He couldn't let Inuzuka Tsume—or whoever she answered to—have their way.
That was Jun's only thought.
Yeah, he was jealous.
Why was he being forced to graduate and leave the Academy, when Mitarashi Anko got to go back?
So what if she was seven?
Plenty of shinobi started young in this era.
Hatake Kakashi graduated at five. Might Guy, that loveable idiot, graduated at seven too.
No. I won't allow it.
No one gets special treatment—not in front of me.
"Captain!" Jun raised his hand. "I have something to say."
"What?" Tsume snapped. "And don't call me 'sensei.' I'm not your teacher."
She strolled over and gave Mizuki a none-too-gentle kick.
The "unconscious" boy groaned dramatically and stood up, grinning sheepishly.
Tsume rolled her eyes. "From now on, I'm your squad captain. I'll find you a new third member."
Jun ignored Mizuki's weak act. He glanced at Anko, still biting her lip, refusing to cry.
"Captain," he said clearly, "Mitarashi Anko has truly inherited the Will of Fire. Out of the three of us, she's the strongest ninja."
"I don't understand why you'd send her back to the Academy," Jun continued, voice firm, "but I know this much—if you do, you'll crush the spirit of a true Konoha shinobi."
"Spirit?" Tsume sneered. "Little Uchiha brat, you trying to lecture me?"
"Not at all." Jun bowed slightly, but kept his eyes level. "I'm stating facts. This is wartime. Every young shinobi wants to stand and fight for the village."
He raised his voice, bold and calm.
"Myself included. We all want to protect our home. And Captain, you have no right to rob anyone of their Will of Fire."
...The Will of Fire, huh?
Anko's eyes shimmered.
Tsume's twitched.
The hell? That sounds like something the Third would say.
Coming from an Uchiha, no less? What a sick twist of irony.
But in Konoha, invoking the Will of Fire… was a trump card. You couldn't publicly go against it.
As she hesitated, Mizuki jumped in.
With eloquence and theatrical flair, he launched into his own monologue—willing to freeze himself to light the fire in others, blah blah blah.
Jun stared at him.
What the hell? Is this guy secretly a bard?
No wonder he ends up becoming a teacher in the future…
Anko's eyes lit up brighter with every word.
Those two were speaking what she'd never known how to say.
Finally…
"Enough!" Tsume barked. "Fine. You're a team."
She regretted it the second the words left her mouth.
She really couldn't stand Mizuki's yapping—and this brat had been pretending to be unconscious not five minutes ago!
But once said, she wasn't the type to take it back.
She let out a long breath. "From now on, none of you speak more than five sentences at a time in my presence. Dismissed. Same time, same place tomorrow."
She vanished with a flicker, like she couldn't stand being in the same air as them a second longer.
"Pfft…"
"Heehee… Hahahaha!"
The three stared at each other—then Mizuki and Anko burst out laughing.
Somehow, after all the chaos, they didn't seem quite so irritating to each other anymore.
Clap!
Anko smacked her palm into Mizuki's, then turned to Jun.
"Thanks. Both of you. For sticking up for me."
Her eyes sparkled with gratitude.
Jun's lips twitched, then he turned to Mizuki. "You trying to get yourself killed?"
"Ehh…" Mizuki rubbed his head. "Sorry!"
He dropped into a textbook dogeza, forehead pressed to the dirt.
"I swear, it was just a slip! I didn't mean to hit you!"
Jun stared at him.
…What the hell am I even supposed to say to that?
"Alright already!" Anko stepped in, unusually chipper. "He didn't do it on purpose. Here, let me patch you up."
She pulled a bandage from her pouch, smile warm and open as she looked up at Jun.
Clearly, she was in a really good mood.
Jun sighed. Fine. He'd let Mizuki off the hook—for her sake.
Anyway, he still owed her thanks.
As she gently wrapped the wound, Jun muttered, "Last night… it was you and your mom who brought me back to the compound, right? I never got to thank you."
Anko froze for a beat.
Then she laughed and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it! You helped me today. We're even now."
Yesterday she'd thought he was a total loser.
Today, they were teammates.
At just seven, Anko was already marveling at how strange fate could be.
She didn't notice Jun's eyes filling with tears—
Not from emotion.
From pain, damn it.
Blood seeped straight through the fresh bandages.
"Ah—sorry!" Anko panicked and fumbled with the wrap.
Jun closed his eyes.
He was done. Emotionally, spiritually, physically.
One teammate stabs him.
The other smacks open his wound while smiling like it's a picnic.
Perfect.
Nightfall.
Jun tested his shoulder, giving it a slight roll.
No more blood seeping through.
Time for business.
"System. System?"
Ding. The One-Click Kage System is at your service!
He didn't bother rolling his eyes this time.
He opened the panel.
[Select Skill]
Same as yesterday—Eight Gates, plus the three C-rank jutsu.
Jun had always wondered: how did the system train him in these?
Everyone in the ninja world had chakra—thanks to that ancient Otsutsuki crap with the God Tree and the Sage of Six Paths.
But Jun had never trained in how to extract it.
He didn't even know how to perform chakra molding properly.
To use Fire or Water Style, you had to grasp both nature transformation and chakra control.
"Last night's failure with Water Style… was it because of that?"
He frowned.
"But if it's in the list, then the system should be able to train it, right?"
Maybe Water just didn't gel well with the Uchiha bloodline. He'd try Fire tonight.
His shoulder still ached—if the training failed, maybe the system wouldn't default to Eight Gates again.
"I'll try Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu."
He selected it.
Set the training mode to Temporary Delegation.
And clicked Auto Training.
Whoosh!
Jun sprang off the chair like a loaded spring.
His body, once again hijacked by the system, headed straight for the door.
Time to train.