Yuji and Minato exit from a cloth shop.

"Thanks for the purchase."

The fat merchant greets them with a smile.

Yuji has a cloth bag in his hands.

"Is this for Miina and Hana?" Minato curiously asks him.

"Mm… Miina has done so much for everyone. She spends almost all of her monthly salary on the needs of the orphanage kids, even though she doesn't have to. I just wanted to repay her just a little by gifting these new clothes to her. All of her clothes are worn out and patched in multiple places."

"I am sure she would like it." Minato nods.

Soon, they appear in front of a slightly worn-out building located at the border of the residential district. A young woman in her late twenties with shoulder-length black hair stands outside the orphanage with worry evident on her face. The woman has deep blue eyes and a white coif covers her hair.

She is dressed in a worn-out black, loose-fitting gown with a white apron over it with sandals. Another little girl with brown hair and emerald green eyes stands beside her. Two to three little kids around three to four years of age surround them.

Hana notices Minato and Yuji walking toward the orphanage.

"Miina, Nii-san!" Hana tugs the sleeve of the young woman.

The woman turns around and notices Minato and Yuji.

"Thank god, they are here!"

She heaves a sigh of relief and dashes towards Yuji and Minato.

"Why are you so late? I was worried about you." She hugs Yuji in her embrace.

"How are your injuries now? Are you alright? Did the staff of the hospital take proper care of you? Did you eat all the apples I send you? Did you share any with Minato, despite my warning?" The young woman asks a series of questions from Yuji.

Minato quickly hides beside the little girl.

"I… I am fine."

A complicated expression appears on Yuji's face. He feels a foreign expression welling up in his heart. A never felt warmth soothe his heart.

'What… what is this feeling? Why does this feel good?' Several questions arise in his mind.

"I… I am alright. My injuries have healed. The hospital staff took good care of me."

Yuji recalls the stony face of everyone in the hospital.

"I ate all the apples you sent me. And no, I didn't share any with Minato." Yuji shakes his head.

"You are lying!" Miina twists his ear.

'How did she find out? There is no change in my heartbeat, blood pressure, or facial muscles. Was it Hana or Minato?'

"You have become good at lying! I can't read your face." She pinches his cheeks and turns to Minato.

"But I can see it on Minato's face." She walks towards Minato and twists his ear.

"Aww…. Aw… that hurt! I am sorry… Miina. I won't do it again." Minato pleads innocence.

"Yeah, you won't do it again." Miina wipes a teardrop from her eyes.

"You all have grown up and will move out of the orphanage to join the academy." Miina reminisces while staring at the faces of the little kids around her.

"It's not like we won't visit you in the future. It's not that far away from the academy." Minato rebuts.

"Yeah, you are right!" She ruffles their hair while murmuring to herself.

'Only if you manage to survive after graduating from the academy.'

Miina recalls the faces of several orphans leaving and never returning back.

Yuji manages to hear her murmur thanks to his exceptional hearing.

'Looks like the path of shinobi isn't as easy as I initially thought it to be.'

"Alright, today on the occasion of Yuji's recovery; I will prepare the special stew for everyone." Miina chuckles.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yeah, I like the speezial… stteeww… of Miina." Hana dances and celebrate around her.

"Miina, I have something for you."

Yuji hands over the package in his hand.

"What's this?" Miina stares at the package and asks him.

"I got some money as compensation from the police. So, I bought something for you." Yuji pushes the packet into her hands.

"Open it!"

"It isn't too expensive, right?" She hesitates while taking another glance at the packet.

"Just open it!"

"If it's too expensive, we will return it. You must save money for your future. Studying and training in an academy requires lots of money." Miina argues with him.

Yuji helplessly turns to Minato and Nono.

"Oh! What's this gift? Let me take a look." Nono grabs the package from his hand and tears it open.

"What a pretty dress?" Her eyes sparkle at the sight of a blue robe decorated with white roses.

"This one is good too!" Another black robe with white frills appears in her hands.

"That's… that's too expensive!" Miina stares at the outfits with wide eyes.

"Come with me to the shop. It's still not too late. We will make it before the shop closes." Miina grabs Yuji's hands and pulls him.

"The shop is already closed and the owner won't do a refund on the previously purchased clothes since you tore the packaging." Yuji points toward the wrinkles in the clothes.

"Oops… it's my bad!" Nono closes one of her eyes and pulls out her tongue.

Sigh…

Miina sighs and takes another glance at the clothes.

"What if we refund for slightly less money?"

"No, not happening!"

Growl…

The stomach of little kids growls.

"Look, the kids are so hungry right now! Let's eat dinner." Nono grabs one of Miina's arms and pulls her toward the orphanage.

"Yes, let's go!" Minato grabs another of her arms and pulls her inside the orphanage.

"Sigh… you kid. You worry me too much!" Miina sighs and enters the orphanage with them.

"Nii-san!" Hana curiously stares at the other package in Yuji's arm.

"Little Hana was a good girl, right?"

"Mm…" Hana nods her head.

"Then this is a gift for good girl Hana!" Yuji tears opens the package and hands a little light blue frock to Hana.

"Wow! It's so sparkly, so shiny!" Hana's eyes glows. She hugs the frock in her embrace. She asks Yuji to lower his head.

"Onii-chan! You are the best." Hana kisses his cheek and run to the orphanage.

Yuji touches his face and recall the warm sensation in his heart.

'If there is a light in this dark world, then this must be it!' He closes his eyes.

---------------------------

A week later,

"Yuji, Minato! Both of you do your best. Also, don't forget to visit us often." Miina ruffles their hair.

"Yes, Onii-chaan, come play with me when you are free. Hana will be a good girl when you aren't here." Hana hugs him tightly.

Yesterday, Nono and Miina spent a large amount of time convincing the little girl. The little critter won't stop crying at all.

"Yes, we will!" Minato ruffles the hair of other little kids.

Hana asks Yuji to lower his head.

"Muah!" She kisses his cheek.

"This is my good luck charm for Onii-chan!"

"Let's go!" Minato walks away from the orphanage with a sad face.

"It's too early to say goodbye. We will be back in the evening to pick up our luggage." Yuji reminds him.

"Come on! Don't sour the mood with your whining." Minato shakes his head.

Yuji ignores him and turns around to walk toward the center of the village.

The shinobi academy is located in the center of the village opposite the Hokage's office.

In these past few days, he has collected much information about the academy, the power system of the village, and the geography of this world from Miina, since she is the only adult he knows in the orphanage.

'So, there are two leaders of this nation, like the president and prime minister of my previous life. One of them manages the military power while the other manages the economic power. Hokage is the head of the Konoha village, which is the military power of the Land of Fire ruled by another head called Daimyo.'

The power system is quite distributed and flawed, to be honest. It takes the agreement of two heads to make a major decision, which can lead to questionable delays in decision-making. However, if a single person holds the power, then it might lead to dictatorship. This seems to be a problem with roots in both worlds and there doesn't seem to be a solution to it, even in his previous life.

The position of Daimyo is hereditary and can be inherited by the family members of the Daimyo. However, the Hokage is selected by an elder council, of which the Daimyo is the figurative head. There are several criteria to select a hokage, but Miina isn't aware of the details.

As for the geography of this world, Miina never traveled outside the Land of Fire. So, she doesn't have much knowledge. However, according to the geography classes she took in the academy; five great nations rule the majority of the explored landmass of this world. There are also several less powerful small villages spread throughout the world.

'Well, I have to see it myself to gain more knowledge on the subject."

Now lastly, the academy. There are no strict requirements except for the age to enter the academy. However, there are several strict requirements for graduating from the shinobi academy. Too bad, Miina didn't reveal any details about the graduation requirement.

However, she did tell me about the ranks of a shinobi. The shinobi system is divided into three different ranks. Once someone graduates from the academy, he starts as a genin and is at the bottom tier of the hierarchy.

Next up is a chunnin who is slightly more experienced and requires a certain level of skill and power. A chunnin exam is held for genins to gain promotion to a chunnin.

Next up comes the jounins, the true top-tier combat prowess of the village. They have exceptional skills and possess an arsenal of abilities to combat any situation. Promotion to a jounin is made under the strict scrutiny of the Hokage Office.

There is also a special rank in between a chunnin and jounin called Special Jounin or tokubetsu jounin. There are similar to warrant officers from my previous life and possess expertise in a specific area rather than all-around skills like jounin. Again, the promotion to a special jounin is held under Hokage's scrutiny.

'Apparently, Miina is a special jounin.'

This fact surprised Yuji a little when he stared at an innocent face of Miina.

Indeed, every light has darkness hidden beneath it.

'If I were to rank just the physical abilities from my previous life, then I am somewhere around a low-rank chunnin. My experience and other skill might be at the level of a Jounin, but the previous me don't stand a chance against them. The most the previous peak me could handle is a draw with a mid-tier chunnin. This is all based on my speculation from the information I heard from Miina. This makes me wonder how strong Miina is!'

"We are here!" Minato's voice snaps him out of his thoughts.