"We are here!" Minato is visibly excited.

Yuji looks around and notices a lot of kids with their parents. He instantly recognizes the civilians and the shinobis from the vast majority of the group.

The shinobis have a calm and composed expression. Whereas their kids have confident looks on their faces. Most of the civilian parents and kids have tense expressions on their faces. The prestige of a shinobi can't be undermined, especially in a shinobi village.

Minato and Yuji look around for help in the admission process.

Yuji spots a young man with white hair standing near the entrance of the academy. There are red tear-marks beneath his eyes. He wears an armlet with the symbol of the academy around his left shoulder.

"Let's go ask him for directions." Yuji points toward the young man.

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

"Damn that geezer! Assigning me to gatekeep the academy of all people."

The white-haired man grits his teeth.

"I want this to be over as soon as possible and return to my research."

"Mister, we want to enter the academy. Can you help us?" A little kid's voice rings in his ear.

The young man lowers his head and notices two kids in front of him.

"Are you asking me?" The young man points a finger toward himself.

"Yes!" Yuji and Minato nod their head. Yuji points towards the cloth armlet around the young man's arm.

"Oh! Yes, yes… of course, you are looking for me." The young man chuckles.

"So, you two are here to enter the academy?" He asks the little kids.

"Yes! That's our intention." Minato nods his head.

"Alright kid! Then tell me what are the requirements to enter the academy?" He questions the kids.

"Umm… anyone who is above five years of age and is a citizen of Konoha can enter the academy," Minato replies to him with a confident expression.

"That's not the complete answer." The young man shakes his head.

"To enter the academy, one must love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity in the village. Must have an unyielding mind able to endure harsh training and work. One should be healthy in both mind and body." Yuji extends Minato's answer.

"OH!" Yuji's answer surprises the young man.

"Kid, how did you know so many things?" He curiously asks Yuji.

"It's written there!" Yuji points toward a giant notice posted on the bulletin board.

"AH!" The young man is perplexed by Yuji's answer.

BANG…

Suddenly, a young woman appears behind the young man. She smacks his head with her fist.

Crack…

A few cracks appear on the ground.

"Stop fooling around, Jiraiya. Sensei asked me to keep an eye on you."

Brrr…

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A shiver runs through Minato's and Yuji's spines.

'She is dangerous! I didn't even sense her presence. And also, what's with this monstrous strength?' Yuji glances at the little cracks in the ground.

'From the degree of rotation, the momentum of her fist, and the angle of her arm; I can judge that she didn't even merely use half of her strength. The muscles on her forearms are so relaxed. If her light tap hits me, I will suffer from concussion and fracture in vertebrae bones.'

Gulp…

Minato gulps his saliva.

"Oh, how can I help you?" The young woman curiously asks them.

"We… we want to take admission to the academy." Minato stutters slightly as he speaks.

Meanwhile, Yuji observes the woman.

The young woman is fair-skinned with brown eyes and straight blonde hair that parts above her forehead. She ties her long hair in a high ponytail. She also wears the academy cloth armlet around her arm.

"One of the lines is for the kids of the shinobis and the other is for civilians. We both are orphans, so where should we line up?"

Yuji points towards two different rows in the distance.

"Poor kids!" Compassion appears in the young woman's eyes.

"Follow me. I will help you with the admission process."

The woman glances at her side and remarks.

"Orochimaru, keep an eye on this idiot, Jiraiya!"

Yuji follows her gaze and notices a pale skin man with golden eyes. He has a snake-like appearance with purple tear markings around his eyes.

Yuji's eyes narrow and his heartbeat speeds up. His instincts alarm him of a powerful person.

'I can't even sense his presence. He is standing in front of me, yet it is as if there is no one there. What an incredible level of presence concealment! The me from my previous life could only dream of such an ability. These people… they are much, much stronger than the previous me. They must be Jounins.' Yuji concludes.

The pale-skinned young man turns to Yuji and smiles.

'His perception is extremely sharp.' Yuji remarks to himself as he follows the young woman.

"Rest assured Tsunade, I will keep an eye on him."

"Tch… Orochimaru, you are such a killjoy!" The white-haired young man harrumphs.

The young woman, Tsunade, arrives in front of a desk with some papers on it. She passes the papers to Yuji and Minato.

"Since you two are orphans, just fill in your names and the name of the orphanage. I will handle the rest."

Yuji and Minato follow her instruction and pass the paper to her.

"Thanks for your help, beautiful elder sister!"

"Oh! Such a pleasant fellow." Tsunade chuckles and takes out candies from her bag.

"This is for both of you!" She chuckles and walks towards the entrance.

"Nee-san… Tsunade nee-san! I am a student at the academy now."

A five-year-old kid with short light brown hair, hazel eyes, and red blush marks below his eyes rushes towards the young woman.

"Oh… that's great of you. We will celebrate tonight." She ruffles the hair of the little kid.

"Minato, let's take a look at the dorms. From today onwards, we will be staying in the academy dorms." Yuji pulls Minato away.

"Alright!" Minato follows him.

Yuji and Minato arrive in front of a large building located behind the academy. A guard is stationed at the entrance of the dorm.

Yuji and Minato hand over their admission papers to the guard. The guard leads them toward a room on the third floor.

"The rooms are shared between people. From today onwards, this will be your room." He hands over the keys to the duo.

"The mess is on the ground floor. If you miss the timing, then expect to sleep with an empty stomach. Also, don't forget to read and engrave the rules of the dorm in your mind." The guard leaves after warning them.

Yuji opens the door and enters the room. There are two beds, two tables, and two cabinets in the room.

"This room is bigger than the one in our orphanage. I will take the right one!" Minato claims the bed on the right.

"Then I will take the one on the left." Yuji scrutinizes the room.

"Where is the bathroom?" Minato looks around for a while and spots it at the end of the hallway.

A few minutes later,

"Let's return to the orphanage. We have to fetch our luggage." Minato reminds Yuji.

"Before that, we have to visit the financial division and open an account in the bank." Yuji reminds him.

"I almost forgot about that," Minato recalls the advice of the beautiful elder sister.

The duo exits the academy dorm and walks toward the Hokage Office located in the administration division of the academy. The Financial division of the village is situated in its vicinity.

"Where are your parents?" The receptionist frowns slightly.

"We are orphans!" Yuji passes his academy registration form to the receptionist.

"Hmm… I see! Here to open an account?"

The receptionist glances at their forms and records their information.

Mm…

"Minato Namikaze and Yuji Kura!" He fumbles through the records and puts down some heavy files after a few minutes.

"Found it!"

He slams two giant files on the table.

"One of you will receive a clan subsidy from the treasury of your clan, while the other will receive living expenses from the village."

"What's that about?" The duo asks with curiosity.

"Every clan has a treasury in the village. The money in the treasury is used to support the war orphans of the respective clans. Some clans even pass down their inheritance through the village treasury." The receptionist explains to them.

He fumbles through various cabinets and, after searching for a while, he walks out with a vault key in his hand.

"Wait here! I will be right back."

Minato and Yuji cluelessly stare into each other's eyes.