Early the next morning, the freshly graduated students of this year's Ninja Academy class sat obediently in the classroom.
After all, today was the big day — the day they would be assigned to their Jonin instructors. No one dared show up late.
The Chunin teacher hadn't arrived yet, so the room was in total chaos, with kids running around shouting and playing.
"Sigh, Ren, what do you want to do in the future?"
From the seat behind him, Kurenai leaned forward and asked in a soft voice.
"What I want to do in the future?"
Ren smiled. Knowing the full story of this world, he was well aware of what lay ahead.
The whole Black Zetsu 'Save Mother' plot, the inevitable clash with the Otsutsuki clan.
Obviously, he wasn't about to tell all that to the little loli Kurenai.
"I don't know about the future, but for now, I do have an idea..."
"Huh? An idea? What kind of idea?"
Before she could finish asking, a golden light suddenly flared around Ren's body.
In an instant, Ren, who had been sitting beside her just a moment ago, appeared at the front of the classroom on the podium.
"Ren? Ren!"
"Ren! What are you doing?"
"Huh? One of the class's bottom-ranked guys, what's he up to?"
Ren's sudden move had caught the attention of the class. The students began whispering among themselves.
"I heard some of you want to become Hokage?"
Ren stepped onto a chair from who knew where, looking down at everyone as he asked.
"Hmph. Yeah, what about it?"
A kid with goggles shot to his feet with a cold snort.
Uchiha Obito, yet another unfortunate soul.
"Ren! Don't go too far! The Hokage..."
Asuma also sprang up. He hadn't told the Third Hokage about what happened last night, but he was still glaring at Ren, full of anger.
"Nothing much. I just want to tell you that the Hokage's seat is mine. None of you are worthy."
"All of you here are trash. None of you deserve to be Hokage."
The moment Ren's words fell, the classroom erupted.
"What?!"
"Ren, you're asking for it!"
"You bottom-feeder loser, who gave you the guts to be this arrogant?"
"Brothers, let's get him! Teach him a lesson!"
Asuma roared. Sure, last night they couldn't beat him, but now there were dozens of Genin here.
Spurred on by Asuma, more than ten boys lunged at Ren.
Let's see how he likes getting smashed by fists the size of sandbags.
Even the girls glared at Ren, fuming with anger.
"This is more like it..."
Ren smiled faintly. He had to complete Mission 1 of the Campus Overlord quest, defeating all male ninja of his generation. Sooner or later, he'd have to fight his classmates anyway.
The early bird gets the worm. Why not today?
"Yata Mirror!"
A blinding light flashed. The boys who had just charged in didn't even have time to react before they were kicked several meters back.
The ones behind them were sent flying too, crashing into desks and chairs.
"Light Speed Kick!"
In a blink, Ren's figure became a streak of light, darting across the classroom.
Every boy was knocked flying before they could even withstand a single round of his attacks.
In just a few seconds, Ren appeared beside Kurenai again.
All the boys were left groaning on the floor like rolling gourds.
"Ah!"
Before a dozen stunned girls, Ren scooped Kurenai into his arms and planted a big kiss on her cheek.
Her face turned bright red in an instant. She lowered her head, too embarrassed to meet anyone's gaze.
"Wh-what are you doing? Everyone's watching..."
Ren just grinned without saying anything.
"Wow, so romantic..."
A fujoshi whispered in awe at the sight, ignoring the boys groaning all over the floor.
"Ren is so strong! He took down over ten classmates in no time!"
"The strongest ones in class — Asuma, Hyuga Tokuma, even Uchiha Jo — none of them stood a chance!"
"When did Ren get so powerful?"
"So cool!"
Creak. Just then, the classroom door swung open.
Chunin teacher Iruka entered with a stack of files. The moment he stepped inside, his eyes fell on the heap of boys sprawled across the floor.
"What's going on? Why are you all lying on the ground?!"
Iruka asked in shock.
"N-nothing!"
Asuma got up, clutching his chest. His eyes still burned with anger, but he gritted his teeth and kept quiet.
"We're fine, Iruka-sensei..."
"Yeah, we just fell down..."
"Cough, help me up!"
To these kids, roughhousing with classmates was one thing, but no way would they tell the teacher.
What kind of man tattles to the teacher after a fight?
"If you're fine, sit down! You're all Genin now. What's with this roughhousing? How can we trust you to go on missions like this? How can any employer trust you?"
Iruka scolded sternly, his tone full of disappointment.
"Okay okay, we got it!"
"Help me up!"
"Me too..."
"Man, you're heavy. Time to lose some weight!"
"Lose weight? I'm perfect the way I am. This is called being well-built!"
Watching the kids joke around as they picked each other up, Iruka's expression turned strange, as if something had just really shocked him.
He stood at the podium, his gaze drifting toward the back row where Ren sat. He stared at Ren for several seconds.
"Huh? Why's this extra staring at me? Is he up to something shady?"
"What kind of name is Iruka anyway? Does that mean his kid is called Iruka too? These father-son names..."
Ren, who was teasing Kurenai, noticed and turned to look back.
But Iruka quickly looked away.
"Alright, enough! Sit down!"
Iruka's voice was firm, and the room quieted at once.
"From today, you're all independent ninjas. Remember, the first duty of a ninja is to obey orders. The mission always comes first."
"The Hokage once said, as long as the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire will burn."
"The fire's shadow will shine upon the village, and new leaves will sprout..."
"And you... you are the flames of Konoha."
Iruka's speech was passionate, like a chant meant to inspire and brainwash. Judging by the looks of admiration on many faces, it worked.
Ren, however, wasn't listening at all. He was thinking about the system's prompt just now. His tone turned a little odd.
"Mission progress: 20 out of 21. Just one left?"
"Kakashi Hatake?"
[ 250 - 1 Extra Chapter ]