We arrived early in the morning, ready to start another day at the academy. The academy life that we've experienced for a week now was very different from what we expected. Nevertheless, it wasn't too difficult to handle. Skye and I met before we went to the academy like always and Skye still had barely any sleep the night before. As we walked through the gates, we were greeted by the familiar sight of students hurrying to their classes and instructors barking orders.
We made our way to the classroom, and we sat down in our usual places as we greeted Itachi and Izumi. Like always, our teacher arrived late to the classroom, but this time he had a scroll in his hands.
"Quiet down, I have an announcement to make." The bearded teacher said. "We are hosting a sparring tournament between you students. The winner of the tournament gets this special scroll. Meet me at the training grounds later."
The whole class was buzzing with excitement, everyone showed off their skills and arguing over who would come out on top. I mean, a tournament after just one week of school? It seemed a bit sudden, but we weren't about to pussy out now. And just like that, we started our day at the academy.
As I mentioned before, school always seems to have something unexpected in store for us. Take today's first lesson, for instance - it's all about rendezvous. They're teaching us how to plan and coordinate one, as if they're preparing us to be deployed to a war zone. It's a bit of a shock, to be honest, and it means I actually have to pay attention and learn something new, rather than just cruising through the day like I usually do. We found ourselves outside on the academy's training grounds before we knew it. The teacher was in the center, while all of us students stood on the side. "I already made the brackets by randomly choosing them, so we will start momentarily. But before that, we have some special guests," he announced. Suddenly, a scene from a week ago replayed in my mind as puffs of smoke appeared out of nowhere, revealing three figures. The central figure was none other than the Third Hokage himself, with the renowned Yellow Flash of the Leaf standing next to him.
The fact that they were holding a tournament just one week into school and with the third Hokage watching made it all seem even more suspicious. I couldn't help but think that they were trying to weed out the weak links in the group. Weirdly enough, this time the Hokage did not speak. He just stood there watching us. I cleared my head of any suspicions about the tournament and reminded myself that I enjoy sparring. Skye is the same way, although his lack of sleep might hinder his performance. If he loses, it's on him. Despite my confidence, I knew I couldn't get too comfortable. Itachi and other skilled classmates were also competing, and who knows what surprises they have up their sleeves. "We're not wasting any more time, let's get started," the teacher declared. "The first match is between Hiroto Sato and Izumi Uchiha." What a delightful first match! I could see Skye flinch from having his name called before he muttered a curse and slowly walked up to the middle of the training grounds. Izumi, who was actually pretty energetic, walked up instantly. They stood opposite each other in the arena, with the teacher standing in front of them. "The sparring starts now!" declared Tatsuo-sensei, counting down from three to one.
Izumi was quick on her feet, stepping back as she expected her opponent to attack her. But to her surprise, he was motionless and appeared to be barely awake. The crowd started to whisper, mocking the blond boy who was fighting an Uchiha, a difficult opponent. Even Itachi turned to me and asked, "Is your friend not taking this seriously?" I didn't reply, as I felt second-hand embarrassment. Despite the crowd already assuming the outcome of the match, Izumi stayed on guard. "If he's not going to make a move, I will," she thought to herself before quickly charging towards him. But the boy didn't move a muscle, his tired eyes flickering. Izumi decided to end the match quickly and went for a spinning kick straight to Hiroto's jaw. Unfazed by her attack, Hiroto easily caught her leg before she made contact. This sudden move shocked everybody, most of all Izumi herself, as she quickly jumped back in retreat. "Cold." I muttered, feeling a sudden wave of pride like a proud father. Izumi was taken aback, but she remained determined. She planned out her next attack carefully and charged at him once again, this time attempting a body flicker to get behind him for a surprise attack. She aimed a punch straight for the back of his head, but at the last second, he evaded her attack with ease.
Izumi was left flabbergasted as she tried to land an attack from his blind spot, yet it seemed that he had predicted her every move. He remained unfazed by both of her attacks, leaving her unsure of how to defeat him. However, she suddenly got an idea. Izumi didn't want to resort to this, but she closed her eyes for a brief moment, and when she opened them again, her Sharingan was revealed, causing shock and surprise among the audience and even the Jonin present. It was not common for someone her age to have such an ability. Without hesitation, she rushed towards her opponent for one final attack, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks with unwavering determination. Hiroto's face twisted in annoyance from her relentless onslaught, but he managed to deflect all of her strikes with ease. Suddenly, his face contorted into a scowl, and he swiftly struck her with a palm strike, sending her flying backwards.
"Fuck this, I give up!" He announced. "I'm too tired for this shit, and early in the morning at that."
The audience and I were left in shock as Hiroto suddenly gave up, even after his impressive display. All eyes turned to the arena, where Izumi lay on the ground, knocked out cold. The unexpected turn of events left everyone bewildered. The teacher declared Izumi as the winner, as Hiroto had forfeited just before her fall.
What an exciting first match! We moved on pretty quickly after that. The next few matches were between some extras who didn't really matter. It all came down to who could hit the hardest, there was barely any technique involved. We went through the matches one by one until we finished the first round of the brackets. Itachi and I won our matches easily, as we were up against some randoms.
Everyone who made it to the second round was pretty much expected, except for Skye, who I thought would win, but I guess he was too exhausted. Anyway, the second round kicked off with an interesting match between Izumi and one of the Hyuga twins. I had no clue how good she was since I missed her first match where her opponent was apparently a total pushover. Izumi was back in the arena, looking fully healed and ready to fight. Her opponent this time was Yumi Hyuga, who seemed to be taking things more seriously than her sister. The two faced each other, waiting for the teacher to start the countdown. Finally, he counted down from three to one, and the match began.
They started off with a taijutsu match and Izumi seemed to have the upper hand, pushing back the Hyuga. Yumi retreated backwards, but Izumi followed up with a shun shin kick that sent her opponent flying. It looked like the match was in the bag, but then Yumi backed off.
"You weren't even supposed to fight me...you lost that match!" Yumi taunted, trying to get in Izumi's head. But it didn't work. Frustrated, Izumi hit Yumi with a chakra-powered punch to the gut, knocking her out cold. I was confused why she didn't use the Byakugan, but it didn't matter now anyway.
The teacher announced Izumi as the winner, and we quickly moved on to the next match of the second round. Things were getting more interesting since most of the weaker contestants were already out. Before I knew it, it was my turn to fight again. My opponent was Shikuro Nara, who, as his name suggested, was a member of the Nara clan. He had the same bored expression as Shikamaru, so I knew this was going to be a tough match.
The teacher announced the start of our match, and we both froze in our positions. If I wanted any chance of winning, I'd have to do something unpredictable, something he wouldn't see coming. I racked my brain for ideas that weren't too flashy, but every scenario I played out in my head ended with me getting caught in his shadow possession.
"You're not gonna make a move?" the dark-haired guy taunted. I knew he was trying to get under my skin, but I took the bait anyway. I charged straight at him, and he waited until I got within a certain range before making his move. I only had one shot at this since I didn't have any weapons, so I had to rely on my bare hands. With a quick, agile movement, I snuck up behind him and put him in a headlock. But just as I thought I had the upper hand, I suddenly lost control of my body. It was like he was waiting for me to get close enough to use his shadow possession on me.
As I had him in a tight headlock, the guy struggled to breathe. Even though I couldn't move, I maintained my grip, waiting for him to let go of his shadow possession or pass out. Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared, and the guy turned out to be a log. I was stunned and looked back to see the guy on one knee, forming the ram seal. I thought I had him, but he was one step ahead.
Despite being out of breath, Shikuro won that round. But then, just as suddenly as it started, I regained control over my body, and I heard a thud from behind me. Shikuro was on the ground, gasping for air. "I... give up," he said before passing out. Although it didn't feel like a true victory, I was declared the winner.
The second round matches were over and only six contestants remained: the masked boy, the second Hyuga girl, the white-haired boy with a unique teleportation jutsu, Izumi, Itachi, and myself. The teacher announced that this would be the final round due to time constraints and the top three winners would receive a prize. I was honestly just having fun, but a scroll would be a nice reward regardless. The first match was between Izumi and the white-haired boy. It was an intense match, but Izumi was able to win by using her Sharingan to predict the boy's teleportation moves. The second match was between Itachi and the second Hyuga twin. Despite her impressive Byakugan, the second twin was still no match for Itachi and he won with ease.
The final fight between me and the masked boy was... Interesting to say the least. From his past battles, it was obvious that he was a ninja who specialized in sensing techniques, so I thought that was his only advantage. At the start of the match, he charged at me, and I braced myself to block his punch. But to my surprise, my hand felt like it had broken upon contact. The masked boy then unleashed a series of attacks, each one more powerful than the last. He had an unconventional Taijutsu style that made all of his moves incredibly strong. Despite the pain, I refused to give up, but he kept staring at me weirdly through his mask.
Despite my efforts to stay calm, the masked boy continued his unrelenting assault. I managed to dodge his punches, but my patience was running thin. I quickly made some hand signs and took a deep breath. The teacher and the other jonin recognized the jutsu I was about to use, and I let out a huge fireball with a loud shout of "Fire style, Blue Fireball Jutsu!" The attack left the ground scorched, but when the smoke cleared, the masked boy was nowhere to be found. I turned to my left and saw that Minato had captured him.
I was relieved that I didn't kill him. "That was dangerous!" scolded Tatsuo sensei. Since I had nearly killed my opponent, I was declared the loser. As a result, I missed out on the prize for not making it to the top three. But since Skye didn't make it either, I didn't care much about it.
The tournament had concluded, and the sun had set by the time I made my way back to the classroom. Skye was still there, slumped over the table as usual. I woke him up to let him know that we could leave, but frustratingly, he seemed more interested in starting his day than going home. -
In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, Minato, and an ANBU member were discussing which of the students stood out the most.
"Besides the top six, there were two others that were pretty interesting. The first is Hiroto Sato, who could have beaten Izumi, one of the top three, if he hadn't forfeited the match. The other is Yumi Hyuga. Even though she didn't perform well during her match, her potential as a Hyuga kunoichi was enough to make her one of the most promising candidates," Minato explained.
The paperwork of each student was laid out on the table. "Are these eight enough for the job?" The Third Hokage directed his question to the ANBU member, who nodded in response. "I will take these to Danzo-sama, and he will make the final decision."
The man disappeared in the next second, holding the papers of those eight individuals. The Third Hokage leaned back on his chair and took a puff from his pipe. He turned to Minato. "The situation on the front line is worsening. Iwa is somehow pushing us back," he said.
Minato clenched his fist. "The reinforcement team will return, and after that, we will send another group of shinobi to the battleground. You and your team will be among them," the Hokage continued.
Minato remained silent. He couldn't argue with the situation since the village did not have enough resources to pick and choose who goes and who stays. However, he was frustrated that he had to send his team along with him. He wasn't worried about Kakashi, but the other two were not ready for warfare.
He couldn't change the circumstances, but he could train his team to increase their chances of survival. That was the least he could do for them.
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