, but if the one casting the Genjutsu is the Shadow Clone and the one being subjected is the real self, then it ought to work, in this way Sasuke will also learn how to counter and rebound Genjutsu.
In this manner, Sasuke can work on one of his strengths without anyone catching wind of it, but well, it will still take a lot of time for him to work on and master Genjutsu, so he needs to be patient, and for now, he needs to go to the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Truth be told, Sasuke does not wish to go to the academy, after all, the academy is of little to no use in improving his strength, certainly, he can learn the things that a shinobi needs to know at that place, such as investigation, tracking, mission protocols, and other stuff, but these things are not important enough for him to devote the next five years at that place, however, things would become complicated if he did not attend the academy, so he has no other choice.
As for the reason why not send a Shadow Clone instead of going by himself? Sasuke does not want to go through the exact thing that Itachi went through. If by chance they were to learn that he has already mastered a Rank-B ninjutsu, it would be a little troublesome, some (Shimura Danzō) might even want him to graduate in advance and perform missions, which would be far more troublesome than going to the academy, at least he can have a little peace of mind at that place even if it's not all that productive for him.
'I have to play by their rules until I am strong enough… at least I can leave behind a Shadow Clone at the apartment to study while I am not here,' with this in mind, Sasuke picked up an apple from the fridge then went out of the apartment. Once he had locked the door, Sasuke put the key in his pocket and went to the academy.
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Konoha Ninja Academy
Arriving at the classroom, Sasuke took a seat. Although seats in the classroom weren't reserved for each trainee, since he had come a little early, the seat he wanted to take was empty and he took it with a straight face. It's the last seat by the window, yup, it's the protagonist's seat.
And while Sasuke walked from the gate to the seat, the eyes of everyone present in the classroom were focused on him.
"Wait, Sasuke, how come? I overheard Tou-san and Kaa-san talk about it, all the Uchiha were…"
"Ojii-sama said the same the other day… Don't tell me that Sasuke-kun survived?"
"But if that's the case, isn't he the only remaining Uchiha in Konoha?"
"That's correct, the rest were all brutally murdered by that rogue-nin!"
"But if he was alive, why didn't he come to the academy for the past two weeks?"
"Cut him some slack, his entire family and clan were brutally murdered, you want him to be here the very next day as if nothing happened??"
"N-no… I didn't mean that, I was just…"
"Yeah, who knows how his condition was, maybe he was terribly injured as well, and it took him this time to heal."
Such a conversation started among the children, and he could see traces of pity in the eyes of these children. Sasuke clenched his fist in anger for a moment, but quickly relaxed and took a deep breath, 'Just control…' then silently took his seat.
Time passed slowly as one by one the remaining trainees also came to the classroom. Everyone noticed Sasuke, they were talking in groups of twos and threes while pointing their fingers at him from time to time. The young Uchiha didn't pay any attention to them and stared outside the window. He was no longer interested in what these children were discussing, finally, the academy bell rang, and the Homeroom teacher came into the classroom, it was none other than Umino Iruka.
Walking into the classroom, Iruka placed the books he was carrying on the podium and then looked at the trainees. He had already noticed that the students were far more active today than they were yesterday, and one of them was looking at a particular student in one of the corners of the classroom.
Just as he looked at the boy, Iruka's eyes widened, 'Uchiha Sasuke?' and he understood everything, 'I see,' the teacher sighed and clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention, "Alright everyone, get back to your seats, the class is about to start."
Hearing Iruka's instruction, all the children hurried to their seats, although they were still looking in the direction of Sasuke from time to time.
Iruka shook his head, then started the roll call. One by one, he called out everyone's name.
"Aburame Shino…" The boy with shades, a hoodie, and a quiet demeanor raised his hand, and spoke in a low voice, "Present Sensei!"
"Akimichi Chōji…" The chubby boy with swirl markings on his cheeks, and spiky brown hair responded, "Present Iruka-sensei!"
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"Haruno Sakura…" The girl with light pink hair and a wide forehead responded, "Present Sensei!"
"Hyuga Hinata…" The introverted shy girl with short black hair, and white eyes responded with a stutter, "Pre… present Sensei!"
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"Inuzuka Kiba…" The kid with wild brown hair and red claw markings on his cheek responded, "Present Sensei!"
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"Nara Shikamaru…" the lazy-looking boy with black hair styled in a pineapple-styled ponytail responded without any energy, "Present Sensei!"
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"Uchiha… Uchiha Sasuke…" Sasuke responded by simply raising his hand, he didn't say anything. Anyway, there was no need for him to needlessly speak out that he was present, by now, the entire Konoha should be aware of the fact that the orphan of the Uchiha Clan had returned to the Ninja Academy.
"Uzumaki Naruto…" the little boy with spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and whiskers on his cheeks responded in a loud voice as he smacked the table, "That's right, I am going to become the Hokage, believe it!"
"Pfft…" most of the class burst into laughter upon hearing Naruto's declaration. Sasuke did not laugh, instead looked at Naruto with curious eyes. Naruto is one of the very few children worth his attention, and Sasuke is a little curious about Naruto, the child of prophecy.
Iruka shouted with tick marks on his forehead, "Naruto, I am taking attendance, you are only supposed to say present and raise your hand, not other things… so don't make trouble Naruto!"
Naruto didn't care about that remark and smirked, "Heh," much to the annoyance of Iruka.
The homeroom teacher sighed and continued with the attendance. A few more names were called, and finally, the attendance ended with the name of the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan. "Yamanaka Ino…" the cute girl with platinum blonde hair and an outgoing personality responded, "Present Iruka-Sensei!"
Once the attendance was completed, it was time to start the lecture. Iruka picked up the chalk and in bold letters wrote, 'Geography,' on the blackboard. He then looked at all the children and spoke, "Alright everyone, today we are going to learn the Geography of the Ninja Continent, the names of different countries that exist, the names of different shinobi villages that we know of, the names of some prominent and influential people in those countries, and a little bit about their specialties… this knowledge is very important for a ninja when performing missions, therefore, please pay close attention…"
"Different countries?" muttered Sasuke with an intrigued expression, he was interested in this knowledge.
The canon did not expand much on the wider world as well as the other countries that exist. Most of the emphasis was given to the Land of Fire and Konoha, after that, a few prominent countries with high military power like the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, the Land of Wind, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Iron were given some focus and that's about it… other than these few countries, there was some mention of small countries here and there but not much in detail.
This continent is not limited to these few countries, the world is big, there are other countries in existence as well such as the Land of Grass, the Land of Hot Spring, the Land of Demons, the Land of Waves, the Land of Ice, the Land of Frost and so on… and now that he has the opportunity to learn something about all these countries, obviously Sasuke is quite interested.
It wasn't just Sasuke, many children showed interest… everyone is interested in the wider world out there. Noting that he had grasped everyone's attention, Iruka smiled and began the lecture.
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. Three hours later, the school bell rang. Iruka put down the chalk back on the podium and addressed everyone, "Alright, we will stop with geography here for today…" and added, "In the afternoon, there will be a close combat exercise, so please be prepared for that…" after that, he didn't linger around, picked up the books he was carrying and left the classroom.
As soon as Iruka left the classroom, the children slumped on their desks, although learning things about other countries is very interesting, continuously hearing about them for straight three hours is still a little too much for them. The fact that they were able to sit still for this long is already more than what you can expect from them, after all, children are supposed to be hyperactive.
Sasuke looked at all the children, then turned to Naruto. The child of prophecy had his head on the desk and saliva was dripping out of his mouth, 'He is still sleeping?' Naruto had fallen asleep as soon as the lecture on geography started, it's obvious that he finds these things extremely boring. Realizing this Sasuke thought to himself, 'No wonder he lacks any form of knowledge about most things and needs others to help him out with such stuff in the canon… and had to learn these things after the Fourth Great Shinobi War.' After all, Naruto doesn't really pay attention to the stuff that may not be very important at first glance but can be very useful for a ninja.
"Well, not like it matters right now…" muttered Sasuke as he got up from his seat to leave the classroom. There's an hour break before the next class, he doesn't want to spend that time in the classroom, it's better to go somewhere else where everyone is not looking at him.
Just as Sasuke was about to leave the classroom, suddenly, someone called out, "Sasuke-kun!"
He stopped and turned around to look at the person calling him, and it turned out to be the Sakura-haired girl, Haruno Sakura.
At the same time, another girl called out to him, "Sasuke-kun!" and ran toward him. Sasuke looked at the second girl and noticed that it was Yamanaka Ino.
Seeing Ino running toward Sasuke, Sakura also ran toward him, she didn't want to be outdone by Ino, and seeing the two girls, the other girls in the classroom also ran toward him one after another, they didn't want to be outdone by Sakura and Ino.
Looking at all the girls save for one running toward him, Sasuke sighed, 'Troublesome bunch.'
Arriving close to Sasuke, with blushing cheeks Sakura spoke, "Sasuke-kun, do you want to have lunch with me? I have brought something very good today…"
Ino quickly pushed her to the side, and said with heart in her eyes, "Sasuke-kun, my lunch is better… you will definitely love it!"
Immediately the two girls started to argue, "What did you say Ino-pig? Your lunch is better?"
Ino puffed up her chest proudly and said, "Of course, compared to the lunch brought by the billboard brow, mine is a hundred, no, a thousand times better!"
The other girls also started clamoring, "No, mine is better… Sasuke-kun, eat with me, you will definitely love him!"
"No, eat mine!"
"No eat mine, mine is better!"
"No eat mine, I made mine myself, and it is the best!"
Everyone in the classroom was takenaback by the girls arguing with each other just to share lunch with Sasuke.
Shikamaru yawned as he looked at all the girls surrounding Sasuke, "What a drag! Shouldn't they be improving their skills rather than fawning all over Sasuke?"
Naruto was also irked, "Why is the mister popular? What's so special about him that all the girls want to share their lunches with him?"
Chōji said enviously, "I want to eat those lunches, I wonder if they are tasty."
Shikamaru looked at Chōji with a smile, and said, "You can share with me if you want."
"Really?" asked Chōji in excitement.
At the same time, the commotion caused by the girls became bigger and bigger.
Ino said, "Well, only one way to find out whose lunch is the best, only Sasuke-kun can tell!"
"Humph, I am the one who is going to win!" snorted Sakura as she turned to Sasuke with a shy expression and was about to say something to him, "Sasuke-kun, ple–…" only to stop before completing her words and tilted her head in confusion, "Sasuke-kun?"
The other girls also turned to where Sasuke was standing a moment ago only to find out that he was no longer there, and asked, "Where did he go?"
Unbeknownst to the girls, when they were arguing, Sasuke had already left.
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