The next day, Natsuo left the academy with some children by his side.
These children, of civilian origin, approached Natsuo during the day and became friends.
After his demonstration against Nawaki, Natsuo became popular even though he lost to the heir of the Senju clan.
Therefore, these children became his friends when they saw that Natsuo was not arrogant like the other Uchiha children.
One of them was blond, named Minato Namikaze.
Of course, Minato only recently started training and hasn't yet shown his full potential.
Since he was also an orphan, he got along very well with Natsuo.
Besides his friends, Natsuo also became popular with the girls.
Natsuo was grateful to have inherited his parents' genes, but it was annoying when little girls laughed as they turned to look at him.
If they were older, Natsuo would be happy, but it was uncomfortable to feel the stares of 6-year-old girls on his back at all times.
"Goodbye, see you tomorrow," said Natsuo's new friends as each of them approached his parents.
Minato and Natsuo were the only ones who didn't have someone to pick them up.
But while Minato joined a group of his friends from the village orphanage, Natsuo withdrew alone because he was in a hurry.
As he headed towards the Uchiha clan compound, Natsuo ignored the other Uchiha children in his class, and they ignored him.
During classes they looked at him with mocking faces, rejoicing that Natsuo had not joined the clan's training.
Natsuo, on the other hand, ignored them, and they stopped paying attention to him when they couldn't get a reaction from him.
Because he was in a hurry, Natsuo ran towards the orphanage to drop off his things and go to the hospital.
When she returned last night, the matron was disappointed that Natsuo hadn't been adopted by an elder of the clan, but she was very happy for him when she told him that he would be receiving an apprenticeship at the clan hospital.
At dinner, the matron prepared a dessert for all the children, and everyone celebrated Natsuo's decision to study to become a medical ninja.
Of course, Natsuo could hear several older children saying it was a shame they weren't trained by the clan, and some of them regretted not having the opportunity.
Natsuo scoffed inwardly, shaking his head at the children's ignorance of the horrors of war.
Even if they survive the next world wars, they will have to beware of Danzo's hunt.
Anyway, Natsuo ate quickly at the orphanage before leaving for the Uchiha clan hospital.
Sanjiro had already shown him the way and explained the procedures, instructions which Natsuo followed when he approached a lady sitting behind a desk at the entrance of the hospital and Natsuo was soon in a room alongside other medical ninjas in training.
Unlike Natsuo, they all had several years of ninja training, so his small figure stood out among them.
Some of them wanted to ask about her presence there, but the teacher entered the classroom and continued with the topic they had covered in the previous class.
It was only after 30 minutes that the teacher stopped and explained Natsuo's presence.
The teacher's name was Uchiha Toki, and she explained to Natsuo that he needed to catch up since he had arrived in the middle of the clan's medical ninja training period.
Natsuo nodded, showing that he understood, while feeling the stares of the other students.
Uchiha Toki continued with the class and asked the students several questions to see if they were paying attention and answered the details that the students did not understand.
After 1 hour, the class ended and the students began to leave the classroom.
"Natsuo, come to my desk please," said the teacher, and Natsuo approached her.
"This is the list of books you have to read"
"You can find them in the hospital library."
"Your classmates spend a lot of time in the library, so you can ask them to explain the topics you don't understand," the teacher said as she handed her a piece of paper with the names of medical books.
Uchiha Toki was annoyed that the clan had decided to put a six-year-old boy in her class, especially since half the term had already passed. But she said nothing more after Sanjiro explained the boy's situation and his status as an orphan.
Uchiha Toki was 35 years old, married, and had 3 children, so she opposed the idea of young children leaving the village on dangerous missions, an opinion that many in the clan did not share.
In Toki's opinion, children should have time to grow up and then they could go on easy missions accompanied by reliable ninjas.
It is when they are older that they can go on more difficult missions.
Many in the clan did not share his opinion, believing that the Uchiha should prove themselves to be the strongest.
In the end, Toki smiled victoriously, remembering that his 3 children were still alive while other families had only 1 living child or none at all.
Others might say that Toki was overly cautious, but Toki ignored them and encouraged her children to enter the hospital, a goal she only achieved with one of them while the other two entered the Uchiha police station.
When Toki learned of Natsuo's situation, he took pity on him and allowed the boy to enter his class even though they were already halfway through the period.
Of course, Toki didn't expect the boy to be able to keep up with the other students. Rather, she expected the boy to fail the class and have to retake it the following period.
Toki's goal with this was to keep the boy occupied and prevent the clan elders from changing their minds and capturing him.
"Thank you, Master Toki," Natsuo said, taking the paper while bowing.
"Study hard, but even if you can't pass the class, you can retake it next term," Toki said with a smile to the little boy.
Natsuo smiled and bowed again before leaving.
Natsuo liked the teacher very much, who tried to make things easier for him, thinking that he wouldn't be able to pass the class.
But Natsuo couldn't tell him that he underestimated him, since he was only a 6-year-old boy.
Even if he showed some talent, knowledge of anatomy and medicine was not something a 6-year-old could learn in the remainder of the period.
Natsuo was going to prove her wrong.
In any case, being intelligent wasn't something that would draw attention to him at the moment. And even when he demonstrates his talent in medical ninjutsu, others will only think of him as an outstanding medical ninja.
'As a medical ninja, I won't attract any trouble, right?' Natsuo thought as he headed towards the hospital library.
Before leaving the classroom, teacher Toki had told her where the library was, so it only took her 10 minutes to get there after asking the staff a few times.
Upon entering the library, Natsuo not only found students from the medical program, but also several experienced medical ninjas who had come to the library to brush up on certain knowledge they needed.
Natsuo also found several of his classmates, but he didn't bother them and went to look for the books that teacher Toki wrote in the note.
After checking the first title in the note, it only took Natsuo 5 minutes to find it and he sat down behind a table to read it.
As he turned page by page, smoothly and quietly, Natsuo read at great speed, easily memorizing the information.
It took him 1 hour to read the entire book and he closed it before stretching his back against the seat.
Seeing through the library window that the sun was setting, Natsuo stood up and returned the book to its place.
She left the library and headed towards the orphanage.
After dinner, Natsuo washed his face and took a bath before going to bed.
While the other children slept, Natsuo entered his mind palace and reviewed everything he had learned during the day.
What he had read in the library was etched in his mind, and although there were some details he didn't understand, Natsuo set a reminder in his mind to pay attention in the classes at the hospital.
.
.
.
The days passed in the same way for Natsuo.
During the day I went to the academy and in the afternoon I went to the hospital to take classes.
While the teacher explained and the other students asked their questions, Natsuo remained silent while memorizing everything that entered his head.
Faced with the silence of the youngest child in the classroom, Toki could only feel amazement at Natsuo's intelligence.