Chapter 11: New Friends

Thank you for the powerstones, here's another chapter.

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[Shinji's Perspective]

The first day of the Academy had been... uneventful, to say the least.

Our teacher, Shinzo Nara, had spent two full hours napping at his desk before abruptly waking up, yawning, and casually walking out of the classroom as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

The entire class just stared in stunned silence as the first period of our supposed shinobi education had been spent in complete self-study. Then, when the lunch bell rang, the entire class filed out, heading toward the canteen.

I took a seat at an empty table, unwrapping the standard-issue lunch provided by the Academy.

'A surprisingly efficient way to provide proper nutrition to every growing ninja… and it forces clan heirs and civilian students to eat together, increasing camaraderie. Sometimes, Konoha's higher-ups show remarkable intelligence… and sometimes they make such mind-numbingly stupid decisions that I wonder how this village still exists.'

As I ate, a group of five students approached my table, two of whom I immediately recognized—the Uchiha and Nara who sat beside me in class.

"Are you Lord Jiraiya's student?" asked the Uchiha, his voice brimming with curiosity.

"Who are you" I asked as all of them took seats beside me.

He puffed out his chest, trying to appear larger than he was. "I am Akira Uchiha, the one who will become the strongest Uchiha!"

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. "But can you surpass Itachi?"

His entire body tensed as if I had just physically punched him.

Ah yes, the best way to humble an arrogant Uchiha—mention Itachi. Works every time.

He quickly gathered himself and narrowed his eyes at me. "Hey, answer my question first! Are you really Lord Jiraiya's student, Shinji Murakami?"

I popped a meatball into my mouth before nodding. "Yeah."

Immediately, the entire group erupted into questions.

"Is it true you could use ninjutsu before even joining the Academy?"

"Did you really survive an attack from the Nine-Tails?"

"I heard you defeated a Genin at five years old!"

I blinked. 'Where the hell are these rumors coming from?'

Before I could answer, the Nara kid finally spoke up, sighing in exasperation. "Stop being annoying. Those are just exaggerated rumors. He's an Academy student just like us."

I shot him a grateful look. "Thanks. What's your name?"

"Shigeo Nara."

The others took turns introducing themselves:

Akane Uchiha – the quieter, more observant one of the Uchiha duo.

Aoi Akimichi – the slightly chubby yet cheerful boy.

Fumiko Yamanaka – the blond girl with an excited, curious energy.

I nodded. "Shinji Murakami. Yes, I'm Jiraiya's student."

Akane's eyes practically sparkled with excitement. "Did Lord Jiraiya teach you any special jutsu?"

Akira leaned forward. "Yeah! Not just the basic stuff—something legendary!"

I shrugged. "He mostly made me train the basics until I was strong enough to learn real ninjutsu. Whenever I asked for special techniques, he always said I wasn't ready."

Aoi frowned. "That's weird… I mean, he's a Sannin. Why would he teach his student like a normal clan does?"

I smirked. "Because he's not an idiot. A strong foundation is more important than flashy techniques."

They seemed to accept that answer, but I decided to give them something interesting without revealing too much.

"Hey, but I do have something special to show you."

The entire group leaned in, intrigued.

I formed the Rabbit hand seal, summoning my mischievous Rabbit Shikigami.

The moment the small, fluffy creature appeared, both girls immediately squealed, reaching out to grab it.

The Rabbit cackled evilly and leapt onto my head, dodging their grasp.

Shigeo, on the other hand, eyed it cautiously. "What is that?"

"A summon," I said nonchalantly.

Shigeo frowned. "But I didn't see any summoning seals appear, and you didn't use blood as a conduit. That's not how summoning jutsu works."

I gave him my most innocent look. "It's a special summon. It already has a seal on its belly, so I don't need to use blood."

He didn't seem fully convinced, but he dropped the subject.

Akira crossed his arms. "A tiny rabbit isn't a very useful summon. What does it even do?"

I smirked. "Let me show you."

I gave the Rabbit a simple command.

A heartbeat later, the canteen was flooded with hundreds of rabbits.

Soon chaos erupted in the canteen.

Students screamed as rabbits leaped onto their tables, swiping food straight from their trays. Others tried catching them, only for the tiny creatures to slip right through their hands, bouncing off their heads and shoulders. One poor kid was completely buried under a pile of fluff, his muffled shouts of confusion lost beneath the mass of hopping creatures.

Fumiko screamed in delight, while Akira and Aoi tried to dodge the stampede. Shigeo, however, was analysing the situation with a calculating gaze.

"So they can use Shadow Clone Jutsu," he muttered. "A numbers-based technique. Good for reconnaissance… but not much else."

I smirked. "Imagine thousands of them swarming you—scratching, biting, and attacking without hesitation. Quantity is a quality of its own."

'I have experienced that myself'

Just as realization dawned on their faces, a group of Chunin instructors in green vests entered the canteen.

'Time to go.'

I immediately dispelled the Shikigami, causing all the rabbits to melt back into my shadow.

The only evidence of their existence? The sheer disaster left in their wake.

Grabbing my tray, I quickly finished my food. "Let's go before we get blamed for this."

The others immediately followed, snickering as we escaped the chaos.

As we hurried through the halls, Akane laughed. "Where to now?"

I smirked. "The Academy Library. We've got time to kill before the next lesson."

We arrived at the library a few minutes later, and the first thing I noticed was the sheer number of scrolls.

'Of course, they prefer scrolls over books…'

We split up, searching for anything interesting. But when I tried to head to the upper floors, I was immediately stopped.

"Only genin and above are allowed beyond this point," the librarian said.

I frowned. 'So no C-rank or higher jutsu for us…'

That meant we were stuck with only E and D-rank techniques.

Still, as I scanned the available scrolls, my eyes landed on one in particular.

'Introduction to Fuinjutsu.'

A slow grin spread across my face.

'This… this is exactly what I was looking for.'