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—

—MPGTOI—

By PaladinKaladin

Chapter Seven: Something wicked this way comes.

"—ck!" I ended my statement, shouting out loud.

Iruka glared at me. "Language, Shinji. Regardless of whether today is the last day or not, you can't be talking like that in school."

Seriously?

"Alright, sorry," I spat out sarcastically. "What the actual shit is happening?!"

The class erupted into laughter at my antics, but I couldn't really care less. I seriously needed to know what was happening. Why was this happening?

Iruka sighed. "I guess it can't really be helped. Although I know it's sudden, a new, secret rule has been placed for this year. The Rookie of the Year would get a personal sensei, assuming there was an extra student which wouldn't fit in the groups of three."

"Alright, that's cool and all, sensei, but Ibiki Morino? He's a goddamn torture specialist!" I stated heatedly. "How come he's a Jonin sensei?"

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "Even though I find it awfully strange how you know about Ibiki Morino, I'll let that pass. As for your second question, yes, people can apply to teach Genin as long as they are qualified. In this case, we especially reached out for Ibiki Morino, knowing his…certain…qualities which will help the specific student along."

I didn't really have anything to say to that. I slumped back onto my seat.

To be honest, I should be happy right now. I got Rookie of the Year—speaking of Rookie of the Year—shouldn't I be getting…

[Main Quest: "Schooling the Uchiha" completed!]

[Rewards: 5000 EXP.]

[You leveled up!]

[You leveled up!]

Great, a heaping load of EXP which so far did absolutely nothing towards my progression. I'm so happy right now, I could cry in excitement.

This was a good situation—I really shouldn't be complaining. I'm sure to others I probably sounded like a spoiled brat who was whining once again. I was getting the full attention of a Jonin all to myself, after all. But they didn't know the information that I did. Ibiki Morino wasn't a teacher in the anime—why was he one now? Everything was going out of the plan, and I wasn't sure whether I liked that. In fact, I hated it.

The main point of being isekaied (if that was a word) to a world you knew was that you could act based on what would happen in canon. And right now, I wasn't sure if I could do that anymore.

I was going down a completely different route.

I shook my head.

I turned my head to my friends, who were still celebrating their own successes with vigor. Naruto was positively beaming, though his face held confusion when his eyes held mine for a brief second.

Shikamaru's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Ibiki Morino, huh? Can't say I've ever heard of him, to be honest."

"You wouldn't. He's a specialist and sort of the power card of the Interrogation team and Intelligence Division," I responded. "I just don't know why he's acting as a Jonin sensei right now."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Whatever, it's to your advantage, isn't it? A Jonin sensei all to yourself…I know Sasuke would kill for an opportunity like that."

I nodded absentmindedly. Sasuke would literally kill someone for such an opportunity. Obviously, I was very much exaggerating the hell about it, but considering the type of person he would become, later on, I wouldn't put it past him at this point. I know judging a kid based on their future self which may or may not happen was an asshole thing to do—but I couldn't really stop myself.

Shikamaru was right, of course. I should be positively glowing right now. But I couldn't help but feel fishy about all of this. Ibiki Morino was an incredibly odd choice. It was so niche and strange that I felt like there was some sort of separate objective with this whole Rookie of the Year thing. That could also be me just overestimating my own importance, though.

One by one, the respective sensei of each team came to the class. First came Asuma, then Kurenai, and of course, I was left there with the rest of Team Seven waiting for Kakashi to arrive. I was honestly really excited to see Kakashi, though I have to admit seeing Kurenai was amazing as well for…other reasons.

Kakashi was an iconic character, and I wanted to see what he was like in real life. Too bad he was taking an awfully long time to get out. To be fair, so was my sensei. I spent the time talking with Naruto while Sakura tried, very awkwardly I might add, to talk with Sasuke.

"Quite a year at the Academy, eh?" I asked, trying to spark a semblance of conversation with everyone.

And failing miserably, I might add.

Sasuke nodded. "Hn."

"Yeah, I guess," Sakura said absentmindedly, twirling her hair in her hand.

I frowned. "You guys won't miss the Academy at all?"

Sasuke snorted. "Not in the slightest."

I looked over at Naruto, who surprisingly stayed silent, instead preferring to focus intently on his empty table.

"What's up, Naruto?" I asked curiously.

Naruto seemingly snapped out of his stupor, scratching the back of his head when he realized he had gone into a trance. "Heh…sorry, Shinji. I don't know, I'm just thinking, I guess. I'm also really pissed off at this sensei. I mean, how could he come so late to the first meeting? I might pull a prank on him before he comes…"

I smiled.

It was obvious something else was on the blond's mind. I would try to deal with it later, I guess.

The door creaked open.

A short, brown-haired man with a carefree expression on his face entered the class.

"Ibiki Morino?" Naruto questioned the newcomer on my behalf.

I listened intently to his response. Clearly, it wasn't Ibiki. The Ibiki I knew…was a terrifying-looking man.

"No, I'm his messenger, actually," the man said. "Shinji Nara? Mr. Morino wants to meet you outside."

I stood up swiftly. "That's me."

I made my way towards the man, who nodded in brief recognition before signaling for me to follow.

That was weird.

I waved bye to Naruto and nodded towards the others, before following the man outside. It seemed that Ibiki wasn't keen on visiting me directly in the Academy, though I really couldn't blame the man. I'm sure some kids around the general area would directly piss their pants if they saw him.

"Where is Morino-san?" I asked shortly after.

We were literally in the middle of nowhere. I had nervously followed the messenger, not really focusing on my surroundings, but now that I was looking closely, I could barely recognize the place we were in. It was some sort of alley that wasn't particularly abandoned but still felt like no one would really go through here unless they were undergoing some shady business.

I got no response from the messenger.

In a flash, the man before me disappeared.

I felt my eyes widen as I suddenly felt the familiar feeling of steel.

Right on my neck.

A different voice came from behind me. "Your Morino-san is right here, brat. Ah…now tell me, Shinji Nara, are you willing to kill?"

I felt my eyes widen and my throat clench. I could currently only smell steel as my vision blurred.

Why was there a kunai placed on my throat?

And why was my supposed teacher the one with the kunai?

This guy is a psycho.

There was no way he was actually going to harm me, right? It was literally the first day!

I felt the kunai dig deeper into my throat, drawing a small line of blood.

"Urgh!" I gasped, holding onto the kunai roughly, trying to pull it away.

Ibiki's grip was impossible to escape from, so pulling the kunai away with my pure strength was near impossible. Drawing a seal in the middle of my rather precarious situation could have been possible, but I wasn't sure if Ibiki would just wait for me to do such a thing so handily.

So instead, I brought my hands together, ignoring the sudden, painful increase of pressure on my throat I felt in favor of going along with the plan. I had to depend on the fact that Ibiki wouldn't actually kill a child—while the man was a psycho, he wasn't pure evil.

Transformation Jutsu!

[Passive Skill: "Transformation Technique" Lvl 3]

I immediately transformed myself into the shortest person that I really knew—Naruto.

Through a brief puff of smoke, I felt my height decrease and my vision spin at the jarring change in the structure of my body. The kunai went through thin air, and I kicked backward and ran forwards towards the end of the alley, which conveniently was a dead end. An extremely tall dead end.

I'm so going to learn chakra climbing after this. I thought with an annoyed expression.

I needed to survive this.

I turned back to face Ibiki Morino in all of his glory.

Dark, black trench coat coming down to his feet, headband covering his head, serious expression on his face, cynical eyes…yeah, this was him all right. He was a lot creepier in real life than in the anime. I could only imagine what it would be like under his headband. He kept his hands delved into his pockets, as he walked forward with a contemplative look on his face.

I reverted back to my normal form, noting how at ease Ibiki seemed to be. I wasn't actually sure how strong he was in the anime, considering he wasn't a focused upon character by any means.

"Shinji Nara…Rookie of the Year, eh?" Ibiki said, smirking. "So far I can only see a Rookie, ya' shithead. I'll ask you again, Shinji…are you willing to kill?"

I froze. "Eh—"

Ibiki dashed forwards, forcing me back into the fight and not giving me any chance to retreat or try and escape past him.

Activate Basic Taijutsu!

[Basic Taijutsu Lvl 10 Activated!]

[MP Usage: 4 MP per minute.]

I lunged forward, meeting Ibiki in the middle.

His stance was…weird. Well, in terms of the Naruto world.

His hands were kept upwards in fists, in front of his eyes in a guarding position. His right hand was slightly forward, and even as I moved forward, he kept his hands up.

This was a boxer's stance.

I tried to run a windmill through his face, hoping that the unorthodox speed would somehow run through his tight defense. I was incredibly, incredibly wrong.

Ibiki casually ducked, and instantly delivered a right hook straight to my gut, causing me to launch backward and double back in pain. I grunted in surprise at the sheer force of the punch, even though I was feeling the adrenaline dull the pain in the heat of the moment. This guy was the real deal.

"You're seriously…weak…aren't you?" Ibiki asked, genuinely sounding confused. "They told me you were a prodigy! Bah. What happened to standards these days? They say there's a new prodigy every goddamn year!"

I gritted my teeth but took a deep breath. Ibiki Morino seemed to easily get into people's nerves, which made sense considering his occupation before he became a Jonin sensei.

I brought my seal cards, quickly attaching the wires to my hands as well.

Grasping them between the crooks of my fingers, I threw each of the cards at Ibiki, who looked amused at the pieces of paper flying at him.

Activate!

The seals transformed into kunai and shuriken in the middle of their flight path, which had Ibiki slightly raising his eyebrows. He pulled out his kunai to try and deflect the incoming projectiles—but blinked when none of them seemed to go towards him.

I pulled back with all of my strength, baring my teeth as I tried to fling each of the projectiles backward and directly into the bastard's back.

Of course, it wouldn't be enough.

"Earth Release: Mud Shield," Ibiki muttered, his hands instantly going through three hand signs with relentless speed.

A dozen projectiles clashed uselessly against the hardened wall of mud which appeared directly behind Ibiki, who didn't even deem the attack worthy of looking backward.

I threw three explosion seals in a wide arc, hoping to catch Ibiki in whichever direction he went towards.

[Passive Skill: "Minor Explosion Sealing" Lvl 5]

My explosion seals, at this point, didn't require the use of wires to transfer my chakra and would activate at a reasonable range from me. It required clever use of communication seals which was explained rather well by the Pervy Sage. Of course, I could just buy explosion seals from the shinobi workshop like most others, but that would be regressive towards my progression in Fuinjutsu.

The kunai flew through the air like arrows—their precise movement due to the days and weeks of practice that I had gone through the past few months.

I activated the seals before they actually got too near Ibiki—sure, I might have gotten a hit assuming Ibiki of all people suddenly fell asleep in the middle of the fight. The projectiles erupted midair, busting into large explosions of fire and smoke, blocking Ibiki's vision from what I was trying to do next. My hands flew like crazy, doing their best to go about the plan discreetly but quickly at the same time. My ambidextrous skill was being used to its maximum potential.

"Tsk," Ibiki sounded while shaking his head disappointedly. He reached into his pocket—what was he bringing out? A cigarette? He lighted it and placed it into his mouth, before taking a long drag. "Shinji Nara." My name came out with a sudden emission of smoke. "Why don't you try to kill me? Like I said, are you willing to truly kill?

I tightened my fist. "How about I show you?" I whipped back, rushing forward.

Ibiki took another deep drag, before blowing straight upwards once more into the sky above him. Yet this time, the smoke didn't seem to disappear and mix into the air.

Instead, the greyness expanded and expanded in a few seconds of my movement, moving through the air like some sort of viscous liquid itself, and I could only slow down in confusion as my entire vision blurred, and the rancid scent of smoke filled my nose. A tickle entered my throat as the urge to cough filled my mind.

I found myself swinging at absolutely no one in the middle of the all-encompassing smoke residing in the alley. This has to be a joke! When did Ibiki have this ability in the—I quickly came to realize I had no idea about his capabilities simply because he wasn't ever covered intently in the anime. That was to my utter disadvantage. All this time, I knew something or the other about my opponents—this was the first time I was facing someone I had zero information about. And it was hard.

With zero premonition about where the bastard could be, I proceeded to get utterly steamrolled for the next thirty seconds.

"Over here."

Ibiki's voice came in front of me.

But the next hit didn't.

From the back came a hard kick to my lower hip, pushing me to the floor. I quickly ducked into a roll to decrease the momentum and get back into my feet. It seemed to be the wrong move—a fist proceeded to knock the living daylights out of me with its sheer strength, right in my gut.

All the while, I didn't stop my initial plan.

The pain, I could take. Sure, it was easily the worst pain I had ever felt, but I couldn't let the bastard before me have the satisfaction of completely destroying me so easily. I would try until the very end.

I dropped seals here and there, making it look like they were accidentally falling onto the floor. In a way, it was almost perfect that the smoke was there to cover the pieces of paper which had distinguishable seals drawn onto them. And by distinguishable, I mean very distinguishable.

The pain still went on.

Ibiki seemed to take pity on me at this point, clearly going slower and putting less pressure on his hits, though they still hurt like a bitch on the inside. I could feel the strength of my legs start to falter, my balance threatening me with occasional slips of the foot.

Ibiki sneered. "Pitiful."

I groaned as I felt another kick to the side of my body.

"Weak."

I tried to walk backward as I managed to somehow dodge Ibiki's hook, only to be completely clobbered by a right to which I wasn't paying attention.

Blood poured out of my mouth, dripping down my face which was covered with red by now. I could feel my hair covered with the liquid and that it was pouring down the side of my eyes as well—similar to Levi from Attack on Titan, I remembered, which would have been cool–except for the throbbing pain and the fact that it smelled like absolute shit. Yeah, anime made things that were normally horrible look cool, nothing new here folks.

The smoke slowly cleared away.

Ibiki Morino stood in all of his glory, basking in the pure hatred that I was sending him with only a glare.

"You aren't fit to be a shinobi."

His words were cold, sharp—I felt myself flinch slightly. Regardless, I brought my hands together.

He crossed his arms. "In fact, don't even try as a medic. You aren't fit to be on the battlefield, Nara. I'm going to forget that this ever happened, forget that I was called by my heads to personally train you, and tell them just how much of a failure you really were. Try again next year, you bastard. And next time, don't even think about getting a team all by yourself."

Ibiki looked down at me one last time.

"Give up."

I slowly got up, feeling the strain on my legs build but ignored it nonetheless.

I looked at Ibiki with a cold face. "If winning is possible, there's simply no other option. I'll win, regardless of the pain I have to endure to do so."

"Big words coming from the boy who literally looks like he's about to die," Ibiki muttered. "Kids and their arrogance these days…"

One more inch…

I smirked. "Got you."

Ibiki looked confused for a second, before immediately realizing what had just happened.

Shadow Possession Technique!

My shadow was extended on the side of the wall, using the shadow already cast by the tall dead end and the sun which was conveniently behind it. It was the first thing I noticed the second I entered the area. I had prevented myself from using the technique too early, making sure I would be able to catch my sensei in a surprising moment.

I currently stood, holding the special Jonin to a standstill as he watched, his face expressionless.

Ibiki started his rant a second later. "Great! What are you gonna do now? You don't have a kunai on your body, do you? I made sure of that! That's the main disadvantage of the—"

I grinned. "Look underneath you, bastard. Oh, wait…"

My voice lilted mockingly. "You can't, can you? Here, I'll do it for you."

I looked downwards, already knowing what Ibiki would see.

Pieces of paper.

Not just any pieces of paper.

A dozen explosion seals.

[Passive Skill: "Moderate Explosion Sealing" Lvl 2]

To be more specific, a dozen, unstable explosion seals which conveniently had a high chance of exploding at a much higher rate than they were supposed to. I had been throwing them at a specific point of the field for the entire duration of the fight—and imagine my luck when Ibiki led himself straight into the trap without any intervention by me! It was moments like these that made you believe in God. I didn't even need to walk to direct Ibiki towards the traps after I caught him with the shadow possession technique either.

Ibiki grinned widely, his eyes daring, inviting. "You don't have the guts."

I felt my hands tremble.

Are you willing to kill?

Ibiki's previous question rang in my mind like an alarm ringing continuously.

Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill?Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill? Are you willing to kill?

Are you willing to—

I shut it all down.

"You don't have the balls, Nara! You won't! You can't! You—"

I pushed my chakra, releasing the shadow possession jutsu for a brief second.

"Of course I'm fucking willing!" I roared back, bringing my hands together.

Trap Card: Activate!

A surge of chakra flowed.

BAKRAM!

A kaleidoscope of red, orange, and yellow erupted into flames in front of me, the roaring sound echoing through the streets of Konoha. The area lit itself in azure color for a brief second. The alley blew into rubble, breaking the foundations of the walls all together, bringing portions of it down into fragments of what they once were. I watched in morbid fascination at the result of creation and its broken remains, which showed itself in the form of a large crater formed in the middle of the road.

Then the body.

The tattered body of Ibiki Morino—no, I couldn't say tattered, half of his body was practically disintegrated, revealing charred, deformed bone.

I felt bile building up at the back of my throat, urging my body to vomit it out.

Did I actually—

I felt a cold hand on my neck.

"You pass, kid."

Then my vision went dark.

[Congratulations! You passed the Genin Exam!]

[Title Gained: "Genin of Konoha"]

[Information: +2 in all stats when undergoing missions for Konoha if title is active.]

[Title Gained: "The Demon's Apprentice"]

[Information: +1 in all stats with title active. Skill: "Bloodlust" (Locked) efficiency increases by 120%. Skill: Espionage (Locked) efficiency increases by 80%.]

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[to be continued…]

Yo!

It's been a few weeks, eh?

I wasn't happy with this chapter for the longest time, to be honest. I wasn't happy with my writing quality while I wrote this chapter, and thus, several rewrites and me just trying to focus on improving my writing quality. A lot, lot of research and work. Add that to continuous exams—equals a lot of time taken.

I hope it shows, though. I'd rather upload something inconsistent and bring out good content than upload weekly with mediocre content.

Hopefully the improvement in quality has shown in this chapter! Please tell me if it has! :]

Onto the question of the day!

Question 1: What skills do you think Shinji would find most useful as he progresses? I'm talking in terms of skills like "Ambidextrous" he got a while back.

Question 2: Itachi versus Pain, who's winning? I'm gonna go with Pain here.

I'm excited to see what arguments the second question gives rise to!

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If you really want to read the next chapter of this fic right now, shameless plug time, check out my Pa treon. It's a cheap way to support me and get some chapters early on. Please don't feel any pressure to do so lads! My pa treon—search my username or use this link Pa / PaladinKaladin

Also make sure to join my discord for all sorts of benefits, to talk about anime, get polls, fics, etc:

/ shDTSvPrnZ

Read, follow, review, and favorite—pretty much everything. It helps a lot, lads.

Cya' next chapter.

-PaladinKaladin.