The large mountain carved with faces of the previous Hokages was clearly visible from anywhere within the village.

'Minato Namikaze. Father of the main character, Naruto Uzumaki. The fourth Hokage of the leaf village.'

'It is a pity that I couldn't meet him.'

Kai thought as he gazed at the freshly carved face of Minato on the mountain.

The death of Minato and Kushina was one of the saddest things that happened in the anime.

And the stone monument was reminding him again and again of the tragedy. As a fan, he found it unbearable.

'Obito, that lunatic.'

*Sigh*

'Madara, that ultimate lunatic.'

Kai cursed out in his mind as if he was chanting a mantra.

He continued to walk by cruising at other familiar names like Danzo, Orochimaru, Zetsu, and the entire Otsutsuki family.

He didn't care even if the sage of the six paths heard him.

Finally, after a short walk, Kai reached the academy building.

It was a generic large school building that was situated right next to the Hokage monument and the Hokage office.

The only notable feature was the large training ground and the symbol of the land of fire and leaf village at the entrance.

Many people were coming and going out of the academy. Today was the day new students were admitted to class. So, there were a lot of parents and children walking around.

'This is the place I am going to spend the next couple of years in.' Kai savoured the sight and said in his mind.

While most of the children coming to the academy want to immediately show their talent and graduate, Kai was thinking the exact opposite.

He wanted to be a student as long as he could like Naruto and barely pass the exam.

'A ninja should know how to lie, hide and deceive, right?'

It was the best way he could think of to buy him some time.

'I need to become strong enough to protect myself before leaving the academy.'

Kai decided.

Once he made his decision, he walked forward confidently.

—-

Kai reached the office of the academy. He lingered around until he made eye contact with a person at the front desk.

The person was wearing a typical chunin uniform and a leaf headband.

'A ninja.' Kai recognised

'A ninja clerk?'

'Anyway, I think I should talk to him about my admission.'

The ninja academy was free to all those who had the talent to use chakra. As the son of two ninjas, Kai wasn't concerned about not having any talent.

By just talking with the people in the office, he was sure that he could receive admission.

Thus, he went forward to speak with the person.

"I want to join this year."

Kai led with that.

"Name." The ninja clerk asked back.

He wasn't concerned why Kai was alone when came to get admission. He just asked for the name and patiently waited.

"Kai. I am Kai Ikazuchi."

"Kai Ikazuchi." The ninja took out a register from the side and began to flip through it.

After a while, he paused on a page. It had all the information about Kai and his family.

Even before Kai came here, they seemed to have collected every information about him.

"Kai Ikazuchi, son of Takashi Ikazuchi?"

"Yes," Kai replied.

"You are assigned to class 3. Go left from here until you see the class number." The person on the front desk folded a paper and handed it to Kai before saying.

"The paper contains information about the curriculum. Your teacher will explain more."

There was no admission procedure or anything. Kai was immediately sent to a class as soon as he reached there.

'That was fast.'

Carrying the piece of paper, Kai walked in the direction the ninja clerk pointed out.

That's when he finally met a familiar face.

'High collar shirt with short sleeves and a Uchiha insignia on the back.'

It was impossible for Kai to not recognise this person who was of a similar age to himself.

'Itachi Uchiha!'

He was shocked to see one of the most notorious people in the entire show.

'And more precisely, a one-of-a-kind lunatic.'

Itachi was said to be a kind young man until he witnessed the cruelties of war first-hand. The pain and suffering of the people during the third ninja war broke him. Thus, for a world without war, he was willing to do anything.

Anything including killing his own family and massacring his clan.

'A kind lunatic.'

'A kind of lunatic.'

'One-of-a-kind lunatic.'

There was no better way to describe Itachi.

'What's he doing here?'

'Oh! He might be here to attend the academy. Now that I think about it, Itachi might be of the same age as me. Then, are we going to be in the same class?'

'No, please god no.'

If possible, Kai wished to avoid unnecessary troubles. He didn't want to be in touch with a future Root member or even a fugitive.

'Should I avoid him.'

'But how can I avoid him when we are going in the same direction?'

'Maybe he won't notice me.'

'Itachi was not the kind that would talk to his peers. He is so full of himself that he considers every one of his peers as someone below in skill and intelligence. Maybe he would avoid me instead.'

'I don't mind being looked down on. So, please look down at me.'

'Anyway, he looks too cute for a terrorist.'

A flurry of thoughts flew around in Kai's mind.

As expected, Itachi didn't care about any passersby as they walked towards classroom 3, not even Kai.

Finally, they reached their destination and entered the classroom.

There were about twenty children in the entire classroom.

'Spiky hair, fatties, white hair, playing with insects, puppy face. Most of these children are from prominent clans of the leaf.'

'Why am I sent to a class like this?'

'It might be a mistake. Should I return and check with the clerk again.'

'There is no way, I am sent to a class with all the talented individuals.'

Kai then looked around.

He saw a few commoner ninjas there. About a dozen or so. They looked proud to be sitting along with the clan ninjas.

'By being near the geniuses, do they think they are also geniuses?'

Kai couldn't fathom their thoughts.

'Maybe there are a few other classes. After the nine-tailed attack, only a few commoners would willingly come to become ninjas. It might be why we are all bundled together.'

Suddenly, a person walked from outside the classroom.

"Hello, I am Kenji Tanaka. I am your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you."

In one breath, a youthful person wearing a chunin uniform said. He was smiling at the kids as he walked in.

"Now, everyone please find a seat and sit."

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