Chapter 6: The Crystal Ball Test
"My name is Aizen Sōsuke. I am a new transfer student. Please advise me."
The boy's handsome face was graced with a gentle, disarming smile, the very picture of an innocent youth.
"Class, this is our new student, Aizen Sōsuke," Iruka announced warmly. "I know the Genin exams are coming up soon, but I expect you all to make him feel welcome during his time with us." He nodded for Aizen to enter.
"A new classmate! Alright! Something new finally!" Naruto cheered, his attention instantly captured by the newcomer. He liked the friendly, optimistic smile on Aizen's face.
"Troublesome," Nara Shikamaru muttered under his breath, giving Aizen a brief, assessing glance before losing interest. "Now we have to get used to someone else."
Akimichi Chōji, however, perked up. "A new student! We should celebrate with some barbeque!" For him, any event was an opportunity for good food.
Uchiha Sasuke offered only a cold, dismissive look before turning away. As the sole surviving genius of the Uchiha clan, he was confident in his superiority and saw no threat in a simple transfer student.
Among the more than thirty other students offering polite, if awkward, welcomes, Hyūga Hinata watched with a nervous heart. This fool, she thought to herself. The Genin exams are so close. He's joining now? He probably won't even qualify to graduate. She had used her Byakugan by the river and sensed no chakra within him. It seemed likely that Aizen was about to replace Naruto as the class's dead-last.
"Now that introductions are done," Iruka continued, "as per tradition, our new student will take a basic chakra aptitude test." He retrieved a spherical, crystalline orb from beneath the podium. It had a dull sheen, with a faint, mysterious light swirling deep within its core.
"A chakra test?" Aizen inquired, his tone one of polite curiosity.
Iruka smiled. "Yes, it's a standard first step. Every student takes this test. It helps me understand your foundational strength so I can plan our lessons accordingly." For a shinobi, chakra was the fundamental energy source. While a ninja's overall strength depended on talent, skill, bloodline, and jutsu mastery, the quantity and quality of their chakra were the most critical starting points.
"This crystal ball," Iruka explained, holding it aloft, "was developed by Konoha specifically for the Academy. You simply channel your chakra into it, and it will emit a colored light corresponding to your current potential." He demonstrated, and the orb glowed with a soft, dark blue light. "This blue indicates my level as a Chūnin."
"There are five standard colors, corresponding to student, Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin, and Kage-level potential. The colors are white, green, blue, purple, and red. The depth of the color indicates the density of your chakra. However," Iruka's voice took on a note of reverence, "there is a legendary sixth color: gold. This represents a power that surpasses the Kage level, a realm only spoken of in the tales of the Sage of the Six Paths."
A sixth color? Aizen's mind, hidden behind his attentive smile, latched onto this information. I wonder if my hybrid spiritual-chakra energy can awaken this legendary gold. His ultimate goal, as dictated by the system, was the power of the Six Paths. This test would be an interesting first gauge.
"Aizen, if you would," Iruka said, handing him the crystal orb. "Please channel your chakra into the ball. Let's see what color you can produce."
Aizen took the sphere. The entire classroom fell silent, every eye fixed on him. He could feel their collective gaze—Naruto's eager anticipation, Sasuke's detached boredom, Hinata's nervous concern. He focused his will, not on pure chakra, but on the small, synergistic pool of energy where his chakra and spiritual power intertwined.
A low hum filled the air as the crystal ball stirred to life. A light began to glow within its depths.
The students leaned forward, holding their breath.
But as the light stabilized, a wave of disappointment washed through the room. It wasn't green, or even a bright, promising white. It was a dim, pale, almost sickly white—the color of a student with the barest flicker of chakra, only marginally better than a complete civilian.
"Pfft—HAHAHA!" A burst of laughter erupted from the back. "It's the crappy white light! Hey, Naruto, looks like you're not the dead-last anymore!"
The dam broke, and the classroom filled with snickers and mocking whispers.
"With that kind of strength, he thought he could join us?"
"He's gonna be the first student in history to fail the Academy twice."
"Pretty face, no power."
The cold looks, the ridicule, the scorn—it all washed over him. In a world that worshipped strength, a display of weakness was an invitation for contempt.
Hinata sighed, her head bowed. I knew it, she thought, her heart aching with a strange pity. I just hope he doesn't lose all hope.
But no one noticed. No one saw that deep within the core of the crystal ball, buried and almost completely suppressed by the overwhelming white, a single, brilliant, and impossibly bright speck of gold pulsed once, like a hidden star, before being completely smothered. Aizen himself had carefully contained it, allowing only the barest minimum of his true potential to surface. For now,