Reborn in the Shinobi World with an Arceus Inside

"Good news! Starting tomorrow, you all get to go to school!"

Granny Rong announced the news to the children at dinner.

"School? What's that?" someone asked, confused.

"I know! It's where everyone gathers to learn, and special teachers teach you how to read and write and things like that. My dad… he used to be a teacher."

"Granny Rong, is it just us going to school?"

"Oh no, everyone in the village under the age of twelve can attend. So you'll get to meet different people and make lots of new friends."

"New friends? That's great!" Yahiko said, clapping his hands. "Nagato, let's have a competition to see who can learn faster!"

"Okay," Nagato nodded.

"Alright, it's getting late. Hurry back to your rooms and get some sleep," Granny Rong urged. "And you can't be late tomorrow, especially you two, Yahiko and Nagato!"

"Okay!"

Back in their room, Yahiko was so excited he was rolling around on the floor.

"Hey, Nagato, do you think they'll teach us ninjutsu at school? I heard that's where ninja learn all their cool techniques."

"I don't know." Nagato shook his head. The bloody memory of that day surfaced in his mind, and he couldn't help but ask, "Yahiko, do you want to be a ninja?"

"Yeah!"

"Why? Those ninja… they did that to our parents…"

"That's exactly why I want to become a ninja," Yahiko said, his expression serious. "I want to use my own strength to stop things like that from ever happening again. I'm going to make a world where there's no more war!"

"..." Nagato stared at Yahiko, mesmerized, and murmured, "Wow, Yahiko… you're amazing."

"Heh heh, you're not so bad yourself, Nagato. Let's work hard together!"

"Yeah."

The two of them exchanged a smile.

"Hey, Yahiko, Nagato, you two again! Hurry up and put out the lights and go to sleep!" Granny Rong's voice came from outside the door, startling Yahiko so much that he immediately blew out the candle and scrambled into bed.

Nagato had already wrapped himself tightly in his blanket, not making a sound.

When the sound of Granny Rong's footsteps faded away, intermittent laughter echoed through the dark room.

"Goodnight, Nagato."

"Mm, goodnight."

The next day, both Yahiko and Nagato woke up early and were not late.

After breakfast, Granny Rong led them and a dozen other children to the front of the school.

"Kindle Academy?"

The entrance wasn't very impressive, just a stone wall surrounding the grounds. The children stood on their tiptoes but couldn't see what was inside.

Besides their group, many other children were trickling into the school, but they were all accompanied by adults.

"What are they carrying on their backs?"

"Bookbags, I think. For carrying things."

"Why don't we have any?"

"We don't have anything to carry."

Hearing their conversation, Granny Rong pursed her lips, then waved goodbye to them. "It's about time. You should go in. Remember to listen to your teachers and get along with your classmates."

"Okay!"

They walked onto the school grounds empty-handed, blending into the crowd without seeming particularly out of place. Following the signs, they all entered a classroom.

The classroom was square and not particularly large, filled with neat rows of desks and chairs. Yahiko did a quick count; there were about fifty seats, and less than half were currently taken.

He looked left and right, and suddenly spotted a familiar hair color in the front row.

"Hey, Nagato, isn't that Konan, Shiori's daughter?"

"Yeah."

Having been to the tower for work several times, they had become quite familiar with Shiori. But Konan was rather shy and always stayed hidden in her room, so they hadn't seen her much and didn't know her well.

Seeing that many of the front seats were already taken, the two didn't go up to greet Konan, instead hurrying to claim two adjacent seats for themselves.

"Nagato, look, the tabletop is indented and covered with a layer of fine sand," Yahiko quickly discovered something new.

Nagato looked down and saw that the desk was indeed covered in a layer of fine sand. He curiously reached out a finger and drew a curved line in it.

"Yeah, you can draw on it! Watch this!" Yahiko's eyes lit up. He immediately leaned over his desk and began to draw intently with his finger.

Seeing this, Nagato also stretched out his finger.

"Heh, all done!"

A few minutes later, Yahiko shouted and pulled Nagato over. "Look, this one with the spiky hedgehog hair is me, and the one next to me with the long hair is you. And the person under our feet is the bad guy we beat up! What do you think, isn't it a great drawing?"

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Nagato said in admiration.

"What about you? What did you draw?"

"N-nothing."

"Come on, let me see." Yahiko leaned over, craning his neck, and saw on Nagato's desk a drawing of three figures—two large and one small—holding hands.

After a moment of silence, Yahiko said with a smile, "That's mean. You didn't even include me."

"No, that's not it, I…" Nagato tried to explain, but Yahiko pushed him aside.

"Let me add myself." Yahiko began adding small figures to the empty space. "This one is me, and this is Shiori and Konan. Hmm, should I add Mister Kaito? I guess so. And Granny Rong and the others… ah, there's no more room…"

Nagato stared at the desk, now completely filled with the drawing of little people. He was stunned for a moment, then said quietly, "Yahiko, you draw really well, much better than me."

"Hmph, of course!"

About ten minutes later, three figures entered through the door, and the once-noisy classroom instantly fell silent.

Kaito walked up to the lectern and coughed twice, drawing the attention of all the children.

"My name is Kaito. I'm sure you've all seen me many times—I'm the guy who has to say a few words every day at noon."

A few children in the audience laughed appreciatively.

"As of today, I am the headmaster of this Kindle Academy. That means I'm the one with the highest rank. That fierce-looking old man standing at the classroom door is named Genji. He's the school's dean of discipline, which means he's the one who'll keep you in line. The other tall fellow wearing the demonic mask is Yamabiko. He'll be your academic teacher. Hmm, for now, the school only has two teachers. The other one is me."

As they were introduced, Genji and Yamabiko Yuto both stepped forward and waved, by way of greeting.

"Alright, introductions are over. I know none of you like listening to lectures, so I'll keep this brief."

Kaito surveyed the room, his voice growing serious. "Do you know why you're here? It's not because of the war, and it's not because of me. It's because of where you came from. You were born in a poor, remote mountain village in the Land of Rain. From birth, you were at a disadvantage compared to those born in big cities or in the great ninja villages. Without an opportunity, you would have spent your entire lives stuck in that mountain village, with no way to get ahead."

"But now, the Kindle Academy is giving you a chance to turn your lives around. Whether or not you can seize it depends on your own efforts. So, answer me now: do you want to make a name for yourselves? Do you want to have meat to eat at every meal, every single day?"

"YES!"

"Then what do you have to do?"

"WORK HARD!"

"Very good." Kaito smiled, satisfied. "I'm finished."