Unknowingly, a full year had passed since Shisui's death. During this time, Konoha remained seemingly peaceful. The mysterious disappearance of the Uchiha clan's top powerhouse had forced the clan to halt their plans for a coup. The pressure Shisui once shouldered was now entirely placed on Uchiha Itachi.
At present, Itachi was at his most confused and lost state. The countdown to the Uchiha clan's destruction had begun. Once this "mourning son" made his choice, this ancient clan would, like the Senju before them, become a relic of shinobi history.
But all of this had nothing to do with Haruma.
Cautious as ever, Haruma had not become a target of Konoha's higher-ups. Having devoured Shisui, his strength was growing at an alarming rate.
Chakra is a fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy. The stronger your body and spirit, the more chakra you can produce. After consuming Shisui, Haruma physical and spiritual energy had far surpassed even Naruto Uzumaki's, despite Naruto possessing the nine tails, he was still just a child.
This meant that recently, Haruma's chakra was pouring out like water from an open faucet.
One month after devouring Shisui, his chakra levels had already increased by several fold, far exceeding that of a typical sixth-year student at the ninja academy.
By the second month, a sixth-year student's chakra level had become the base unit for measuring his power.
By the third month, the explosive growth slowed, but even so, when he casually put on sunglasses and activated the Sharingan to peek at a chunin in disguise, he was surprised to find that the chunin's chakra was far inferior to his own.
Haruma's chakra was now conservatively at jonin-level.
But chakra wasn't the only benefit. He had uncovered a new secret about the devouring ability, the mysterious orb that converted Shisui into energy didn't just enhance his body and spirit, it also enhanced his comprehension.
Yes, comprehension.
Before, Haruma had mediocre comprehension. It was only due to his adult mindset that he managed to master the Three Basic Jutsu, Body Flicker, and Camouflage Techniques by age five. At the time of devouring Shisui, he hadn't even learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
But over this past year, not only had his chakra skyrocketed, but he'd also mastered a vast number of jutsu, and most impressively, chakra nature transformation.
What is chakra nature transformation?
It's the foundation for mastering high-level ninjutsu, namely, A-rank and S-rank techniques, and it's essential for combining elements to create kekkei genkai. Without it, you can't learn S-rank jutsu or fuse chakra natures to obtain unique bloodline abilities.
"Kekkei Tota" is the result of combining three chakra natures.
Beyond that lies "Kekkei Mora", which requires a fusion of seven chakra natures.
Haruma had mastered the Fire chakra nature transformation.
His chakra attributes were: Wind, Water, Fire, Lightning, and an undetectable Yin nature.
Water and Yin came from his parents, while Wind, Fire, and Lightning were inherited from Shisui, meaning Haruma had completely absorbed even Shisui's chakra affinities.
Aside from chakra nature transformations, Haruma had also mastered three Fire Release techniques:
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu
Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu
Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame
Yes, Majestic Destroyer Flame, the very first jutsu used by Madara after being revived. Although only a B-rank jutsu, in the hands of someone with great chakra control and sheer volume, its power could rival that of S-rank techniques.
Back then, it took an entire squad of Water Release ninja to defend against Madara's version.
In addition to Fire Release, Haruma also learned techniques left behind by his parents, including:
Water Style: Water Surge Wave (a balanced offense-defense move)
Genjutsu (Illusion Techniques)
Sensory Techniques
Body Flicker Technique
Basic Medical Ninjutsu
And, importantly, Shadow Clone Jutsu
Especially the Shadow Clone Jutsu—that was the secret to how Haruma mastered so many skills in just one year.
With his abnormally vast chakra reserves, Haruma would create five clones daily, each working with the original to simultaneously train in ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and chakra nature transformation.
Though he hadn't fought in real combat yet, at just six years old, Haruma already had the power to graduate early and even qualify for the Chunin Exams.
In fact, even among the bloodline clans, neither genin nor chunin had as many techniques and trump cards as Haruma.
But still, Haruma chose not to graduate early.
Being a civilian had its perks, and its dangers.
The perk was being overlooked. The danger was: once you stood out, you were immediately targeted.
So for the past year, Haruma trained in secret, far outside the village at a hidden waterfall training spot.
Using intel from Shisui's memories, he learned the range and limits of the Third Hokage's Crystal Ball Surveillance Jutsu. That jutsu could only observe within the village, not areas with barriers like clan territories or outside the village.
Even so, Haruma was extra cautious: wearing a mask, changing clothes, and if anyone approached, he'd instantly use the Transformation Technique to turn into a small animal or plant.
If it weren't for monthly orphanage inspections, he would've moved out of the village entirely.
Today, Haruma wasn't training. He was neatly dressed, holding an application form, and heading toward the Ninja Academy.
It was the first day of the school year—the day new students enrolled.
Any child who had turned six could join the academy if they passed the entrance exam.
Even Might Guy, now an elite jonin and sole master of the Eight Gates Technique, almost failed this very exam.
The entrance exam was simple yet difficult.
Simple, because if you had ninja potential, you'd definitely pass.
Difficult, because without potential, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get in.
For children like Haruma and the heirs of major clans, those who had already extracted chakra, passing the test was guaranteed, even with mediocre scores.
As for Haruma, whose strength already surpassed the graduation standard, he aced the exam and was placed into Class 1 of Year 1.
Among his classmates were the heirs of powerful clans and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki