5 Academy Entrance

The fated day had finally arrived, the day for Kentsuru to finally enter the Shinobi Academy for the next five years. This particular occasion was met with a mass of new students and their parents on the veranda before the Academy itself. Standing before a podium of sorts was none other than the Sandaime Hokage clad within his uniform as the Hokage. The other children seemed to be excited to see the 'God of Shinobi' himself, however Kentsuru wasn't so easily excited. His eyes instead wandered, watching a white-haired child who seemed to have some sort of screen.

Kentsuru focused on the other child, his eyes adjusting to the distance and able to make out statistics such as 'Strength' and 'Intelligence' on the screen. He could also read a fine line of text that was suddenly super-imposed on the screen reading 'Reward : Access to Core Crystals. Maximum number of Blades +1'. Kentsuru edged his way through the crowd, pushing his elbows and shoulders to edge through the crowd. He finally got in as close as he could to the white-haired youth, thinking instantly that this person must also be a Reincarnator.

Kentsuru was finally able to position himself several paces behind the other white-haired youth when the Hokage finally began giving his speech; listening how Hiruzen described the village as like a family and how they all had the will of fire deep within themselves, that they each had to do their own part to support the family. Kentsuru wasn't quite drawn into such a speech as many of the others may be, remarking that this guy was pretty good at his job of brainwashing young children to become soldiers.

Afterwards, shinobi began funneling children into the Academy Building, and Kentsuru moved through the crowd aiming to be placed within the same exam room as the white-haired child before him. As soon as the boy had chosen his seat, Kentsuru claimed the desk directly behind. He wasn't surprised when Neji took a seat beside him on his left side. Kentsuru leaned in and whispered, "Um... excuse me for asking this, but were you reincarnated into this world as well...? I couldn't help but notice your status panel earlier."

"And then there were two" Hoshi answered cryptically, not blatantly admitting it, though implying an admission at least "My name is Hoshi Akimichi" The mind processed, considering that there were obviously two reincarnators sitting within this very room so did that mean Hoshi had found another reincarnation or that Hoshi could see the figment of Ameno? Regardless, Kentsuru replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "And I'm Kentsuru Iruzuka, though my friends just call me Ken. So then, an Akimichi that's physically fit, that's a dead giveaway right there..."

"But, this isn't the place to talk about that. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ken. That hot goddess did say that other reincarnators would be able to see my status screen, but I haven't gone out of my way to show it off, you know?" Kentsuru feigned ignorance, though he really wanted to give Hoshi a thrashing for calling his waifu hot. Hoshi spoke up once more, after the short pause in the conversation. "I'll introduce you to Pyra later."

By this time the teachers had began passing academy entrance exams, and so Kentsuru remained silent. His test however, hadn't contained the Genjutsu which the others did 'somehow'. Well by this point somehow meant that Ameno had seen to it - an explanation to any unexplained event through his life thusfar. He went to answering the questions on the test in a manner that would assure he rose within the top five but wasn't the top student in the end, that position would likely go to his friend Neji at this point.

While most were still working on their tests, Kentsuru pulled to his feet and stood at his full height, then propelled forwards to where he would place his test. By now, the stack had four other exams sitting upon it. And so the hour passed, the stack having grown exponentially in size. Each teacher grabbed a number of exam papers from the stack and filed out of the classroom until only one remained. This teacher didn't seem particularly interested in being here, and so ignored the students who by now had begun talking among them.

"You mean Pyra from Xenoblade Chronicles? Was that your reward then...?" whispered Kentsuru, thinking he should get on the good side of this Hoshi, maybe even become friends. They were both reincarnators and they had both been seen to by the same goddess. Hoshi whispered back to Ken, feeling no need to lie since Ken recognized her origin. "Yeah I was a fan of that series, so I wished for a system based on that and Genshin Impact. For my starter blade, I selected Pyra, but until now I haven't been able to get others."

"Woah, Genshin Impact too? I'm a great fan of the Eula Banner they were having just before I died - in fact it'd not be an understatement to say Eula was my favorite character from Genshin Impact. That's definitely a cool wish." Kentsuru whispered. He couldn't help but wonder if Hoshi had the power to grant the core crystals to other beings or whether they were solely his to utilize, but his train of thoughts was suddenly broken when the teachers began to file back into the classroom. The students within the classroom began to grow quiet.

Hoshi smiled and nodded, "Apparently the female characters from Genshin impact and Xenoblade are available as blades, while the males are available as form manifestations." he explained to Ken, continuing to whisper. "I did not actually make the wish that specific, that's just the way that the goddess chose to implement the wish. Currently I only have one blade, Pyra, and one form manifestation, which is Venti."

"I think that the teachers are about to announce the results, we should save further talk on this matter for after the exam period is over. Where would you like to meet up?" whispered Kentsuru, just as the teachers began to announce exam results. The exam's first place went to Neji Hyuga, while second place went to Kentsuru Iruzuka and third place went to Hoshi Akimichi. Ken noticed the status panel chime as a quest complete screen appeared on Hoshi's end. The teacher which had sat in on the classroom while the others left spoke up, "Class is dismissed for today, your first lessons begin tomorrow."

"My mother runs a shop a couple blocks from here" Hoshi suggested to Ken, "It's the 'Akimichi Cookie Cafe' and specializes in sweets." Kentsuru thought about it, thinking it would be a great locale for the two of them to speak with each other on many matters without having to worry so much about prying eyes. Besides, his father would need the house today as the man was entertaining some of his business contacts. Kentsuru nodded, "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll meet you there."

Kentsuru stood up and stretched his legs, noticing Hoshi receiving the pop-up indicating the successful completion of his task though didn't pay enough attention to the panel to determine exactly what the rewards were for such a task, instead leaving the classroom and out of the academy. He would need to pop by the house to grab his still un-named sword before heading to the sweets shop near the Akimichi Clan Compound, he had heard about the Akimichi Bros Steakhouse near that location, and thought to scope it out as well.