Inside a well-lit rectangular underground arena, one could see the remnants of a hard-fought battle. Claw marks littered the stone floor, and small, water-filled craters scattered across the space, like scars left behind by a beast.
At the center of the destruction sat two figures facing each other in calm contrast to the chaos around them. One was a soaked young boy in a black shirt and white shorts. The other was an aged, one-eyed man dressed in a brown yukata, utterly dry and unbothered. Between them sat a low wooden table with two straw cup holders and a steaming kettle of tea.
These two were Ashira Nara and his mentor, Elder Hanabei.
=Ashira's POV=
"Baaagh," I sighed as the warm tea settled in my belly. "Man, this's some good stuff. Damn that elephant and its high-pressure water stream. Could've shredded me to pieces."
"Indeed. Each of those jet streams could've matched a high B-rank Water Release in power alone," Hanabei nodded, blowing on his own tea. "Shame it's too bulky, and slow to serve as anything but a mounted artillery unit."
Fair point, but it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Plus once I figured out this stupid merging mechanic thingy, I could have myself a mobile artillery unit instead of a stationary one.
"Maybe," I said aloud, as I sipped my tea "but I don't know enough about its' chakra consumption. If it's low, I could stay back and just spam the elephant behind my team."
"You need not worry too much about chakra capacity for now, Ashira. You're only six. You'll grow into it," Hanabei said. He glanced at me then, just a flick of his one good eye, but there was something in that look I couldn't quite place. Something mischievous, something suspicious.
I let it go of course. I trust the old man completely. We drank in silence after that, until my curiosity got the better of me.
"So… five years, huh?" I asked, my voice a little unsteady. "That's not too bad, right? I can get a lot of stuff done in five years. That's just a year before I graduate."
Hanabei scoffed, his one eye narrowing. "Hmph! What do you know? Newly minted genin don't even leave the village for at least a year. Those under a jōnin sensei get three, unless they volunteer. You're not joining the war a year early. You're joining it four years earlier than your peers. Even if it's not the front lines."
He paused, setting his cup down with a quiet clack. "That rule was set after the First War, when we had to throw everything, and everyone, at the enemy after Lord Tobirama's death. But that monkey is blatantly bending it for his own gain"
Damn. I didn't know that… Still, five years is a long time. I can do a lot in five years. Plus I'm sure I can survive anything they throw at me. I'm pretty slippery, after all. And for anything I can't handle? I'll just drop my Opp Stoppa and dip
But something didn't sit right with me. Why would Hiruzen go this far just to get me involved? He even risked offending our clan, and no one does that lightly. So I asked the old man who seemed to know everything.
"Mmmm. There are three reasons for that. Would you care to guess them?" Hanabei hummed, giving me that smug grin.
Bastard. If I knew I wouldn't have asked.
I sighed and gave him a bitter, wry smile. "I'm not sure to be honest. I mean I can see myself being useful as a pack mule but that's it. Plus the amount that I can carry even with Kermit out pales in the grand scheme of the entire war. True, Kermit can in theory carry an infinite amount of stuff, but he drains more of my chakra constantly, and passively the more things he carries. Plus storage scroll works just fine as an alternative."
Hanabei shook his head and said. "What you said is true, but you still underestimate yourself a lot, Ashira. Storage scrolls are expensive, and while we are wealthy, we're not in the habit of wasting money. But your value isn't solely in hauling supplies. That's just a bonus."
He leaned in slightly. "Tell me, Ashira, what made Lord Tobirama so feared on the battlefield?" Hanabei asked.
"Uh… his mastery of Water Release? His experience? I don't know, I've never met the man."
"That too. But what truly made him so feared was the Hiraishin, his ability to teleport with only a thought." He answered, his eye filled with awe, and horror as he reminisced about the old time.
I blinked. "But what does that have to do with me? My teleport only works within a hundred feet and needs pre-existing shadows. Plus, shadow teleportation is slower, and not instantaneous like the hiraishin."
"Speed is important, yes. Any high-rank movement technique is so coveted, because what can one do when one throat is slit without even seeing what's coming. It's what makes Sakumo's Thunderstep and Kagami's modified Body Flicker so deadly. But you — you don't need speed. You have stealth. Your shadow teleport is undetectable, even to most sensors. And if you learn to suppress not just your chakra but your very presence completely…"
He paused to sip. "You'll become the perfect assassin. An infiltrator without equal. You'll be able to slip into an enemy camp, cause havoc, and disappear without a trace. Add your shikigami to the mix, and your potential only grows."
I nodded slowly. Yeah… I could see that now. How deadly of a weapon I could become, and why Hiruzen was so desperate to wield it.
"You said there were three reasons?"
Hanabei hummed, then continued.
"The second reason is this. Konoha will need a hero at some point in this war. A beacon of hope. Someone to rally around when things get dark. Someone to prove that if we hold on just a little longer, we might still win this war."
"I see… and I'm supposed to be this beacon of hope?" I said, half-laughing, half-dreading at the thought. "That's a lot of pressure."
Hanabei nodded. "It is, you and a few others. Men many years your seniors have broken under less pressure. That's why it's much more important now that you must remember, no matter what happens, the clan will always have your back."
His voice was firm now, grounded. As he held great convict
I nodded once. That… meant more than I expected.
"And the third?" I asked, only to catch the way Hanabei's expression darkened.
"The third," he said slowly, "is the one that I fear is inevitable the moment you were born. The Hokage fears us. Not just the Nara — he fears any clan gaining too much power. He wants a stronger, more united Konoha even if it means weakening the clans to get there. In that way… he's a lot like Tobirama, only more aggressive."
He leaned back slightly, swirling the last of his tea.
"That's why Tobirama founded the Academy — to give civilians access to shinobi arts. That's why Hiruzen's students include two civilians. Tsunade is there to give him prestige, Jiraiya to inspire hope in the ordinary ninja, and Orochimaru… to prove that even a no-name orphan with no bloodline can become a prodigy."
He looked me dead in the eye.
"That's why he's afraid of us. Afraid of you. Because you are the living embodiment of everything he stood against. A reminder that everything he's built — everything he's trying to work toward — could come crumbling down the moment you grow strong enough."
"I see…" I said, my mind saddened at the thought of becoming a burden for the clan.
"Don't do that." Hanabei said, interrupting my brooding. "Don't blame yourself for something that's not yours to control."
I looked up at him. Hanabei's eye, it said a thousand words without needing to utter one.
"When you pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. And believe me when I say this, the Nara had been praying for someone like you for a long time. We'll deal with the fallout that follows, you just gotta focus on getting stronger.
Smiling at that, I was about to thank him before my stomach growled.
"Odd… I didn't have anything for lunch today."
"Well that's probably the diluted forktailed sand snake poison from Suna that I mixed into your tea just now."
"What?!?!?!?" I yelled out, as I stood up abruptly. "You poisoned me?"
Hanabei set his cup down on the table. His gaze turned stern as he nodded. "I only have five years to make sure you get back alive, and in one piece. You think I'm gonna waste it drinking tea with you, child?"
Standing up, He stretched his arm, and did some warm exercise before he continued. "Your task now is to get past me and leave this arena before the poison takes effect. I give it ten to twenty minutes."
Holding onto my stomach at the ever increasing pain. I groaned out in disbelief. "That's why the arena is so brightly lit. You didn't want me to use shadow teleport. You gotta be shitting me"
Hanabei smiled an evil grin at that. "It's not me who's gonna be doing the shitting, Ashira. Don't worry even if you fail, know that I'm just preparing you for the battlefield ahead. You'll find a little shit the least of your problems when you're too busy surviving the war."
BASTARDI!!!!!!!!
__________________________
Thankfully, I was able to vacate my bowel in time in an actual toilet using the shadows from Mr Buttercup clones to slip away. Though in my mind I swore vengeance on the old man for this affront!!!!
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked around the Konoha's square, while waiting for the Hokage war announcement. A large crowd had gathered with shinobi, civilians, and children alike. My parents stood on either side of me. As they both held worried, and anxious faces
On the raised platform above us, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in his robes, wearing that same mask of reassurance he always wore when in public.
"We did not provoke this conflict," Hiruzen began, his voice projecting across the courtyard. "But the Sand struck first, ambushing our forces at the border. And many of our brave men and women perished for it. And while we may mourn them…"
He paused dramatically.
"…we will not cower. No matter what the world throws at us, the Leaf stands firm. Even if it has to stand against the four major villages themself"
A round of murmurs rippled through the crowd. Some fists clenched. Some eyes narrowed.
"And so," Hiruzen continued, "I bring to you not just news of war, but of something new, something born in these uncertain times."
He raised his hand toward the crowd, toward me.
"I announce the birth of a new Kekkei Genkai: the Eight Shadows of the Nara Clan. And its wielder stands among you today."
Gasps filled the air. Heads turned, and in the breath between disbelief and realization — two ANBU flickered into existence behind me.
"The Hokage has called for you," one said, reaching toward my shoulder.
Around us, the crowd shifted, recoiled. A wide circle formed around me in seconds.
From beside me, I heard my father mutter under his breath, his voice low and bitter. "The bastard planned this."
He did, and if I were to refuse him now, I will be seen as nothing but an arrogant child, too drunk on his own power.
I turned to my father and offered him a small, reassuring smile, though my heart beat just as fast.
Then, without a word, I dropped into my own shadow.
Sliding across the ground , I used the overlapping shadows of the crowds as anchor points, until I emerged from the shadow behind the Hokage himself, stepping out onto the podium.
A wave of shock swept through the crowd. I heard it, from a far, the sharp gasps, and surprised yelps of experienced jonins stationed on the rooftops.
If you want me to play this game, I'm gonna play it on my own term, I thought. Before I bowed low, smiling — though my smile didn't touch my eyes.
"I'm young," I said, my voice steady. "And not good for speeches. So I'll only say this. I'll do my best to serve Konoha and her people."
All horse shit, of course.
These people could burn for all I cared. As long as my loved ones were safe and sound.
Hiruzen turned toward me then, smiling that wise, grandfatherly smile, and began to speak again. Words of praise. Of legacy. Of potential. I wasn't listening. My ears, and eyes tuned it all out as I glanced toward the back of the crowd at my parents.
My mother's face was pale, eyes glassy. My father's arms were still crossed, but his hands were clenched tight, knuckles white, mouth pressed in a grim line.
They were terrified.
Something wet slid down my palm.
I looked down and saw crescent moons of blood forming at the base of my fingers. my neatly trimmed nails digging into flesh without realizing it.
I let my hand fall to my side.
And my smile turned a little fainter.
AN: Ello, next arc is the war. Also I'll slow update down to 2 chapters a week since I finally know what my limits are. New schedule would prolly be Monday, and Thursday.