Konoha, Year 44 of Konoha Calendar.
The shadow of war still loomed over the shinobi world.
Today, Mitsuki, now 11 years old, was set to take his graduation exam. If he passed, he would finally graduate from the Ninja Academy.
Not that failing was ever a possibility — especially during wartime. Even cannon fodder had its value. Honestly, even the last place in the exam would probably be pushed through to graduation.
Mitsuki was walking to the Academy alongside Rin.
"Sigh~"
"Mitsuki, what's wrong? You've been sighing since this morning... Were you too tired from yesterday?" Rin looked at him with concern, though her words could easily be misinterpreted.
The reason she said that was because Mitsuki had given her an intense review session yesterday—knowing full well that today's exam would likely involve real combat, given the wartime context.
"It's not because of you, Rin. I just suddenly realized I'm already eleven and still not invincible in the shinobi world... how shameful."
"...?"
That was a lie.
The real reason he was sighing was because he had secretly used Six Eyes yesterday to peek at the graduation team assignments. Unfortunately, he wasn't grouped with Rin.
She was still teamed up with Kakashi and Obito.
And since Sakumo hadn't committed suicide in this timeline, Kakashi had no reason to apply for early graduation.
Mitsuki had hoped that, with Kakashi staying, he might get a shot at being on Rin's team. But nope—wishful thinking.
"Morning."
"Morning!"
After greeting their classmates, Mitsuki and Rin took their seats.
At that moment, Obito snuck over and whispered, "Mitsuki, did you hear? That thing..."
What "thing"...? Mitsuki was speechless. How was he supposed to guess?
"You idiot, Obito" Kakashi chimed in with his usual dead-fish eyes, "Even if he is really coming to lead a genin squad, there's no way he'd pick you."
Mitsuki immediately understood: they were talking about Minato possibly taking a genin team.
The way Obito spoke so mysteriously, no wonder Mitsuki didn't catch on — it took Kakashi, who understood Obito's brain patterns, to clarify.
Looks like the Third Hokage had started leaning toward Minato. Honestly, someone as fast and strong as Minato should've remained on the frontlines. Having him train kids seemed like a waste of talent.
But then again, this was classic Konoha — always going on about bonds and nurturing growth.
"Everyone, report to Training Ground 7."
Nobita entered the classroom and called them out.
"Why didn't we just start there in the first place?!" Obito shouted.
For once, he wasn't wrong.
"First match: Sarutobi Asuma vs. Shimizu Mitsuki!" Nobita read aloud from the pairing sheet.
"Wait, I'm up against Mitsuki? Seriously?!" Asuma — who had just been laughing with Kurenai — froze in disbelief, pointing at himself.
Not that surprising, really. Mitsuki had never once hidden his strength or played the underdog. Even holding back, he had dominated every combat class since enrollment.
Asuma, on the other hand, had never even cracked the top three.
Now, he was feeling the pressure. He'd spent all night thinking about how to show off in front of Kurenai. Instead of looking cool, he might end up embarrassing himself.
Following instructions from Kato, their proctor, Mitsuki and Asuma took their places on opposite ends of the training field.
"Hey, Mitsuki, I've been training hard lately, alright? Don't underestimate me!" Asuma shouted, trying to save face with a pre-match taunt.
"Yeah, yeah..." Mitsuki replied absentmindedly.
He wasn't underestimating Asuma. It's just that, by his current standards, this fight was effortless. If he were to compare his stats to a chunin exam candidate, Mitsuki was ridiculously overpowered.
"Form the seal of confrontation" Kato instructed, raising a flag.
"Leaf Academy, 31st Graduating Class, First Match: Sarutobi Asuma vs. Shimizu Mitsuki — Begin!"
The moment the words left the proctor's mouth, Asuma charged forward. He knew Mitsuki had overwhelming ninjutsu skills — getting close was his only shot.
So you want to close the distance and fight in taijutsu? Mitsuki didn't mind. His close-quarters combat was more than solid. But he had a better way.
He formed a Saru (Monkey) hand sign with one hand.
A sound like a thousand birds chirping exploded across the training field. Mitsuki's right hand erupted in crackling blue lightning.
"W-What is that?" Kato's eyes widened. He stared at Mitsuki's hand, where uncontrolled arcs of lightning danced wildly.
Their classmates were just as stunned. Until now, Mitsuki had mostly used plain, solid Earth Release techniques in class.
The truth? He only used Earth Release because it was efficient, low-cost, and less likely to cause collateral damage. He could use anything.
His natural chakra affinities were Fire, Wind, and Lightning. Earth and Water were ones he developed later through training.
Regardless of what the others were thinking, Asuma was frozen in place. His instincts were screaming—
"If that hits me... I'll die."
He forced himself to stop mid-charge.
Mitsuki wasn't about to wait. Using the Chidori's built-in burst movement, he dashed forward at high speed.
At the same time, his left hand flicked a shuriken—and he began weaving signs one-handed.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone"
This was one of his most frequently used techniques. He'd even reduced the hand signs to just Rat → Boar → Tiger.
The single shuriken multiplied into dozens, flying straight toward Asuma.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Asuma clapped his hands into a sequence of seals. His chest expanded, and he released a massive gust of wind from his mouth, blowing away all the shuriken clones.
"Take this—my special combo I've been working on!" he shouted, realizing he couldn't win in close quarters.
He poured nearly all his chakra into a combo move:
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" + "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
A combo jutsu!
The wind fed the flames, and the C-rank Flame Bullet jutsu expanded in both range and power—leveling up a tier just from the wind tunnel effect.
"Guess he read the 'Ninja Tactics 101' manual…" Mitsuki muttered.
Not that he was worried.
Honestly, he should've just stuck to being a ranged cannon instead of testing Chidori in the first place.
Still, nothing was stopping him from ending this match decisively.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A massive slab of earth rose from the ground, blocking the firestorm like a natural fortress.
Asuma prepared to strike again—only to hear the chirping sound again.
He spun around, and all he saw was Mitsuki, hand glowing with crackling lightning, lunging straight at him.