Next morning, he returned to the Academy, the exhaustion of yesterday hidden under a calm mask. He sat down beside Rock Lee, who was practically buzzing with energy now that the exam was over.
"Hey, Lee. How was your practical exam yesterday?" He asked with a smile as he relaxed back into his seat.
Lee grinned at him. "I faced a hundred-eyed spider yesterday!" He said, and paused as a small shudder went through him, his face going a bit green at the memory "It was fast, and venomous. Its eyes could track me easily despite my speed. But with the flames of youth, I defeated it within a minute!"
"Oh, that's pretty impressive. Congratulations Lee." He said, giving his friend a genuine smile for once instead of a somewhat forced smile that he's always forced to display.
Despite being friends for so long, he had always felt a slight discomfort around Lee. Because he knew that for all his hard work, his talent was average. And while he worked extremely hard, he wasn't a madman like Lee either, who could train to the point of dropping down from exhaustion for years on end.
This meant that for all intents and purposes, his future was going to be limited. He would be a Jounin at best. And if he got lucky, then an Elite Jounin. But it was unlikely that he would rise higher.
The only civilians in Konoha who ever reached S-class were monsterous geniuses like Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru who were on a league of their own from the very beginning. He knew this. And he wasn't delusional enough to believe that he was anywhere near their level.
He also knew Lee's future, where, under Might Guy's mentorship, Lee would rise to the sky like a comet. Becoming strong enough in a year to kick the ass of a monster like Gaara. Someone who could crush the current him like a bug.
Would they still remain friend at that point? Knowing Lee's nature, Lee wouldn't look down on him due to his own rising status. But him… how would he feel clinging to a friendship with someone so much higher in the totem pole than him.
How would he feel when someone whom he constantly used to defeat while in the academy, ends up becoming so much stronger than him?
Suffice to say, that thought had always been a crack in the friendship between him and Lee. But now… that crack has mended. Because with the aid of a system, he was confident that he would be able to rise up to S-class and even further beyond in due time.
Now, he was not afraid of falling behind. And could truly consider Rock Lee his true friend.
That was perhaps the best gift the System had given him even if did not know what the system itself did yet.
It had given him confidence in regards to his future.
He and Lee continued talking, with him now telling Lee about his own battle, and that of Neji's, and for once, his enthusiasm matched that of Rock Lee. His smile truly and completely unburdened, without the shadow of Lee's future overshadowing his own.
The morning dragged on as they waited for the arrival of their class teacher, and the results of the exam.
Everyone knew it was a formality. If someone had managed to pass the practical monster exam, then unless they were completely dumb, they were all but guaranteed to pass the finals overall.
Eventually, the teacher entered the class, a clipboard in hand. The room quieted immediately. The teacher cleared his throat and after a bit of motivational talk for those who failed, he began reading out the names of those that passed as well as their team assignments.
"Team 3. Rock Lee, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji. Jōnin-sensei: Might Guy."
Lee nearly vibrated out of his seat at the announcement, his eyes sparkling.
The boy probably did not know it yet. But getting Might Guy as his teacher would be the best thing that even happened to him.
The teacher's voice carried on. "Team 4. Genin: …Sensei: Mei Terumi."
That name made him paise. Mei Terumi? He knew that the S-class Gate had wiped out Kiri, leading to many of their clans and shinobi joining Konoha as refugees. But he hadn't know that Mei Terumi was among them.
After all, had the arrival of the gates not fucked up the canon timeline so badly, she would currently be serving as the Fifth Mizukage of Kiri.
Well, good for Konoha, he supposed. They could always use more S-class shinobi.
Then the teacher continued.
"Team 5…"
"Team 6…"
"Team 7. Yoshiro Renji, Inuzuka Saori. And Ken." He sat straighter, holding his breath as the teacher continued. "Jōnin-sensei: Hatake Kakashi."
The words landed like stones in his gut. A cold, heavy pit settled in his stomach. Of course it would be fucking Kakashi.
He rubbed his face and let out a sigh, already knowing what the outcome of this was going to be.
After all, Kakashi currently only had eyes for Naruto and Sasuke. So, even if he and his teammates turned out to be the most talented student of their generation (which they weren't), Kakashi would still fail them.
And that meant his own future had already been decided.
Well… he supposed that the only thing he could do now was to give it his best.
—————
Next day.
Dirt filled his mouth. His body ached. One of his teammates was tied to a log beside him, beaten down and humiliated. A few scraps of food lay discarded nearby.
And there was Kakashi, calm and unreadable, seated cross-legged with his little orange book resting in hand. The two bells dangled loosely from his fingers as his verdict fell like a hammer.
"You fail." Kakashi said indifferently. "Next time your superior gives you an order, maybe you should follow it instead of thinking that you know better. Not only are you three weak, but you're also incapable of following orders. There's no hope for you."
The words stung more than the bruises across his body. But what hurt more was the hateful looks his teammates gave him. Because he had tried to feed his teammate after they'd failed the exam.
This was how Jiraiya and his team had passed the exam. This was how Naruto and his team had passed the exam.
Yet now, here was Kakashi, failing them precisely because they hadn't followed orders.
Because apparently, putting comrades before the mission, and valuing bonds over protocol was only something that mattered if you were important. Otherwise, you needed to follow the orders precisely.
He clenched his fists in the dirt, bitterness bubbling in his chest.
What a bloody hypocrite.
"Next. You have two options." Kakashi said as he stood up, giving them an indifference glance. "You can either rejoin the academy, hoping to get a Jounin Sensei next year. Or, you can go and join the Genin Corps. Good luck."
With that, Kakashi left in a sunshin and his teammates continued to glare at him. Blaming him for their failure even if he had all but carried the team through the entire exam.
Man… this sucked so much.
—————
In the end, despite the hypocrisy of the village's higher-ups, he wasn't really surprised that he had failed the exam. Disappointed, yes—but not surprised. He had hoped for a jōnin-sensei, of course. Everyone did. But failing to receive one was hardly shocking.
Every year, the Academy churned out more than a thousand graduates, and out of them, perhaps one percent were fortunate enough to be taken under the wing of a jōnin. The remaining ninety-nine percent were quietly shuffled off to the Genin Corps.
It was practical, really. There were too many genin and far too few jōnin in the village. And among those Jounins, many were busy performing critical missions for the village, or were too high in status (clan jounins) to be forced by the Hokage to take in students.
And if he was honest with himself, most of those rookies weren't worth the investment anyway. The average genin simply wasn't talented enough for the village to spare such resources on them.
Besides, jōnin were people too. They had clawed their way up through blood, and sweat. If they didn't want to teach, why should they be forced to?
He certainly wouldn't want the village to force him to teach three strangers in case he lived long enough to get promoted to a Jounin-rank himself.
All of that he understood. All of it made sense.
But understanding didn't make the rejection sting any less. Especially not when it had been delivered in such a hypocritical manner.
Perhaps, if his system hadn't awakened, he might have chosen to re-enroll in the Academy and try again next year, clinging to the slim chance of getting a jōnin-sensei.
After all, with the advent of the Gates, the world has become far more dangerous than it was in the canon timeline. Having a Jounin-Sensei's guidance and support could mean the difference between life and death out there.
But now… things were different.
His system changed everything. And it required experience points to function, and the only way to gather those was by killing—preferably those that lurked inside the Gates.
And no sensei could give him that. No team could replace that.
Which was why, only an hour after his official "failure", he found himself standing in front of the squat, unremarkable building where many of the recently graduated Genins gathered. The place most genins dreaded, the place many careers went to die.
The Genin corp building.
But for him, it would only be the beginning. He promised himself that.
—————
He entered the Genin Corps building and was greeted by the sight of a line of genins that stretched through the entire hallway like a snake. A hundred or more fresh graduates stood waiting, faces ranging from nervous to sullen. The atmosphere was heavy, nothing like the bright chatter of Academy mornings.
His eyes swept across the line and, inevitably, landed on two familiar faces—his teammates. They spotted him too. Their expressions hardened, and both glared at him with thinly veiled hostility.
He sighed quietly and looked away. There was no point in trying to talk to them anymore. If they still insisted on blaming him for their collective failure under Kakashi, then nothing he could say would change their minds.
The line dragged on.
Two hours later, he finally entered the registration room, only to find the interior as drab and lifeless as its exterior. Rows of desks, stacks of parchment, clerks scribbling down notes—it felt less like the headquarters of a military unit and more like the dull office of some merchant guild.
When his turn came, a bored pencil pusher barely glanced up at him. The man noted his name, age, height, weight, test results and a dozen other things before rummaging through a drawer.
A moment later, he slapped a fresh forehead protector on the desk and pushed it toward him. "Next," the man droned, already calling for the genin behind him. Alongside the protector, he handed over a tightly sealed parchment. His assignment.
He stepped out of the line and held the forehead protector for a long moment. This was what he'd been striving for for the last 6 years in the academy. But now that he'd finally gained it… it didn't make him feel anything.
He mentally, sarcastically congratulated himself for finally becoming a child soldier, tucked both items away and followed the directions on the parchment, heading toward the rear of the Hokage Mountain. That was where the Third Battalion of the Genin Corps was stationed.
What he found there didn't resemble the anime's "genin life" at all. No lazy team bonding. No whimsical training arcs.
Instead, dozens of long, squat buildings stood in uniform rows, smoke rising from their chimneys. Training fields stretched between them—packed earth, obstacle courses, sparring rings—everything rigid and utilitarian. The air reeked of sweat, steel, and discipline.
It was a soldier's camp. Purely military, stripped of all romance or sentiment that they usually got to see in anime.
None of that 'dattebayo' freestyle shit from canon storyline.
He knew without anyone telling him that if any of the Genins here defected from the village, they would get an immediate execution order. No second chances like the one Sasuke had received.
He made his way to the gate and handed the parchment to the guard. After a curt inspection, he was directed toward the command building where his assigned officer resided.
The veteran chūnin who would now be responsible for him, and a hundred other genins, didn't look anything like the jōnin sensei he'd secretly hoped for.
The man was scarred, missing a leg, and hunched slightly as if the weight of his years pressed down on him. A Nara, if the pineapple hairstyle was anything to go by. Despite his disability, his eyes were sharp. His voice was calm, and surprisingly gentle for someone who had clearly lived through hell.
After the briefest of introductions, the chūnin explained the reality of the Corps.
"First-year genin are kept to low-risk missions," the man said evenly, folding his hands on the desk. "Errands, guard duty, patrols around the village perimeter, basic bandit extermination, so on and so forth. It gives you time to train under other veteran genins and toughen up before the real work begins. Because From the second year onward, you'll be eligible for Gate expeditions."
He listened in silence, but felt impatience gnaw at him. A year? He didn't have that kind of time. Not with the system in his grasp.
He needed to get the experience points required to reach Level 1 as soon as possible. If only to get an understanding of what his system actually did. In that regard, every day wasted was a day his growth stalled.
So he raised his head and spoke up. "Sir, I'd like to join a team that's already handling Gates."
The chūnin's eyes narrowed and he sat up straight in his chair. For the first time, the soft voice carried weight. "Are you sure, genin?"
He nodded without hesitation.
The silence stretched for several long seconds. The officer studied him carefully, as though weighing his words against the memories of his dead comrades. Finally, he exhaled through his nose.
"If you weren't second in your class, and had such high scores I wouldn't even consider this," the man admitted. "Frankly, most first-years wouldn't last a minute inside a Gate. But… your record speaks for itself."
Reaching for another sheet of parchment, the chūnin scrawled something quickly and stamped it with his seal.
"There's a team of five veteran genin," he said, sliding the paper across the desk. "They've cleared many Gates over the years and have survived with the fewest injuries. You'll join them, learn from them if you can, and hopefully, survive long enough to make something of yourself. Keep your head down, and don't get cocky. Understood."
"Yes, sir."
The man leaned back, regarding him one last time.
"Good luck, kid. You'll need it."