"Happy birthday, Mitsuki-chan~!"
"Happy birthday, Mitsuki!"
Mitsuki ended up spending his birthday at the Nohara household. Rin's request to have a sleepover was quickly shot down by both Mitsuki and Lady Nohara.
After enjoying a warm dinner with the Noharas, Mitsuki returned home with two presents in hand.
Ever since that reverse ambush by Uchiha En, Mitsuki had started to feel like life in this world had been a little too easy.
Since reincarnating, he hadn't once left Konoha. He had no idea what life was like in other countries, or for civilians in other shinobi villages.
But based on what he remembered from the original timeline, things were grim. In most of the smaller nations, civilians lived day to day, constantly at risk.
Even just to preserve this peaceful life he now enjoyed, Mitsuki had plenty of reasons to grow stronger.
Sitting on the sofa in his living room, Mitsuki opened the gifts from Lady Nohara and Rin. The former had gifted him a ninja vest, while Rin gave him a shinobi tool pouch. Both were incredibly practical—very in tune with the ninja world's gift-giving culture.
Remembering something, Mitsuki walked into Kento's room and pulled out a birthday box he had found while organizing his father's belongings.
"Thank you for your gift. I've received it."
He spoke quietly as he undid the ribbon and opened the box, taking out a short sword that had been prepared by both En and Kento.
He decided to name it Mistcutter.
He hoped that someday, he could wield this blade himself to slice through the Hidden Mist's backbone—especially the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Konoha Year 39
This year, Mitsuki turned six. And today was the day of the Ninja Academy entrance ceremony.
Over the past year, Mitsuki hadn't thrown himself into extreme training just to escape the grief of Kenjin's death.
After all, he was a reincarnator with memories of a past life—an ambitious youth from the information-overloaded 21st century. He knew how to train smart, not just hard.
Running laps around the village every day with a five-year-old's body wasn't exactly a great idea.
Even if he could handle it, Rin definitely couldn't.
That's right—after finding out Mitsuki had already mastered chakra control, Rin felt a little ashamed of how lax she'd been. She begged him to let her join his training regimen.
Naturally, Mitsuki had to tone it down, if only to prevent his adorable Rin from turning into a muscle-bound chibi monster.
"Mitsuki, Mitsuki! Awesome—we're in the same class!"
Rin beamed as she pumped her fists with excitement.
"Yeah, Class 1" Mitsuki replied casually, his eyes scanning the room.
Quite a few familiar faces…
Kakashi, Aoba, and that black-haired girl with the curls must be Kurenai. The boy next to her… could that be Asuma?
Wait a sec—Kurenai's still so tiny, and Asuma's already eyeing her?
"Hey, Mitsuki, what're you staring at?" Rin noticed his attention had frozen in one direction and followed his line of sight — her smile stiffened a bit.
"Sorry, I was just thinking" Mitsuki quickly put his hands together and offered a little apology.
"But seriously, there are a lot of people here. I thought with the war going on, most villagers wouldn't want their kids becoming shinobi."
Too naive. He'd made a mistake in common sense.
In the shinobi world, ninja had become a formal profession, replacing the old samurai class.
Sure, it was dangerous—but the pay wasn't bad. Even a lowly genin could support an entire household with mission money.
And in times of war, who didn't want power?
Plus, the Third Hokage was constantly promoting the battlefield heroics of civilian-born shinobi. It made people more willing to send their kids to the academy.
Rin chimed in after hearing Mitsuki's doubts.
"Really? But when I told Mom I wanted to enroll, she agreed almost immediately."
"Guess I was just overthinking it. Anyway, let's go find our seats."
"Roger! And don't worry, Mitsuki—grown-ups are hard to figure out, you know."
Rin was always so understanding.
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
A boy with goggles was helping an elderly woman carrying a massive backpack.
"Thank you so much, Obito-kun. But it might take a while to find where I'm going… are you really okay with that?"
"Of course, Granny. It'd be rough for you to do it alone."
That's right—this kind-hearted kid was Uchiha Obito. Today was his first day at the academy, too. Whether he forgot or simply thought helping someone was more important… either way, he was definitely going to be late.
Back at the academy…
Mitsuki and Rin had found their seats. Since they signed up together, their seats were naturally side by side.
"Didn't expect to end up in the same class. Hey, Mitsuki, Rin — have either of you seen that idiot Obito?"
Kakashi walked over and greeted them with a calm voice.
Even before officially enrolling, Mitsuki, Rin, Kakashi, and Obito had become friends through a few early encounters.
"Obito's still not here? Class is about to start — being late on the first day's a bad look" Rin said with concern.
Mitsuki pretended to scan the room but was actually checking the entire village with his Six Eyes.
Found him.
"Mmm, don't worry, Kakashi. Obito's probably out helping another old lady or chasing cats again. Just be ready — he might be late the entire day."
"That's basically the worst-case scenario, Mitsuki" Rin muttered.
"I'll go let the teacher know and pick up Obito's enrollment packet" Kakashi sighed.
Ding~
The bell rang.
The three of them returned to their seats just as a middle-aged shinobi in a flak jacket walked into the classroom.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Morino Nobita, and I'll be your homeroom instructor. I run a tight ship, so prepare yourselves."
Strict from the start—this guy wasn't pulling punches.
"Mitsuki, Nobita-sensei looks like a real hardass. Obito's doomed" Rin whispered.
"No worries. Kakashi's the one explaining things for him. Even the strictest teacher would go easy if Kakashi is the one pleading for someone."
Mitsuki wasn't wrong. Kakashi's genius reputation had already spread before classes began. And his father was none other than Hatake Sakumo.
Even in the shinobi world, the saying "Like father, like son" held weight.
"Alright, let's start with introductions. You—on the far left. Begin."
He pointed to a boy with pineapple-shaped hair.
"Man, what a drag. What should I even say, sensei?"
"Just your name, what you like and dislike, and your dream."
"Fine… I'm Nara Daen. I like lying around at home. I hate troublesome stuff. My dream is to marry a wife who's not too pretty, not too plain, and live a peaceful life."
"Excellent, full of spirit. Next."
Nobita clearly didn't care about the attitude—he just wanted the kids to get familiar with each other.
"I'm Mitarashi Anko. I love dango. I hate unsweetened food. My dream is to become a kunoichi like Lady Tsunade!"
"I'm Sarutobi Asuma…"