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Accidental Gamer Hero by Knowing Autumn
 Anime » Naruto Rated: M, English, Fantasy, Hinata H., OC, Words: 198k+, Favs: 3k+, Follows: 4k+, Published: Dec 5, 2020 Updated: 12h ago1,945Chapter 9: Graduation
A/N: Longer author's note at the end, enjoy!
P.S. Yay to my first 100k words story! I'm really proud of this story and it's definitely the best out of all three I've written. On a more depressing note, this is likely to be the last fanfic I will ever write, just because I have other commitments in life - a full time job, a long term girlfriend who I will be marrying soon and having children of my own eventually. So although people might be complaining about how 100k words in and I'm still at the academy arc, personally I'm slowly savouring what is to be my last hurrah on ffnet, so all I can say is: buckle up buckaroo, we're going on an adventure!
"Whenever you're ready." I prompted, as I watched my opponent, Sasuke, tense his body. In the meantime, I activated my Sharingan, with a surge of chakra as my black irises morphed into bright red. My two tomoe Sharingan spun wildly in response to Sasuke's narrowed onyx eyes.
We stood motionless for a few seconds, both of us just watching and waiting. I was waiting for his first move, while he was analysing my stance, searching for weaknesses. He wouldn't find any, I made sure of it.
The silence wouldn't last long as without warning, Sasuke flew into handseals. Taking that as the signal to begin, I ran towards him.
When the Uchiha formed the last of his handseals, the tiger seal indicated to me that he was likely going to use a fire release technique. Not that I needed to guess anyways, recognized what he was about to use from the handseals alone.
"Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" Sasuke spat out a volley of fireballs in to the air in different directions, but all were converging towards a single target – me.
'Whirlwind Steps!' An invisible and indiscernible flow of energy saturated my legs as I activated the Soldier's Swift Boots' item effect. Instantly, I felt myself moving faster. Twice as fast to be exact. I darted away from the volley of small fire balls flying at me with ease and resumed my advance towards my opponent, Sasuke.
I could see his eyes visibly widen at my increased speed, not used to such a drastic difference since I never used the item effect against him before. But this time, this time it was different.
The two us, Sasuke and I, have been engaging in intense fights for the past two years. I called them fights, not spars, because we always went all out with deadly intent. Well, him anyways, I usually performed just slightly above what he was capable of. We were already in the last year of the academy, yet despite our best efforts his Sharingan has still not awakened. I was genuinely baffled, to be honest. I was sure my theory was right, but something just wasn't clicking.
But recently I had an epiphany. In order to force Sasuke to reawaken his Sharingan, he had to truly believe he was in mortal peril. Therefore, today, I would utterly push him to death's door, or so I would have him think.
Sasuke backed off in response to my rapid advance, but I was too fast for him to escape. I could see his eyes twitching in thought, running through all the possible scenarios and simulations of this fight. We fought plenty enough for him to know that most of the skills in his repertoire were already proven to be useless against me. As a result, he also knew that it was only a matter of time before I caught him slipping and ended the match.
Yet that was the crux of the problem. The notion that I was eventually going to catch him and end the fight with him bruised but relatively unscathed meant that there was still a part of him that maintained the awareness that I was not genuinely trying to take his life. I speculated that it was this awareness that was holding him back from entering a state of mortal peril, which correspondingly hindered him from awakening his already existing Sharingan.
It was no longer the time for mercy and leniency. It was time for action.
Sasuke stopped backing away, realizing the futility of the action since my catching up to him was inevitable. The three basic academy jutsus were out, my Sharingan could see through them all. His collection of elemental jutsu were also useless against someone who could overpower them all with his own. Taijutsu, out of the question. He was aware that I outmatched him in every aspect of physical combat with or without the Sharingan. Genjutsu? Needless to say, completely futile.
What other options did he have left? Realizing that he had none, Sasuke stood his ground and unsheathed the wakizashi from his back. It was a weapon he had picked up after witnessing my own skills with it. I found it just a little cute that he was trying to imitate me, but his skills with the blade left much to be desired. I taught him the basics, but he declined to learn more from me, claiming that he wanted his kenjutsu techniques to be a secret from me, so he could take me by surprise during our matches.
Clever, but pointless and frankly disadvantageous to himself. There was a limit to learning kenjutsu by your ownself without a teacher to guide you. I was an exception, not the rule. The fact that he was not able to grasp that meant he still had more maturing to do. In his defence however, I was clobbering him pretty hard every time we fought, so it wasn't that surprising he wanted a hidden ace.
However, I didn't push the issue. I only trained Sasuke in the basics and fundamentals, as well as regularly acting as a sparring partner. Other than that, I was almost completely hands off with his training. I didn't want him to rely on me for power – not like how he relied on Orochimaru. Since I still wasn't sure if him defecting to the Snake Sannin would ultimately be better for his growth.
As I approached him, he swung the wakizashi at me, a layer of chakra coating the blade that was made of chakra metal. In response, I activated a skill that I had created with the Gamer System after some experimentation over the years – [Shinkyoken].
The skill was a result of some experimentation with [Chakra Enhancement] and was derived from a taijutsu style I found in the Uchiha Jutsu repository, called Shinkyoken, meaning True Void Fist. The bombastic name was what drew me to the martial art in the first place, but upon reading the scroll, I was slightly disappointed to find that the moves within as well as its philosophies closely resembled Karate.
It was a martial art that was created to replace the need for any weapons other than oneself, emphasizing the human hands as the deadliest weapon of them all. However, it was an insidious fighting style that incorporated eye gouging, throat punches, fish hooking and ear ripping. But at the same time, it also required the user to be able to harden their hands through conditioning to the point of being able to poke holes into concrete with just their fingers.
The premise of Shinkyoden was to strengthen one's hands and fingers such that any punch, knifehand or spearhand had the lethality to kill as easily as with a bladed weapon. On paper, it sounded like a taijutsu style that was extremely deadly. However, it only experienced a brief moment of glory before it faded into obscurity as the scroll explained that there were only two recorded masters of the martial art – the progenitor of Shinkyoden and his only disciple.
The problem with this style was that it was simply too difficult and took too long for someone to develop the required durability in order to practically utilize its techniques. Originally, practitioners of Shinkyoden, to condition their hands, would undergo Jari Bako training – thrusting their fingers into a bucket of sand and then slowly building up towards harder and harder alternatives. Normally, this would take years if not a decade to develop tough enough hands to punch through concrete without chakra.
No sane person would spend 10 years punching rocks, breaking their fingers, waiting for them to heal and only to break them again just to learn how to kill without a weapon when there were plenty of other alternatives shinobi could use for the same effect.
Initially, I dismissed its teachings as purely nonsensical as well. But after some time practicing and experimenting just out of curiosity during some downtime, the skill [Shinkyoken] was created. However, unlike other skills, this particular one, though it may seem strange, changed the physical properties of my body just with its inception. Without underdoing the necessary training, my hands and fingers were hardened to the point of being able to utilize Shinkyoken at a minimum standard.
However, the skill was still at level one so I wasn't able to do something as preposterous as poking holes into rocks yet; I could perhaps thrust a spearhand through inch thick plywood. But according to the skill description, the durability of my hands and fingers would increase in proportion to its level. And when used in conjunction with [Chakra Enhancement], it turned my hands into lethal weapons like a cleaver, needle or spear depending on which form I used.
As a result, I could easily do things like deflecting Sasuke's wakizashi with just my hand. The flat part of course, not the edge. We exchanged blows, me with a knifehand reinforced with chakra and him with a wakizashi sharpened with chakra. A third party observer might have commented that we looked pretty even, but only because I allowed it to be.
The biggest problem Sasuke had facing against me was his inability to use chakra enhancement to increase his bodily strength and speed. Thus, he would never be able to overpower my strength or surpass my speed. And without the Sharingan to negate such a disadvantage in a typical fight, it was a wall that could not be overcome without strategy or preparation.
I got bored of the monotonous exchange and decided to deprive him of his weapon, to extract some sort of a fearful reaction. I parried his last thrust with my left hand and with my right one I jabbed the tendon on his wrist, forcing him to release his grip on the wakizashi. Before Sasuke could react, I closed the distance and fluidly elbowed him in the nose, knocking him back.
As Sasuke nursed his now bleeding nose, I used [Observe] on the Uchiha's blade.
[Satori (Wakizashi) – Grade: Epic]
An heirloom short sword passed down in the Uchiha clan, only to be wielded by the leader of the clan. The sword has seen many battles and taken even more lives, reaping its way through multiple wars and over a hundred years of the world's history. It is the masterpiece of an extraordinarily skilful master blacksmith. The balance, edge and strength of the sword is unparalleled amongst its kind but only a master swordsman is able to bring out its full potential.
Durability: 340/340
Damage: S
STR +43
DEX +61
+33% to Physical Damage
+33% to Attack Speed
Item Skill: [Phantom Butterfly] – Active
CP Cost: 800
Allows user to flicker in and out of corporeality for 10 seconds at will. For every second spent incorporeal, user must spend 1 second corporeal. Cooldown 1 hour.
Holy fucking shit this was like a final boss loot drop level item appearing during the tutorial of a game. The bonus DEX stats it gave was even higher than my own DEX stat. Not to mention the increase in physical damage and attack speed. The item skill effect was even more preposterous. Such a weapon was wasted on an academy student, who I presumed to have found it in the Uchiha clan armoury or in his father's possessions. He most likely took it for his own use seeing that there was no one around to stop him. He did have the right to use it since he was technically the Uchiha clan leader by virtue of being the only living and loyal member of his clan.
The fact that even with the badass sword Sasuke still stood no chance against me physical only confirmed my theory that the item effects, be they stat boosts or item skills, only affected me who was under the Gamer System. Anyone else would only see it as a very well made sword with a lot of history, but only I could use it to its full potential.
But as much as I lusted for the Epic grade wakizashi, it was not mine to covet. I was willing to admit that after spending so much time with Sasuke over the years, I had formed a sort of familial bond with him. I saw him as the brother I never had, and he saw me as the brother he would rather have. The short sword, as crazily overpowered as it was, belonged to the Uchiha clan. It belonged to my brother. I could never covet his possession unless he gave it to me willingly. I did have some integrity after all.
I picked up Satori and threw it back at him, the short sword embedding itself in the ground in front of him.
"Your skills with the blade is… dubious. It is an excellent sword, but it will only do you more harm than good to use it when you barely know how to swing and stab properly." I mentioned, "If you want to properly use it, improve your skills first before swinging it around like it's a broken branch."
Sasuke ignored my suggestion and removed Satori from the dirt it was stabbing into, before getting into a kenjutsu stance. Even now, I saw the fragility of his stance, a sign of his obvious unfamiliarity with it. I sighed at him ignoring my suggestion but shrugged it off. He would learn the lesson the hard way then.
Without waiting for a signal from him, I continued our fight. However, unlike our previous exchange, I decided to finish this with as much brutality as I could without being too damaging.
From his perspective I vanished mid-run and reappeared within his guard. I had used [Flash Step] to increase my movement drastically, moving fast enough to appear as though I teleported to the untrained eye. Shocked at my sudden appearance, Sasuke couldn't even react accordingly before I attacked.
Utilizing [Shinkyoken] I swiped at his torso, and with my extended index and middle finger I left two bloody gashes across his chest. I wasn't trying to kill him of course – I measured the distance and force of the strike so that I would just barely cut his chest. Maximum visual effect but ultimately non-fatal.
He was surprised at the sudden brutality of my offense and made to counter with an open palm aimed at my chin. I quickly intercepted his attack by jabbing his bicep which knocked away his arm and then with a clawing motion tore into his outstretched forearm.
Blood spurted out again, splattering on both of us, but I didn't relent. I continuously attacked him with [Shinkyoken], slicing into his flesh just deep enough to draw blood but nothing too dangerous. Whenever he tried fighting back, I countered and went at him harder. If he attempted to escape or move away, I would rapidly catch up and punish him for doing so.
After just 30 seconds, Sasuke was bleeding all over with open cuts littered on his torso, arms, thighs and with the last stab, a particularly deep gash opened up on his cheek just below his right eye. That last one he received in his attempt to retreat, which I let succeed.
The boy wasn't particular short on breath, since the fight had only been going on for a minute or two, but the continual blood loss had him weak and fatigued. His legs were wobbly, and body unsteady from the dizziness and nausea. His breathing quickened, a response from his brain to compensate for the sudden loss in oxygen intake due to the loss of blood, and the sheen from the film of cold sweat on him was apparent.
"Wait, stop. I yield." He said, surrendering. Sasuke's eyes were shaking, unused to the savagery and cruelty of my attacks. I usually had to prompt him to yield before he would be willing to swallow the bitter pill of defeat and concede. But this time he capitulated on his own accord, unlike our previous battles.
"You yield?" I levelled a cold glare on the Uchiha and hissed out.
He nodded, reluctant, but ultimately he understood the difference between our capabilities. To hold on persistently would only be counter-productive.
"No." I simply responded and continued my assault on the boy.
"Wa-wait! You-! I said I yield, are you crazy!" He panickily asked while desperately trying to evade the viciousness of Shinkyoken. He swung his wakizashi at me from an obtuse angle, trying to catch me off guard but I mercilessly sliced into the back of his hand holding the blade, forcing him to release it, and landed a fist on the open gashes of his torso.
I then threw a low kick at the side of his knee, sweeping him off his feet and sending him groaning in pain and on to the ground.
Looking down on the now 12 year old boy who cradled his knee and other wounds while laying flaccidly on the floor, I narrowed my eyes.
"Is this all your resolve amounts to? Surrender? How pathetic."
Sasuke returned a murderous glare at me, but the anger behind his look bounced off my armour of indifference and cold resentment ineffectively.
"After all this time, you still haven't awakened your Sharingan. You are just wasting my time." I coldly continued.
"You speak of lofty goals – killing Itachi and rebuilding your clan. But when the going gets tough, you yield? Your determination is weak. Your will is lacking. Your resolve, feeble."
With every biting word, I saw his resolve shaking. He glared, but the emotion behind them wavered. He knew what I said was true, no matter how much he wanted to deny them. As much as I was disappointed with him, he was even more disappointed with himself.
"You… you know nothing." He shakily replied, internally cursing his own ineptitude.
"Nothing? No, I know everything. I have been here for the last three years training with you. And I have seen all that I needed to see. You… are a disappointment."
"SHUT UP!" He growled, struggling to get back up to his feet, but I cut off his attempts by kicking him in the chest and sending him rolling on the ground.
"Weak… so weak. But I am let down not by your lack of strength. No, strength can be cultivated. What I despise is your sickeningly paltry resolve. Avenge your clan? Don't make me laugh. If you can't even stand up to me; if you surrender so easily, what hopes would you have against your brother." I stated while taking slow measured steps towards the boy.
"You bastard! Don't screw with me Shinji! You… You're just like him… I lack hatred, is that it? TELL ME!" Sasuke yelled in response, hammering the ground with a closed fist once and again tried to pick himself up. He swore at his trembling body and pounded himself in the chest, but it was of no use. His body, bloodied and beaten, refused to listen to him. Tears welled up in his eyes, as a scream of indignation left his mouth.
"Hmph! It is not hatred that you lack. It is courage. The will to keep fighting no matter what tries to stop you. The drive to succeed even if you had to die trying. Your determination is weak and fleeting. It pales in comparison to your brother's."
"Don't screw with me Shinji," He repeated, only this time it was no longer anger that fuelled him but a deepening despair. "Not you… why are you saying this…"
A pang of guilt struck my heart, but I had to continue. Otherwise all of this would have been for naught. "Tears? You make me sick." I spat out, as chakra swirled menacingly around my straightened fingers.
Please dodge this, I pleaded mentally in my mind, raising my hand in preparation to strike him down. "You are no Uchiha. You do not deserve that name. You… you should have died that day along with the rest of your family."
With that, I thrusted downwards, desperately praying he would avoid it. And at the last minute, he did. Sasuke rolled out of the way, his eyes looking back at me and his face twisted in unholy anger.
"HOW DARE YOU! You take that back! Take it back! I… I'm an Uchiha! I will kill Itachi! AND I WILL KILL YOU!" He roared out furiously and a second wind overtook his exhausted body. Running at me, he cocked back a fist and swung it at me.
Slightly taken aback, I opened my mouth to say something but was forced to parry his punch. Upon seeing his initial attack failing, he went down low and swept at my feet. I moved back and Sasuke followed up with a series of ferocious kicks and punches, all of which faster and more accurate than ever before.
Narrowly evading a back fist, I leaned back to make some space between us only to be caught by a spinning back kick that landed on my jaw.
-332 HP!
I got knocked back and barely had time to register the hit before Sasuke raged onwards, his attacks wild and savage but with a method to his madness.
Getting over my initial shock, I moved in to grapple him. I blocked a fist and my other hand snaked in to grab his wrist. Not letting him break out of my hold, I twisted his arm and locked his upper limbs into a tangled mess. But the boy did not relent, attempting to knee my torso with his free legs.
I took the hit with a clenched jaw but took the opportunity to trip his other supporting leg. I threw him down on the ground and continued a death grip on his arms as he violently resisted, trying to break free.
"Sasuke!" I shouted, trying to get his attention. But he ignored me, only focusing on trying to break free. I shifted my position so that I was mounted on top of him, sitting on his torso while holding down his arms.
"SASUKE!" I yelled again, and this time it worked. He stopped and glared at me.
"What!?" The boy angrily demanded but was then shocked to see a warm smile on my face.
"You did it." I simply answered and loosened my grip on him.
He looked back in confusion but still with some anger behind it, "Did what?"
I released him and stood back up, smiling down at the confused Uchiha still on the ground.
"Your eyes. Your Sharingan is awake."
He widened his eyes, the red and black of the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit staring back at me. One tomoe on his left eye and two on his right.
Quest [Sharingan Reawakening] Completed!
Help Sasuke awaken his Sharingan (√)
(Bonus) Complete quest before graduating from the Academy (√)
(Hidden) Complete quest within 1 year (X)
Rewards:
+5,000 EXP
Significantly Increased REP with Uchiha Sasuke
(Bonus) Skill [Genjutsu: Sharingan]
(Hidden) +2 LVL to [Sharingan]
[Genjutsu: Sharingan] (Active) LVL: 1
CP Cost: 400
User can trap an opponent within a genjutsu when establishing eye contact with the target. Does not work if target has a higher level Sharingan or other effects that grants immunity to ocular genjutsu.
Improved proficiency in the skill increases difficulty of breaking out of the illusion.
.
.
.
"Goddamn it Shinji, did you really have to carve me up like this?" Sasuke hissed, now shirtless and lying on the grass.
"Stop whining already. It worked, didn't it?" I responded as the soft green glow of medical chakra emanating from my palm washed over the numerous cuts on his skin, some of which slowly closing upon receiving the treatment.
"…yeah it did." Sasuke muttered under his breath and I hid the concern from my expression.
Following the fight and subsequent revelation of his reawakened Sharingan, he cooled off after I explained to him why I had done what I did and why I said what I said. He reluctantly accepted the reasoning behind my actions but was still nursing a grudge. He might have understood that I was only trying to help him, but still resented the words I said to him. More specifically, he hated that it was true.
I tried to argue back that if what I said was true that he wouldn't have found the will to fight back and awaken his Sharingan, but the damage was done. I contemplated if what I did was the right thing to do – forcefully awakening his dojutsu but in exchange potentially sabotaging the relationship we have built up over the years.
Did the ends justify the means? Or would we be able to move on from this like nothing ever happened. Time would tell.
We shared a moment of silence, a little uncomfortable if I was being completely honest, as I finished healing him up. Most of the cuts on him were shallow, only skin deep and effective at drawing blood but not so much life-threatening nor particularly hazardous to his overall health. There was only one that cut deep enough to leave a scar, and that was the gash under his right eye.
"…and that's about it. You're good to go." I said, releasing the medical ninjutsu and letting the green glow of medical chakra fade away.
He sat up and examined his body, satisfied that at least he looked no worse for wear than when we first started. The only indication of him being in a bloody and brutal fight just 30 minutes before was the blood stains left on his clothes and skin.
"Oh, but the cut on below your eye, that's going to leave a scar." I mentioned while wiping off the blood from my hands from coming into contact with his skin with a rag.
"That's fine." He remarked before getting up and putting on the spare shirt he brought. There was another uncomfortable silence that settled between us, as neither knew how to carry on the conversation.
Trying to lighten the mood, I added, "Well, you can probably get the scar removed if you go to the hospital. My medical ninjutsu isn't as good as y'know, actual medic nin. You could get your pretty face back again."
Sasuke shook his head, and looked back at me, "No. I… I'm going to keep it. To remind myself."
"…remind yourself of what?"
"Of my resolve."
"I see."
"Hey Shinji."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For helping me."
"Hmph, well if you're so grateful, I could take that wakizashi as payment for services."
"Fuck off."
The green glow of the medical ninjutsu faded and the whimpering of the little dog on the examination table stopped. I stopped the jutsu and examined the area where I was healing. Finding no blemish except for the patch of bald skin that was once a bleeding wound, I was satisfied.
The dog appeared pleased with the treatment too as it got up and started licking my face excitedly.
"Alright, alright. Good girl." I chuckled while ruffling the excited ninken who was way too into licking me.
Next to me, Hana breathed out with some amazement, "A bona fide genius eh? Who would'a thought?"
I grinned at her victoriously, still remembering her doubts about my ability from when I first started my apprenticeship a year ago.
When she started teaching me, my medical ninjutsu mentor refused to even go into the jutsu side of things without making sure I was up to scratch on the theory. It was admittedly frustrating since I really wanted to just pick up the skills for them and just as quickly bid farewell to a short but sweet apprenticeship. But no, Hana insisted that I needed to have a good foundation before I could even begin thinking about the chakra side of things.
She had me slowly making my way through the theory and then the chakra-less side of medicine such as basic first aid, diagnosis and then more advanced surgical techniques like stitching and grafting. It was too painstakingly slow for my taste, and even worse I could not create a skill for them even with the Gamer System. So I had to learn everything from scratch with pure effort and tenacity.
However, I myself was surprised at how quickly I picked things up. I swear I was never this book smart in my previous life, and my only guess was the INT stat boosting my intelligence somehow.
Additionally, since I needed the practical experience of dealing with injuries and illnesses, I was tasked with helping Hana out at the Inuzuka Veterinary Clinic both as part of my training and also a way to compensate Hana for her time. Not that she allowed me access to her patients without her overbearing supervision of course. While Hana had a more relaxed attitude compared to other medic-nins who would not have even considered teaching someone who was still in the academy, but when it came to her practice, she was as no-nonsense as the strictest sensei.
Neither did I mind assisting her at the clinic, since I received a daily quest to help out at the clinic which meant a steady supply of EXP and ryo, which were the rewards for the quests; plus increased REP with the pets, their owners, Inuzuka clan members and Hana herself. Kiba was slightly sulky now that I had less time to hang out with him, but sometimes he would visit me at the clinic to even things out.
It was only just a month ago that Hana began imparting the actual jutsus to me, starting from the basic Shindan (Diagnosis) technique that allowed me to use chakra to probe a patient to determine the underlying causes of their condition or for signs of injury not visible to the naked eye, and then working up to Dokunuki (Poison Removal) techniques and then just two days before I started on the Chiyute jutsu (Healing Hand) – the basic healing jutsu that repaired physical damage.
I was told that the Healing Hand technique was the final barrier an apprentice needed to overcome before they could proudly call themselves a medic nin. It was also the precursor to learning the more advanced Shousen (Mystical Hand) technique that could allow for a medic nin to straight up perform surgeries with just their chakra alone.
My flawless performance of the Healing Hands technique thus represented that in the eyes of the medic nin community, I could proudly call myself a medic nin, albeit still uncertified.
Hana saw my victorious grin and her eyebrow twitched. "Don't get cocky kid, you still have a long way to go before you start going around telling people I taught you."
I pouted at her claims, even though I knew that she didn't really mean it. She had bragged to me that it only took her a year to become proficient at the Healing Hands technique, which was an achievement impressive enough to warrant her the position of running the Inuzuka Veterinary Clinic at age 15. The fact that it only took me, an academy student, a month, was a feat nearly unprecedented.
Not to say that it was a fair comparison, since when it came to jutsus I automatically created the skill once I understood how it worked and the system would auto-correct my mistakes too. Additionally, my progress in chakra control was also unbelievably fast thanks to the system. I was already half way to fully maxing [Water Walking]'s level with Hana's help and constant practice with medical ninjutsu.
It was like a cycle of exponential growth – using medical ninjutsu improved my chakra control; having better chakra control improved my medical ninjutsu; so on and so forth. Add to that Hana's tips, tricks and advice on how to sharpen my control for medical ninjutsu purposes meant that my chakra control was nearly on the same level as Hana's own.
Seeing my pout, Hana relented, "…fine, you're incredibly amazing and I am in awe of your talent. Happy now?".
She continued grumbling under her breath, from which I picked up something like 'one month' and 'stupid geniuses making me look bad'. I could tell she was upset but at the same time proud of my achievement.
Deciding to give her some credit, I bowed to her and added, "I couldn't have done it without your help Hana-sensei. You're an incredibly amazing teacher and I am in awe of your talent. Thank you."
Hana turned back at me, slightly stunned before breaking out into laughter, "Well that is to be expected of the great me of course."
She approached me and put me into a headlock before ruffling my hair, "Ah my disciple is so cute, you sure have a silver tongue eh? All the girls at the academy must go crazy for you."
As she pulled me closer, I suppressed the urge to blush when I felt the swell of her chest press against my face.
Recently, I discovered that I was going through something horrendous that I never thought I would experience again – the horror of puberty. I didn't know whether it was genetics or the gamer system or whatever, but when puberty hit me, it hit me hard. Along with a growth spurt also came with it the inconveniences that accompanied puberty.
My mind was one of a thirty something adult, but my body belonged to a teenager positively radiating hormones, which naturally led to some… reactions to Hana's habit of showing excessive skinship, that is, the physical intimacy such as acts of hugging and some roughhousing.
Worse yet, the older girl was perfectly aware of the effects she had on my growing body. Or in her words, the first time such a physical reaction occurred, she told me to my face, "You smell like cum." Needless to say, I was completely thrown off by her comment and contemplated ending the apprenticeship right there and then.
Hana had laughed at my reaction and then revealed that she was just teasing, but since then she took real pleasure watching me try and compose myself whenever she 'subtly' unbuttoned her blouse to reveal some cleavage claiming it was 'too hot' or bending over to pick something up for just a few moments too long to be considered appropriate or even blatantly shoving my face in her chest just like right now.
I knew that she wasn't attracted to me in that way after checking her status with [Observe]. The teenage girl simply enjoyed my reactions from her unsubtle attempts at teasing a 'genius', getting some satisfaction from cracking the usually impassive appearance I put on.
I would die before admitting to anyone, but in truth I did enjoy the view and the attention, as unbecoming as it may be. I was still a red-blooded male who enjoyed the affections of the opposite sex even if I was stuck in the body of a literal child at the moment.
"Hana-sensei. Could you please let go of me?" I requested politely.
"Ara, is my genius disciple being shy? Kyaa, so cute!" She squealed out and pressed her chest against the side of my face even further.
I deadpanned and replied, "No, because Tsume-dono is looking at you like she's thinking if she should call the police."
Shocked, Hana immediately released me, standing at attention and sputtered out, "Wait kaa-san, I can explain!" But upon looking around and finding any trace of the Inuzuka matriarch anywhere, my sensei realised that she had been tricked and spun towards me angrily only to catch me snickering at her antics.
According to the Inuzuka's system of hierarchy, Hana's mother was the undisputed top-dog of the clan. And as her daughter, Hana could be considered as having only one person above her in the family. But that also meant that if there was one person she feared, it was her mother. Which I found out and quite often used to my advantage since the Inuzuka matriarch often treated me like a second son due to my relationship with both Kiba and her daughter. She also pitied my background as an orphan, thinking I lacked the affection only a mother could give.
"Hoh, so you think that's funny huh?" Hana asked threateningly before slowly walking towards me and unbuttoning the first two buttons of her shirt, "When I catch you, you're gonna get- well you're gonna get the time of your life Shinji-kun~"
Tsk tsk, seriously Hana, you can't threaten me with a good time.
"Hajime!" The chuunin instructor Iruka declared while the two students approached each other cautiously.
It was finally the graduation exam, and it was currently the taijutsu portion of the series of tests involved in graduating from the Shinobi Academy. The other students and I who were either done or waiting for their turn sat around the spectator stands watching the matches as they went on.
Thus far, the written test, weapons accuracy evaluation and stealth assessment had concluded. What was left was only the taijutsu competition and the ninjutsu showcase. For the first three tests I aced them all just as I planned to do so with the entire genin exam except for taijutsu.
The written exam tested both theory and critical thinking. Questions included history and foreign relations matters which tested your book smarts, but the other parts gave hypothetical scenarios that tested our critical thinking, analytical skills and strategic knowhow.
For example, a question could be something like, 'Your teammate is being held hostage by an enemy combatant. Enemy size and strength are not known, and reinforcements are not available. What should you do?' And the examinees would be expected to provide their answers as well as their justifications for deciding on that course of action. How well you will be graded depended on the likelihood of success and how well reasoned your argument is.
The weapons accuracy evaluation simply evaluated our proficiency with throwing weapons such as kunai and shuriken. Unlike the first accuracy test we participated in on our first day of the academy where the distance was only at 10 meters, the genin exam included multiple human shaped targets in varying distances and behind an assortment of covers. Some might be hidden behind a tree and only half of the target can be seen or be partially concealed by branches while some targets would be placed in odd angles; all of which was to test our accuracy in a more realistic but controlled environment.
The stealth assessment was rather crude and simple to be a criteria for graduation for future shinobis. We just had to make it to the other side of the corridor which was booby-trapped with easily avoidable alarms like tripwires attached with bells or windchimes that would make noise if we moved too fast past them. We were graded on how fast we could make it to the other side and how little noise we made while doing so.
I honestly thought the stealth test to be exceedingly straightforward and easy; we weren't even tested on how well hidden we had to be, just that we couldn't make noise. How could a major aspect of stealth, which was to remain unseen, be neglected for an exam of sneakiness? Because remaining unseen was not part of the test, I easily cleared the obstacle course in a matter of seconds; and I would have been faster had it not been for those meddling windchimes limiting how fast I could go.
Right now for the taijutsu potion, we were ranked according to our taijutsu grades from the last four years. Starting from first place down to the last, we were each assigned a number rank. For people like Sasuke and I who performed consistently well throughout the academy, we were the undisputed rank one and two of the list. While third, fourth and fifth was a fierce competition between Shino, Kiba and surprisingly, Hinata.
Hinata was a person who I had not expected to be as proficient as she appeared to be during the academy. Unlike canon, the Hyuuga heiress seemed to have more confidence in her skills and performed at a level where a scion of the prestigious clan was expected to. For certain reasons, this version of Hinata possessed the self-assurance which did not correlate with the impression I had of her when I first interacted with the girl nor what I knew about her from the anime.
Of course, during social interactions she was still as introverted as ever; unwilling to be the centre of attention and would only speak when spoken to. But the stutter that seemed to have plagued the early days of her academy years faded away with time, and the girl no longer second guessed anything that came out of her mouth. However, when it came to anything hands-on, the shy demeanour would be replaced with a mettle that seemed reminiscent of myself.
In our third year, when the academy stopped separating the girls and boys for physical challenges, Hinata quickly rocketed past the boys and proved herself worthy of contending with the physically superior males in her class with just pure technique and skill. The guys who underestimated her for her gender and reserved personality would pay the price and learn from their mistake the hard way.
During spars, she would mercilessly and rapidly put down her opponent with accurately placed jyuken strikes. But the minute the match was called, Hinata would just as quickly apologize profusely before helping her opponent out of the ring. It was all the compassion I had come to know from her, but with a decisiveness and steel in her I was not expecting.
Of course I was curious about the change, so I had once asked her about it before. Amidst some blushes and stammering that weirdly only occurred around me, she explained that a certain someone inspired her to become stronger and be more confident in herself. That newly found confidence then subsequently invited confidence and pride in her ability from her father, which was the impetus for her progress and eventual self-assurance.
'Ah I see,' I had realized after speaking to her. It was obvious who that certain someone was. Knowing Hinata and the 'future', it could only be Naruto of course. I was slightly confused as tp why this change did not occur in canon if Naruto was still the object of her fancy and inspiration as he was in the anime, but I shrugged it off as irrelevant.
Either way, she soon proved herself to be the top kunoichi of our year in all aspects of the curriculum with the exception of the theoretical portions, which she always narrowly lost out to Sakura.
Anyways, after we were shown the rankings which was all listed on a giant board next to the arena, the chuunin instructors explained how the taijutsu examination would work.
1. Every student had three chances to challenge a student of a higher ranking, and students could only be challenged thrice.
2. The challenged student cannot refuse the challenge.
3. If the challenger won, they would take the rank of the challenged who would be moved down a rank.
, if the challenger lost, they would be moved down a rank too.
The instructors explained that they were testing not just their physical prowess, but also the ability to accurately assess their own limitations as well as the ability to gauge their opponent's strength. A poor judgement and subsequent ill-thought-out decision to challenge someone objectively stronger than themselves would lead to a punishment in the form of a drop in rank.
It was a deceptively elaborate examination that took into account more factors than it would first appear.
This method of competition meant that the students in the lower echelons had to be smart about who they challenged since they only had three chances to do so. There was even a possibility of colluding to challenge the same student and thus tire them out and letting the last challenger have a higher chance of ranking up.
Additionally, while students in the higher rankings had to wait for their turn to challenge a higher ranking student in order to advance, they too had to be aware that they too would be the subject of being challenged by lower ranking students. Thus it was also an issue of whether they should conserve their energy when being challenged or go all out and ruthlessly defend their place.
For Sasuke who was already at the top of the rankings, he would only have to contend with being challenged three times. And if he won all three challenges, he would then get to remain in his first place ranking and be granted the highest grades.
For me who was only below my Uchiha cousin, the only person I could challenge was Sasuke, but it did not matter as I had no intentions of taking the first place spot away from him either way. Although, I would have to point out that the sentiment was not shared by said Uchiha. Sasuke deeply desired to fight me on a public stage. One was to prove himself against me who he always lost against, and the other reason was the fact that he, in his own way, wanted me to be recognized for my strength too.
The Uchiha was unsatisfied that he was always praised to be physically stronger than me even though he never actually won in a real fight against me before. He thought it unfair I would never be recognized as being his better and was thus frustrated I was willingly letting him take the 'credit'. I thought it was sweet of him, but I truly was satisfied with just second place and thankfully managed to convince him of it.
Furthermore, no matter how much he wanted to challenge me in the public arena, he wasn't allowed to since higher ranked students could not challenge lower ranked students – because what was the point? Even if they won their ranks would remain unchanged, whereas the lower ranked student would only be beaten and humiliated for no reason.
The taijutsu competition thus began from the bottom up which for certain reasons consisted majority of the girls. We started with the bottom most student who would state who she wanted to challenge and then slowly move our way up the rankings. Every time someone won, which was honestly rare since the rankings weren't arbitrary and was formed from the results of our numerous spars throughout the four years, but it would still occasionally occur, and the rankings would change as a result. Most students would only tentatively challenge someone who was one or two ranks above themselves, cautious of overextending themselves and getting humiliated in front of an audience of their peers.
The fights were slow, unentertaining and laughably pathetic – at least compared to the fights I usually fought in. Most of the girls, who were honestly more concerned with how they looked, barely even tried whenever they did challenge anyone. Some were content with their original ranks, so just passed on the opportunities to challenge anyone.
Amongst them was Kaori. She was ranked #32, smack dab in the middle of the bottom half. Kaori was a kunoichi who could be considered painfully mediocre. Her talent, drive, and overall suitability to the life of a shinobi were all objectively unimpressive. In my defence, I didn't just leave her wallowing in her mediocrity. I tried helping by tutoring and training her so that she could at least be at a satisfactory level, but it was to no avail.
My childhood friend was simply unmotivated to pursue the career of a shinobi. When I assigned her homework in the form of practicing taijutsu katas or catching up on the theoretical portions, she would turn up the next day claiming that she forgot, was too tired or simply lazy. When I tried training her physically though, Kaori would just give up half way saying she was too tired and needed a break. Which would have been fine except that her breaks would last an hour and afterwards only training for 15 minutes before taking a break again.
I didn't even know why she chose to enter the shinobi academy in the first place unless it was only for the monthly stipend given to orphans who were training to be shinobi. She seemed content with her current status quo. I didn't hate the girl for her lack of motivation, just disappointed, and heck I could understand it too. It wasn't as if everyone aspired to be a career shinobi.
For many, obtaining an official shinobi license wasn't just for the desire to become a soldier who ran around killing and assassinating. There were many benefits to signing up to become a shinobi for Konoha: tax deductibles, generous pension schemes upon retirement which required a minimum 10 years of service or permanent injury, and not to mention the lucrative compensation from missions and a range of other benefits.
Many would retire upon reading the minimum years of service and start their own businesses using the tax breaks from their veteran status or simply living a carefree life off their retirement pension.
Neither did the village expect more than 30 percent of their shinobi to even be promoted past genin in the first place. There was a reason why only an average 33.3 percent of teams passed the 'real' graduation test. The village only selected around three or four teams to be actively groomed by elite jounin every year. These were the students evaluated to have the highest potential of breaking past chuunin rank and thus the village would not hold back on cultivating these promising genins.
Team assignments didn't happen by chance nor were they randomly allocated. It was no coincidence that the most prominent clan members were typically grouped together. It was by design of the village leaders.
The other graduates would be assigned to an unofficial genin corp, becoming career genins who were functionally assigned busy work such as patrols, guard posts and similarly low stakes missions. Thus there wasn't really a need for them to push themselves to become stronger when being a mediocre genin with average skills was enough for the missions they would undertake anyways.
Unfortunately for Kaori, she possessed not the talent to achieve particularly stellar results nor the motivation to push through with pure effort.
However, that was not to say that the village was particularly heartless to their less than stellar genins when compared to other villages. It was because Konoha was such a prosperous and militarily strong village that we could spare the manpower of having three or four elite jounins pulled from the frontlines to, in essence, baby sit three fresh genins every year in the first place. Other villages did not have such a luxury, only assigning one or at most two jounins to properly groom their genin teams every year.
While I was lost in my thoughts, several fights that had been going on for some time passed by. Utterly underwhelming performances by equally lacklustre students. Iruka then called out the next challenger.
"#21, Uzumaki Naruto!"
The blonde jumped up at the sound of his name being called, "YOSHA! It's finally my turn, dattebayo!" He ran into the arena and even before Iruka prompted him to challenge anyone, the Jinchuriki pointed in my direction. Or rather, he was pointing at the boy sitting next to me.
"I challenge Sasuke-teme! It's time for me to take your number one spot!" Naruto exuberantly declared.
A moment of silence passed by before many of the students gathered here burst into laughter amidst jeers and mockery.
"Know your own limits deadlast!"
"What a joke!"
"Take this seriously ya moron!"
"You think you can defeat Sasuke-kun? In what universe, baka!"
Naruto's eyebrow twitched and shouted, "Ah shut up! Just see who will be the one laughing after I defeat Sasuke-teme!"
Iruka simply shook his head at Naruto's challenge, "Naruto! You only have three chances to challenge someone. Don't forget that if you lose, you will drop down a rank. You understand that right?"
The blonde merely grinned in return, "Heh, losing hasn't even crossed my mind, Iruka-sensei! Just watch me kick that teme's ass!"
I turned to Sasuke next to me, and the Uchiha coldly stared ahead, appearing without much concern over the challenge. But I could see his fists tightening at Naruto's proclamation. He looked at me and scoffed, "Pfft, what an idiot."
Naruto have always had a tense relationship with Sasuke ever since the Uchiha defeated him in their first spar on the first day of the academy. The blonde was desperate to prove himself superior to the publicly recognized strongest taijutsu practitioner in our year, while the raven haired avenger only got more and more annoyed at Naruto's constant provocations in what he perceived as delusions of grandeur.
As a result, Sasuke frequently got more heavy-handed in his beat down of the blonde as compared to other students. This only further motivated Naruto to try again next time with greater tenacity than before.
Iruka frowned at Naruto's claims, but rules were rules so as the instructor he had to oblige Naruto's challenge regardless of how foolish it was. "Fine then. Sasuke, come down to the ring."
Said Uchiha stood up and cracked his neck. Before he could move however, I stopped him. He looked down and I said, "End it as quickly as you can. Don't waste energy on him when you have two more challenges after this."
"Yeah I got it."
I nodded and released my hand on him.
Sasuke made his way down to the ring and looked at his opponent with a frigid indifference.
Naruto grinned in response, "Everyone's going to watch me beat you into a pulp, Sasuke-teme!"
My cousin simply ignored the provocation, not even bothering to get into a stance. Which only further incensed his opponent but before he could continue, Iruka cut in.
"Fighters ready?"
"Ready to beat him up!" Naruto answered with fighting spirit.
Sasuke nodded but continued being unconcerned over the approaching duel.
Iruka acknowledged their answers and yelled out "Hajime!"
As soon as the instructor started their duel, Naruto rushed at Sasuke, a fist cocked back and ready to slug it into the Uchiha.
Sasuke scoffed, sneering at the slowness and ineptitude of his opponent. He waited for Naruto to approach before smoothly sidestepping the wild swing and landing a solid straight punch on Naruto's jaw with deadly accuracy and efficiency.
After years of training with me, Sasuke was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else in class in terms of spatial awareness, timing, and fight IQ. All of which earned through literal blood, sweat and tears. The difference in experience between Sasuke and Naruto was as vast as the distance between the heavens and the earth.
I ignored the guilt over uplifting the Uchiha genius so far above the true protagonist of this world and watched as Sasuke continued his merciless assault on the boy. The Uchiha unleashed a combo while fluidly parrying and effortlessly evading the desperate attempts at counterattacking from the jinchuuriki.
A jab to the throat, a right hook to the liver, and a high kick to Naruto's temple saw the boy launched backwards. Sasuke jumped on the downed boy and finished the fight with two more punches before Iruka pulled him off Naruto.
Unlike the more harmless spars we usually fought in at the academy, for this taijutsu competition, the fighters were allowed to pull no punches and attack even if the opponent went down. This was to reflect a more realistic portrayal of fighting hostile enemy combatants in the real world. The fight was only stopped if one side yielded, knocked out or if the referee decided that the fight was over since one side could no longer defend themselves.
"Winner by technical knockout, Uchiha Sasuke! Sasuke will retain his rank, and Naruto has been demoted to #22." Iruka declared while turning to the downed blonde to check on his injuries. Mizuki who was next to a giant board with the list of names and our respective ranks shifted Naruto's name plate down a spot.
However, Iruka's concern was unneeded as Naruto jumped up seemingly no worse for wear.
"Huh? What happened? Iruka-sensei! Why did you stop the match!?"
The chuunin frowned and chided, "I told you all at the start, if I see that you can no longer defend yourself then I will use my best judgement and step in to stop the fight."
"But, but, I had him on the ropes Iruka-sensei!" Naruto complained.
"Enough of your nonsense, you lost. Now you have two more chances to issue a challenge or you can pass and remain in your current rank. What will it be?"
Naruto gritted his teeth but answered anyways, "Fine! Then I challenge Sasuke again!"
Iruka frowned again, "Weren't you listening when I explained the rules? You can't challenge the same person twice if you lost the first time. And if the challenged student loses, they're not allowed to challenge the person who beat them again."
The blonde stomped his feet in a tantrum, "Grrr, what kind of bullshit-"
"Naruto! Don't waste everyone's time! Will you challenge someone else or not?"
"Hmph, fine! If I can't challenge number one then I will challenge number two then!" He levelled a gaze at me and pointed, "Shinji! It's time for me to take your spot as rookie of the year!"
With that proclamation, laughter once again broke out amongst the spectators as my own supporters jeered at my challenger.
Iruka face palmed, "Naruto… sigh, I don't even know what is running through your head at this point, but whatever. Shinji, come down."
I shrugged and complied, passing by Sasuke who was walking back up to our seats. The Uchiha smirked at me and cheekily parroted what I instructed him a minute ago, "End it as quickly as you can. Don't waste energy on him when you have two more challenges after this."
"Yeah, yeah, shut it."
I made my way down and faced the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. I felt bad but I wasn't about to let Naruto take my rank. But I could still show some mercy and not utterly humiliate him by ending it as quickly and as painlessly as possible. My relationship with the boy wasn't as fraught with hostility as the one sided rivalry between him and Sasuke. Although I always beat him, I was also always gracious in my victory, so the boy took little offense at losing to me.
Iruka turned to the both of us and asked, "Fighters ready?"
"Ever ready, dattebayo!"
"Hai, Iruka-sensei."
"Hajime!"
Naruto once again repeated his strategy that had been utilized against Sasuke – run and swing while banking on the chance his enemy would foolishly stand there and take it.
I didn't want to hurt the blonde too badly, so I took the initiative to meet him in the middle. With ease, I dodged his first punch and took hold of the outstretched wrist. Using his momentum against him, I pulled Naruto and threw him to the ground. Upon doing so, I quickly snaked my arm around his neck and pulled him into a rear naked choke hold.
I tightened my grip around his throat and waited for the eventual submission… which did not come as Naruto continued to futilely resist. He struggled against the tight hold I had, trying desperately to pry my forearm away from his vulnerable throat, but it was ultimately a futile attempt.
As the seconds ticked by and the oxygen continued being withheld from his brain as a result of my chokehold, soon enough the struggling slowly weakened and then came to a near stop. But before I actually choked him into unconsciousness, I took it upon myself to release the boy who slumped on to the ground - nearly unconscious but still breathing.
Iruka was just a step away from pulling me off but breathed out a sigh in relief when he saw that I willingly released my opponent on my own accord.
"Winner by submission, Shinji Ikari! Shinji will retain his rank, and Naruto has been demoted to #23." He crouched down to inspect Naruto, checking for signs of consciousness before the boy gasped and instantly sat up.
"What happened? Did I win?" He asked in confusion, which only invited more mockery and laughter from the audience.
Iruka shook his head, "Nope, you got choked out and fainted."
"So… I won?" Naruto asked with the disorientation associated with nearly being choked into unconsciousness.
"Nope, you lost… again."
"Urgh damn it, I got one more try right?"
The chuunin sighed in exasperation, "I mean, yeah, but I wouldn't-"
Naruto jumped up and now pointed at Hinata, "In that case, it's time for number three!"
Iruka face palmed and shook his head in defeat. If Naruto wanted to continue his foolishness then as an objective chuunin instructor cum referee, he was in no position to stop him.
The fight was similarly over in just a few seconds, with the Hyuuga Heiress accurately disabling Naruto's tenketsu points and removing the boy's ability to move properly. Seeing that Naruto could no longer fight properly, Iruka called the fight and declared Hinata the winner, to Naruto's protest unsurprisingly.
I was surprised to see the girl defeating Naruto with such ease and without any hesitance given what I knew of her infatuation with the jinchuuriki. But she probably figured that Naruto would only be offended if she took it easy on the boy and let him win on purpose.
With all three chances to challenge a higher ranked student used up, Naruto was now stuck at rank #24, being demoted down three times consecutively. Good news was that all the students below him could no longer challenge anyone else, so there was also no way for him to be demoted any further.
Similarly, upon seeing how easily we dealt with Naruto, even if he was considered to just be a deadlast, the other students were too fearful to challenge Sasuke and I. However, Hinata was a different story. Even if her fighting style was frighteningly efficient and deadly, she was still seen as 'just a girl', and therefore she received two other challenges from the other boys.
Which infuriated Kiba, because since Hinata received three separate challenges, he could no longer challenge her in order to get her #3 rank. And he was also aware of the disparity between him and the top two students, so he had no further chance to move up in rank. Shino declined to challenge Kiba, making a rational decision to avoid the possibility of being moved down a rank if he lost.
And with that, the taijutsu competition ended with no further surprises. The final ranks:
#1 Uchiha Sasuke
#2 Shinji Ikari
#3 Hyuuga Hinata
#4 Inuzuka Kiba
#5 Aburame Shino
#11 Akimichi Choji
#19 Nara Shikamaru
#24 Uzumaki Naruto
#27 Yamanaka Ino
#30 Haruno Sakura
#32 Kaori
Of course these numbers only represented their taijutsu grades and was not representative of their overall grades. For example, even though the physical portion of Sakura's grades were relatively low, her theory results were as good as mine, nearly full marks, which pulled up her average by a fair bit. And though Naruto's taijutsu grades were pretty okay, everything else of his was near or at the bottom, including the next part of the genin exam, the ninjutsu exhibition, which pulled his overall grades to deadlast.
.
.
.
For the ninjutsu exam, we were supposed to show our proficiency with the three basic academy ninjutsu – Kawarimi, Henge and Bunshin. Since the three jutsus that was tested were the basics of the basics, it was with relative ease that everyone could pass them without further complications. However, there was only one who didn't.
While the rest of us were outside the academy celebrating our graduation, from the corner of my eye I saw Naruto dejectedly sitting at the swing and Mizuki slyly approaching him with what I presumed to be an offer of a 'special graduation' test by stealing the scroll of seals.
At that moment, a system notification entered my vision.
Quest Alert!
The Scroll of Seals:
Help Naruto become a genin!
Help Naruto steal the scroll of seals
Help Naruto defeat Mizuki
?
Rewards:
+10,000 EXP
?
Failure:
Naruto fails to become a genin
You will be arrested and sent to jail
?
Accept? (Y/N)
What an interesting dilemma. For one, the potential rewards were very attractive, however if I somehow failed then the punishment would correspondingly be incredibly severe. Arrest and jail time was not something I looked forward to regardless of the quest rewards.
Although the prospect of learning the Kage Bunshin technique alongside Naruto was tempting to say the least, the risk-reward ratio was simply too outrageous for me to consider. Add that given I was confident Naruto would be able to safely retrieve the scroll and successfully learn the kage bunshin technique, subsequently defeating Mizuki and thus earning his hitai-ate, meant there was little reason for me to intervene.
The only plausible motivation for me to get myself involved in something potentially risking my liberty was purely greed. Although… I could also prevent Iruka from getting hurt if I interfered. Ahh, this was such a headache.
I weighed the pros and cons, and the disadvantages definitely far outweighed the potential benefits. But something was gnawing at the back of my mind. Was it my duty to prevent someone from getting hurt with the knowledge I had even if I could possibly get into massive trouble for being involved? Damn system and its lessons on altruism! That shit was messing with my brain. Screw that.
I shakily moved to decline the quest, but there was something inside me that made me hesitate.
Just as I was mulling over the decision, someone shoved me from behind and I accidentally pressed on 'Yes' instead of 'No'.
"Yo, Rookie of the Year! Wanna come over to my place and celebrate our graduation? Kaa-san and Nee-san asked me to invite you." Kiba loudly asked, not noticing the expression of pure dread that donned my face.
"…Kiba."
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"YOU FUCKING IDIOT AGHHHHH!"
"Wh-what the, what's wrong with you, ack! Let go of my throat you crazy bastard!"
Within a dark room filled with numerous jounins and a glow crystal ball, sat the Hokage surrounded by his most elite shinobi. For the past few hours, they had been watching the graduation exams.
"So what do you think of our latest genins?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage who once commanded the fearsome title, the God of Shinobi, but now more commonly dubbed The Professor, asked the room full of his subordinates. The Sandaime, although now wizened with age, still possessed an authoritative bearing and mighty aura.
"Looks like the Ino-Shika-Cho formation will be reformed this year." Someone suggested.
"Mm, indeed." The Hokage replied, stroking his beard.
"Hokage-sama, are we still following the traditional team composition of pairing the rookie of the year, the dead last and the top kunoichi?" Another jounin asked.
"Hmm? Most likely, why do you ask?"
"Well, I have some concerns over that particular combination in this instance. The rookie of the year, Shinji Ikari, top kunoichi, Hyuuga Hinata, and deadlast, Inuzuka Kiba. The three of them, as we have just seen, takes up three of the top four taijutsu ranking in their class. Wouldn't that be too unbalanced if we compare them to the other teams? If Uzumaki had passed the graduation exam, and thus become deadlast, that would not have been a problem. But the current composition is… just too strong." The same Jounin answered.
"Mm I understand your concerns. However, we have never been particularly concerned about the overall balance of the genin teams by comparing them to one another. We have a policy of grooming the ones with the most potential, so if one team consists of the ones who have the biggest likelihood to excel in our line of work, then so be it." Hiruzen smoothly countered.
Kakashi stepped forward and took this chance to add, "I call dibs on the Uchiha."
Several of the jounin instructors chimed in angrily, "You can't call dibs for your genin team, Hatake! The Hokage assigns the team with recommendations from their chuunin instructor!"
The one eyed jounin looked at them indifferently, "But I just did."
"You're not supposed to-"
The Hokage cleared his throat loudly, which silenced the argument. "Is there a reason why you want Sasuke, Kakashi? Perhaps we can come to an agreement if you have a good rationale."
"He will need someone to teach him how to use his Sharingan. With respect, Hokage-sama, I am the only one in the village capable of that." With a respectful attitude and polite speech rarely seen from the famed Sharingan no Kakashi, he answered.
The Hokage looked around and asked, "Is there anyone who opposes his justification?"
The jounin remained silent, aware that it was simply the truth. Only a Sharingan user could teach another Sharingan user how to properly utilize their dojutsu. Though Kakashi's attitude might irk them, they could only accept the truth for what it was.
"Very well then. Now we have to decide who else to put on his team. Any suggestions?" The Hokage remarked.
"If team balance makes no difference then might I suggest having Shinji Ikari on my team as well?" Kakashi suggested.
Yuhi Kurenai, who remained silent thus far, could no longer tolerate the absurdity of Kakashi's request, "Ridiculous! Having the top two genin in the same team is just plain unreasonable."
Kakashi levelled his gaze on the newly promoted jounin and genjutsu specialist, "The academy records state that the only other student Sasuke is remotely close with and willing to tolerate is Shinji Ikari. For the sake of teamwork and in the spirit of cooperation, I think it would be best for them to be in the same team. Besides, Shinji Ikari's potential is arguably lacklustre if compared to the other more promising graduates."
Kurenai scoffed, "Outrageous."
But the Hokage seemed interested in Kakashi's claims, "Hoh? Could you elaborate on that, Kakashi?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama. Even though Shinji is the Rookie of the Year, he does not come from a shinobi family. I am not one to discriminate based on background, but it is undeniable that it is a proven statistic that civilian born shinobi do not often go far as a shinobi. Yes, he would undoubtably be an excellent genin, and even possibly make chuunin, but any further than that is inconclusive."
"The other clan members on the other hand, have the potential to reach jounin rank given enough time. Thus, I am willing to give up on the other promising genins and compromise with just Sasuke and Shinji. I am even willing to have just the two of them on my team and forgo the third member if necessary. I am magnanimous enough to concede the more talented genins to my fellow jounins."
"What nonsense!" Kurenai protested, as did the rest of the jounins who saw through Kakashi's ploy to hoard the top two students on his team.
"Enough." Hiruzen spoke, once again silencing the emerging argument. "Even if that was true, Kakashi, you know that no one receives special treatment. Not even the last Uchiha and neither do you. The four-man team with three genins and one jounin has traditionally been the best method to groom our most talented, and that too is a proven statistic. I have heard your case and will take your opinions into suggestion but apprenticing just two genins is impossible."
Satisfied with the Hokage's answer to Kakashi's outrageous request, the other jounins remained silent, whereas the one eyed jounin bowed and stepped back into line.
"And the rest of you? Any more recommendations?"
Kurenai stepped forward, "Hokage-sama, I have a suggestion."
"Speak." Hiruzen prompted.
"Forgive my impudence, but might I suggest breaking the Ino-Shika-Cho formation?"
The rest of the jounins rumbled in curiosity and discontent. The Ino-Shika-Cho combination was a tried and proven success. Their team composition which consisted of reconnaissance from a Yamanaka, capture by the Nara and heavy assault with an Akimichi, a highly effective and versatile formation that synergized greatly.
"Oh? And what is your rationale behind this?"
"I understand that is a controversial statement to make, I am also well aware of the long established alliance between the Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi clans, as well as the conventional tradition of pairing their scions together whenever possible. However, I also believe that this is a formation that is too famous for its own good. Our enemies are well aware of our tendency to put them together –"
"For good reason." Asuma interjected but quieted down with a nasty glare from the kunoichi.
"But that also means that they have long since formulated strategies to counter this very formation. Innovation is the way forward and if we only stick with what is orthodox and conventional, then sooner or later we will fall behind our enemies. The Ino-Shika-Cho combination is effective and has a precedence of performing well in the field; but my belief is that we cannot always rely on the philosophy of 'don't fix what isn't broken', and instead we should pursue the philosophy of innovation, that is, to improve on something even if it is not broken. That's all I have to say, Hokage-sama."
Some of the jounins gathered still look unconvinced while the rest seemed deep in thought. The Hokage's expressions were undiscernible but the fact that he hadn't outright shot her down like he did Kakashi gave Kurenai some comfort.
"Then how would you suggest dividing the three younglings from the Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi clans?" He asked.
"If we take the top nine genin, taking into account overall potential and not just academy grades, we have Shinji Ikari, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji and Haruno Sakura. From these nine we can further separate them into four categories – reconnaissance, capture and heavy assault or versatile. Some of them will have overlapping roles, but from there we can mix and match them to form new combinations our enemies have never encountered before." Kurenai elaborated.
She hesitated slightly before adding, "I would suggest leaving the rookie of the year and top kunoichi in the same team – with Shinji as the frontline fighter, Hinata as both a taijutsu specialist and recon expert, as well as an additional member that fulfils the capture criteria meaning Shino, Ino or Shikamaru. As for the other teams, I will leave it up to your discretion, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen nodded, appreciative of the well thought out and meticulous explanation.
Seeing no obvious protests to her suggestions from neither the Hokage nor the other jounins, she celebrated internally, 'Hinata, I've done all that I can. The rest is up to you.'
Yes, I did say this chapter was going to be the end of the academy arc. BUT, in my defence… okay, I don't really have a good reason other than having ideas that I just had to explore and write them down. This chapter was originally nearly 20k words long, but I had to break it up because it was getting too long.
I can tell you right now what the next chapter will be because I already wrote half of it: the continuation and aftermath of the Scroll of Seals incident, dungeon, genin team announcement and maybe team meeting if word count permits.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, like Sasuke and Shinji's convo and how I changed the graduation exam particularly the taijutsu competition thingy. Astute readers might discern the similarities of it to those Chinese xianxia sect martial art tournaments which admittedly is where I took inspiration from.
Initially, I didn't really want to make any major changes to the world for reasons that I mentioned in an author's note in a previous chapter, but when I was researching the genin graduation exam, I found out that there is literally only one test that determines who gets to be a shinobi, which is the three basic jutsus. I thought that was really dumb, coz there are like many aspects to being a ninja and only testing those basic ninjutsus is insufficient to have a more holistic evaluation of a shinobi.
So I figured that since I was going to change the graduation exam to something that made more sense, why not just tweak it slightly further to make it more interesting at least. And that was how the taijutsu 'tournament' thing came about.
I realized how I write fight scenes, at least between two equally strong contenders, has more of a grittier and rougher vibes as compared to how fight scenes are depicted in the anime. I am a huge fan of MMA so that is where I take much of my inspiration from when I write taijutsu battles. Ideally, readers would be able to visualize the fight in their minds from just my writing – that is my main goal when I write fight scenes.
Some of you expressed a degree of disdain over the whole 'Shinji dating other girls before settling down with the one' concept. I have taken your feedback into consideration but for now I still think that something like that is more akin to real life? Well, as realistic as it can be in a Naruto gamer fanfiction. So my mind hasn't changed on that yet, but all of that is still tentative and it is subject to future change depending on the direction of the story and how well I develop the backstory of other girls.
For now the relationship between Hana and Shinji is akin to older sister who likes to tease her younger brother. That will soon change, though not soon enough. So possibly Shinji's first girlfriend might not be Hana after all.
How do you guys feel about how Naruto is depicted? I might be writing him as too much of a dumbass I feel, but at the same time I also think that Naruto's story only really begins after he graduates. That is to say I will explore more on his side when the genin teams are formed.
I intend for Shinji to go to the rank E dungeon before the genin team is announced because I feel he is due a power up so he can really show up during the real genin exam. I would like to get a gauge on how detailed you want the dungeon part to be. Choose one of the following:
1. Full details including minions, boss and hidden boss (like chapter 6 & 7)
2. Half-half as in a brief description of the dungeon but detailed fight scene for boss and hidden boss.
3. Fuck the dungeon - summarize the dungeon and loot after Shinji clears it.
4. Other (please elaborate).
Like always, thanks for reading my story and if you liked it, smash that like button and hit subscribe for more content!
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