Konoha Ninja Academy, graduating class.
In an empty classroom, only three poor souls remained, bored out of their minds as they waited.
"Hiss… hiss… hiss-hiss!"
The harsh sound of exhalation echoed through the room.
Kakashi stared with a dead-fish eye, slouched lazily against the back of his chair. One hand flipped through the latest edition of Icha Icha Paradise, yet his gaze kept drifting toward the only two boys in the classroom.
The one making that snake-like hissing was a blond, blue-eyed boy with six whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
Uzumaki Naruto, all grown up.
He wore a black, tight-fitting top and loose orange pants. After five years training under Might Guy, he'd clearly thickened out, solid muscle laid onto his frame.
He wasn't wearing his Konoha forehead protector on his brow. Instead, a dark sweatband wrapped his head, and his Konoha hitai-ate was tied vertically on his right shoulder.
Both hands were wrapped in bandages, gripping a pair of silver knuckle-dusters as he hammered the air in relentless practice.
Straight punches thudded rhythmically through empty space. With neat metal weights strapped to his arms and calves, he gave off a sharp, ferocious pressure, like a blade that had finally been honed.
"Hiss… hiss…"
A hard stream of breath spilled from the corner of his mouth. The Konoha forehead protector on his shoulder quivered with every punch, as if each swing carried the weight of the village itself.
And in a way, it did.
Just earlier, Kakashi had asked why Naruto didn't wear the headband properly.
Naruto's answer had been so far beyond what Kakashi expected that it left him silent for a long moment.
"Konome once said the Hokage is the strong one who can keep Konoha moving forward. I put the headband on my shoulder because one day I'll shoulder the whole village."
Shoulder Konoha.
Kakashi thought of that blond figure, and the Nine-Tails that had once nearly destroyed Konoha. Naruto really had been burdened with Konoha's weight since the day he was born.
His frightening chakra, easily a hundred times Kakashi's even in a normal state, and his monstrous talent for taijutsu, did make him worthy of that burden.
Just that one sentence was enough for Kakashi to acknowledge the boy.
Shing!
A blade flashed coldly through the air. The speed of the cut made the air itself sing.
Kakashi pulled his gaze away and looked to the other side of the classroom.
Black hair. Red eyes.
Uchiha Sasuke wore his forehead protector properly. A white kimono-style top marked with the Uchiha clan crest, dark blue pants, and black-and-white wraps binding his limbs.
His handsome features were indifferent, his eyes sharp enough to cut.
A straight sword rested at mid-guard. With each basic practice swing, a tearing whistle snapped through the air.
His swordsmanship had grown even more refined.
Kakashi watched him work through simple swings. The line of the blade, the flow of force, the way he didn't tense up when striking, instead moving with effortless smoothness. That was the sign of someone who'd truly stepped into the gate of mastery.
In older times, he would've been called a swordsman without hesitation.
Over the years, Sasuke had often sought Kakashi's guidance. Kakashi, seeing good talent and remembering old ties, had taught him the Hatake clan's inherited sword arts. It was, in his mind, a fair exchange for the use of those Sharingan.
The Uchiha already had their own kenjutsu heritage. With Konome's influence, Sasuke had blended the strengths of both styles and forged something new. It was still young, still raw, but it was undeniably his own path.
Sasuke trained with his two-tomoe Sharingan open without restraint, not caring about chakra consumption at all.
Kakashi shook his head with a quiet sigh at the Uchiha's natural advantages, then lowered his eyes back to Icha Icha Paradise.
Normally he could read this masterpiece with genuine enjoyment.
Right now, it felt strangely bland.
His students were too talented.
And it was making their instructor extremely nervous.
Konome was basically a monster pretending to be human, so she didn't count.
But if Naruto and Sasuke surpassed him with ease…
Kakashi pictured a near future where he, the nominal jōnin instructor, became the weakest person on his own team. Where he'd be "guided" and "motivated" by three teenage prodigies.
A cold sweat broke out across his back.
He silently decided to double his training volume from now on.
Then, reassured by his own resolution, he calmly kept reading Icha Icha Paradise.
Tomorrow he'd train harder.
Today he could read a little adult literature. No harm done.
Time slid forward.
In the classroom, the sounds of breathing and pages turning mixed with the crack of fists and the whistle of steel.
Punching. Sword practice. Reading.
Each of them, in their own way, had a bright future ahead.
Click.
The door handle turned clockwise.
All three, having waited so long, lifted their heads at the same time.
Konome finally pushed the door open and stepped in.
Facing three sets of unfriendly eyes, she still delivered the classic late-arrival line with a calm face.
"Sorry. I got lost on the road of life…"
"Useless!!!" x2
Whoosh!
Sasuke's scarlet two-tomoe spun faster, excitement bleeding into his gaze. Flames coiled around the edge of his blade like oil poured onto a roaring fire.
Having stored chakra for quite some time, Sasuke raised the flaming sword and slashed down in a single Rift Split, aiming straight for Konome's shoulder.
Before he even moved, Naruto was already charging.
Wind clung to his knuckles, and he roared as he lunged forward, a brutal punch aimed directly at Konome's beautiful face.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The ambush was sudden enough that even veteran jōnin would've been forced into a scramble.
But Konome reacted with ease.
After five years of evolution, her Byakugan's perception had become even more absurd. It captured both attacks with surgical precision.
Her hands, wrapped in crackling lightning, lifted in a motion that looked slow but struck with terrifying speed.
The knuckle-dusters and the sword came screaming in, only to fall neatly into her palms, as if they'd been offered to her on purpose.
Clang! Clang!
Fist edge and blade met her lightning-coated hands with an ear-piercing metallic crash.
Wind howled.
Lightning, wind, and flame slammed together in violent collision, and the three of their clothes snapped and whipped like banners in a storm.
The Icha Icha Paradise on Kakashi's desk flipped wildly under the gusting force, pages fluttering in a blur.
Kakashi didn't even spare it a glance.
Three of the most violent chakra natures crashed into one another. The air twisted and trembled under the dangerous surge, bright with fire and lightning.
Kakashi grimaced, snapped his book shut, then quietly removed the two little bells from his waist and tucked them into the inner pocket of his jacket.
He couldn't handle Konome alone.
Add Naruto and Sasuke, and their so-called instructor would likely be flattened.
These three half-grown monsters didn't know how to pull their punches either. For the sake of his life and his dignity as a teacher, the bell test could go to hell.
Meanwhile, the two who had launched the challenge were already being ground down.
The heated blade and the steel fists trembled uncontrollably. Chakra poured past their limits through their tenketsu and meridians, bringing a searing pain like blades scraping flesh.
They were pouring everything they had into the struggle.
And it still felt like shoving a stick into the sea.
Not even a ripple.
Konome's hands looked soft, tender, almost delicate.
Yet they did not move. Not even a hair.
She remained expressionless, and there was even the faintest hint of a smile at the corners of her lips.
Naruto and Sasuke felt no frustration.
Only exhilaration.
Of course they wouldn't feel crushed because they couldn't beat Konome.
Five years was more than enough time to burn one heavy truth into their bones.
Konome was unbeatable.
Challenge after challenge. Spar after spar.
The more they trained, the stronger they became, the more clearly they understood how ridiculous the gap was.
Especially in the last couple of years.
As they grew, their overall understanding of Konome only became worse.
Before, they could at least grasp the direction of her training.
Now, they had no idea what she was doing at all.
They never even saw her "train," yet she still grew stronger at a pace they couldn't comprehend.
Which meant the gap between them wasn't shrinking.
It was widening.
At this point, losing to her didn't feel like failure.
It felt as natural as human flesh being softer than steel.
In that heartbeat of time…
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
The clash continued.
But the lightning grew fiercer by far.
Konome's Lightning Release, refined almost to the extreme, surged back against Naruto's Wind Release. Elemental advantage meant nothing in the face of absolute strength. Sasuke's Fire Release was pierced and overwhelmed almost instantly.
Creak. Groan.
The sword and the knuckle-dusters made sounds of strain.
Konome's fingers closed lightly.
And the steel, so hard by human standards, twisted and deformed as if it were soft clay.
Naruto and Sasuke's expressions changed at once. The chakra flow in their bodies faltered, and the glow dimmed.
"Stop, stop! We're done!"
Feeling the sudden drop in resistance, Konome released them immediately.
But it was too late.
They pulled their weapons back and stared down in heartbreak.
Sasuke's blade, scorched by lightning and flame, was glowing hot. The section Konome had held was completely warped, the metal curled like paper. Five clear fingerprints were pressed into the blade's spine.
Naruto's knuckle-dusters weren't any better. The raised studs had been flattened smooth. Worse, cracks had opened in the metal, ugly and obvious. The quality was clearly far inferior to Sasuke's sword.
Naruto's weapon was cheap. Something he'd bought casually from a ninja tool shop.
But seeing Sasuke's expensive sword ruined so badly, and the pain plainly visible even on Sasuke's usually cold face, Naruto's mood mysteriously improved.
"See? You broke them yourselves," Konome said innocently, spreading her hands. "You insisted on jumping me."
Naruto and Sasuke were speechless.
She was the one who'd been late. She was the one who'd destroyed their weapons.
And yet she still acted like she was the reasonable one.
But looking at Konome's pale, soft-looking hands, and then at their ruined weapons, they could only swallow the anger.
Because over five years, they had learned three rules for peaceful coexistence with Konome.
Konome is unbeatable.
Don't try to reason with her, and absolutely don't make her angry.
Don't judge her logic by normal human standards.
Her appearance had grown more beautiful and gentle. At the Academy and throughout the village, she was adored.
Only they knew the truth.
Her "gentleness" and "kindness" were a mask.
Domineering arrogance was her real nature.
"It looks like your conflict is resolved," Kakashi said, finally stepping forward like a salted fish instructor making his grand entrance after spectating.
"Normally, when a new team forms, each member gives a self-introduction. But given how well we already know each other, we can skip that."
"Now, everyone, head to Konoha's Training Ground Three."
"You will face your final graduation assessment."
"Final graduation assessment?"
Naruto and Sasuke both froze, confusion flashing in their eyes.
In their understanding, receiving a Konoha forehead protector meant you graduated. Then you began missions under a jōnin instructor.
They'd never heard of any "final assessment."
Kakashi, seeing their confusion, didn't explain. He simply issued the order and walked out of the classroom.
Konome followed at a brisk pace.
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance, gathered their damaged weapons, and moved after her, one on each side.
Watching Kakashi's back as he led the way, Konome frowned slightly.
The plot was becoming increasingly murky.
They had entered a familiar track from the original story, yet her existence had warped everything in strange ways.
Because her strength was too overwhelming.
Under her influence, Naruto and Sasuke had naturally begun mimicking her combat approach. Without even meaning to, both had chosen the path of taijutsu-enhanced ninjutsu.
The "catfish effect" in the Academy had kicked in hard. Sakura, refusing to fade into the background, had entered the hospital to become a medical ninja.
Kakashi and the others meeting earlier had also erased many of the original story's famous scenes.
Now even the timing of the bell test had changed.
Konome hadn't deliberately interfered with this part. At least not directly.
But it was like placing a heavy weight on a flat sheet of paper.
Everything on the paper inevitably tilted toward the center.
The stronger she became, the more she moved, the greater that tilt.
And once a key node shifted out of alignment, the story's clean line would become chaos, possibly even reversing entirely.
That wasn't a good sign.
It meant her greatest advantage, her foreknowledge, was fading.
The future was becoming blurred and unfamiliar.
Still, her strength was already enough.
Even if the plot derailed completely, she wouldn't fear it.
Her Sage Body and Shikotsumyaku were nearing the third stage.
And her Byakugan's "gestation" had only a few months left.
She could clearly feel her ocular power undergoing a qualitative change. Around the time of the Chūnin Exams, her own unique dōjutsu would likely awaken.
The tanuki, Magnet Release, and an improved Edo Tensei would all deliver themselves to her sooner or later.
For years, she had ordered Root to search for a spatial path to the moon, yet they found nothing. Her excessive body weight also prevented her from using flight techniques, making her need for Light-Weight Rock Technique even more urgent.
Plans involving the Land of Earth had to be put on the table.
And there was still the monkey tribe's iron body and senjutsu, the Hyūga, the Akatsuki, and Uchiha Obito…
Once her Byakugan finished evolving, she would have to deal with all of it, one by one.
And this brief life as a genin would be her last stretch of peace.
As Konome quietly mapped her future, Kakashi led them through the gate of Training Ground Three and continued walking toward the center without slowing.
Along the way, impatient Naruto couldn't hold it in any longer and kept pestering Kakashi about the so-called final assessment. Sasuke pretended not to care, but his ears were clearly tuned in.
Kakashi's answers only made them more tense.
"Oh, the final assessment? It's very strict. If you fail, even if you've already been assigned to a team, you go back to the Academy and repeat a year."
"As for the pass rate… I don't know about others."
"But for me?"
"My pass rate is zero."
Kakashi delivered the brutal words with perfect calm.
Naruto and Sasuke, their weapons already ruined and their confidence shaken, couldn't help regretting their earlier impulsiveness.
The three of them walked through the woods, heavy with thoughts. Before long, they heard the sound of running water.
The sound grew louder, fuller.
A stream, winding through the trees like a golden serpent, appeared ahead.
Kakashi stopped.
"We're here."
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