Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or One Punch Man. On a side note, I guarantee you Murata only kept Do-S alive cause he is too damn horny. Not that I am complaining tho.

Chapter 5: The Field Day

- One Week Later; Training Grounds 40 -

Child Emperor's eyes surveyed every tree he zoomed past with suspicion as he along with three less-than-satisfied students weaved their way through the dense forest. After four hours of running through the wilderness, their 'mission' was just about to be over with, though not without substantial issue.

It has been one month since Child Emperor enrolled in the shinobi academy and for the most part his sentiments about not only his class but also the entire shinobi system has been ambivalent at best. On one hand, even with his limited experience he could tell that unlike the Hero Association, whose members were fragmented between rival factions, Konoha's shinobi system has several orders of magnitude more cohesion and efficiency within its forces. The academy instructors delineate clear progression paths students could take from the academy to potential fields they could specialize in and emphasized developing a strong sense of comradery between fellow shinobi.

Well, comradery in the field, anyways. How it played out in the classroom had been a whole different story.

What really disturbed Isamu however was the particular mindset being cultivated by the academy, however subtle they tried to make it. There existed a set of code known as the Shinobi Rules that each student must commit to heart. By following these rules, a shinobi would be able to erase or greatly suppress their emotions regardless of the mission, becoming an effective tool to achieve the village's ends.

This conditioning was meticulously baked into every activity within the academy. Instructors taught students how to craft effective lies and half-truths, how to interrogate and torture a suspect, and for the girls- how to seduce a potential target. Cheating and stealing went unpunished if no proof can be traced back to the perpetrator, and every student, even the six and seven year olds composing the first year classes, were conditioned to believe that taking someone's life was an act everyone will do at some point in their career, just the way life works.

It was a system built on lies, assassinations, and betrayal. It was no mystery why there has never been more than a couple years without some major war or conflict.

While Isamu had no other choice but to participate in it, for the resources given to shinobi were far too vital to pass up on for his ultimate goal, he told himself that he would not seep to the level of a cold-hearted, emotionless assassin. That he would do everything possible to avoid needless bloodshed and to carve his own path as a shinobi, however long he was going to be one.

Regardless, he needed to make the best out of this situation and that meant creating some sort of ally within his class. If he was going to be placed in a team with at least two of them he might as well start on a good note. That plan, however, has proven to be more frustrating than anticipated.

For one, every class in the academy had a rating system where each student was ranked based on various parameters, the four most important being test scores, weapon accuracy, Academy three ninjutsu score, and sparring win-rate. While the criteria for ranking weren't nearly as group dependent and subjective as that of the Hero Association, there was still a sense of competition which permeated throughout the class.

Combined with the relatively reclusive nature of most of his classmates, who either stuck by themselves or in small friend groups developed over several years, and the fact that he was the smallest, youngest, and newest student, he was mostly ignored when attempting to establish himself with his peers.

The only time he was ever in the spotlight was whenever sparring happened, which occurred about twice a week at the end of the day which involved all three of the graduating classes. Before Mizuki-sensei assigned sparring matches, students are given an opportunity to challenge any of their classmates in order to be paired with them. Given how sparring win percentage went into rankings and that he was about a foot shorter than everyone else, it shouldn't be as surprising to him that nearly a quarter of the year vied to take him on during his first sparring day.

He figured that he wasn't able to connect as easily to classmates since they were underestimating him, viewing him more of an unknown liability than an asset. Maybe if he showed that he was more than capable in combat, that he was someone not to ignore but to watch carefully, at least some of them would be more open to aligning themselves with him.

When he was consistently beating his opponents, which included two members of the Kata group, a belligerent and aggressive gang of blue-clad boys who often taunted the weaker students, it led to the opposite effect. Instead of some unknown new kid he was now some off-putting and threatening child prodigy, shooting up from dead last to the top six by the end of the month.

Seemed like he was still on his own for now, at least within his class. Normally, he accepted this. He was always alone within the Hero Association so it wasn't as much of a change. He would just focus on mastering chakra along with all of the nuanced shinobi skills being taught at the academy until the exams.

However, today was not one of those days.

Today was the Practical Field Day for the graduating classes of the academy, a long anticipated event where students would arrive at six in the morning to Training Ground 25, a three mile radius circle of dense forest, and be randomly assigned to squads to complete a mock mission. Every detail about the event from what type of mission it would be to who was in which squad was kept secret until the day of the event. While each year the mission objective changed, the primary purposes remained the same. The event was made to test the students' ability to work as a team, to maneuver around a hostile environment, to live off the land, and how they handle potentially stressful situations.

This year, the type of mission assigned was a variation of a document retrieval mission where a squad was given a list of four scrolls to obtain and return to the instructors before night-fall. In order to obtain a scroll, a squad must navigate to various rendezvous points within the forest where an instructor would hand them the corresponding scroll. There were eight scrolls and thus eight checkpoints, which meant not every squad was going to the same points at the same time nor would they need the exact same scrolls.

At first glance it seemed like an easy and straight-forward mission. Just navigate through the terrain to the required points, collect the required scrolls, and then dip out. However the head instructor Iruka Umino, a tanned man with a ponytail and horizontal scar lining across his face, emphasized that any one of the proctors may stage an ambush on a team if said squad weren't being vigilant about their surroundings.

Furthermore, the only rule regarding this event was that killing classmates was forbidden; everything else was fair game. Nothing could stop an opportunistic squad from staging an ambush of their own and not having to go out of their way to navigate the rough terrain between the checkpoints. The squads would be graded only on mission completion time anyways, not on how they managed to get the scroll. The only conditions were that opening any of the scrolls would result in an immediate failure and a team can't pass unless all members made it out of the training grounds.

The mission itself didn't pose much trouble to Child Emperor. He had done several similar data retrieval assignments for the Hero Association by himself and he was well-versed in navigating rough terrain. What made this operation challenging was the addition of the extra teammates who got alone together as well as oil and water.

The members of his squad consisted of Rinji, the short bespectacled member of the Kata group glaring a hole at the back of Isamu's head; Satako, a green-haired girl wearing what seemed to be by this point a permanent glare on her face; and Tomaru, a meek and clumsy chubby kid who was just one rank away from dead last in the class.

From the outset, the squad dynamics have been nothing short of a disaster. It was clear that Rinji held a deep-seated hatred for Isamu after their spar, which lasted all but one well placed kick to the gut, and refused to listen to a word Isamu said. Satako despised being put on a squad with "a fumbling fatass, a wannabe tough guy, and a third-grader." Tomaru seemed to have caught a nasty stomach bug that day, causing the group to stop nearly six times in the span of a couple hours. All this left Isamu juggling between keeping the group from completely collapsing in on itself while navigating the most efficient pathing throughout the training field to avoid running into another squad.

It was a miracle that they had managed to avoid any conflicts so far, obtaining all four scrolls needed to pass. Given the lack of cohesion and the amount of times the group was essentially one man down, Isamu was surprised and thus very suspicious they haven't been attacked yet.

"Um, guys, I need to go to the bathroom again." Tomaru spoke up. The entire squad drove to a stop with Satako and Rinji letting out an exasperated groan.

"Are you serious? You just went fifteen minutes ago!" Satako snapped at the pudgy boy.

"I am sorry! It just happens, I think it is something I ate last night or something." Tomaru shrunk back. Rinji gritted his teeth as he walked over directly in front of the boy.

"Then stop it from happening." He growled, grabbing a fistful of Tomaru's shirt, lifting him up into the air. "You hold it in or we are ditching your fat ass."

Child Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an exasperated sigh. He was not at all unused to having to handle unruly teammates. There was a reason he always requested solo assignments from the Hero Association whenever possible. "It's fine, we are not going anywhere without a full team." He glanced over to the captive being held up in the air. "How long will you be taking, Tomaru?"

"I... I don't know." Tomaru mumbled. At that, Satako pinched the bridge of her nose annoyance as Rinji flung the boy into the ground who then made a beeline past the bushes.

"Fuck that, we're leaving. Just say he got injured and we had to complete this stupid mission." Rinji stated, already walking over in the direction they were heading to.

"That's not an option." Child Emperor stated, ignoring the incensed glare the Kata member shot at him. "Recall that we won't be able to pass unless he is with us. Given that we already secured the scrolls and it is not even noon, we are well within an early completion time." He then turned to his olive-haired teammate. "Satako, please set up a defensive perimeter around the area. Rinji and I will assist you in guarding the area until Tomaru returns.

Satako clicked her teeth, annoyed at having to repeatedly set up and take down her system of traps, especially when the only time the group has yet to even see another team was at the first checkpoint. "Not happening. We haven't even seen another team in hours! No way am I setting that up for the hundredth time. Do you know how annoying it is to take those down?"

"This whole mission is stupid. The instructors are tricking us into being paranoid for nothing!" Rinji growled, stomping forward until he was face to face with Isamu. "In case you haven't noticed, no one here made you the leader, so quit trying to play captain and stop giving us these useless orders!"

Child Emperor stared right back up at him, annoyance painted across his face. 'Why is he talking as if he has done anything the whole damn time?' He wanted to put him in his place, to remind the Kata member that without him the squad wouldn't be so close to completing the event. However, he wanted even less to get into a fight and break whatever semblance of cohesion the team had left.

"I never claimed I was the leader nor am I giving out any orders. I am merely giving out suggestions to maximize our chance of success with this mission."

"Maximizing success?" Rinji scoffed. "Then why the fuck do you always insist on waiting for that fat kid to finish up?! If you were as smart as you think you are then you would know that he is nothing but deadweight! Just wait for his ass to arrive at the gate so we don't stop every damn minute."

"That would put us at a severe disadvantage in case of an ambush by another team or an instructor." Isamu replied, his patience shrinking precipitously by the second. "Also, I would appreciate it if you took a couple steps back. I am sure I could hear you just as well at a more reasonable distance."

"And what if I don't?" Rinji asked, receiving only the slight narrowing of Child Emperor's eyes as an answer. "Don't act like you are fucking better than me just because you got a lucky hit. I swear I will bust your face on the ground right here, right now."

A vein bulged in the back of Isamu's head. 'Calm down, calm down. He is trying to rile you up. Don't lose control, the mission is almost over' He took a deep breath and then stared right through Rinji's glasses "If you are trying to intimidate me, you are failing miserably. I do not wish to fight you, but I won't hesitate to defend myself when needed."

Rinji's face twisted in rage, infuriated by the fact that this kid, who unlike many other ten-year olds that would be cautious if not terrified of pissing off a potential academy grad, wasn't even threatened by him. This brat wasn't taking him seriously, just like how no one in his class took him seriously, and he fucking hated it. He had skills! He was already on track to becoming a medic-nin! He was chosen specifically by the second strongest person in class to be part of his group! He had something to prove to everyone who couldn't see it and he won't be shown up by some nobody brat.

He withdrew a kunai and pointed it a couple inches from Isamu's throat.

Child Emperor instinctively grasped onto the wrist with enough force for a resounding crack to be heard. It took all the self-control he could muster to not completely snap the boy's wrist. He ignored Rinji's writhes of pain as he glanced over at Satako, who was watching the conflict with piqued interest. Seemed like witnessing a brawl between comrades was much more rewarding than keeping said teammates alive. God, he wanted this day to be over with.

"Do that again and I promise that you will never use that hand again. We are almost done with this mission. Let's just get this over with and we won't have to deal with each other again." Child Emperor stated, but not before letting go of the wrist and kicking back the Kata member a couple feet. The Kata member seethed at this, grabbing another kunai into his hand and getting into a stance ready to charge at him.

'Damn it. Why is he so adamant about this!? I need to knock him out just to be able to complete this mission.' Isamu grit his teeth as he armed himself with a kunai, preparing for the inevitable duel.

Right before the boys rushed at each other, the rustling of a nearby bush sent both of their heads snapping to that direction. A couple seconds later, the familiar figure of Tomaru came waltzing out.

"Alright, I am done! Sorry about that, we can head out right now."

"What the hell? You said it would take a long time!" Satako yelled, pointing a finger at the boy. Tomaru sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, well... I kinda overestimated the time. But that's good right? That means we can get out of here quicke!"

Child Emperor stared at Tomaru for a moment. 'He's… a bit more energetic than usual. Maybe he got rid of that stomach bug.' Isamu shook his head. "It's fine. I think we all want this to be over with. Let's just make our way out of here."

"Yeah, sure thing! Hey, sorry for being a burden throughout this entire thing. I will hold the scrolls the rest of the way, just to take the load off of you." Tomaru offered.

Red flags rang throughout Child Emperor's mind. Tomaru's meek personality had completely vanished. He did a quick analysis of the boy for a transformation but there were no defections or any physical abnormalities in sight. Everything looked where there needed to be… but the personality was far too off. Couldn't be another classmate, he knew of no academy student in the graduating year who had such a level of chakra control to create a perfect henge. It couldn't be an instructor either. They wouldn't make it this obvious to spot a fake. So what was going on?

"That won't be needed, I am more than comfortable with handling the scrolls." Isamu said curtly, eyes wary of the boy. It has been decided since the beginning of the event that he would be carrying the scrolls anyways as none of the other teammates wanted to deal with them. "Just keep up with the team and be on guard for a last minute attack as we approach the gate."

"Come on man. It doesn't really matter who has the scrolls at the end. If I guard them you can free your mind to get us out of here quicker." Tomaru insisted, earning tired glares from his teammates.

This time, Rinji interrupted. "Oi dumbass, are you deaf? You ain't getting the scrolls so quit asking."

The chubby boy gritted his teeth as he pointed at the offender. "Who are you calling dumbass? Listening to you only makes me wish I was deaf!"

Child Emperor facepalmed. 'Yeah, that confirms it. No way this is the same guy as before.' Before Rinji could retaliate, Isamu launched a couple shuriken at 'Tomaru', both embedding themselves into the tree directly behind him. The portly boy bent down, alarm plastered on his face.

"We know you are not our teammate. You can stop pretending now." Isamu stated as his other two squad members withdrew a kunai and stared down the boy.

"Are you insane? What the hell are you talking about!? I am Tomaru, come on!" Sweat started pouring down his face as his eyes darted between the squad members surrounding him before snapping to a familiar green-haired kunoichi. "Hey, Satako-chan, back me up here!"

The green-haired girl let out a snort, instantly recognizing who was running the disguise. "Shut up Inotoro. How are you a Yamanaka and still suck this badly at imitating people?"

Child Emperor's eyes widened. A Yamanaka, so that explains it. From what he could recall, members of that particular clan specialize in mental and psychological related jutsu, the most infamous being the Mind-Body Switch Technique which allows the user to transfer their consciousness to a target's body and take control of it. Assuming this is the same technique, Isamu could assume that the Yamanaka's body must be at the location where he caught Tomaru off-guard.

Since the Yamanaka's body would be essentially left at a location unconscious, they would only use it if they were completely alone with the target or if they were fully backed by a team.

Meaning that three other enemies were close by.

"Aw man, why you gotta do me like that Satako-chan? I thought we had something." Inotoro sighed before raising his voice a considerable amount. "Like, can anyone help a guy out here?"

Child Emperor's eyes flashed as two kunai flew through the air, passing right between him and his teammates. Two small orbs were connected to the hilt of the kunai. Isamu recognized instantly what they were but only had a split second to cover his eyes with his arms before they went off.

A blinding light coated the entire area right as something hard and jagged smashed into his arm, sending him crashing into a tree several feet away. Searing pain ran across his arm but he did his best to ignore it as he opened his eyes, seeing two figures standing above him.

One was an absolute unit of a student, appearing much older and larger than the typical twelve year old. Standing over six feet tall, the student wore a sleeveless shirt showcasing his massive arms which carried two hands larger than Isamu's head. Around those hands were spiked brass knuckles, which no doubt caused the painful bruise growing on Isamu's arm. Getting a direct hit by one would not be a good time.

The other student accompanying him might as well be a mummy wearing a black hoodie. The only distinguishing feature he could observe was the long white hair tied into a ponytail as well as the sharpened katana pointed directly at him.

Isamu took a quick glance over the two assailants to see Satako and Rinji being handily taken down by a tan, dark haired boy wielding what looked like claws. He recognized the student as Yahashi, a member of the Sarutobi clan and the top student in one of the other graduating classes.

'Damn it, this mission just went straight to hell. I need to get over there before my teammates get too injured to continue,' Child Emperor thought. His glances over to his squad didn't go unnoticed by his two attackers.

The bulkier student curled his lips in satisfaction as he smashed his hands together, a metallic clang ringing off the brass knuckles. "Hey shrimp, your team ain't looking too good right now. How about this, hand over the scrolls and you won't spend the weekend at the hospital. Sounds like a fair deal?"

Isamu turned his head back towards the assailant, irritation painted across his face. Out of all the insults he had received, that shrimp comment was especially annoying. He hated the taste of that sea insect. "You know, that deal would be more convincing if you had enough strength to actually back it up. If that punch was all you got then I am thoroughly unimpressed."

The masked student let out a laugh at the comment, the feminine voice suggesting it belonged to a kunoichi. "Wow! You are really losing your touch. You can't even scare off the kids anymore. Are you sure you are cut out to be a shinobi?"

The larger student ignored his teammate's comments, a vein bulging out of his forehead as he stared down in utter fury at Isamu. "You know what, I changed my mind. How about I just cave in your skull instead!" The boy roared, launching a fist straight at Child Emperor's face.

Isamu rolled out of the way as the brass-knuckled punch tore off the portion of the tree he was just leaning back on. Using the momentum, he jumped away from another punch by the enraged student which had enough force to create some cracks in the ground.

Isamu noted that the guy had quite impressive strength for his age, but lacked any control over his attacks while angered. He was a raging bull, and all Child Emperor needed to do was take control of the horns.

Skirting around a wild uppercut, he darted around the attacker, avoiding a fury of frantic attacks while searching for a clear opening. His opportunity came after dodging an elbow which would've taken his head off. With his enraged opponent wide open for just a second, Child Emperor sent a foot deep into the boy's gut.

While the student double overed from the punch, Isamu wasted no time in snapping a kick straight into the boy's chin sending him crashing down to the ground unconscious.

Isamu didn't have a second to rest however, as he had to thrust his head back to avoid a sword just a centimeter away from slicing his face off.

He danced around a couple more slashes by the masked kunoichi who sent strike after strike quick enough to prevent him from withdrawing a blade of his own. It wasn't until the girl overextended a jab did Isame find a chance to move in and close the distance. Locking his arm with her attacking arm, he twisted it just enough to force her to drop the weapon, a small yelp escaping from her mouth.

Out of the corner of his vision Child Emperor saw the kunoichi drop a kunai from the sleeve of her other arm, just one movement away from gutting him with the blade. Isamu twisted the arm even further while thrusting himself forward, the sudden movement flipping the girl over into the ground. A well placed jab to the side of her skull sent her unconscious.

Sweat poured from Isamu's face as he stood up and surveyed the students he just downed. He made sure to keep their injuries to a minimum but that meant he needed to finish this ambush before they could regain consciousness.

He turned his attention to where his teammates were. Rinji laid face down on the ground, his jacket torn and bloodied from three wide gashes lining his back. Next to him was a bloodied but conscious Satako being tied up by the Yamanaka-possessed Tomaru. Both Inotoro and Yahashi glanced up just in time to see Isamu staring back at them, their faces turning from confidence to surprise as they noticed their two downed teammates.

'Heh, were they expecting me to be the easiest target? Big mistake.'

Inotoro leaned over and nudged the Sarutobi's arm with his elbow. "Oi, Yahashi, do something."

Yahashi snorted, an amused grin sprawled across his face. "I told you I should've gone after that kid first. He's probably the only one in Mizuki's class who could be a decent fight aside from Neji and Kata."

"I thought that prodigy thing was just some bullshit rumors!" Inotoro hissed. "It's not my fault I overestimated our teammates."

"You can't use that excuse when you are actually a ninja, you know that right?" The Sarutobi asked, crossing his arms for emphasis. "You were practically begging to lead this mission and now you are blaming your own squad? Come on dude."

"Less talking, more stealing their scrolls so we can get the hell out of here!" Inotoro commanded, finishing the ties on Satako's hands while ignoring the unending stream of curses and insults coming from his captive's mouth. "I will make sure Satako-chan and the other dude don't barge into the fight. Just make it quick, got it?"

"Heh, don't need to tell me twice." Yahashi smirked as he turned towards Child Emperor and got into stance, extending his arms outward to reveal the full extent of his triple-bladed claws glowing with chakra. "Nothing personal kid, but this is going to hurt a bit."

Isamu eyed the chakra-coated claws, more curious at what material they were made of. While messing around with his lightning affinity he had tested pulsing chakra into blades in an attempt to recreate his recorder beam saber.

The problem was that when pulsed lightning chakra into lower quality weapons such as the academy kunai, they were likely to short-circuit and explode if he just slightly overshot the chakra needed. The kunai given to academy students weren't produced with metal of high enough conductivity to channel elemental chakra. He planned on buying a higher quality weapon set from a shinobi store once he gets the funds but for now he just needed to work with what he has.

Regardless, if the chakra covering the Sarutobi's claws were any indicator, it was that the particular metal used in the weapon were chakra conductive enough to allow for an aura to form around them. Memories from his near-death battle with the two missing-nin reminded him what those types of weapons were capable of.

Isamu knew he was at a severe disadvantage, but he had zero intention of losing here and having four hours of dealing with bullshit go down the drain. Besides, he faced much worse threats on a weekly basis before arriving here. A slight grin grew on his face as he drew a kunai for each hand and got into stance. "Go right ahead, though I have a feeling I'll be more disappointed than anything else."

Yahashi let out a laugh at the jab as the chakra flowing through the claws bursted into radiant flames. "Oh man, you are really going to regret saying that."

The Sarutobi bursted forward, dashing in a zig-zag pattern while slashing his claws out with each turn, producing three streaks of vibrant flames. "Katon: Blazing Claws!"

Child Emperor dashed around the area, making precise turns and calculated twists to avoid the fiery attacks which were hot enough to blacken the trunks of each tree they crashed into. Every time Isamu moved to find an opening to attack from, he was immediately forced to turn directions from a well timed streak of flames.

He needed a way to get close to the Sarutobi otherwise at this rate he would never be able to finish this fight in time.

"Nice moves kid, but you can't keep dodging forever!" Yahashi called out, swinging an arm across to send incinerating flames right where Isamu was dashing to.

It hit dead on.

Once the smoke cleared however, all that was left was a charred piece of log.

Yahashi frowned at the remains from his attack before turning around and raising his voice. "Don't try to run away either! We got your teammates right here so you might as well fight!"

"Bold of you to assume I would run away after that."

Yahashi snapped towards the source of the voice, turning his head just in time to see Child Emperor send several shuriken flying at him. He smirked as he effortlessly ducked underneath them before rushing towards his target.

Before he could get too close however, he noticed Isamu neither drew out a weapon or made an effort to evade him. Rather, he made a pulling motion with one hand while forming a half-monkey sign with the other,

It took all but a second for Yahashi to make the connection. He spun around to see the same shuriken he avoided now speeding towards him crackling with electricity. Forced to stop his attack to avoid a nasty electrocution, he swung his claws out sending streaks of flames to throw the shuriken off course.

That brief moment of distraction, however, was more than enough time for Child Emperor to close the distance.

The two engaged in an intense exchange of strikes with Isamu now parrying blow after blow pushing a fierce offensive on the Sarutobi. Child Emperor was mildly impressed by how Yahashi was managing to hold off his attacks. While he did enjoy a good fight, he needed to end the fight before either one of the other students woke up or worse, another team decided to pop up.

Blocking two claw strikes aimed at his sides, Isamu pushed back against Yahashi, both now engaged in a power struggle with their blades. The sturdy, chakra-condensed steel of the Sarutobi's claws aided him in pushing against Child Emperor as the two brought their arms closer, their blades just inches away from one another.

"Not bad, kid! You are actually making me sweat a little." Yahashi grunted as he pushed back against the kunai between his claws. He then turned his mouth up into a smirk as the flames surrounding the claws intensified. "Unfortunately for you, this battle is already over. Give up now or these claws will cut through you and your shitty knives."

Child Emperor gritted his teeth as sweat poured down his face. He eyed the kunai in his hands which were already starting to crack from the pressure. If he didn't figure out something quick there would be nothing stopping him from getting some brutal and very painful scars. He didn't have enough room to pull out without being open for an attack. He couldn't push him back as the force may as well just break the kunai, freeing his opponent for a counter-attack. There didn't seem to be any good way to save himself from what's to come.

Well, there was one way, and it definitely wasn't a good one. The last time he attempted it while practicing his electrical affinity he nearly burnt his hand off, but it was better than nothing. Isamu turned his gaze up to Yahashi, a smirk of his own growing in his face. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Sarutobi-san. Sometimes even the worst tools have their uses."

He pooled chakra within himself, intensifying the lightning affinity imbued within it. He then forced everything up from his body, through his hands, and into the already fragile kunai. A resounding CRACK echoed through the area as the kunai exploded with electricity, cutting through the claws as if slicing through paper. Yahashi roared in anguish, bending over to cover his hands, whose fingers were burnt by the electrical explosion, leaving him wide open.

Yahashi tried to swing an arm out to do whatever damage he could with his broken claws but it was too late. Child Emperor avoided the attack and sent a kick straight up his opponent's chin. Yahashi's head snapped back, drops of blood shooting out of his mouth as he crashed into the ground unconscious.

As soon as Child Emperor stood back up, he hissed as a torrent of searing pain shot up to his brain. He glanced down at his hands. Burnt marks covered his fingers, causing even the slight breeze flowing through the forest to cause immense discomfort on the wounds. Even with these injuries, the results were much more favorable than Isamu predicted. He glanced over to the downed Sarutobi and the substantially more severe burns and gashes covering his hands and forearms.

A chorus of giggles caught his attention as he turned to see Satako laughing maniacally while the possessed teammates gazed at him, sweat bulletting down his forehead.

"Haha! Look how your shitty plan turned out for you!" Satako gloated to her captor, either forgetting or blatantly ignoring the kunai still pointed at her neck. "You better run back to your body while you still have the chance! Or not, I will be more than happy to beat the shit out of you for wasting our time."

Child Emperor sighed and shook his head, ignoring his teammate for a second while turning his attention to Inotoro. "This ambush wasn't terrible, in fact it was quite decently planned. Even with the sub-par imitation, against most teams your plan would've been a resounding success." Doing his best to ignore the jolting pain, he drew a kunai and began walking his way forward. "You just had the misfortune of going up against me."

Inotoro grit his teeth, bullets of sweat racing down his forehead as the kid who took out his team began walking towards him. "D-don't act like you have won yet!" Inotoro roared. "Don't get closer or you won't like what I do next!"

"Aww, you wouldn't hurt me now would you, Inotoro-kun. Oh I am so scared." Satako mocked.

"Don't push me. You know damn well why I need a good grade here." He hissed, which only produced an even wider grin on his annoying captive.

"Ooooh. Can't wait for her to find out how bad you suck at this. There's no chance she will leave you in one piece after she is done with you!" Satako laughed right before her captor withdrew a kunai and bashed the hilt of it on the side of her skull. "Ow! What the fuck!?"

"Well I am dead anyways so I got nothing to lose, don't I?" He said, moving the blade of the kunai in front of her throat. He brought his gaze up to Child Emperor. "Don't move any closer. Just toss the scrolls over or else!"

Child Emperor stopped walking towards his teammate, annoyance etched deep into his face. Why was this guy insisting on wasting time? Even if the Yamanaka was just buying time until one of his teammates woke back up, every second that passed was another second some other team might swoop down and take advantage of the situation.

Isamu accessed his options. Letting the Yamanaka leave with the scrolls would just throw four hours down the drain, sending his team back to square one. No, it would be even worse. Rinji already sustained substantial injuries and there would barely be much time left to get new scrolls from the various checkpoints. Not only that, but there was bound to be more teams desperate for scrolls who may opt to try to ambush other straggling teams.

Child Emperor could chase Inotoro down after he received the scrolls and switched back to his original body. He had no doubts he would be able to catch up to the Yamanaka and defeat him. The problem was that there was no guarantee the other students he knocked out wouldn't recover before Rinji could. If Yahashi or the larger student woke up, they could very well take revenge against him by injuring his teammates severely enough to prevent the completion of the mission.

As giving Inotoro the scrolls was clearly not an option, the only viable solutions were to either call his bluff and take a 50/50 chance he still had some sense to him.

A wave of rage and frustration washed over him. He wasn't angry at the boy's feeble attempt of a hostage negotiation. Rather, he was far more frustrated with himself for letting this mission get so out of his control. While this was just a mock assignment, what if it had been a real encounter against enemy shinobi? Proper protocol would be to escape with the scrolls and leave his teammates to die or worse, capture. Would he be willing to leave a teammate such a fate especially if they were entrusted to his leadership? Could he live with himself if he knew he could've prevented this entire situation from happening.

Damn it, Isamu knew he was much better than this. He should've taken into account that a Yamanaka this close to graduation would be able to perform some clan techniques. He should've confronted Tomaru as soon as he noticed the slightest aberration. He should've knocked Rinji out as soon as he acted aggressively. He should've done anything else than whatever the hell he did. He was a genius, wasn't he? He should be able to lead any team to success, not lead them to an early grave due to his negligence.

Had this been a real ambush, the only way out would be if he had killed the Yamanaka's three teammates in battle. Not only was killing deeply undesirable to Isamu, but there was a good chance he may not even have survived the ambush without his equipment. In a mission like this, enemy shinobi won't be academy students, in which only a small handful are of even marginal concern, but rather more like the two missing-nin who brought him to the brink of death. Even then, they were only considered B-Class by this world's standard!

What were the A-Class and S-Class shinobi of this world capable of? Even if he was to repair his backpack to full functionality, would he be able to survive against one, let alone multiple of them? He was in no condition to face any of them as he was right now. He was too damn weak, too damn useless. He needed to be much, much stronger than he was now if he was to survive and make a way out of this world.

Child Emperor stood still glaring at Inotoro who was now sweating harder as he pressed the kunai against Satako's throat. Seconds felt like minutes, but nothing happened.

"W-well? What are you waiting for!?" He yelled, which earned another giggle from the olive-haired girl.

"He's calling your bluff, dumbass. You should be running away by now." Satako stated, poking holes at the already anxious Inotoro's mind. "But hey, we can totally wait here until Rinji wakes up and kills you for scratching his oh so precious jacket up. Or even better, another team decides to show up and we get to watch Isamu beat the shit out of them and then beat you up too! Wouldn't that be fun, Inotoro-kun?"

The Yamanaka was at his breaking point. He looked at Child Emperor with pleading eyes. "Come on, man. You have no idea how much I need this grade. My mom would skin me alive if she found out I failed this."

'Great, now he is resorting to begging. Why doesn't he just leave and find another team? Kami, today sucks.' Child Emperor thought in exasperation.

Before he could make another move, smoke exploded right between him and the Yamanaka. Child Emperor leaped backwards, instantly arming himself with several shuriken ready to be launched whoever decided to make his day even worse than it already was.

As the smoke cleared however, instead of an opportunistic academy student, a slender blonde middle-aged woman adorning a chunin vest stood between the two boys, a deep scowl nested on her face. Isamu recognized her as the Yamanaka instructor who taught a variety of kunoichi classes such as makeup, cooking and gardening, and seduction. Based on the unconscious blonde boy over her shoulder, the petrified look on the possessed Tomaru's face, and the hysterical laughter of Satako, he could assume that she was also the mother of one unfortunate Inotoro.

"Inotoro Yamanaka, what the hell are you doing?"

"M-mom? What are you doing here?!"

"I couldn't stand watching you make a fool of yourself any longer. Get back in your body. Now." She then turned her gaze towards both Child Emperor and Satako. "This battle is over. I have several words to say to everyone here and if you want any hope of surviving as a shinobi you would damn listen."

While Inotoro returned to his body and received several choice words from his mother, one by one the remaining students returned back to consciousness.

"What… what happened?" Tomaru asked in a daze, now back in control of his body.

"Look around, dumbass. Thanks to you, we almost lost everything!" Satako sneered. "Honestly, why the hell do I have to be put in a team with you when you have done nothing but…"

"Satako. Please stop." Child Emperor groaned, not at all in the mood to endure another ear-piercing rant. "I wouldn't be so quick to point fingers if I were you. We all made enough mistakes before and during the attack to cause this mission to fail."

"Hmph, well look at that. The youngest one seems to be the only one that gets it, if only barely." The instructor stated before turning her gaze to the rest of the students. "Consider yourselves very fortunate today. If this was an actual mission, every single one of you would be dead."

She snapped two fingers at Child Emperor and Rinji.

"I don't know and honestly couldn't give a damn what the drama was between you two. When you are a shinobi, you may have to work with people you don't like, maybe even despise. In the field you leave everything behind as you only have each other to rely on. If you can't work together you will die separately." She let her words hang, watching as Rinji gritted his teeth and Child Emperor stared at her impassively. "Consider yourselves lucky that you two are still in the academy. Fighting amongst teammates during a mission is grounds for immediate dischargement and a field trip to T&I."

Satako let out a snort at the statement causing the instructor to snap towards her direction, a furious glare enveloping her in a cold shock. "I better not hear anything from you, young lady. You stood back and did nothing while your teammates were seconds away from going at each other in the middle of hostile territory. Had my son used his brain and waited until after your teammates started fighting to signal the attack, you would've been the biggest cause of your team's failure. A shinobi who doesn't even try to keep the peace in their team is nothing but a liability. If you don't stop fooling around and get your act together, I can guarantee you will never see a day as a kunoichi."

She then turned to Tomaru. "For Kami's sake, there is a reason it is common practice to pack medicines and herbal supplements during missions. Illnesses and infections can be just as lethal as any enemy shinobi. There should be no reason to put your teammates at risk when all of this could be avoided by a couple minutes of preparation."

"I have some more pointed words to say to the other team, and especially you." The instructor glared at Inotoro who shrunk back behind the large brass-knuckled student to avoid her gaze. She turned back to Isamu's team. "Think long and hard about whether you are fit to be shinobi and are ready to place not only your life, but your entire team on the line. You all have only a month and a half left to fix yourselves. Now get the hell out of my sight."

Isamu nodded as he and the rest of his teammates wasted no time in dashing out of the area. No one said a word to each other for the rest of the mission.

x

- Later That Day -

Once the deadline for the Practical Field Day had passed and the proctors retrieved the remaining stragglers in the training fields, Child Emperor found himself grouped back with the rest of his classmates in front of the gates. Each of the graduating classes spent the next half hour listening to an "action-after report" given by their respective instructors.

Well, Isamu tried to pay attention for all of one minute before zoning out. The 'briefing' was just a repetition of basic tactics and navigational skills the class already went over like what, every other day by now? He would think that most of the students would have that information burned to memory this close to graduation.

One detail that did catch his attention however was the amount and extent of the casualties sustained in this event. About half of his class sported an injury of some type with a quarter of them severe enough to require further treatment at the hospital. From what he could gather from the two other graduating classes grouped up not too far from him he could assume the same percentage of casualties applied to them as well.

How bad exactly were the injuries Isamu did not know. However he did see a couple proctors rushing a team out of the forest who were no doubt on the receiving end of a nasty fire jutsu. All of the members sported excruciating third degree burns, with one boy's face no doubt permanently disfigured. Isamu wouldn't be surprised if a couple more similar cases happened given how desperate and reckless some of the teams could've been by the end of the event.

Despite these observations, none of them disturbed Child Emperor quite as much as the reactions, or lack thereof, of both the students and teachers to them. The fact that several dozen kids sported lacerations, second-degree burns, fractured bones, and several other debilitating injuries held as much concern as some minor sprains after a baseball game. Back home, even boot camps for police and military forces would be shut down by the end of the week if half as many members sustained similar injuries.

Then again, Isamu realized that he shouldn't be as surprised by the stark difference in standards. It was a ninja village after all. There was no guarantee that a major conflict wouldn't throw Konoha and several other villages into yet another bloody and destructive Shinobi War tomorrow. As much as the academy appeared and sometimes even felt no different to a regular school to him, he needed to remind himself that it still pumped out child soldiers by the dozens each year. There were even children who were bred, raised, and prepared to live the life of constant battle and bloodshed in service of their clan, village, and nation.

In a way, it made sense that the instructors would be so lenient in how the students conducted themselves during this event. They were allowing them to experience just a taste of what they might get outside the protective walls of Konoha. Isamu has read several accounts of previous Shinobi Wars. Even the macabre burns that one student took face first were nothing compared to the horrors which occurred in the battles between hardened shinobi.

The more he read into whatever history he could get his hands on, the more he realized just how broken this world was. War and conflict were the norm, an unquestioned and unchangeable fact of life. Villages and countries fought against each other with such frequency that it was no wonder they needed to train and recruit children. They barely had enough soldiers to keep up with the demand for violence!

While the current shinobi system did allow for some occasions of peace, unlike the endless strife of the warring clans era, it was only a bandage, and something was bound to rip it apart sooner or later.

Isamu knew that something else needed to replace it, but how would that be? What would even be a suitable replacement? He didn't have even a fraction of the influence or power he had back home. What could he even do to begin with? There was no external threat various factions could join forces against unlike the mysterious beings which terrorized his world. Any other form of governance would only occur with even more bloodshed than any shinobi war could ever accomplish.

Even if he did have the power to change how this world worked, should he even do so? He shouldn't even be here to begin with. What good would it do to mess around with a system he barely understood?

Child Emperor let out a sigh as he popped a couple of sweets into his mouth. The best thing he could do was to continue working on himself so that he could actually get through whatever hell he was bound to get himself into.

He closed his eyes and began charging his chakra. The mystical energy vibrated within his body as he guided it up through his arms and out into his hands. A small but focused jolt of electricity pulsed out from his fingers, jumping straight to the metal chain-link fence just a few inches behind him. He repeated this process several times, maintaining just enough voltage on the fence to give anyone who leaned on it near him a static shock but not too much to cause a short-circuit and get the attention of everyone in the area.

It was one several exercises he performed throughout the week to further develop his lightning affinity. Despite the injury from his fight against Yahashi, he knew with certainty that he was becoming much more competent with manipulating his element. If he attempted that reckless stunt earlier this week he would've been lucky if he still had his hands intact. Now, he would bet that it would take just a couple more days of practice before he could turn any blade into an effective lightning sabre.

It was significant progress. Being able to use any elemental ninjutsu would solidify him among the top students in the academy, but he couldn't stop there, not by a long shot. He needed to keep advancing forward if he wanted any chance to stay alive in this world.

So what was that next step he should take? He could already pulse out enough lightning imbued chakra to shoot out lightning from his hands, a feat which still feels surreal to him even after a month of getting acclimated to chakra. Lightning should be coming out of clouds or weapons, not out of his hands like a clichéd movie villain!

If only shooting out lightning was as easy as the movies make it seems. The biggest issue with just pulsing out lightning chakra, or any sort of electricity for that matter, was that it had no control once it left his hands. Electricity always seeks to return to ground, which means it always directs itself to the closest target whether that be a nearby tree, a thrown weapon, or even hitting the user back in return. Thus, just pumping out electrical chakra was useless for any form of combat longer than arm's reach.

He had been experimenting with different chakra patterns to figure out how to control lightning past the body and generate a stable lightning bolt. No doubt the shinobi library already had all of the steps and signs down as one of many D-ranked jutsu, but he didn't have that luxury. Regardless, he had already deciphered most of the hand signs needed for the jutsu and it shouldn't be much longer before he mastered the various nuances to start using it in battle.

He just needed a little bit more testing, a little bit more optimizing, and maybe even a couple more shocks to his body. If he could get this down, it would be one step closer to finding a way back to where he belonged.

"Sensei! I have a question!" A boisterous voice shot up from the class, startling Isamu enough to almost electrocute himself.

He stopped pulsing out chakra, his eyes darting around to spot the disturbance. It didn't take long until he spotted a boy with lustrous black hair shooting his hand high in the air. Both of his bulbous dark eyes had three prominent eyelashes extending underneath them while two plumb caterpillar-like eyebrows covered most of his forehead. He wore typical martial arts gear consisting white short-sleeved kimono tied with a belt over his dark and worn out pants.

Child Emperor recognized the peculiar looking boy as Rock Lee, the dead last of not only the class but of the entire year.

"Yes, what is it Lee?" Mizuki asked, the smile he wore through most of the briefing faltering for a split second.

"During the mission, my teammates and I were ambushed and unfortunately defeated by a squad with a rather talented genjutsu user. What are some ways I can work around with my team to handle something like that in the future?"

Ah yes, his condition. Despite Lee's poor performance and standing within the class, Child Emperor viewed him as a rather interesting individual. Lee was born with a disability, though it was neither physical nor psychological; he would've never been accepted to the academy to begin with. Rather, he had what was known as a chakra disability, a condition he overheard a school medic describe as "chakra blindness." This condition prevented his body from being able to mold his chakra into resonance patterns, rendering him unable to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu.

To Child Emperor it was a peculiar disability since if Lee was born in his world he would be viewed as completely normal… well, if one were to ignore his massive eyebrows anyways. He could still walk, talk, and perform any other job just as well as any other teen. It wasn't even like the boy couldn't use chakra at all. He was still able to do basic chakra functions such as the leaf concentration exercise which only required a pulse of chakra. That alone meant he could walk on walls, water, and other surfaces. Combine that with a couple dedicated years of martial arts or weapons training and he could make it quite well as a B-Class hero.

As far as Isamu knew, the vast majority of heroes didn't utilize, much less even know about, chakra and yet they weren't in any way inhibited in protecting the populace from the myriad of mysterious beings.

"Hah, that's easy! You give up!" A voice called out from within the crowd. It belonged to one of the two twin boys grouped together along with the rest of the Kata group.

"Yeah, it's not like an idiot who can't use ninjutsu will be a ninja anyways, so why bother!" The other twin snorted, filling in after his brother.

"That's not true!" Rock Lee exclaimed, pointing a finger at the twins. "I will become a splendid shinobi even if I only need to use taijutsu to do so!"

At this statement, murmurs and snickers from several other students filled the air.

"Heh, and how is that working out for you?" Another voice shot up, this one belonging to Kata. "Your team trotted out of that forest looking like a pack of beaten dogs. Is that the splendid shinobi shit you're talking about?"

Some more laughter roared up within the class, dying down a bit before Kata continued the verbal assault. "You keep going on and on about taijutsu yet you still get your ass kicked each week. You can't even do the most basic shit as a ninja and you think you can amount to anything? Give me a fucking break, you are as talentless as they get! Don't even know why the Hokage even allowed you to join the academy and waste everyone's time. A shinobi who can't do even ninjutsu is utterly worthless!"

Child Emperor couldn't help but grow increasingly bothered the more he listened to the school gang leader's relentless diatribe. On one hand, he felt the need to keep out of it and not draw unwarranted attention to himself. He was already viewed as an unfamiliar prodigy kid, someone who was several years their junior and clearly out of place in the shinobi lifestyle but yet was zooming through the class rankings. He had yet to make a connection with any of his peers and if he were to go against the flow of the class it may only lead to further ostracization.

Furthermore, he did not even know Rock Lee anymore than through mere observation. He had no bone in this fight. Why should he risk alienating himself further in such a hostile and unforgiving world when the alternative was as simple as not doing anything at all?

On the other hand, Isamu knew what Kata said about not amounting to anything because of a lack of ninjutsu was complete bullshit. He was living proof of that. The hundreds of other heroes who risked their lives fighting off ruthless terrorists, city-destroying monsters, and whatever eldritch horrors popped up on any given day were proof of tha.

If it was impossible to be any good without jutsu his entire world would've been decimated a long time ago.

It was entirely possible for someone who couldn't use chakra to be a valuable asset for any village. Even within the S-Class, more than half of them did not even have any supernatural abilities. Most of them are just guys who spent thousands upon thousands of hours honing their bodies and skills to peak performance. They couldn't spit out fireballs or walk on water and yet they each were capable of handling threats which could easily wipe out this village with nothing more than their fists or their swords/bat.

Sure, chakra and ninjutsu had an immense amount of utility and applications. Isamu wouldn't have even bothered trying to become a shinobi if they didn't. However, they are just useful abilities, another set of tools to get the job done, and there are plenty of jobs where one well placed bullet would work just as well if not better than a fireball.

Child Emperor glanced around his classmates, several of whom were jumping in on heckling the rapidly deflating boy. It was then that Isamu realized that it was all a matter of perspective. He had noticed for a long time that people tend to overvalue certain traits and abilities in regards to developing a specific skill, hobby, or career. The same belief that someone can't ever be a decent shinobi because they aren't able to use ninjutsu was the same as people believing they can't ever build muscle without the right genes, that they can't learn to draw or write without being naturally creative, or that they can't excel in school because they weren't gifted.

Even within himself, he had to fight tooth and nail to prove that he could become a hero despite no one ever doing so under the age of sixteen, much less eight.

While having certain abilities may help, by far the most important variable to one's success in any venture was how hard they were willing to work for it. If his classmates kept holding on to the belief that only those who can use jutsu can be competent, they could miss out on someone who could be the perfect role for a mission. Or worse, they could underestimate a serious threat, and in this world one poor judgement might as well be the last one anyone made.

As much as Child Emperor would rather stick to himself and not bring unwarranted attention, he knew that if he was going to be stuck on a team with any one of his classmates he would at least like for them to be open to consider possibilities..

"That's not necessarily true." Isamu spoke up, feeling several dozen eyes locked onto him. "If ninjutsu was solely sufficient enough to be a shinobi, we wouldn't be spending hours per week developing our taijutsu skills. In the heat of combat, it may be impossible to use jutsu if your opponent can rush you down before you can even make a single hand sign."

Some murmurs were heard around the class before Kata let out a snort. "Hey brat, that's nice and all, maybe you can also explain to us who the fuck asked?"

"Funny. I could ask you the same thing, except you have yet to say anything worth listening to." Child Emperor snapped. The air filled with 'ooo's and laughter as he was met with a barrage of insults from Rinji and the two twins. Kata merely narrowed his eyes, his hand just making the faintest twitch towards his sword. Isamu was at the center of attention and he needed to get his point across fast before things delved further into chaos.

"Look, all I am saying is that a close combat specialist serves a valuable role in any force. A martial arts expert can be the perfect frontline combattant, striking down key enemies before they even have the chance to respond. They are extremely durable, hard to take down, and can continue fighting for much longer than other shinobi since they barely use ninjutsu if at all. Due to these qualities they can essentially act as the spearhead of the force, piercing through the defense of the enemy to open up opportunities for everyone else."

The murmurings and whispers died down, silence filling the air for only a second before a scoff was heard from within the group.

"Even if your statements are correct, they can only be applied to those who are destined to be skilled." A smooth voice spoke out.

Child Emperor turned to see an androgynous looking boy with long black hair. His eyes consisted only of solid white orbs which stared with apathy at Isamu. He wore a beige short-sleeved jacket bearing the fiery symbol of the noble Hyuuga clan along with dark brown shorts and bandages wrapped around his right legs. Isamu recognized the boy as Neji, a Hyuuga prodigy who's not only the top student in the class but also the only one in the entire graduating year with an undefeated record aside from himself. "The dead last has yet to prove anything. He could never do so to begin with. His fate is a life of mediocrity and nothing can be done to change that."

Child Emperor raised an eyebrow at such a declaration by Neji. Isamu himself held a belief that everyone had a hard cap, a limiter that they can't surpass no matter how hard they try, and some people had limiters greater than others. Few people could ever come close to the destructive power of Tatsumaki or the overwhelming strength of King.

Unlike the fatalistic Hyuuga, however, he believed that it was extensively difficult if not impossible to predict when someone was close, much less actually hit their limiter. Someone who had been mediocre most of their life could very well turn out to be a late bloomer, with an extreme case being the S-Class hero Superalloy Darkshine. People could also never reach their limit as they either died or gave up trying. To claim that someone was fated to never reach their potential was immensely short-sighted at best, especially when none of the students even made it to the field yet.

As much as he would never admit it out loud, it was one particular blonde 'dead last' that has been the only student in the entire school that managed to land a solid hit on him.

"Heh, what the Hyuuga said. Doesn't matter what hypothetical crap you bring up, it's useless if the dead last don't have any damn talent to back it up." Kata stated

Before Isamu could respond further, Mizuki stepped in between the boys. "Alright, I think we had enough of a discussion here." He turned towards Lee. "To answer your question, there aren't a lot of options. One way you could get out of a genjutsu is by inflicting pain on yourself, but that is risky if you don't know you are in one or you are already in battle. You are just going to need to rely on your team to get you out."

Mizuki's eyes hovered over Isamu, giving a glance similar to one a parent would use to warn a child to quit whatever they were doing and fast. Child Emperor froze, shock visible across his face. Why did Mizuki-sensei give him that look? He wasn't even any of the students who interrupted the session to begin with! What did he even do to cause his ire that no one else did!?

It wasn't until Isamu glanced around the class when he got his answer. They were all staring at him. While some of the glances were of curiosity or amusement, the majority was some form of derision, disbelief, or apathy. He then realized as clear as day that he was far more out of place than initially anticipated. Going against the stream by barging into the conversation and defending the 'weakest link' just made his alienation sink in even deeper. It would be significantly difficult if not impossible to form a sort of alliance or connection with a couple classmates by graduation at this point.

As Mizuki finished going over the briefing, Isamu just slinked back onto the fence, resuming his lightning affinity practice. He decided that he would just stay quiet from now on.

Unbeknownst to him, his words spoke into existence a renewed vigor in one particular boy. Rock Lee battled with his mind time and time again on whether he could actually graduate and become a shinobi, whether he really could become someone valuable or if he was just deluding himself from reality. Every doubt thrown upon him was another weight added to an already sinking ship.

To be told that he could play a vital role as a shinobi despite his limitations felt as if years of weight had been thrown off of his shoulders.

He was filled with determination.

- Two Weeks Later; Child Emperor's Apartment -

Child Emperor strained out a yawn as he put down the brush he has been working to to core for the last several hours. Under the warm light provided by the only lamp the room laid his latest, and if successful, his most important project yet.

A scroll spread open across the desk revealing two intricate arrays of kanji painted on its surface. Two cables were clamped onto the ends of the scroll to an adapter which was then connected to a small robotic hawk on the other side of the desk, one of the few drones Isamu was fortunate enough to have in his pack when he fell into this world.

It all started with just a brief demonstration as his class began the last couple of topics left to learn in the academy, one of which being a peculiar form of jutsu known as fuinjutsu.

To introduce the topic, Mizuki-sensei took out a small scroll from one of the many pockets within his chunin vest, unfolded it to reveal a seal, and then pulsed chakra directly into it. With a light puff of smoke, a kunai materialized directly on top of the seal and into the instructor's hand. With another pulse of chakra, the weapon disappeared back into the seal.

To say that Isamu was astonished would be an understatement. To be able to store any object within just a piece of paper and a seal? Where the hell was this all of his life?! Could've saved him so much time, money, and stress when designing, oh he didn't know, nearly everything he invented. Every second he pondered over that simple demonstration he imagined hundreds of potential applications this could have.

Needless to say, he was hooked.

In just a couple days he combed through any and all of the books he could find in the academy about the subject, which was pretty much close to nothing. Sure, the few material available covered the basics such as common applications of fuinjutsu in the field but anything regarding how to design and create them were simply left to the imagination.

What he did know was that there were three primary use cases of fuinjutsu: to store matter/energy, to restrict motion, and to create barriers. If he could get enough examples of each type of seal, there was a possibility he could decipher and then reverse engineer the seals, maybe even creating his own in the process.

The big problem now was how exactly to get those examples when they were off limits to everyone except shinobi?

Well, he has been attending a ninja school for almost two months. Nearly everything taught was related in some way to espionage and information gathering. Now was as good of a time as any to put two and two together and use what he learned to his advantage.

While most of his tech was still inoperable, he did have a couple of smaller gadgets which were just powered by solar, one of which was a miniature camera he could attach to his shirt. He figured that if he transformed into some low-ranking shinobi, he could go into a busy shinobi equipment shop under the guise of window shopping as the camera automatically recorded whatever was in front of him.

During a quick trip to Higurashi's, one of the more popular and thus busy shinobi equipment stores in the village, he was able to mix within the other patrons and viewed whatever seals were out on display. From there, he was able to pick out some storage seals, explosive and concussive tags, a restraining seal, and even some sort of tracking seal. While not the most extensive list, most of the seals available for purchase were hidden in the backroom and only available by request, the few he was able to record were more than enough to last him a couple months.

As he began to go through the recordings and pick apart the seals, he slowly began to decipher at least the basics of how they worked.

The process of designing and creating seals was what Isamu could best describe as a distinct mix between coding and calligraphy, an intersection between science and art. Seals are composed of specific arrangements of kanji and symbols which when connected together can utilize chakra in ways impossible to perform by the human body.

Two common arrangement patterns in seals are arrays and strings. Arrays are circular connections of kanji and symbols which can serve as the main or supporting function in a seal. Strings are kanji which are connected to arrays and are used to change certain properties within the array, such as what type of matter a storage array can hold or how an explosive tag may detonate. More advanced seals may use multiple arrays for multi-faceted functions or even include jutsu formulae- arrangement patterns which can manipulate chakra similar to that of the ninjutsu or genjutsu it is based on.

What made writing seals such a gruelling and unforgiving process was that unlike programming, where Isamu could type out what he needed and mistakes can be easily corrected, there was no such fallback in fuinjutsu.

Everything had to be painstakingly and perfectly written by hand. If he made a mistake, it can be almost impossible to figure out where he went wrong. There were no error codes he could reference whenever an issue popped and something as seemingly mundane as how the curves of a symbol is drawn can drastically alter the performance of the seal. The only thing he could do is get a new sheet of paper, spend another five long minutes scrawling out another seal, and hope that it at least doesn't blow up in his face.

Another major issue was that seals suffered an issue of scale. A human can only draw a seal so small before the symbols become illegible. Furthermore, the more complex a seal is, the larger the area they encompass when drawn out. Child Emperor has read of seals being used in the Third Shinobi War that were so complex they could take up entire rooms to draw out.

These were serious limitations, but their potential and utility far outweighed them, and every spare time spent on learning this art was more than worth it to Isamu. Besides, it wasn't as if those limitations couldn't be worked around. He made a mental note to bump up creating a high-resolution printer far up in his to-do list.

The first seal he managed to recreate was the storage seal, the most foundational of fuinjutsu. The seal consisted of a single array with an empty center and several strings connected to its perimeter. Because the center of the array is empty, when chakra is sent into the array it is forced to converge instantaneously into a singularity, creating what Child Emperor could only describe as a pocket dimension where matter or energy can be stored.

The mere fact that creating a pocket dimension, a phenomenon often regarded at the fringe of theoretical physics in his world, is considered the most basic technique in fuinjutsu just solidified within him that this was where he should spend his focus on. Even though it did not transfer any matter to an existing dimension, any first step into the realm of space-time manipulation was infinitely better than none.

By messing around with the array, he later figured out how the strings interacted with the storage array to determine the amount and type of matter the seal can hold. He created several variations, including one for water, smoke and gas, and even chakra, though that last one was currently useless since when the seal is released, chakra disperses in the air. He needed to figure out a form of medium to either transfer the chakra into his body or use it externally to form jutsu.

Next he began to mess around with explosive and concussive tags. These seals utilized a jutsu formula inside of a single array which when activated will burst out either some fire ignition jutsu for an explosion or a pressured wind jutsu for a concussive blast.

These were a bit more difficult to work with, since one mistake was more likely than not to be his last. Hey, he didn't get to where he was at without taking some risks. What's a few explosions to greatness anyways?

After more than enough close calls, one of which involving singed hair and a very amused pink-haired kunoichi, he managed to recreate the seals and even a couple of basic variants such as time-activated and pressure-activated tags.

With both the storage and explosive seals down, he figured he knew just enough about fuinjutsu to begin to tackle one of his biggest problems. Since his arrival in Konoha, his backpack and most of his equipment has been completely drained of power and needed to be recharged.

While he was able to create a basic lightning bolt jutsu, just shooting it into a cable would be the last thing he wanted to do. Such an action would just fry everything and make whatever he was trying to charge irreparable. Buying a generator wasn't an option either. The few ones available in the village cost damn near an arm and both legs to purchase despite being practically prehistoric in design and energy efficiency.

So what could he do to get his equipment back up and running? Well, he knew that the explosive tags were based on a jutsu formula and that every hand sign for a jutsu can be correlated with one or a couple symbols within said formula. He also had extensive experience in working with electronics and electricity from breadboards to plasma launchers and thus knew what needed to be done to make them work.

If he could figure out how to recreate the jutsu formula for the lightning bolt jutsu, he could then create an array which would alter the voltage of the electrical current to a more sustainable level. From there the seal could act as a battery in a circuit, converting chakra into energy to be used to power any chargeable device.

Of course, all of that was much easier said than done. Going solely on trial and error and a bit of intuition, he spent a whole week's worth of all-nighters designing, optimizing, and redesigning seals. A couple of resistor strings here, a storage array for excess chakra there, thrown in some additional safeguards to prevent burning his apartment almost down again. Each failure allowed him to make necessary adjustments and get a bit closer to a successful product. Just when exactly he would get there, if at all, was as evident as a bottomless pit.

Child Emperor let out a yawn as the slow rhythmic taps of the clock filled the room, prompting him to glance up. 'Three in the morning? Already!? So much for any semblance of sleep. Urgh, I'd be lucky to stay awake by the end of class tomorrow…'

He sat back up in his chair, sighing as he popped yet another dango stick into his mouth. 'Don't know how long I can keep working on this without it impeding my performance… or depleting my patience.'

He decided that this will be the last test he will do for the night. Placing his hand on the scroll, he pulsed some chakra directly into it...

And like all of the previous attempts, nothing happened.

'Damn it, what went wrong this time? I guess it can't be helped, might as well temporarily shelf this project until I can get more materials from the…''

Beep.

His body iced itself over. Isamu spun around, eyes locked onto the source of the noise. The glowing eyes of the metallic hawk stared right back at him, all for just a second, before fading back into nothing

Child Emperor was rendered speechless. It… it worked. It actually worked. The seal converted enough electricity to revive one of his creations, even if just for a second.

A jolt of energy coursed through Child Emperor. He couldn't stop himself from laughing in glee. After endless nights of frustration, he finally cracked the surface. He found a way to create energy from life.

He never felt as excited as he did now in a long, long time.

Sure, the seal was far from a working product. According to his calculations based on the explosive tags, an energy conversion tag should've been able to charge the device up to 20% with a single pulse of chakra, not the mere half of a percent it did. Regardless, he finally had something to work with.

If he could get this seal down to even a fraction of his estimated efficiency, the floodgates would be opened. He could get all of his equipment and weapons into an operational state, no longer making him nearly as vulnerable as he was now. He would have access to his computer and its multi-petabytes worth of data and simulation power to assist him in mastering chakra. He would have created by far the cheapest and most accessible energy source in recorded history.

It would be the biggest leap forward in his quest to get back to home, where he truly belonged.

Such a step won't come without even more gruelling and miserable work, but Isamu was more than willing to put how many hours needed to do so.

He collapsed onto his bed, the energy high from all of the sugar keeping him up was fading away. He let his body whisk him away for a couple hours of much needed rest.

xXxXx

Author's Note: Yeah. I have zero excuse as to why these two chapters took so long to write out. Just need to manage my time better, along with the rest of my responsibilities. It's a work in progress, but things have been improving. I have a lot planned for this fic so I ain't giving up on it yet!

As always, I am greatly appreciative of your reviews and supports! They did help in keeping up some motivation!

Current goal is to write at least 200 words per day. Compared to the over 2000 words per day I know some writers do, it aint a lot at all, but at least it is something. Just taking it a step at a time while I fix my life. Hopefully by that rate we should be done with the Academy arc before the end of the year. The next couple of arcs are when things really start kicking into gear!

Anyways, if you have any critiques, questions, predictions, or comments, be sure to write them as a review! Would be glad to answer as best as I can without spoiling the story.

Remember to take care of yourself, see you in the next one!