To keep his life, Eiji intended to get out of the academy during lunch break again.
But Tenten visited his classroom earlier than expected.
'Oh no...she is blocking the path to the door...looks like I need to jump out of the window!'
"What is that scary senior doing here again?"
"I don't know, probably for Eiji here again."
"Damn, I'm kinda envious now that he is friends with a cute upperclassman!"
"I would normally agree, but she seems even more scary than the girls in our class..."
"Eiji, you know...I waited for you the whole morning, but you didn't come so I thought that you are feeling ill and stayed and home. But now I see you here..." - Tenten said that with a scary smile while approaching him slowly.
'Do I have to pay for the damage, if I destroy the windows? Shit, even if I have to pay off the debt for the rest of my life, at least I will keep my life!'
When Eiji start to get up for his grand escape, Tenten suddenly appeared right before him.
"Gulp...hey what's up Tenten?"
"Haaa...you know, we knew each other for some time now and I know that you are often unmindful, but sometimes you go too far and do things which are really hurtful, you know? So if my cooking isn't good just tell me, then I will know where to improve...so please, really try today what I cooked for you..." - Tenten's scary smile vanished, while a sad face started to form.
'If she says it like that, wouldn't I be a total ass if I didn't try?'
"Okay I will try...but don't get upset if I tell you honestly, okay?"
"Okay..."
...
When Eiji dug in, tears started to stream down his face.
'I don't know how, but it's actually edible compared to last time!'
"...so, how is it?"
"I-I'm really surprised...compared to last time the improvement is immense! Honestly, the last time was pretty bad, but now it's actually decent. I'm sorry about my behavior, please continue cooking for me, I really want to see how much you improve!"
Tenten started to get red: "I-Is it that so? Anyway, I should return fast or else I will be late for my class..."
She hurriedly left while trying to hide her red face.
"Hey, somehow she didn't look scary now but rather cute..."
"Yeah, she is way more girly than the girls in our class...damn this Eiji! Now I'm jealous of him!"
"Hey what are you boys saying about us? Humph, you guys are just envious that we only chase after Sasuke!"
"Yes, why would we care what you losers think about us! If you would be cuter, we would show you our girly side too!"
Not long ago, Iruka tried to ask the Hokage if he could not teach Naruto because he found it really awkward dealing with Naruto since he contained the very monster which killed his parents.
When Kakashi heard it, he eventually convinced Iruka not to do so.
After Naruto got himself involved in a dangerous situation, where he was attacked by Takigakure spies, Iruka saved him and reprimanded him for his reckless behavior.
This surprised Naruto because it was the first time anyone in the village actually showed concern for his well-being.
After that, Iruka started to be stricter on Naruto, so that he will become a fine shinobi.
But now Iruka visits the Hokage because of another problem student.
"Good afternoon Iruka. What brings you here today?"
"Good afternoon, Lord Hokage. I wanted to talk about a student of mine..."
"Is it about Naruto again?"
"No, it's about another one...his name is Eiji..."
"Eiji? Hahahaha...what did he do?"
"You know him, Lord Hokage?"
"Yes, I know him...Hayate talked a lot about him...this Eiji is really a funny one...Hahaha...anyway what difficulties do you have with him?"
"This...I don't know where to start. His attitude is really bad, he often skips classes and now he seems to get himself involved with some bad people...his grades are also really below average...he is even worse than Naruto in Ninjutsu. The other day when I taught them the Transformation-Jutsu, even though Naruto's transformation was bad at least he could transform himself, while Eiji couldn't. I wanted to ask you if it would be appropriate to expel him..."
"Hmm, do you know that one of his hands is injured, which makes it difficult for him to form signs?"
"This...I didn't know...but doesn't it make it then impossible for him to become a shinobi?"
"Well, normally it's a huge handicap, but I would advise you not to look down on him. I suspect that in terms of fighting capabilities he is at the top of the class."
"But...how can this be? Even his Taijutsu is only slightly above average, and don't get me even started on his long-range weapon usage..."
"Hahaha, well he is certainly a unique fellow. He is pretty much the definition of a one-trick pony. Don't you see how he is always carrying a sword with him? According to Hayate, he is one of the most gifted pure Kenjutsu users in the village."
"Hayate said that? But even if it's true, his behavior is still a problem..."
"Well, I certainly understand him. He is a top Kenjutsu user, so when the academy teaches only things which he doesn't specialize in and has no merit for him to learn, of course, he would get bored and frustrated. So my advice would be, to just not force him to learn things he doesn't want to. Before he enrolled in the academy, Hayate spent a huge amount of time to train him, so you don't have to worry."
"It certainly makes sense...I will take your advice to heart, Lord Hokage."
At the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gangs headquarters, which was only a wood table with a wooden bench in a park.
One of Konoha's Heavenly Kings was currently questioning the boos of the Peeing-Dogs Gang.
"So you are telling me, that your whole Gang was trashed by some small brat, who isn't part of any gang?"
"Yes...he was stronger than we th -"
A fist in his face interrupted him.
"Tell me who this brat is, or else I will test the new move I developed to dethrone this arrogant empress on you!"
"It was a kid called Eiji..."
"Eiji? Hey, you over there search for this Eiji, while the rest of you punish this worthless garbage for their incompetence!"
"Wait please - ARGHHH!"
Eiji was walking from the academy with Tenten again, but they weren't alone.
"Hey boss, I hope you had a good day at the academy."
"..."
"Why is this little boy following you, Eiji?"
"Because he has not only an egghead but also an egg instead of a brain!"
"I know most bosses use a condescending tone to their subordinates, but I already support you wholeheartedly even without you showing your dominance. Anyway boss, I think now it's time to think of a name for our gang."
"Listen here you little shit! I have better things to do than to play gang with you! So if you understand then scram!"
"Listen-here-you-little-shit Gang is a great name boss!"
"ARGGHHH I'M GONNA LOSE MY MIND WITH THIS LITTLE SHIT!!!"
Not for away a member of the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang was watching them.
"So this is the Eiji kid? I need to report that I found him..."
Like usually Eiji and Tenten headed to the park for training after school, while Tenjo followed them for some reason.
But the whole of the Super-Duper-Farm Gang gathered together and encircled them on their way.
Apple-Juice Lover, one of Konoha's Four Heavenly Kings, stepped forward.
All his clothes were completely green and his hair had the form of an apple.
"What the hell, another freak? Don't you have better things to do than to suddenly jump out and block my way?"
"Boss, be careful. That's one of the Four Heavenly Kings..."
"This egg kid got it right. I'm one of the Four Heavenly Kings - Apple-Juice Lover. I heard you defeated a gang that was under my protection. So I will need to break your knee to make sure, that no one in the future gets the idea to go against me or a gang under me again..."
"You know, if you want to play gang you should get a better name..."
"Eiji, do you want me to help you?"
"No, if you get involved, then those freaks will keep appearing out of nowhere and bug you."
"This kid is really full of himself to call one of Konoha's strongest gangs freaks...get him!"
...
After a few seconds, they were all laying on the ground.
Only Apple-Juice Lover could stand up with some difficulties.
"Huff, huff...impressive...you are really strong...if it would be not too long ago, you would be stronger than me. But now I have a technique I developed to defeat the other Heavenly Kings! But looks like I will need to use it on you...here I come: APPLE JUICE TORNADO!"
He pulled two bottles of apple juice out and used a rubber band to fix them on his shoes.
Then he started to lay on his back and started to spin towards Eiji.
Tenjo: "A truly fearsome technique. It combines offense and defense in one. The thrown apple juice not only reduces the vision of the opponent, but it also makes the spin speed faster when he rolls through the wet ground. It is really a technique befitting of one of the Four Heavenly Kings..."
"...I really lose brain-cells interacting with those retards..."
When Apple-Juice Lover was right in front of Eiji, Eiji hit him with his sheathed sword on the head.
Apple-Juice lover was instantly knocked out and was laying in a weird pose in a pool of apple juice.
"..." - Eiji
"..." - Tenten
"That was great boss! I always believed in you!"
After some time Apple-Juice Lover woke up.
"Boss, you are finally awake!"
"Hey, where am I? What happened?"
"Boss, we were all knocked out by this Eiji kid..."
Apple-Juice Lover regained his memories after hearing that.
"HAHAHAHA, this is truly interesting. He defeated me, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Let's see if he can defeat the other ones...Booger King can use shinobi stuff, while Dirty Baddie uses underhanded techniques to win. And the Empress...I really hope he never meats her or else his life is over. Still, I will cheer for him, even if his chances are nearly zero HAHAHAHA - Hey someone of you idiots, go buy me some apple juice!"
Time passed.
Because Eiji defeated Apple-Juice Lover, the morale of the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang was at the lowest and their strength fell drastically.
This created a power vacuum, which the other Heavenly Kings took advantage other.
They won a huge chunk of the territory belonging to the Super-Duper-Apple-Farm Gang, and also many of the subordinate gangs under them deserted to the other kings.
You may wonder how those idiotic delinquents could muster enough brain cells to come up with such a strategy.
Well, it was mostly Dirty Baddie's idea, who is infamous for using underhanded tactics.
So when he started doing it, the other two kings just imitated him.
Anyway in short: they were too busy to deal with Eiji right now, which meant it was a rather peaceful time period for Eiji.
But life is truly fickle, while someone wins the lottery, at the same time someone else loses all his belongings in a flood.
Something big happened in Konoha last night.
Eiji was currently eating his breakfast with his parents.
"Eiji, be careful on your way to the academy today..."
"Hmm, what's wrong? Also, why does Dad look like he hasn't slept at all?"
"It's a bit gruesome for a child to know...but you will probably hear it somewhere anyway...the whole Uchiha clan was wiped out tonight..."
"What?"
Eiji was surprised.
Even though he knows it would happen, it came too suddenly.
'Well, I guess only the ones involved would have seen some changes before it happened...'
He then remembered how he played in the past with the thoughts of telling someone that it will happen.
'No way I would do that...the instant I had told someone, I would be found the next day with a kunai from a Root member in my neck. And this would be only the lucky outcome. It would be more likely that Danzo would order to kill my whole family and probably even Tenten as well just to be sure...'
"Your father was there in the early morning to help to clean up. Darling, I think you should get some sleep..."
"After seeing all this blood and the bodies I don't think I will be able to sleep for an entire month..."
"Hey Eiji, did you hear what happened?" - asked Tenten while they were walking to the academy.
"Yeah."
"I heard there is a survivor though, he is the one in your class."
"Yeah."
"Can you say something else than yeah and tell me your thoughts on it?"
"I mean what can I say there? Much of the information isn't told to the public and everyone who has the privilege of having an actual brain can see that there is something fishy going on...so I would rather not talk about it because I don't want to randomly disappear..."
"Uhh, now you are making me feel scared..."
When I came to the academy, there was only one topic.
The topic surely wasn't which special flavor Choji's potato chips had today.
Anyway, Sasuke isn't here right now.
He is probably still in the hospital or something.
The atmosphere in the classroom is really weird.
No one wants to make a joke, everyone has a stern expression.
Even Naruto can read the atmosphere and is docile today.
Though there were some brain-dead girls, who had the glorious idea of visiting Sasuke to try to "heal his heart".
Fortunately, there were some considerate girls who flamed the hell out of them for having this idiotic idea.
It really feels weird though: I knew it would happen and when watching the anime I always thought how emo Sasuke was...but now he is a real person, not just a character, and I really feel bad for him...
I still won't tell him the truth about Itachi and such...sorry but my safety is at risk.
Also, there are now more shinobis patrolling in the village...I mean, isn't it a bit too late for that now?
But yeah...I remember how I walked a few times through the Uchicha's civilian part district and there were many friendly people there.
I should never forget that the people in this world are living beings, all with their own emotions, hopes, family, and friends - not just some characters I am looking at in a show.
But unfortunately, I'm not a god or anything who can save everyone.
I'm just a normal guy who is struggling to survive himself...
would be the first to make a move against you, but looks like I was mistaken...be careful boss! Booger Kings is rumored tho have received some shinobi training!"
"This eggkid is right. I didn't intend to waste my time on a small fry like you...but since you had the balls to insult me and challenge me, I WILL DESTROY YOU EIJA!!! WHAAAAA!"
'Eija?'
He started to concentrate some chakra on his feet.
'Hmm? Looks like he is a bit tougher than those other freaks, but I doubt he comes even close to Hayate-sensei...anyway let's deal with him fast, since I don't want to waste time with those idiotic freaks...'
Themembers of the Booger-Tosser Gang took some distance from Booger King since they knew that when he gets serious, they would only get in his way.
Booger King looked like he finished concentrating his chakraon his feet and charged at Eiji.
Eiji sidestepped easily while usingalegto trip him.
Booger King fell with his face straight into theground.
"Oh my god, it's the first time someone couldsurvive the famous Booger Charge of boss..."
"This kid is too strong let's run!"
"YOU RETARDS! Boss isn't finished yet, he still hasn't used his ultimate technique!"
With difficulties, Booger King stood up again.
"Eija...I have to admit that you are prettystrong...no wonder you are so cocky...but do you know why they call me Booger King? It's because of my deadly technique which imitates the kunai skill of real shinobis...HERE I COME!!! BOOGER KUNAIS!!"
'Oh no...don't tell me he does what I think...'
Suddenly Booger King's two hands were full with hard booger pieces.
He then started to throw them all at once.
About 10 kunais flew towards Eiji.
At first, he didn't think that the booger pieces were dangerous, he just didn't want to touchsomeone else's booger!
But he recognized fast that those booger pieces were artificially hardened and could injure someone.
The throwing skill with which they were thrownwas also pretty decent.
'They may hit an average academy student, but compared to Tenten's skills it's nothing...'
They "kunais" flew in a trajectory that made it impossible to dodge them all.
But Eiji only moved his crippled right hand slightly upwards to raise his sword slightly out of the sheath and then let it instantly glide back.
After this inconspicuous movement, suddenlya small wind breeze appeared out of nowhereand redirected all the "kunais" away from Eiji.
Booger King had an incredulous look.
"What the...it must have been just bad luck that wind appeared suddenly! I will just do it again, you cant have the same dog-shit luck again!"
But before he could attack again Eiji appeared beside him seemingly in the blink of an eye.
"Hey you booger bastard...I'm not a hygiene-freak, but I certainly get mad if you start tothrow your booger at me!"
"Wait...maybe we can talk this out...I know...why don't you join me as my right hand!"
The answer was a fist in his face.
Standing next to the unconscious Heavenly King, Eiji looked at the surrounding gang members.
"Getting booger thrown at me, my mood went downhill, so If any of you still wants to fight and waste my time, I won't hold back."
They all ran away.
"Wow boss, you have defeated now half of the Heavenly Kings! Only two more and you will be Konoha's ultimate boss!"
Eiji really didn't have the mood to listen to Tenjo, and just kicked him away.
"Eiji, I don't think kicking little children is okay...what if you injured him?"
"Don't worry, the main advantage of the egg form in nature is, that it's really hard todestroy."
"I guess..."
'Wait! Shouldn't she rebuke me or something? I really start to think I corrupted her...'
At the Dirty-Cleaning-Wipes Gangs headquarters, which was just a room in Dirty Baddie's grandmother's house.
"Hey boss, the plan failed! This Eiji kid actually won!"
"WHAT?! That's not good...if he can defeat this monster then in terms of fighting power he is the strongest...certainly the Empress could easily deal with him, but I can't deceive her - she isn't stupid! If I try to use her in my schemes and she notices it, she will definitely get mad at me...then I will and up in the asylum! No way. She is way too scary. Let's just think of another plan where she isn't involved..."
"Hey, does any of you handsome boys want some milk and cookies?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Yes!"
"Gladly"
"Thanks, grandma."
...
The next day at the academy.
The first thing Iruka did when he came, was to shout at some of his students.
"HEY NARUTO! YOU WERE DRAWING ON THE CLASSROOMS TABLES YESTERDAY, RIGHT? YOU WILL STAY AFTER CLASS TO CLEAN IT UP!"
'How many times has it been already? Everyone is already used to this scene...Naruto keeps doing his stupid pranks and Iruka forces him to stay at the academy longer...'
"And you too Eiji, will stay here after school because I need to have a serious talk with you!"
"..."
After the classes ended, Naruto and Eiji were still here.
Iruka gave Naruto a sponge and a bucket with water without saying anything.
Such situations with Naruto happened so often, that he didn't need to tell him what to do.
Iruka then turned towards Eiji.
"Eiji, I heard rumors that you involve yourself with delinquents again...I thought you got more mature and stopped doing it, but now it seems you started doing it again..."
"Sensei, you got it wrong. I'm a virtuous and law-abiding citizen. These freaks just start to come out of nowhere and try to fight me..."
"Haaa, you know, normally what my students do in their free time isn't of my concern, but future shinobis shouldn't use what they learn in the academy to beat up non-shinobis..."
"As I said, those freaks are the ones starting to fight me and I'm just defending myself-"
WHOOSH.
The whole bucket with water was turned over Eiji's head.
"Hahaha, you stupid swordsman, look how dumb you look when you are completely wet!"
"NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
While Iruka was screaming, Eiji's body disappeared with a puff sound and smoke.
It was just his shadow-clone.
'This shameless brat! He never intended to stay after classes!'
"..."
"..."
"Hey Naruto, after you are finished cleaning up, how about some ramen?"
After some serious planning Dirty Baddie came up with a dirty plan.
He knew, that Eiji is often accompanied by a girl.
So instead of attacking Eiji straight on, he and his gang will kidnap the girl and make him surrender!
Truly an underhanded plan befitting of the Heavenly King, who is infamous for using underhanded and dirty tactics.
Since Tenten and Eiji walked together to and from the academy, and after that head to the park to train, the Dirty-Cleaning-Wipes Gang needed to wait for the weekend, where she wouldn't be accompanied by Eiji, to strike.
Finally, they found a chance, when Tenten was heading home from shopping.
They simultaneously appeared from their covers and encircled her.
Dirty Baddie was also here since his gang members aren't the brightest and he wants to make sure they didn't mess up.
He looked like a hooligan, with scars, and was completely bald, which is impressive for his young age - in short, he looked really shady.
He smiled evilly while licking at his knife: "Hey there little lass, you should come with us quietly, then we won't need to use any force."
His gang started to move closer to her.
Dirty Baddie knew that Eiji was a shinobi, but he didn't think Tenten was also one.
First of all, she didn't carry any visible weapon around her and never helped Eiji in fights, but more importantly: his subordinates didn't inform him when they collected data, that she and Eiji walked to and from the academy together since they aren't really smart and didn't know that this was an utmost important detail.
Dirty Baddie was really unlucky.
It would have been better for him to get defeated by Eiji since Eiji holds normally back.
Tenten didn't say anything and took out a scroll.
Dirty Baddie didn't even have the opportunity to use any special techniques before he and his gang had their butts full of kunais and shurikens.
It was certainly a funny scene, seeing a group of delinquents running to the hospital while holding their butts and crying.
The next day on the way to the academy.
"Hey did something happen Tenten? Why are you so happy?"
"Nothing, I just had a good training opportunity..."
'?'
"HEEYYY BOSS!!! Big news, Dirty Baddie and his gang mysteriously disappeared. Now It's only you and the Empress. But you shouldn't celebrate now, since rumors say she is the most fearsome of the Heavenly Kings. Normally she doesn't involve herself in gang wars and let her gang deal with it. But when she decides to move, it's like a demonic goddess descends and brings destruction! Not much is know about her fighting style, only that she uses some kind of mind attacks."
'Oh man, I wonder when those idiotic freaks stop bothering me..."
TheYellow-Snow Gang was a girls-only gang.
They have beenaround for some time and were always one of the topgangs in Konoha.
Also, they made sure, that the boy delinquents wouldn't bother girls, or else theywould completely crush them.
All the bosses the gang had, alwaysbelonged to the Heavenly Kings.
But when the Empress appeared, the gang rose at an unbelievable speed to the topposition.
To outsiders, the Empress is shrouded in mystery and not much is known.
The only reliable rumors were, that one day she just suddenly appeared at the headquartersand challenged the former boss.
After that, she was the undisputed boss, and others who had the misfortune to fight herpersonally, all went crazy.
Anyway, at the Yellow-Snow Gangsheadquarters, which was surprisingly really a place you could call headquarters (it was an abandoned factory), there was a discussion going on.
"What should we do? Every Heavenly King was defeated by this newcomer..."
"But he isn't part of any gang, and he hasn'tclaimed any territory, so shouldn't it be fine to just ignore him?"
"No, we cant. What do we do if he forms a gang and recruits all he has defeated? His gang would be the biggest then! We should strike before he has formed a gang!"
"But - "
"Enough!" - The Empress snapped her fan, and everything when instantly quiet.
"I will deal personally with this newcomer, hihihi" - the Empress said that with a cheerful face and giggled.
All the girls gulped and tried to make absolutely zero noises.
"Hey Eiji, we have this genius in my class called Neji, I think he could even give you a hard time if you two fought."
"I honestly don't care about this stuff. Moreimportantly, I have almost mastered a new technique, so can you throw some stuff, so I can practice it on moving targets?"
"Sure, but after that teach me some morekenjutsu.."
Even though she can pick up any weapon and instantly use it to a high level, she can't compare to a specialist.
"Yeah, yeah sure...by the way today is really hot...I'm sweating just from walking in the sun..."
Suddenly a group of girls appeared and encircled them.
"Oh man, not again...at least there is somevariation today..."
One of the girls stepped forward and shouted: "YOU ARROGANT PIG WILL FALL TODAY FOR TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WHOLE OF KONOHA!"
After she said that, a giggle could be heardbehind the line of girls: "That's a rude way to talk to this newcomer with talent. He sure isn't ordinary to defeat all the Heavenly Kings by himself, so don't be so disrespectful!"
The girl who just shouted had an ashen face and instantly kneeled and apologized.
The rest of the girls also kneeled and opened a path for the Empress.
Slowly Eiji could see the appearance of the so-called Empress.
"..."
"Ahh! Glue eater!"
'What is my stupid cousin doing here?' - Eiji
...
"Jo Hatsumi, what the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home and learn to run our family business or something?"
"SHUT UP! WHAT THE HELL AREYOUDOING HERE?"
"Just walking, before I got surrounded by those gyaruo-wannabes! Anyway since it looks like you are the leader of them, tell them to stopblocking my path, I have things to do!"
"Hihihi, unfortunately for you, I will have to defeat you, since you are a threat to our gang..."
"I honestly don't care about this stupid gangstuff. I always got challenged for no reason at all, so I just fought back..."
"Hihihi, that may be the case, but since I nowknow it's you, my dear cousin, I will have to settle some personal grudges with you."
"Haaaa whatever. Since you are the last of oneof those Heavenly Kings, I will just beat you up, even though it's not my style to hurt girls."
Hatsumi remembered how he threatenedher in the past to kick her in the leg, and got furious at his shameless noble act.
Her giggle changed to maniacal laughter and she moved one of her hands towards her bag.
"THE EMPRESS TAKES THE CURSED ARTIFACT OUT, QUICKLY CLOSE YOU EYES EVERYONE!" - a random girl shouted.
All the Yellow-Snow Gang members closed theireyes and distanced themselves from Hatsumi.
'Cursed artifact? Don't tell me..'
Hatsumi took out a denture, which was dirty and used - overall it was a really unpleasantview.
When Eiji saw that, he had horrible flashbacks.
He covered while sucking at his thumb, with an expression that looked like he lost his mind.
'I need to eat some glue, I need to eat some glue, I need to eat some...'
"HAHAHA THIS IS MY REVENGE EIJI!!! NOW COVER IN FEAR! HAHAHAHA"
Tenten looked at Eiji.
She then patted his shoulder.
"There, there everything is alright, I'm here with you."
Her voice was like a light that reached him in his pitch-black abyss.
He slowly regained some sanity.
"Y-you are right Tenten...if I cant overcomemypast trauma I can never become a half-decent shinobi...Hatsumi, you are possessed by this cursed artifact, as a family member, I will also save you...HERE I COME WHAAAAAA!"
He slowly drew closer towards Hatsumi with difficulties, as if an invisible wall tries to hold him back.
After much time and difficulties, he stood in front of her.
He drew his sword, and prayed in his heart: Please lend me your power Kagayaku Haikei, to banish this evil from this world!
"HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA"
He slashed at the denture.
Hatsumi stared with an open mouth at her hand, where the denture was in pieces.
Tears started to form: "I'm finally free...thank you..."
She lost consciousness and fell directly into Eiji's arms.
'Even though we hate each other, no onedeserves such a terrible fate...'
The curse was finally lifted.
Not too far away Tenjo looked at the scene and smiled.
"Looks like my masterplan worked. This Eiji defeated all the dangerous opponents for me, and now I can use this chance to become Konoha's sole King! hehehehehe..."
The delinquent legend of the Egg Monarch would start at this moment, but that's a storyEiji won't be part of.
At the Hokage office, Hiruzen and the rest of the Konoha Council looked at reports from the academy.
This is a meeting which is held every year, to scout potential Anbu candidates from the academy.
Only accomplished children have the chance to be scouted while still being in the academy!
Mostly it's the Hokage's responsibility to select the candidates, but Homura and Koharu are present, to make sure that they can give their opinion to help Hiruzen with his task.
And Danzo is here for...shady reasons.
Anyway, they were looking at the reports of this year's freshmen class.
There were many children with ordinary grades.
So that's why when Sasuke's report appeared, it caught everyone's eyes.
Homura: "So this is the Uchiha brat? He certainly doesn't disappoint, even if Itachi was better..."
Koharu: "You shouldn't really compare someone to Itachi, since he graduated the academy after only four months and joined the Anbu when he was only eleven...he is an irregularity even in Konoha's long history. Anyway, in my opinion, Sasuke certainly has the potential, but I think we should observe him more before deciding, considering the Uchiha's history."
Danzo had a dark expression and didn't say anything.
Hiruzen thought about the promise he gave to Itachi, to protect Sasuke no matter what, and made his decision.
"I won't select Sasuke Uchiha to join the Anbu for the time being."
No one objected to the decision.
Next, they looked at the report of Naruto.
He had by far the worst grades.
"..."
"HAHAHAHAHA"
Everyone thought it was best to keep their opinions to themselves, only Hiruzen laughed heartily when he read about all the mischief Naruto did in the academy.
Next came up Eiji.
His grades were all over the place: Classroom attitude F, genjutsu C, taijutsu B, ninjutsu A, teamwork B, positivity F.
There was also noted that, because of his injured hand, he is one of the rare cases who uses hand signs with only one hand.
Other things noted, how he was trained by Hayate Gekko prior to enrolling and his involvement with delinquents.
"That's a pretty wild and chaotic profile." - Koharu
Homura: "It is noted that his combat abilities are pretty high, but it looks like his personality troublesome...if he grows up and is more mature, maybe he would be a candidate..."
Danzo kept silent and thought: 'this boy is too eccentric to be of any use to me.'
Hiruzen didn't laugh about the reports of Eiji's misbehavior, instead, he was seriously contemplating.
"I...I won't select him as a potential Anbu candidate."
In the end, he decided against it.
In his eyes, Eiji was someone who has a way too flashy personality and unique quirks, which would clash with the whole identity concealment thing.
The meeting concluded with no one being selected to join the Anbu right after graduation and to observe Sasuke so that he might join in the future.
Unfortunately, Konoha didn't have a beach, so in the summer when the temperature is at the highest, people would go to a swimming pool.
Though there were some hardcore lunatics, who would visit the hot-springs even in this heat.
To thank Eiji for rescuing her, Hatsumi invited him to the swimming pool.
Since it was Sunday and too hot for any training, he had nothing to do and ended up agreeing.
Somehow Tenten heard of it it and demanded to go with them; she stated the reason being, that she didn't trust Hatsumi.
So now Eiji was at the swimming pool with his cousin and Tenten.
"Hey Eiji, how is my swimming-outfit?"
"Hihihi, like that glue-eater would care about things like that..."
He already regretted accepting.
'This day will be a drag...and the heat frying my brain doesn't make it any better...wait I somehow sound like Shikamaru...'
Eiji wanted nothing more to dive straight into the pool, but unfortunately, the pool was pretty full.
There were also many little children there, and Eiji hated little kids (even though he is one too).
He left his sword at home, but now he wished he had it with him, so he could scare all the kids away.
The three decided to first eat something so that maybe there would be later fewer people in the pool.
"Since I invited you to thank you, of course, I prepared something for you, here you go..."
Hatsumi gave Eiji a bento.
When he opened it, it was full of glue.
"..."
He kicked Hatsumi straight in the pool.
Tenten saw what was in the bento and jumped with an angry face in as well.
She then started to throw water at Hatsumi's face.
Hatsumi retaliated and so a water battle started between the two.
'I wish I had a cold beer now...'
Of course, Eiji is too young to buy beer, so he instead sat on a pool chair.
He started to think, how his first year at the academy is almost over.
'Time sure flies by...I really should enjoy the remaining time in the academy...since after that the peaceful days will be over and big things will happen in this world where I could die anytime...'
In the Hokage office.
"Hayate, I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to lead a genin team..."
"Koff, with all due respect Lord Hokage, it's not the first time you have asked me this, but my stance won't change..."
"Hmmm, I thought you would be willing this time because one of this year's graduates is a former student of yours."
"Koff, could you mean perhaps Eiji? Even then, I have to refuse."
"The thing is, not many Jonin picked him, because of his grades in classroom attitude and positivity, they think that the team atmosphere would be strained. But I thought since he was your student, you wouldn't have any problems dealing with him."
'What was he doing to get such bad grades in the easiest categories? Anyway, the Hokage surely exaggerates and is saying all that so I would agree...hah whatever, my health improved a bit so I should be able to babysit some brats..."
"If it's like that, I will accept Lord Hokage."
The graduation test wasn't a problem for Eiji.
The task was to generate three clones, but since Eiji didn't bother to learn the basic Clone Technique, he generated two shadow clones instead.
Since the Shadow Clone-Jutsu rapidly depletes the user's chakra, two were currently the maximum of Eiji.
Iruka and Mizuki still let him pass without problems.
"Naruto! What are you doing here? Class today is only for the students who didn't fail!" - random mob.
"What? Can't you see the headband?!"
Things ended playing out like they are supposed to be, and Naruto and Sasuke kissed each other.
While seeing this scene Eiji thought: ' Well it's good that things are like they are supposed to happen...I wouldn't mind seeing Naruto's Sexy-Jutsu again though...it was really hot, to be honest...'
...
It was finally time for Iruka to call out the teams.
Everything was like it was supposed to be, which Eiji was glad about.
"Next is cell number eleven. Kotaru Nogami, Arina Natori, and Eiji Nakamura.
'Well, a mob certainly is supposed to have other mobs as teammates...'
"Oh no, it's that rotten swordsman...why is my luck so bad..."
"..."
"Okay, everyone, I will be introducing your Jonin-supervisor this afternoon. Until then, you are dismissed!"
"Hayate-sensei? What are you doing here?"
"Koff, long time no see Eiji. I decided to become your sensei once again." - Hayate said that with a small smile.
'Looks like some stuff already changed...but since he is also more or less supposed to be a mob, it should be fine...'
"Koff and you two are Kotaru and Arina, right? Let's leave the classroom and go somewhere else first."
"Hey, don't you guys think that our sensei looks somehow sick?" - Kotaru
Arina: "Shhhh keep your voice down, what if he hears you?"
Eiji rolled his eyes and just followed.
They went straight to one of Konoha's many training grounds.
"Koff, let's first introduce ourselves. My name is Hayate Gekko, I'm a Tokubetsu Jonin (special Jonin), so I guess my rank is slightly lower than a normal Jonin. I don't have really anything interesting to tell you about myself...well Eiji here knows me already anyway."
"WHAT? Hey Eiji, how do you know him? Did he arrest you in the past or something?" - Kotaro
"Nothing like that, anyway shouldn't you better introduce yourself instead of wasting our sensei's time?"
"Oh right. My name is Kotaru Nogami. I like cute girls, and I absolutely hate fat girls. I also don't like evil girls. My goal is to marry a real princess one day!"
Kotaru has grey hair and wears stylish glasses - generally, he gives the impression of someone lively but not too energetic.
"Are you a pervert or something? Anyway, my name is Arina Natori. My goal is to become a kunoichi, which the village can rely on. My likes and dislikes aren't anything special so I skip it."
Arina was a girl with a plain appearance, black hair, and an expressionless face - in short, the perfect mob girl.
"So then that only leaves me? Well, my name is Eiji Nakamura, I like my sword. I dislike weapons that aren't swords. My dream is to be renowned for my virtues and truthfulness, to become like a buddha... I guess." - He said it in a half-assed tone
"..."
'His humor really didn't change since the last time I saw him...'
"Koff, since we now got to know each other, there is something I have to tell you. I will personally test you, and if I deem you to be unfitting, you will have to go back to the academy for some more training."
"What? But we already graduated and now you are telling us that if we fail, we have to go back to the academy?" - Kotaro
"Why did no one tell us about that before..." - Arina
'Well I already knew something like that would happen...' - Eiji
"Every Jonin has their own expectations and way of testing for the team they will lead, so telling in advancement would be just too troublesome. Anyway, the test is simple: You just have to attack me like you intend to kill me."
'Pretty straight forward, as expected of Hayate-sensei...the thing he wants to test should be teamwork as well'
"You can't be serious...how are we supposed to fight a Jonin...' - Kotaro
"..." - Arina
"So what are you waiting for? Are you going to attack or just standing there waiting for the sun to settle?"
"AHHHH TAKE THIS!!!"
Kotaro charged at him, while Arina just stood there doing nothing.
'How am I supposed to do teamwork with those two? Well, I still need to try it.'
Kotaro's charge was abysmal and Hayate dodged easily, but then Eiji suddenly attacked from behind.
Of course, Hayate already expected that.
Hayate grinned: 'Looks like Eiji understands the importance of teamwork, that only leaves those two...'
Hayate easily deflected Eiji with his sword and then jumped away to distance himself from the two.
"Alright, Eiji passed already...now you two need to convince me as well...oh by the way Eiji, if you give them any hints you will fail instead."
"WHAAAT? Hey sensei why did he pass and I not?" - Kotaro
"Koff, instead of talking shouldn't you attack me?"
"Ahh damn" - He again mindlessly charged at Hayate.
'Hmm if this goes one, the girl will just keep standing there'
Suddenly Hayate disappeared from Kotaro and instead appeared in front of Arina.
"!"
Arina was already too fearful to attack a Jonin head-on and now that Hayate suddenly attacked her, her panic level rose to the limit.
Her brain function shut down and she was now completely like a statue.
"..." - Hayate
He just smacked her at her front-head lightly, so that she comes back to her senses.
"Koff, this won't work out...I will give you two 5 minutes to calm down and to come up with a strategy."
Hayate sat down on a nearby rock while starting to count the time silently.
'I wonder what happens if they don't pass...will I get a senior team who lost a teammate or something?'
Eiji was laying at a tree and watching disinterestedly.
"HEY YOU, CAN YOU STOP BEING A STATURE AND START DOING SOMETHING?"
Kotaru walked towards Arina with an upset face.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"I DON'T NEED YOUR SORRY, IF THIS CONTINUES WE WILL BOTH FAIL!"
The mention of failing brought Arina somewhat to her senses and she started to breathe slowly to calm down.
"You are right, we don't have much time anymore, let's start to think..."
"No need to think! I will charge at him while you support me from long range."
"But in my opinion, we should try to think why Eiji passed instead..."
Kotaro had already unknowingly the right idea, while Arina walked straight into the trap of overthinking.
Hayate, who was listening, didn't say anything, because in his opinion overthinking is something that mustn't happen on the battlefield, especially when it concerns teammates.
Arina and Kotaro kept arguing with each other till the 5 minutes were up.
They couldn't come to an agreement and Hayate stood up and glanced at them.
"Whatever, I will keep trying to fight him, while you can keep wasting your time thinking..."
Kotaru charged at him again.
Hayate dodged everything without drawing his sword.
After a few blows, Hayate started to attack Kotaro instead.
Then when Kotaro found himself in a corner, because a tree was behind him, Hayate drew his sword and said "Playtime is over"
"Wait, please sensei no need to hurt me...I will go back to the academy so don't cut me with your sword please!"
Hayate didn't say anything and raised his sword.
"NOOO PLEASE!"
Kotaro panicked thinking Hayate will strike him for real.
Suddenly a kunai flew towards him.
"RUN WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!!!" - Arina who threw the kunai shouted.
Hayate blocked the kunai with his sword and started to put his sword into the sheath.
"Koff, congratulations, you both pass."
"What? What? Why? How?" - Kotaru was perplexed.
"Why do you think we put Genins in a team? It's because of teamwork. For example, earlier Eiji attacked me when he saw an opening from your attack, that's why I let him pass instantly. Anyway, most shinobi missions are done in a team, so Genins need to be willing to work together...it's the most important thing, keep this in mind and never forget this!"
"Yes sensei!" Both shouted happily while Kotaru had teary eyes and Arina still had a look of disbelieve.
They then looked at Eiji.
He was sleeping without a care in the world.
"..."
After getting his head smacked by Hayate, Eiji woke up.
Hayate told them the time and place to gather tomorrow for their first mission.
"Wait sensei, I wanted to show you how much I have improved since the last time. I didn't want the other two to be in the way, so can you stay a bit longer and spar with me?" - Eiji asked Hayate before he left.
"Koff, sure I'm looking forward to it."
Hayate took his fight stance, which he didn't use at the test before, while Eiji took an iaijutsu-stance.
'Looks like he wants to settle it with just one move...'
Hayate felt pressure, even though Eiji was only in his stance and glaring at him.
When a small breeze blew, Eiji suddenly appeared behind Hayate.
"!"
'What speed! I could only see his hand moving towards his sword grip!'
After a few seconds, a clean-cut appeared on Hayate's sword, and then the upper-half fell on the ground.
'...I was really wrong about him...he is a monster...I didn't understand back then why he suddenly wanted to learn iaijutsu, but it looks like he had a vision of what he did now, even back then...'
It was a move, which involved strengthening his feet with his accelerated chakra to the limit for godlike speed, while also channeling wind chakra into his blade, to increase the sharpness.
Eiji grinned: "Sensei, you told me in the past to give names to my techniques, and since it's not only a technique but my own sword-style, I gave it the name "Konoha Wind-spirit Style: Spring Breeze"...so what do you think sensei?"
"Koff, you will buy me a new sword!"
"..."
lHADENOUGH WITH THIS STUPID MISSIONS!!! GIVE US SOMETHING IMPORTANT AND AWESOME!!!"
That's something Naruto would probably say, but I personally don't have any problems with dumb and easy missions.
I mean, steady payment for loweffort - how can you not like it?
When Tenten started doing missions lastyear she also didn't mind dumb missions, since she doesn't like traveling for days.
Well, she got more mature and chill overall, so her character is now more similar to how she was supposed to be.
Some things a different though.
When it comes to me, she isn't as chill: like when the daughter of a shop-owner, who I see frequently when my mum sends me shopping, gave me a present and said that I look like a cool vagabond.
When Tenten heard of that, she rushed to thegirl to "talk" to her.
After that, the normally cheerful girl was always fearful when seeing me.
Anyway, since Tenten graduated last year, Idon't see her often anymore.
Especially since Guy always takes 'over the top' long missions, to let them "experience their youth".
Something Tenten really hates.
I'm really glad that Hayate-sensei isn't a weirdo and is overall a reasonable person.
"Lord Hokage, we are here again to select a mission..."
"Oh Hayate, it's you again? Your team is really fast when it comes to completing missions...how about this mission: helping to dig sweet potatoes..."
"Koff Lord Hokage, to speak the truth, I thinkit's time for my team to get some real fighting experience...do you have something with non-dangerous opponents like hoodlums of bandits?"
'Well Hayate-sensei was always someone who believed in the effectiveness of learning by doing...' - Eiji
"We have here a D-rank mission, where somebandits build a hideout near a nearby village and sometimes come to extort goods from them. The bandits are small in number and pretty weak. Your mission would be to arrest them. Would this mission be acceptable?"
"Yes this was something I was looking for, thank you, Lord Hokage. Team eleven, get ready for a small journey outside the village, we will meet up at the gate in 3 hours!"
"Yes, sensei!"
"Hey Eiji, can you wear your headband normally and stop embarrassing us?" - Kotaru
"I don't think he is embarrassing us and if he wants to wear it like that I don't really see a problem. In any case, if there was a problem, sensei would have already said something..." - Arina
They were talking about how his headband hanged on his sword-sheath.
With the panda pendant as well, his sword was flamboyantly decorated.
Eiji ignored Kotaru, who for some reason always tried to find things to criticize about Eiji.
'Has this four-eyes nothing better to do? He should really find some hobbies like I have for example...wait I also don't have any hobbies!'
Hayate was the last person to arrive.
Of course, for a mission with only some no-name bandits, he didn't need to prepare much.
Instead, he used the time to meet up with his lover.
But this is of course something he wouldn'ttell them.
"Koff, is everyone ready? Even though you guys are leaving Konoha probably for the first time, the village isn't far and it should only take us about 4 hours to get there."
Since it wasn't a mission where every secondcounts, they traveled normally by foot instead of jumping through trees.
At a bandit hideout.
A bandit was kneeling of what looked like theirboss.
"I'M SORRY BOSS, I PROMISE I WON'T DO THE SAME THING AG -"
The "boss" grabbed the head of this bandit with one hand.
He then crushed it like a melon and blood and brain-matter splashed everywhere.
"I think I spoke clearly when I said that I absolutely won't tolerate anything which goes against the orders. Every one of you who has the same idea like this one here will end up the same. I hope this time it was understandable for you retards..." - he spoke it apathetically and he looked like he didn't care at all, even though his words may make one believe the opposite.
The spectating bandits replied fearfully: "We understand, sir!"