On the Uchiha training grounds, Masashi had just finished his m workout.

  He woke up retively early today.

  Last night, after strolling and chatting with two notable figures, he returo the grounds to rest.

  Of course, before heading home to sleep, he made sure to escort both Hikari and Haku to their new home. The siblings had adapted remarkably well to Konoha, sidering their circumstances.

  However, st night, for some reason, Fugaku and Minato seemed to have hit it off, ultimately asking him to run a pre-enrollment css for the two little ones.

  Though framed as a request, could he refuse?

  Rank had its privileges, after all.

  In Konoha, most childreer the Ninja Academy around seven ht years old. The system was desighis way for a reason— young minds ime to develop before handling the responsibilities of ninja life.

  Children like Itachi, who enroll early and graduate early, are exceptions. And looked how that turned out in another life...

  The Uchiha children usually enroll at the standard age, but the offers pre-enrollment csses, starting from as young as three to five years old. Each child's potential o be carefully assessed and nurtured.

  However, jonin were often busy, and it was unrealistic for them to teach daily. When they were on missions, they asked close acquaintao help with teag.

  The higher their status, the more skilled they could recruit.

  At the level of the Hokage, it was essentially delegatiirely.

  For instance, Hiruzen once handed his you soo Danzō for tut.

  Masashi was undoubtedly a skilled ninja. vely, he was also on a month-long break, making him the perfect didate for the job.

  Naturally, Masashi himself found the idea somewhat intriguing.

  This time would be different from wheored Itachi. He wouldn't sck off—he inteo teach seriously. The stakes were too high for anything less.

  He was curious to see the raw talent for ninjutsu in individuals imbued with the chakra of Asura and Indra under normal ditions.

  While the inal timeline's Sasuke required no eboration, even Naruto, despite his reputation as the css dunce, eventually proved otherwise through his achievements.

  Moreover, teag two kids wasn't much different from teag three or four. He decided to include Karin and Haku in the lessons as well. Each child would need a different approach, but they would learn to work together.

  Once he resumed his missions, he po have Shisui assist with the teag.

  Leaving the training grounds, he first headed to Hikari's pce.

  When he reached her new home, he found her already waiting at the door, pulling along aed Haku.

  "Hikari, o wait for me at the door," Masashi said. "Just wait at home."

  Hikari's face turned bright red, though whether it was from the air or something else was unclear.

  Even Haku's cheeks looked flushed.

  "No, I truly don't know how to thank you," Hikari said shyly. "When will you be home today? I'll cook for you."

  "o go to the trouble," Masashi was about to dee but residered. After teag four little ones all day, cooking would likely be the st thing he wao do. "Alright then, but I'll be bringing the other kids over as well."

  "Of course!"

  Haku was even more excited—his sister had told him st night that they'd be learning ninjutsu today. How cool! I want to bee a ninja and protect my sister!

  Seeing his eager expression, Masashi chuckled.

  He loved watg newbies' enthusiasm before reality crushed their dreams. What a bad guy he was.

  "Haku, e on, follow me. Today's your day to shine."

  "Yes!" Haku shouted enthusiastically.

  Masashi smiled silently, took Haku from Hikari, held his hand, and headed door.

  Sasuke was, of course, on the list.

  When he khe door opened almost immediately.

  It was Itachi, holding a sleepy-eyed Sasuke by the hand.

  This little cub liked to sleep in—that wouldn't do. Such a bad habit o go.

  Success came to those who hustled.

  "Masashi-nii, what took you so long? We've been up fes."

  Nonsense—like hell you have. Your little brother was definitely dragged out of bed just now.

  "You're peting with Hikari now?" Masashi chuckled. "Alright, hand Sasuke over. I'll teach him how to pilot a jaeger."

  "What's a jaeger?" Itachi pondered seriously for a moment befrumbling slightly, "e to think of it, you've aught me ninjutsu even once, Masashi-nii."

  "Hey, Shisui's teiques are more suited to you."

  I taught you how to "read." That's what's important.

  It took some effort to pry Sasuke away from his overly attached brother, but thankfully, it didn't dey the schedule.

  The stop couldn't be done on foot—he was running out of time.

  "e, Sasuke, grab my hand," Masashi said, watg the young Uchiha's reas carefully.

  "???" Sasuke looked at his empty hand in fusion. Though still sleepy, the boy thought he figured it out. "You're takio eat, right? I want dango!"

  Masashi g Itachi, who gave an awkward ugh.

  "Sasuke's still young," Itachi expined mely.

  "He's not that young," Masashi replied. Turning to Sasuke, he said, "No dango, but I take you flying. Want to?"

  "Yes!" Sasuke perked up, grabbing his hand without hesitation.

  Itachi was immediately reminded of his first outing with Masashi.

  He quickly tried to say something, but before he could get a word out, the three had disappeared before his eyes.

  "Ah…" Itachi sighed.

  "What's wrong, Itachi?" Fugaku stepped out of the house. "Hmm? Masashi already took your brother?"

  "Yes, Father," Itachi replied, thinking of the strong but quirky tutor, uo resist pining. "But are you sure about this? His personality is... peculiar."

  "There's o worry," Fugaku said firmly. "You and Sasuke have different paths, which is for the best." He added a reminder, "Shisui will e by ter. Make sure you're prepared—don't sck off in your training."

  "Yes, Father," Itachi said, giving up on further pints. Resolving himself, he obediently went to prepare.

  ---

  Meanwhile, Masashi had just picked up Naruto and Karin from the Namikaze household. The Flying Thunder God had left both children slightly dizzy but excited.

  Naruto and Sasuke hit it off instantly, their energy filling the room.

  Their first iion was a volley of "Naruto!" and "Sasuke!"

  They're only three years old and already at it!

  Judging by Minato and Kushina's pletely unfazed reas, this must've been a daily occurrence.

  Sigh...

  Indra, why did you and Asura ever have to fight in the first pce? Maybe this time...

  Karin, oher hand, was quiet and well-behaved. To her, Masashi was a kind big brother, so she listened ily.

  After greeting Minato and Kushina, Masashi set off with the four children.

  Before starting lessons, he decided to take them somewhere special.

  ---

  Acc to the inal Ninja Academy admission standards set by Tobirama: To ehe ninja academy, one must first master the e Jutsu and demonstrate a good aptitude for chakra trol.

  The reason was simple.

  During the Warring States Period, the goal was to quickly cultivate bat power. Talented individuals destio bee ninjas o have a systematiderstanding of their growth path from the start. Among the Three Basic Jutsu, e Jutsu was the most only used a reflected a ninja's characteristics.

  Every exceptional ninja mastered the e Jutsu to araordinary degree. Talent was sedary; the key was uanding.

  Moreover, once a system was established, it was best not to switch midway. A prime example from the inal timeline was Kakashi, who began with a specialized approach but ter adopted a hodgepodge of styles.

  Simirly, Sasuke and Naruto had shaky foundational training. Naruto, for instance, cked pruida the beginning. His uanding of ninjutsu was severely underdeveloped. Although the ails' chakra interference was a factor, his struggles with the e Jutsu at the Academy underscored weak fuals.

  By the time he had petent teachers, many bad habits were already ingrained.

  Sasuke's foundation was solid initially, but after the Uchiha 's downfall, he had no guidance. Until the in Exams, his progress stagnated. Later, he trained under Kakashi and Orochimaru, two teachers with vastly different systems and philosophies.

  Orochimaru was paratively more sistent, which was why Sasuke's strength soared after defeg—it was a gamble that paid off.

  However, her Sasuke nor Naruto started with a systemic, big-picture uanding. They learned piecemeal, with no clear dire. Without their i "plot armor," they would likely have ended up mediocre.

  So Masashi believed that his role was to teach the basics. The rest didn't require intervention—both of them had access to abundant resources.

  The five figures reappeared in the Valley of the End.

  This was the site of the legendary battle between Hashirama and Madara. Their csh had carved out a deep river ge.

  A river now flowed through the valley, with the rgest elevation drop f a waterfall. Full-body stoatues of both of them stood majestically oher side of the waterfall.

  Masashi led the four children via Flying Thunder God to the forested edge near Madara's statue.

  From this vantage point, they could see the river below and clearly view the two enormous statues.

  The four kids colpsed to the ground, their initial excitement repced by exhaustion. The Flying Thunder God was a bit too stimuting for their age.

  After a brief rest, they regaiheir senses and immediately noticed the t statues and the waterfall casg between them.

  "Wow!" the children excimed ihey're huge!"

  Sasuke's gaze fixated on Madara's statue, while Naruto was drawn to Hashirama's. Both found these mos deeply captivating.

  "Starting today, you'll all call me teacher," Masashi's voiapped their attention ba.

  "Sasuke, Naruto, at the request of your parents, I'll spend the month teag you how to feel chakra and use ninjutsu. Karin and Haku will join as well. Especially you, Haku—you're the oldest, so you'll o work extra hard."

  Haku nodded vigorously.

  "Yay! I'm going to learn ninjutsu!" Naruto shouted iement.

  He always thought it was amazing how his mom's hair would float whe angry. Maybe he could learn to make his own hair do that too.

  Sasuke, who often watched his brother and other members perf ninja feats, was equally eager, though he tried to maintain a more dignified appearance.

  Karin, oher hand, had no clear cept of what ninjutsu entailed. Her memories of ninjas were mostly terrifying, but Masashi was an exception, so she listened ily.

  "Before we dive in, since you don't have a clear idea of what ninjutsu is, I'll start by demonstrating teiques from your respective s. Since Sasuke and I are both Uchiha, let's begin with an Uchiha jutsu."

  Turning his back to the children, Masashi formed the seals for the Great Fireball Jutsu.

  For him, using it now was almost instantaneous.

  The m sky was still dim, so to the children, the world was suddenly bathed in fiery red.

  A huge fireball lit up everything as it plunged into the river below. The valley walls turned blood-red, and when the fireball smashed into the water, it ripped away dirt and rocks, sending steam and debris shooting up everywhere.

  Sasuke's face lit up with excitement, his eyes refleg the dying embers.

  He loved pying ninja games and thought this was the coolest thing ever. His older brother would never use a fireball like this at home—not because he couldn't, but because their parents would tan his hide.

  Naruto was equally thrilled, though a bit envious. After all, Masashi had said this was an Uchiha jutsu. His feet shuffled impatiently, waiting for what would e .

  "The sed one is from Naruto and Karin's , the Uzumaki ."

  Naruto perked up immediately, and Karin couldn't help but feel a flicker of anticipation.

  Suddenly, hundreds of chakra s burst forth from Masashi, rising into the sky and f a massive hat desded toward the ground.

  "Wow!" Though it didn't have the same destructive visual impact as the fireball, the children instinctively closed their eyes, feeling as if the s might crush them.

  Just before the s touched down, Masashi stopped the teique. The s dissolved into nothingness.

  "It might not seem as fshy, but these s attack physical targets," he expined, releasing a smaller number of s from his hand this time.

  The s shot into a nearby forest, tearing through trees and leaving a path of destru. The kids stared, sck-jawed, as broken branches and debris rained down.

  Naruto, after a moment of silence, felt eted. His 's jutsu was just as amazing as the Uchiha's!

  His chest puffed out with pride.

  "Finally, we have the Yuki 's Ice Release."

  Stopping the chakra s, Masashi cpped his hands together. Massive ice arms burst from the forest, their crystalliructure refleg light to create a dazzling dispy of colors.

  Haku's eyes sparkled with excitement.

  "That's about it," Masashi said, looking at the children. "Do you want to learn?"

  All four nodded furiously. Even Karin, who'd held back the most, couldn't hide how excited she was now.

  "I show you how, if you want. But..." Masashi smiled mischievously. "These are ninjutsu only obedient children master. So, who's the most obedient?"

  "Me! I'm the most obedient!" Naruto shouted, raising his hand eagerly, practically jumping up and down.

  Sasuke gave Naruto a disdainful look.

  He raised both hands.

  "No! Me! I'm way more obedient than Naruto!"