The Academy was… functional.
A big, boring building with grey and red walls. Generic layout. A few banners with the Land of Fire's symbol here and there to remind us that we were part of something important, even if this felt more like some pyramid scheme.
I got there early. Didn't want to deal with anyone on day one if I could help it. A Chūnin with a clipboard checked my name, handed me a classroom assignment, and pointed me towards a hallway with all the enthusiasm of a man who hated his job.
Class 1-A.
Guess I'm at least side-character level, not mob level.
I stepped inside.
The classroom was already half full. Not particularly loud, but not quiet either. Some kids were laughing, while others were yawning.
The clan brats had already picked their seats and grouped together as if it were instinct. Senju, Uchiha, Sarutobi... all sitting like they owned the place. Which, technically... they did.
Civilian shinobi were a fairly new concept, for before Konoha was established, it was mostly just clans that held the power.
Even now, there were no famous civilian shinobi, which meant that the clan shinobi looked down on civilian shinobi quite a bit.
Therefore, I didn't bother with them. Not like I could afford to pick on them right now.
I picked a seat two rows from the back, by the window. Out of the spotlight, but close enough to observe everyone.
And that's when I noticed a few familiar faces. The Sannin of the future.
Tsunade was obvious. She was loud and confident, with the arrogance of someone who knew she'd be at the top of the class without even trying. And considering she was the granddaughter of the First Hokage and the heiress of the Senju clan, there were plenty of people trying to get close to her, making her the centre of attention.
Jiraiya was already cracking jokes with some random Inuzuka kid. He laughed too loudly at his own punchlines. Definitely the kind of guy who'd fail a stealth mission before it even started.
He was carefree and seemingly unafraid of anything. Which was pretty unusual for a civilian-born orphan.
And Orochimaru… yeah, he was an edgelord.
Alone. Quiet. Hands on his desk, posture perfect. His eyes were constantly watching everyone, but he wasn't saying a word.
But there was something sharp about him. Though I couldn't tell if that was eyeliner or if his eyes naturally looked like that. Either way, that snake sure looked a bit creepy.
I made a mental note: Try to get close to Tsunade and Orochimaru.
And thus, class started.
Our instructor, Haneda-sensei, looked like he'd seen some things and didn't particularly care to relive any of them. A scar on his chin, tired eyes.
He probably thought this job was some sort of punishment duty. Or maybe he was simply trying to act cool and intimidate us with that demeanour.
We got the usual introductory speech: expectations, rules, and the structure of the academic year. Then, after an hour of pointless filler, we finally got to the first real topic.
Chakra.
Haneda stepped in front of the board and wrote two words in big kanji: "Chakra Extraction."
"Most of you already know what chakra is," he said, his voice flat. "Physical energy from the body. Spiritual energy from the mind. Combine the two, and you get chakra. In theory."
He looked around the room.
"In practice, most of you won't be able to extract any today. And that's fine."
A few of the clan kids already looked bored. They'd probably done this years ago at home. I saw the Uchiha kid in the third row roll his eyes, while another whispered something about already practising elemental transformations.
Flexing early, huh?
Still, Haneda didn't seem to care.
"Those who have already extracted chakra are free to leave the class if they wish. Those who haven't, stay seated.
"Focus and try to feel the energy moving inside your body. We're not looking for control or shaping just yet, only awareness. If you feel something real, report it. Don't fake it. I'll know."
And quite a few students left the classroom, including Tsunade. Almost no one from the major clans remained.
Looking at the twelve students who were still seated, he gave a short nod.
"Chakra is a mixture of physical and mental energy. What you feel inside your body is just your physical energy. You need to mix your mental energy with it to form usable chakra. Just think of pulling the energy with your mind. That should be enough for your mental energy to mix with it and form chakra. Start."
We sat cross-legged.
I closed my eyes, took a breath, and tried not to think too much.
This wasn't particularly complicated. I already knew the theory. It was just a matter of execution now.
Inhale.
Focus.
Feel.
At first, there was nothing. Just my breathing and the occasional sound of kids fidgeting around me.
Then, after a few minutes, I felt it.
A slow, warm buzz in my gut. Almost like a gentle current flowing just beneath my skin.
'There you are.'
I tried to control the energy, making it flow throughout my body, and unexpectedly, it did exactly that.
I kept my face blank, opened my eyes, and raised my hand.
Haneda looked over. "Yes?"
"I've extracted chakra."
A few heads turned towards me.
Haneda's expression didn't change, but he walked over. "Stand up."
I did.
He placed a hand lightly on my shoulder. Probably using some minor chakra-sensing technique.
After a moment, he nodded.
"Confirmed."
Then, surprisingly, he turned towards the class.
"This student has successfully extracted chakra. The first one today."
Some of the kids stared at me. A few raised their eyebrows, looking somewhat doubtful.
Haneda continued. "Name?"
"Inaba Shinkurou," I replied simply.
He nodded again. "Well done. That puts you ahead of the others. You can go back to your seat and try controlling it, or you can leave if you want to."
I sat back down. There wasn't much else to do back home anyway.
A few minutes passed.
Still no one else.
Eventually, another hand went up. I turned my head slightly.
Orochimaru.
Well, that was expected, I suppose... He is a genius, after all.
Haneda-sensei repeated the same process, confirmed his chakra extraction, and gave him the same short praise, although perhaps a little less enthusiastically than before.
And that was it.
No one else raised their hand for the rest of the class.
So...
Out of a room filled with twelve students, mostly civilians and children from minor clans, only two people managed to extract chakra on the first day.
Orochimaru and I.
We didn't communicate with each other during the class, but after it ended, as I packed my things and walked towards the door, I caught him glancing in my direction.
I briefly met his eyes.
His usual neutral, spooky, creepy snake eyes.
He gave me a small nod. Not friendly, not hostile. Just… I don't know. It's hard to tell what's going on in his head.
But it shouldn't be anything bad. The current Orochimaru hasn't gone dark yet.
So, I simply returned the gesture.
The rest of the day wasn't particularly worth mentioning. The clan kids who had left the class returned, and what followed was a boring lecture on the geography of the Land of Fire, a half-assed Taijutsu theory class with zero practicals, and a lunch break that I spent alone under a tree outside the building.
Though there were occasional stares from the other students, they weren't anything significant.
After all, it was just chakra extraction. Sure, I was the first in my class, but in reality, I was nineteenth.
Eighteen students had already left the classroom because they'd managed to extract chakra before the lesson.
But I'd made one thing clear.
I wasn't just another civilian. At the very least, I was the most talented one among them.