The testing room at the Ninja Academy was unimpressive. It was just a wooden room with a slightly damp smell and open windows that let in the daylight.
Kakashi and I stood side by side, next to four other children, all of a similar age. There was a table at the front with three assessors, one of whom was a bespectacled chunin who held a clipboard in his hands and watched each of us with attentive eyes.
"First test: physical endurance." The assessor announced. "Twenty-lap run around the field. You'll have 15 minutes to finish."
Kakashi stormed off, as if it were just a joke.
I stayed with the other children while I adapted to their speed, this entry was very sudden, despite having walked around the village for about 40 minutes, I hadn't tested my top speed.
My fear was that I would run too fast and attract more attention than I should.
Seeing Kakashi's speed, I wondered if I could reach that speed.
'I guess I'll have to test my physical limits when I get home...' I thought, regretting that I had only tested my magical limits.
During the test I didn't try to pretend that I was having too much difficulty, opting instead to try to look like I was pretending to have it as easy as Kakashi, which would be more logical and easier to look real in the eyes of a trained Chunin.
At the end of the test I finished in second place, a few meters ahead of the other boys, but a long way behind Kakashi.
The assessor noted down our results and then moved on to the second test.
"The second test will be one of strength. You're going to lift these logs one at a time, let's see how many you can lift."
There were six logs, from the lightest to the heaviest.
Kakashi lifted all six without difficulty, with a bored look on his face.
I pretended to lift four with relative ease, and lifted the fifth with some difficulty, making it look like it was my limit.
This seemed to please the assessor.
"The next test will be mental. You have thirty seconds to answer the question." He said as he handed each of us a sheet of paper.
Looking at mine, I read the question.
If three people are walking through a forest and each of them is being watched by two different ninjas, what is the minimum number of ninjas that can be involved in the stakeout, considering that a ninja can watch more than one target?
I smiled internally, although it sounded complex, strangely it wasn't as difficult to come up with the answer as I imagined.
"Three." I replied.
The chunin looked up interestedly. "Explain."
"If each ninja can observe more than one target, a lookout triangle where each ninja observes two targets is sufficient." I said with a calm, polite smile.
He wrote something down on his clipboard, without commenting.
The other children answered their questions, but as I didn't know what question they had been asked, I didn't worry too much.
Kakashi got it right by saying just one word.
Finally, the Chakra Potential test.
A small metal block was placed on the table in the center of the room. Unlike the clichés of cultivation novels where something would now appear to test the level of someone's internal energy, this block of metal was just Chakra metal, the same used to make Chakra swords.
The chunin in charge stepped forward, clipboard in hand as he explained: "This test is just to identify those who have already awakened Chakra naturally. You don't need to try to control anything, just touch the stone with both hands and wait."
Most of the children were called up one by one, the first ones just leaned against it, looked confused... and nothing happened. Most of them, coming from civilian families, barely understood what Chakra was, let alone whether they had it or not.
Then they called Kakashi.
He walked over to the stone in silence and calmly placed his hands on it, making it glow rapidly.
'He might even have directed Chakra into the stone to speed up the process...' I thought in surprise.
The instructor just mumbled, writing something down with a dry scratch on the paper before calling my name.
"Kazuki Enzai."
Hearing my name, I walked over to the stone, feeling several stares on my back, Kakashi included.
Then I placed my hands on the stone and for a moment, nothing happened, then a faint bluish light appeared in the center of the stone, weaker than Kakashi's, but stable.
The chunin just looked and nodded.
When everyone had finished their tests, the Chunin declared which class each student would go to. "Hatake Kakashi, Kazuki Enzai, you're both in Class 1A."
Kakashi just nodded, while I smiled and thanked him with a slight bow.
Being the only ones assigned to Class 1A, Kakashi and I walked side by side to the exit where Sakumo was waiting for us.
Thinking that this might be a good time to improve my relationship with Kakashi, I decided to say something. "I'm sorry for bothering you so much to play around, seeing the test results now I realize that the training you like to do so much is really very important, I hope we can train together sometime."
When I started to speak, Kakashi just kept walking, as if he wasn't listening to anything, but when he heard what I said, he looked at me surprised, not expecting me to say that.
I could see the boy getting lost, not knowing how to respond to what I said, and knowing that I was talking to a very mature 5-year-old, but only a 5-year-old, I kept smiling and slowly extended my hand with a closed fist towards him.
He looked puzzled for a few seconds, not understanding what I meant, until he finally realized and hesitantly also held out his fist and touched mine as he replied. "Whatever, as long as it's for training, I wouldn't mind training with you sometime."
After saying this, he quickly shifted his gaze forward and quickened his pace slightly, as if avoiding me.
This only made me smile more, but I didn't pick up my pace, keeping the same speed I was originally walking at.
Sakumo was waiting for us just ahead, and from the big smile on his face, he apparently heard everything we said and saw the interaction we had.
"It looks like you did well in that Ninja Academy test, did you two happen to be assigned to the same class?" He asked curiously.
Kakashi didn't bother answering and just snorted while ignoring his father, but I nodded politely and replied. "Yes, we were both assigned to class 1A."
Hearing that, Sakumo got even more excited as he put his hand on our shoulders. "That's great, to celebrate I'm taking you two out for a delicious barbecue!"
Kakashi pretended not to care, but not hearing any complaints from him I took it as an advance, so I didn't refuse.
Even if I had the money to pay for barbecue whenever I wanted, I wouldn't turn down the goodwill of one of Konoha's most powerful ninjas, let alone the chance to get close to the most talented ninja of my generation.
Considering that in my System there was the [Peerage] option, even if I didn't have Evil Pieces now, it wouldn't be a bad thing to be close to Kakashi if I got something like that in the future hehe.
- In the Hokage's tower -
Hiruzen Sarutobi held a clipboard with a pile of reports under his arm as he blew smoke from his pipe.
Sitting opposite him was Danzo Shimura, watching in silence with a frown.
"The number of applications to the Academy this year has exceeded expectations." Hiruzen commented, looking at the papers. "It seems that the end of the war has given these families some hope."
"Hope is a comfortable illusion." Danzo replied dryly. "Most of those names will be disposable on the battlefield before they even get promoted."
Hiruzen ignored the cold tone and flipped to the first page. "We have some children of notable ninjas this year... Renjiro Yuhi's daughter, for example."
"Did she inherit her father's talent?" Danzo asked, not hiding his boredom.
"It's too early to say... Kurenai may have an interesting sensitivity to Genjutsu like her father, but nothing has been confirmed yet." Hiruzen commented, marking something with a pen.
"So... useless for now." Danzo commented.
Sarutobi sighed discreetly, but continued. "There's also an Uchiha boy applying to the school this year."
Danzo was a little interested, but when he read this boy's test results he just rolled his eyes and commented. "They only sent this waste this year? It seems the Uchiha are getting bolder every year..."
Hiruzen just ignored him once more, until something surprised him slightly. "The case that caught my attention the most, however, was Kakashi Hatake, his excellence in all the tests was... impressive."
"He's more than ready for advanced training." Looking at the results, Danzo said interestedly. "Leave him in my care, Root will make this boy into a much better weapon than his father."
"He's only five, Danzo." Sarutobi said in a firm tone. "He's still a boy."
"He's a shinobi." Corrected the man, impassive. "And if he's trained now, he'll become the perfect weapon in a few years."
Hiruzen shook his head firmly. "No. Sakumo is still his father, and Kakashi is still a boy with choices to make, Root shouldn't be his first path."
Danzo narrowed his eyes, but didn't insist just yet.
"Who else?" He asked with disinterest, as if the next names were a formality.
Hiruzen flipped to another page. "Enzai Kazuki."
That name made Danzo raise his eyebrow slightly. "Heir to the Kazuki clan?"
Hiruzen nodded. "Makami's grandson."
"Hmph." He snorted as he read Enzai's test results. "Apparently he's only slightly less useless than his father..."
"Enzai has shown consistency." Hiruzen said. "Above average in all the tests, but... nothing exceptional. He's awakened his Chakra, which is a good sign."
"Consistency?" Danzo repeated dismissively, crossing his arms. "Without Makima's Kekkei Genkai he's just another civilian with a surname... a waste of time."
"He may not have awakened the clan's ability, but it's still early days." Hiruzen replied, closing the folder calmly. "Sometimes someone's true worth appears when you least expect it."
"I'm not staying here to listen to your drivel about the will of fire, Hiruzen." Danzo said, standing up. "When he fails, don't say I didn't warn you."
Sarutobi watched the man's silhouette disappear through the door in silence.
Looking again at the name 'Enzai Kazuki' on the paper, he felt that perhaps the boy could do what his father had failed to do.