Prep 1.8
[Konoha Shinobi Academy]
[May 29, 2 bNb]
I am still deep in thought as it takes me a minute to process the name of our sensei, Mukai Kohinata. As a reader of light novels, I recognize that name almost immediately. This isn't right, he shouldn't be our sensei, he was supposed to join the Anbu Black Ops immediately following his Jonin promotion. He never took a team.
You see, Mukai Kohinata was born from a father whose ancestors split off from the Hyuga clan a generation before they integrated into the Hidden Leaf. As such, Mukai was born with a single Byakugan in his left eye. That information was kept secret from everyone except his close allies. But because of this, he was able to become a skilled shinobi, eventually earning himself a position within the Hokage's guard.
The problem? Mukai had 2 children, including a son who was sick. He was unable to afford treatment for his son's terminal condition and began selling village secrets to Kirigakure, the Hidden Mist Village.
Danzo eventually found out and tasked Itachi and Shisui with the mission of killing him. Mukai, with all his skill, was able to best a 13-year-old Shisui and a 10-year-old Itachi in combat, before being placed under a genjutsu by Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan and being forced to kill himself due to Danzo's seal.
I'm sure that now, he's a loyal shinobi of the village considering that he most likely does not have children yet. However, the mere fact that this guy will be my Jonin sensei rubs me the wrong way despite his incredible skill. Granted, I probably butterflied that away since he was never supposed to be a Jonin sensei in the first place.
Instead of appearing in the middle of the room like all the other Jonin before him, he simply opens the door and peeks inside. "Team 96, follow me.", he says before he takes off running, sprinting through the halls of the academy and in the direction of the village proper. We immediately spring to action, running after him without exchanging a single word.
The chase continues for around 10 minutes. During which, we are made to dodge the many obstacles that plague our way while jumping from roof to roof towards the outer edge of the village. There are times when we lose sight of him but with my sensing, I can keep track as my teammates instinctively follow me.
We arrive at a clearing to see Sensei standing there, waiting for us. I am finally able to take a proper look at him. He stands at around 5 feet and 8 inches tall, wearing the standard leaf uniform with his jonin vest and a kunai pouch strapped to his right thigh. Long, brown hair pokes out from under his bandana-style forehead protector.
He has the edge of a dangerous shinobi and while my chakra capacity has tripled in the past year, he still has 20 times my reserves. "Which one of you is the sensor?", he asks. I respond, "Me, sensei."
"Nice work, kid. Now let's get started. I'd rather not waste my time pretending I didn't do my research so there will be no teamwork test from me, you two are already familiar with each other and neither of you hesitated to greet Kenji, I can work with that."
I decided to speak up, "Sensei, were you watching us?"
"Of course, I was, Ichiro. What kind of Jonin wouldn't? We all already had an idea of who would pass the tests and their ranks. Your teams were decided before you even did your first exam."
Interesting, but I guess that is to be expected of a shinobi village. "Now, let's move on to introductions. My name is Mukai Konata, I am 22 years old, and I like spending time with my girlfriend and sharpening my skills. My current goals are to mold you three into shinobi that the Hidden Leaf can be proud of, survive the war, and raise a beautiful family. One of you, continue."
"What's up team, my name is Kenji Akane, I am 12 years old, and I like sweets and helping my mother to take care of my younger siblings. I dislike people who look down on civilian-born shinobi and in the future, I would like to become a jonin."
"Nice to meet you once again Kenji, Mukai-Sensei. My name is Shisui Uchiha, and I am 5 years old. I like training with Ichiro, fried salmon, and spending time with my father. I dislike those who prey on the vulnerable, and my dream is to become a great shinobi like my father and grandfather to protect the peace of Konoha."
"I guess, it's my turn now. My name is Ichiro Shishigami, and I am 6 years old. My hobbies include training, reading, and spending time with my precious people. I dislike those who oppose my village and threaten the lives of the ones I love. My goal is not a goal, it's a promise because I WILL become the next God of Shinobi."
I can't help but feel excited every time I make that statement. It is truly something that I believe with all my heart. I look towards my new teammates to gauge their reactions and they all have smiles on their faces, they believe in me despite us having just met each other.
"Such lofty goals, I have no doubt you all will achieve them. I am your sensei after all. The next thing on our agenda is to gauge everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Genin's typically start with D-Rank missions, but the war has just gained a second wind."
He sighs, as if tired before continuing.
"Starting tomorrow we will begin to undertake C-Rank missions. So, as soon as I'm done talking, come at me with the intent to kill, I must know where you all stand. Hopefully, you three can last more than 5 minutes."
Not a second after he finishes, Kenji and I fall into our respective stances as I pull my sword from its sheath. Shisui, on the other hand, has a different idea and activates his Sharingan. Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and finally, tiger. A call of "Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu" is heard throughout the field as a massive fireball careens toward sensei.
He stands there, unmoving, and just before the fireball engulfs him, he drops into a low stance and shoves two fingers into the oncoming jutsu. Our mouths all hang agape as we witness Mukai-Sensei disperse Shisui's fireball with a jab of his fingers.
"This guy, he's a dangerous Shinobi. Let's strike hard and fast," says Kenji as all three of us blur towards Mukai-Sensei at our top speeds. Shisui reaches him first with a Body Flicker, of course, sending a jab of his tanto towards his face. Mukai sensei counteracts this by grabbing the offending arm, the tanto only inches from his nose.
Seconds later, I catch up, using my wakizashi to send a sword strike towards his neck which he catches between 2 fingers. This is the level of a Jonin, one thought by Danzo to be as talented as Itachi, though lacking the same innate skills. Kenji reaches Sensei a second after I do, sending a punch towards his stomach.
At this point, Mukai-Sensei does two things. He first sends a kick toward the approaching Kenji then flicks his right arm upwards, sending my sword flying. Kenji is slow to react and gets knocked to the floor, while I jump back. During my flight backward, Shisui spins his body, despite one of his arms being trapped in an iron grip, and kicks at Sensei's arm to release himself. I recovered my sword during their scuffle.
The kick never lands though as Sensei releases Shisui's arm, causing him to lose balance. Shisui makes a quick recovery before sensei dashes toward Kenji, sending out a multitude of palm strikes. Only around 10 percent of these strikes are intercepted by the older boy as the rest cause him immense pain.
Shisui rushes to his aid first, while I begin casting the hand signs for my Water-Style: Syrup Trap Jutsu. I put in a minimal amount of chakra, hoping to catch just one of the sensei's legs in my trap. My attack backfires, however, as he grabs Kenji's shirt and throws him into the path of my jutsu. Shisui immediately changes course, trying to push Kenji off the trajectory before he is hit.
However, in doing so, he takes his eyes off our enemy for a split second, which is enough for sensei to deliver a chop to the back of his neck, taking him out of the fight. Kenji is hit by the technique and falls onto the grass of the clearing, stuck to the floor and out of the fight.
I have no time to cast another jutsu so I do what Naruto would do. I hold a palm out a rush toward sensei at my fastest speed, which to a jonin like him is as fast as a crawling toddler. He stays still though, giving a curious look to the blue orb that begins forming in my palm. As I approach him, he grabs my wrist, and my momentum is reversed. Sending me careening into a tree.
My Rasengan hits the tree and explodes, taking out not only that tree but the others around it and leaving a sizeable crater. Mukai-Sensei looks at me with an interested expression before saying, "Now just how did one of my genin manage to obtain such a powerful jutsu."
From my position within the crater, I chuckled, looking behind him. "What do you mean by one genin, sensei?" I manage to say just as he turns around to see Shisui sprinting at him with another Rasengan in hand.
"You guys are going to be a lot of work.," he says, repeating to Shisui what he did to me. The whole fight lasts a total of 3 minutes and 20 seconds. A little over halfway to his 5-minute statement.
We all stand in front of him for the debriefing, bruised and battered, as I begin to ponder on just how I am going to explain our technique to him.
"Shisui, your speed is your biggest strength, and your fire style is commendable, if you can master that mid-combat Body Ficker Jutsu with your tanto skills and Sharingan, your enemies will never know what hit them."
"Kenji, taijutsu seems to be your strong suit as you were able to intercept a few hits from a jonin like me, work on your speed and you'll be a deadly close-range fighter."
"Ichiro, you have more chakra than Kenji despite only being half his age and your control seems impeccable, add that in with your sensing and kenjutsu skills and I can safely say you will be a powerhouse in the future."
"Now can you tell me how you both managed to learn an A-Rank jutsu?"
I decided to take the lead on this one, thankfully, I never told Shisui the Rasengan's name, "Mukai-Sensei, I had no idea that this was an existing Jutsu. After reading a few books on chakra theory and jutsu creation. I began pondering what would be the ultimate jutsu. It would have to be one that combined the pinnacle of shape manipulation with a chakra nature."
"Therefore, I got to work on developing methods of training my shape manipulation. I was able to get inspiration from kids in the park playing with water balloons. So, I started by trying to pop a water balloon with just my chakra, to train its rotation. Afterwards, I moved on to training with a rubber ball but instead of this training rotation like the first, it ended up training my power.
"I then tried to make a jutsu from it, but it kept exploding or fading away. So finally, I decided to just try a balloon filled with air. However, the goal was to keep the first 2 steps contained within this balloon without popping it, training my containment. The result was the jutsu you saw us both use. We don't have a name for it yet though."
Kenji had stars in his eyes while listening to me talk, taking everything in as my explanation began to make sense to him. "You really are a little genius.", he said.
Mukai sensei then decided to respond.
"I agree with Kenji. Its name is the Rasengan by the way. I was able to see it in action once while on a mission with the creator, a jonin by the name of Minato Namikaze, although you might know him as Konoha's Yellow Flash."
He paused, watching us nod in agreement before continuing.
"It's best to keep this a secret for now, if word gets out about this, there's no telling what the consequences may be. While you did develop it yourselves, he already has a reputation, and jutsu theft is a serious crime."
"Yes, sensei.", we all say in unison.
"Go home and get cleaned up, we'll meet back here tomorrow for your first mission.", he says, vanishing before our eyes.
I look to my teammates with a smile, "So, who's hungry?"
Before they can respond, a low growl escapes Kenji's stomach and we all share a laugh.
"I know a good place, follow me," I say before taking off in a sprint. My teammates jump to action, following me as I flash across the Konoha rooftops. I'll never get tired of jumping from roof to roof.
Minutes later, we arrive at our destination, Ichiraku Ramen. Just before we walk in I say, "I promise you, Kenji, this is the best ramen you'll ever have."
"We'll see."
We enter the empty restaurant and take our seats as the owner approaches us. "Nice to see you boys again, I see you brought a friend," he says with his signature smile.
It is Shisui that responds next, "Actually Mr. Teuchi, this is our new teammate, Kenji. We're finally shinobi!"
The older man responds, "Ha, I didn't even notice, congratulations boys, and nice to meet you, Kenji. I guess it's only right that you get a free bowl each."
We each perk up, ready to express our thanks when I feel a radiant chakra signature approaching the restaurant. I focus intently. It's so much, around four times that of Lord Third. No, wait it's suppressed. The more I focus, the larger the chakra gets, and after I have focused long enough, I feel it.
In stark contrast to what I felt before, it's dark, oppressive, and suffocating. I instinctively pull back, my heart thumping as though beating outside my chest. My endocrine system is fully activated, and adrenaline begins pumping through my veins. 'I'm going to die, it's going to kill me.', I thought, fully convinced that this would be my last day alive.
As it inches closer to the shop, I rocket off my stool, sword drawn in a defensive stance. Shisui and Kenji are alarmed by this but quickly take up positions on my left and right flank with their weapons at the ready and in the case of Shisui, the Sharingan active. My teammates decided to act first and ask questions later, showing their trust in my judgment.
I shout a command at the lone civilian within the ramen stand, "Get back Mr. Teuchi, it's coming!" As it inches closer, I grip my wakizashi even tighter, the pressure overbearing by this point.
A young woman pushes back the drapes and walks in wearing a long green dress with a white undershirt. She's absolutely beautiful with a heart-shaped face and soft grey eyes. She takes a look at us as if pondering what to say. I recognize her immediately by her vibrant red hair.
Kushina Uzumaki looks at me before saying "Aw man, not again!" in a cheerful, yet dejected voice. I immediately fall out of my stance, my teammates following my movements.
"I'm so sorry miss, I'm a sensor, I thought… What was that?"
"Village secret kid but it's okay, it happens. Hey Teuchi, get these boys some ramen, on me! Kushina Uzumaki, nice to meet you kids. They sure do make genin smaller and smaller each year, haha." She sounded happy but I can tell it affected her.
Many responses are uttered after she ends, but we all know not to press further after hearing, "Village Secrets."
"I was already whipping them up some free bowls, Kushina. I'll get you one too for the hassle."
I end up responding cheerfully, matching her attempt at lightening the mood "Hey! I'll have you know that you're looking at the future God of Shinobi, Ichiro Shishigami, and his teammates Shisui Uchiha and Kenji Akane! We might be small, but we are very capable." Both my teammates nod in agreement as all four of us move to sit.
"Haha, I don't doubt that kid. Say, who's your sensei, you all look pretty beat up."
Shisui responds, "Mukai Kohinata, Miss Uzumaki."
"No need to be so cute and formal, I don't need 2 more Kakashi's running around, just call me Kushina. I went to the academy with him, he sure knows how to rough folks up, be proud that you have such a capable shinobi as a Sensei."
We all share a laugh before Teuchi serves up 4 bowls and we dig in. Kushina's bowl is down in a second and Teuchi replaces it immediately, already familiar with her antics.
After emptying our bowls, Kenji looks to Kushina with a question, "Kushina, you seem to carry yourself like a capable kunoichi, do you have any tips for our first mission tomorrow?"
"Sure, follow the instructions of your sensei and the mission parameters, but most of all, watch your teammates' backs."
"Thank you Kushina," we each say, internalizing her advice.
She waves goodbye as we exit the ramen stand, giving Teuchi our thanks as well.
"It's time for me to head home, but I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'm lucky to have you both on my team," says Kenji.
"And I, the same," I respond. Shisui just gives us both a nod.
The sun sets over the village, bathing the rooftops in a warm, orange light as we each head our separate ways. That night, a completely unrelated group of individuals begin having various conversations, all surrounding the same subject.
That concludes the first arc, Prep. The next chapter will be an interlude, followed by the start of the second arc. I have really been enjoying the writing process of this story so be prepared for regular updates. Feel free to give suggestions and criticism. Even if you think it's a small thing, bring it to my attention, my goal here is to improve.
