[Hokage] A rose in mourning for the summer moon

Since we started practicing “How to Kill a Rabbit Quickly and Accurately” in class, the cafeteria has served rabbit meat at noon, cooked as tempura—coated with flour and deep-fried.

When I was eating in the cafeteria for the first time, the classmates around me gloated and whispered, waiting for me to make a fool of myself.They thought that since I would be hospitalized after being frightened by a rabbit, I must have contributed countless jokes when I ate the killed rabbit.

let them down.

"It's not bad." I tasted it carefully and gave what I thought was a very fair evaluation, "It's just a bit greasy."

Fried food is really a bit greasy.Tempura is inherently a greasy way of cooking it, which is nasty.

I no longer go to the cafeteria to eat, I would rather buy some discounted dishes after school every day and make lunch for myself.Even if it meant I wasted my canteen allowance.

By the way, the cafeteria of Ninja School is free, and so is the teaching.After the war, the country urgently needs new blood, and Konoha, as a weapon of the victorious country, can naturally encourage people to become ninjas by distributing subsidies.This subsidy is also an important reason to encourage me to go to school.

I sometimes think that the meaning of "ninja" in this world is similar to "soldier".It is also possible that compared with "soldiers", we have less honor and more cruelty.

Soon, the ridicule directed at me at school gradually subsided.There are many things to do in life. Adults have to work, discuss gossip, complain about marital discord and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law problems, children have to go to school, do homework, discuss gossip, bullying and being bullied.

It's a ninja world, it's a world where kids start to master violence at the age of 5, so of course the bullying problem is going to get worse.Fortunately, the teachers' management is fairly strict, and under the militarized system, most children don't have the guts to go too far.

It took me a month to pass all the cultural courses required for graduation.It sounds great, but it's actually quite boring.Ninja School's cultural courses are at the freshman level at most, and I don't want to spend my limited time on repeated learning.

Taijutsu, ninjutsu, all the knowledge about this world, this is the part I want to understand carefully.

Graduating cultural courses early made me a little sensation in school, and was even dubbed a "genius" at one point.I really hope that I am a genius, showing amazing talent in all the necessary skills of a ninja. Unfortunately, I only have an upper-middle aptitude. No matter how hard I try, there are several students in the same grade who can do better than me. .

Especially Uchiha Itachi.

As soon as the midterm exam was ranked, the name spread throughout the school, because he was not only the first in the grade, but also got full marks in all courses.

"Uchiha, Uchiha...Xia Yue, isn't this your fellow clan! Let me tell you, this Uchiha Itachi is the real genius, right? It's completely different from someone who is partial to science like you."

Some students would suddenly jump in front of me during class breaks and say provocative words like this with a malicious look on their faces.If they were not 5 years old, this kind of "bad intentions" would probably be more annoying.

But what's the point of being angry with a bunch of 5-year-olds?

What's more, people like Itachi are indeed geniuses.The so-called "genius" is an existence that cannot be envied.

"It's really different," I replied. "He's amazing."

The 5-year-old kid left with a dull face and made a funny face before leaving.It made them look so much cuter.

Children should make funny faces.

School dismisses at three o'clock in the afternoon.very early.I once wondered why the school chooses only half of the time in the afternoon. At this time, the sky is still long and there is still a lot of time to kill, so I am as bored as I am, so I just hide behind the bushes at the door and observe what other people are doing. What.

It doesn't take much observation to discover the truth.

Some families need their children to go back to help with work, while others will "prescribe small things" for their children.Among the latter, some are ninja families, they will ask those celebrities who have experienced the baptism of war to guide their children one-on-one, or the parents themselves are powerful ninjas, much better than the teachers in ninja schools, so they can teach in person; some They are not ninja families, but they have money. They may not want their children to become ninjas, so they let them learn from scholars and businessmen from outside the village in order to seek a stable future.

It turns out that even in the world of ninjas, classes still exist; people are different, families are different, and the future is completely different from the future.

On the first day I observed the world alone in the bushes, on the second day one more person came, on the third day two more people came, and on the fourth day more than a dozen people came.All children, from 5 to 12 years old.

On the fifth day, I couldn't bear it anymore.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, "It's getting a little too lively."

With so many people, how could a mere bush fit them in.Don't talk about observing other people, it's fine if they don't point fingers at us.

"Tch! What, what is following you!"

"Just dangling around!"

"This is not your home!"

"Humph……"

Children, big and small, all showed similar awkward expressions.

"It's just... there is nowhere to go." Finally a child said, with a melancholy expression on his immature face, "Both father and mother are gone."

They are war orphans.

Did I say that?That year was the end of the third war. The country we belonged to won the war, and Konoha also won resources and money, while leaving countless deaths and injuries.Numerous new names have been added to the memorial monument, but no matter whether the honor is really as dazzling as the propaganda, or it can only be an illusory consolation, there is only one fact we know: the living can bear everything, happiness or sorrow .

Or the sadness that far outweighs the joy.

The village didn't ignore the situation, at least not for long.The school quickly organized after-school activities, notifying students that they could volunteer.There are games, as well as game-like gymnastics exercises.

"Xia Yue, do you want to come?" A child asked me, "Let's play together."

I refused.

"I still have something to do, see you tomorrow."

When leaving, a few whispers came from behind.

"People in the Uchiha are very exclusive."

"Don't pay attention to them, they all look great."

The sky is blue, the leaves are green, and the head of the Fourth Hokage being carved on the cliff to the north is also very handsome.When you walk out of the school, you can see the word "forbearance" hanging at the gate when you look back. The fiery red background color is the same color as the name of this country - the country of fire.

It still looks good, but it looks boring.You can't see the hidden dirt, you can't see the wider sky, and you can't see the future.

So, what's the deal with gossip at school?What do you care about with a group of kids?Instead of worrying about these boring things, it is better to focus on your own path.

I took Kunai and shuriken, a book explaining basic ninjutsu, and a history of the world, and walked towards the forest outside the village.It was a secluded place, perfect for concentrating on practice.

The village is surrounded by forests, and I can't tell which is more suitable, so I randomly chose a direction, which is the one in the northwest.Let me tell you, if I had gone in a different direction this year, the subsequent story might have been completely different, right?

Because, it was in the forest in the northwest that I met Itachi Uchiha again.