"Hello, I'm Ryosuke!"
"Uchiha Seimei."
Seimei replied succinctly while looking at Ryosuke, who had come to sit at the table.
After that, he turned to the other person.
Mizutani Shizuko felt a bit shy under his gaze, shrank her neck, and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "I'm Mizutani Shizuko."
After the three introduced themselves, they sat together at Ryosuke's insistence.
For the rest of the time, it was mostly Ryosuke doing the talking, with Mizutani Shizuko responding occasionally, while Seimei remained mostly silent.
From their conversation, Seimei learned that both of Ryosuke's parents were Chunin and skilled professionals—one worked in code decryption, and the other was a Ninja in the barrier division.
However, Seimei couldn't understand why such parents would have a talkative son like Ryosuke. Did he just hold it all in at home?
While Seimei was pondering this, Ryosuke's voice suddenly interrupted him.
"Seimei, you haven't mentioned your parents yet?"
"They died."
Seimei replied calmly.
At this, Ryosuke was momentarily taken aback and awkwardly scratched his head, saying, "Um… I'm sorry, Seimei. I didn't know."
"It's fine; it's all in the past."
Seimei responded again in a calm manner.
Despite this, Ryosuke still felt embarrassed and closed his mouth.
Mizutani Shizuko, on the other hand, seemed to want to say something but mustered the courage several times without finally deciding to speak.
Seeing this, Seimei didn't press her for answers either.
There was no need for comforting words; perhaps his former self needed them, but he did not.
······
Time passed minute by minute.
About half an hour later, more than ten Jonin arrived at the Classroom.
Uh…
Not all of them were true Jonin; more than half were Special Jonin.
Special Jonin refers to those who do not reach the level of a Jonin but possess unique skills in certain areas.
These individuals are called Jonin but are actually Ninja who fall between Chunin and Jonin.
It makes sense; most of the students in this year's cohort have limited potential, so it's not worth expending too much of the Jonin's energy on them.
Given that it is wartime, Jonin are a vital asset to the village, and their combat strength is in high demand. While training reserves is important, it cannot outweigh the needs of the frontline.
"Team Eleven, stand up."
A Special Jonin at the podium spoke.
Immediately, the three students named Nakajima Kanata, Hanako, and Hiryu stood up.
After confirming that there were no issues, the Special Jonin led the group away.
Next came Team Twelve and Team Thirteen.
Soon, it was time for Seimei's Team Seventeen.
"Uchiha Seimei? Mizutani Shizuko? Ryosuke?"
A middle-aged Ninja with a scar on his face stared at the three of them from the podium.
"It's us, sensei!"
The middle-aged Ninja glanced through the files in his hands, nodded, and said, "Good, follow me."
With that, he left the Classroom.
Seimei and the others immediately followed.
After about ten minutes, they arrived at Training Ground Ten.
This place is relatively remote; under normal circumstances, it takes half an hour to get here from the village center, but now it only took half that time.
As a result, aside from Seimei, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko were both exhausted.
Especially Mizutani Shizuko; being a girl, she was physically weaker, and it was quite a feat for her to run here in such a short time.
Despite this, Seimei didn't think about helping the others because he wasn't sure if this was a test from the Jonin ahead.
Based on his observations, Mizutani Shizuko would likely be able to keep up, so he decided to let things unfold naturally.
"Alright, this is as far as we go."
Upon reaching the center of the training ground, the middle-aged Jonin finally stopped.
Seeing this, Seimei and the others also came to a halt.
The middle-aged Jonin's gaze swept over the three of them, lingering on Seimei for a moment before saying, "You managed to keep up with my pace, so you've passed the initial test."
"Test?"
Mizutani Shizuko gasped for breath, puzzled.
"That's right, it's a test."
The middle-aged Jonin nodded and said, "On the battlefield, regardless of what type of Ninja you are, if your physical fitness is lacking, you have the highest probability of being sacrificed."
Hearing this, Mizutani Shizuko froze, her face gradually turning pale.
She really didn't expect that on her first day as a Ninja, she would hear such a serious topic about sacrifice.
Thinking about sacrifice, Mizutani Shizuko sneakily glanced at Seimei, wondering, "I wonder how Seimei-kun felt when he heard the news about his parents' sacrifice? He must be very sad!"
Seimei keenly noticed her little gesture but chose not to say anything.
The middle-aged Ninja moved on from the topic and continued, "Alright, you all can take a break for now."
Upon hearing this, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko both sat down on the ground to catch their breath, while Seimei stood still beside them, unmoving.
For him, this amount of exercise was nothing at all.
The middle-aged Ninja glanced at Seimei but didn't say much; instead, he spoke, "While you're resting, let's get to know each other."
"Sure, sensei! We still don't know your name!"
Ryosuke, who hadn't spoken before, immediately chimed in.
Hearing this, the middle-aged Ninja nodded and introduced himself, "My name is Furukawa. As you can see, I'm a Jonin, thirty-seven years old. I enjoy playing Shogi and dislike people who don't follow the rules."
After saying this, he looked at Ryosuke and said, "You go first. Please introduce your name, age, likes and dislikes, and your aspirations."
"Okay, Furukawa-sensei."
After responding, Ryosuke introduced himself: "My name is Ryosuke, I'm ten years old this year, I like making friends, I hate any food that contains cilantro, and my dream is to become Hokage."
'Hokage? Another guy brainwashed by the Will of Fire.'
Seimei silently sighed in his heart.
Furukawa nodded expressionlessly and then looked at Mizutani Shizuko, saying, "What about you?"
Mizutani Shizuko took a moment to rest and finally stopped panting.
She said, "My name is Mizutani Shizuko. I will be ten years old after the new year. I like flower arranging, and I dislike, um…"
Mizutani Shizuko thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "I don't seem to have anything I particularly dislike. As for my aspiration…"
She glanced around at the four present and, gathering her courage, said, "My dream is to become a medical Ninja like Tsunade-sama."
'Tsunade?'
Seimei glanced at Mizutani Shizuko and thought, "Tsunade's reputation is indeed great; it's no wonder she could become the Fifth Hokage after being away from the village for so long."
While he was lost in thought, Furukawa directed his gaze at him and said, "It's your turn, Seimei."
"Hmm."
Seimei nodded and said, "My name is Uchiha Seimei, I'm ten years old, I like training, I hate trouble, and my aspiration…"
At this point, Seimei suddenly stopped speaking.
The reason was simple: he realized he had never really considered a far-off future, let alone what his aspirations were.
When he first crossed over, he was worried about his identity as an outsider being exposed, so he trained diligently.
After fully absorbing the experiences and memories of his predecessor, he was concerned about surviving in the midst of the Ninja World War, so he continued to train hard.
The furthest he had thought about was how to survive the disaster of his clan's destruction; the future itself seemed never to have crossed his mind.
"Seimei-kun?"
Seeing that Seimei suddenly stopped speaking, Mizutani Shizuko poked his arm and softly called out, "What's wrong?"