[Kamui Marecage, Pseudo-Otogakure, Bones Academy]
In the Kamui Marecage, streets were built on a daily basis, its canals paved by Shimura engineers and its houses built by strange combinations of shinobi, seals and otherworldly tools that were coming straight from the mysterious underground.
Be it civilian shinobi, heirs from the surface-level clans or heirs from the four noble clans of Otogakure, all needed to graduate from the infamous Bones Academy to earn the title of 'Otogakure Genin'.
The teachers were mostly Shimura clansmen who retired, but there was a diversified pool of shinobi. The Fuma clan, especially, had contributed massively to bring their jutsu to light, their shurikenjutsu pretty efficient at genin-level. The Kinzoku clan sent elders to teach genjutsu classes, while the Kaonashi clan taught transformation jutsu and covered infiltration simulations.
Every day, the shinobi in the academy would be subject to harsh training, and minor D-rank mission in Otogakure, under the supervision of strong jonins. Eliminating bandits, retrieving lost pets for nobles, or even spread rumours to impact the price of rice and other common goods. This was a way for shinobi of Otogakure to possess a wide array of experience upon becoming a genin, their performance grades allowing the elders to match them with other profiles complementing their strength and covering their weaknesses.
Today was not an exception.
In the arena, the students were required to spar with one another.
However, the pressure was immense. The shinobi were shaking slightly, not because of Danzo's Aura. After all, as the Otokage, Danzo knew better than traumatizing those with strong senses. Of course, he hid his power, and any trace of four-tails savage chakra.
No, it was his mere presence. His reputation, his charisma, his attitude...There was not a soul in the continent that didn't know of the Otokage's overwhelming strength and brilliant mind. In Otogakure, his reputation was even higher. He was the founder of their sanctuary, a driver of innovations and more importantly, the guardian of this forsaken land.
Adding to that the omnipresence of his figure in statues and history books of Otogakure, an attempt to share his startegic insight with the younger generations, as well as the personal opinion of shinobi instructors, Danzo had become more than just a leader.
Still, for many, it was an opportunity. Rumours had it Danzo was seeking students to train and elevate socially. For the outer clans, this was but an extraordinary opportunity to get one of them in the council of Otogakure. For the noble clans, it was a must to assert their dominance.
For this sake, the day's spars were centered in an arena-style tournament. Hundreds had already been eliminated through previous filtering exercises, leaving only the strongest.
An old Shimura clansman, the Bone Academy Dean, took the time to explain: "As you can expect, most of the contesters who arrived to this stage come from clans. In spite of the Kamui Marecage green river's effects, it allowed civilians to awaken chakra, but it also made the gap between low talents and high talents shinobi wider. The first match opposes a certain Ren Shimura against Fuma Kaito"
Danzo knew about the Shimura clansman. He was part of Itoru's, the commander of the Shimura Wind Corps, family line. His grandson, to be exact. Naturally, Danzo had great expectations for him.
As for Fuma Kaito, he was the patriarch's nephew. With black hair, a cross tatooed on his face, and a determined expression, it was clear that the child seemed extremely focused, his strength of character evident.
Although Danzo's senses were below that of Yukiko and Himura, his battle sense was far above theirs. To him, the match was already decided. In chakra reserves alone, Ren seemed to possess C- reserves, on par with the low-chunins, whereas his opponent only had D-rank reserves, equal to that of regular genins.
It was already praise-worthy, as they were both academy students, but the difference was massive. Stats were far from being the only factor in combat, but it surely impacted odds of victory.
Ren Shimura, twelve years old, stood with his heirloom katana sheathed. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes glinted with the sharpness of a blade honed by nightly chakra injections. As Itoru's grandson, he had access to the highest-quality Chakra Supplement Injections, the B-rank ressource sought by all elites of Otogakure. Most Shimura clansmen, in comparison, could only access the D-rank versions or C-rank versions upon great achievement or contribution to the village.
Across from him, Fuma Kaito adjusted his weighted shuriken sash, his fingers calloused from years of training in the Fuma clan compound, the scars on his fingers proof of unyielding hard work.
"Begin!"
Kaito moved first, hurling a volley of crescent shuriken with practiced precision. The blades whistled through the air, their trajectories interlocking like a net. It was impressive, for the ten shurikens were each following a different trajectory, making them extremely hard to follow.
Fuma Hidden Art: Shuriken Net [C]
It was a C-rank jutsu, one unique to the Fuma clan.
But Ren's enhanced reflexes—forged by ether gas and elixirs—let him see the gaps with utmost clarity. He unsheathed his katana in a single motion, chakra humming through the blade. His body positionned itself in a way to doge six of the ten shurikens, his blade's trajectory intercepting the shurikens with ease.
Following this display of brilliant kenjutsu, he moved forward.
Shimura Kenjutsu Art: Gale Thrust [B]
Before Kaito could reload, Ren closed the distance, his katana hilt slamming into the Fuma heir's ribs. Kaito crumpled, gasping.
"This...He has mastered the first form of the Shimura Kenjutsu Art, one of the most accomplished kenjutsu art in the continent!", someone exclaimed in the public. Even the Bone Academy Dean, Ton Shimura, widened his eyes. Ren was not just someone with exceptional chakra reserves for his age.
Danzo saw a kenjutsu talent in him, even by his harsh standards.
"Interesting...", he muttered, his smile evident.
The clan leaders, who had been invited for the occasion, could be seen quite shaken. The Fuma patriarch, especially, was shocked.
'How could there be such a stark difference between the Shimura and the Fuma's talents?'
But the truth did not lie in Kaito. His performance had been quite exceptional. Displaying the C-rank shuriken net at his age was something only genius could display. Yet, out of the 64 students selected in those arena matches, 32 were Shimura clansmen, 13 from the Hebikaze clan, 5 from the Kaonashi clan, and 6 from the Kinzoku clan. Only 6 came from one of the six outer clans, with the Fuma clan having two representatives and Engetsu clan none. As for civilians, there were only two, regular sons of merchants.
This irregular distribution of talents was for everyone to see. And seeing the display of strength of an 8-years-old capable, none of the outer clan leaders could downplay the efforts of their offspring. The Shimura was just another breed of shinobi. Their eyes were cold and almost machinery. They heard stories from their sons and daughters. Their days would be spent in training and games, but even those games were similar to training.