"You guys, can you quiet down a bit?"
At that moment, a stern voice came from the podium. It was the unmistakably harsh tone of Mr. Nishimura—the infamous "black face" teacher of the Academy.
Immediately, the classroom fell silent.
"Kushina-san, please go ahead and find a seat."
Just moments ago, Mr. Nishimura had been fuming, but now, when facing Kushina, he quickly put on a smile.
This Nishimura-sensei was seriously problematic.
It was obvious his change in attitude was because Kushina had been personally recommended by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Yet when dealing with the rest of them—"the future flowers of Konoha," as some teachers called the kids—his tone turned sour and stern.
Mr. Nishimura leaned closer to Kushina and whispered.
"Anyway, be careful, Kushina. This class is full of problem children. Watch out for the dangerous ones. Got it?"
"Yes, sir! I'll stay far away from any dangerous people!" Kushina answered seriously, loud enough for half the class to hear.
"Shhh! Quiet, quiet," Mr. Nishimura quickly waved his hands in panic.
"Ahem. In any case, please take your seat now."
Kushina looked around the room and spotted an empty desk in front of Uchiha Tatsumi. Hugging her backpack, she began walking toward it.
"Hey, Chen, isn't that Rope Tree's seat?" whispered Minato, giving Tatsumi a gentle nudge.
"Yeah, but didn't Tsunade-sensei already sell Rope Tree off to work in the mines in the Land of Earth or something? It's fine, Uncle Nishimura didn't say anything." Tatsumi replied under his breath.
"..."
Apparently, no one in the class had really noticed Rope Tree's absence. No one even seemed to care that he hadn't shown up in days.
Truly deserving of his spot on the "Top Ten Least Noticed People in Class" ranking.
Uchiha Tatsumi glanced at Minato.
"So, Mizumon, what did Jiraiya-sama have you doing this week?"
Instead of answering, Minato countered, "What about you? What did Tsunade-sama have you do?"
"Mizumon, you've changed. Back when we were eating ramen, you used to tell me everything. But now that you've started collecting 'reference material' with Jiraiya-sama, you've become so... secretive," Tatsumi sighed dramatically, putting on a disappointed face.
"..."
At that moment, Kushina, now seated in front of Tatsumi, opened a book and leaned subtly back toward him.
"Good morning, Chen," she whispered.
"Morning, Kushina. Welcome to the Academy," Tatsumi replied with a small smile.
He then glanced over to Mikoto and Minato, signaling them subtly.
"Kushina is Rope Tree's distant cousin. She just arrived in Konoha yesterday."
Kushina turned and gave a nervous smile, cheeks flushing a vivid red. Socializing with strangers clearly wasn't her strong suit.
Mikoto, ever tactful, picked up on the situation immediately. Without breaking her gaze from her textbook, she greeted quietly.
"Uzumaki-san?"
"Y-Yes? What is it?"
"I'm Uchiha Mikoto. Please take care of me."
"I'm Uzumaki Kushina. Please take care of me too…" she whispered shyly.
"Hello, Uzumaki-san!" Minato chimed in warmly.
"Just call me Kushina," she said with a nervous smile.
"By the way, Chen… are you still sore?" Kushina asked.
"Ah… it's nothing," Tatsumi said with a forced smile, the memory of Tsunade's monstrous strength flashing in his mind. His body was still aching, though mostly healed now.
"Anyway, do you know where Rope Tree is now? Did they really send him to the Land of Earth?"
Just then, the classroom fell silent again.
Uchiha Tatsumi looked up to see Rope Tree walking in—with half his face wrapped in bandages.
He looked like he'd just gone ten rounds with a rampaging bull.
Or worse… Tsunade.
"Rope… Rope Tree?"
Tatsumi was shocked. After a few days, Rope Tree had turned into something resembling a low-budget mummy.
"Hey, Chen, don't make that face. Am I really that hideous now? Wait—no, no, that can't be it!" Rope Tree tried to defend himself, his bandaged mouth muffling his words.
"Kushina, I'm sorry. Your first day at school and already you've seen Rope Tree looking like that. I hope he didn't scare you too badly," Tatsumi said solemnly, ignoring Rope Tree entirely.
"It's not like that! My face has character, my eyes sparkle with determination, and my body is full of lines! That's called having presence, not being ugly!" Rope Tree insisted.
"You know, Rope Tree," Tatsumi smirked, "I actually know someone who's into your 'look' right now."
"What? Really? I didn't expect such refined taste among your friends. Who is it? I must know!"
"I think their name was… Uchiha—"
"Uchiha?! A girl from your clan?!"
"Yep. Uchiha Ryo." (The 'boss' of the Uchiha trio.)
"..."
"Hey, class, please be quiet over there."
Just as Tatsumi was about to keep teasing Rope Tree, a loud voice rang out.
"Yes, you guys—settle down!"
It was Mr. Nishimura, looking ready to blow a gasket. The man's forehead vein was practically throbbing.
Disrupting class again?
"Rope Tree, find a seat immediately!"
Nishimura rapped the desk with his knuckles in frustration and glared at Tatsumi.
Tatsumi clamped his mouth shut.
CRACK! CLANG!
The desk beneath Nishimura suddenly collapsed into a pile of splinters.
Nishimura froze, humiliated. He hadn't even hit it that hard.
Was this karma? A salary deduction was inevitable at this point.
"Ahem… I'll go get a replacement desk. Class, please wait quietly. Rope Tree, find an empty seat and sit down."
With that, Nishimura hurried out of the room.
The moment he left, the classroom exploded with chatter.
"I've been saying it for weeks—the principal's totally embezzling the school's repair funds," Tatsumi muttered.
Minato chuckled, shaking his head.
Rope Tree had no choice but to sit beside Minato now. His original seat had been taken by his cousin, Kushina.
Tatsumi now fully understood what had happened.
Tsunade really was the most terrifying of the Sannin.