Time flows like water, and the years pass like a shuttle. One chapter after another flips by, slow yet fast. At some unknown point, the history of Konoha arrived at the year 60.
This year is the graduation season of the new generation.
Haruma looked at the school gate and the school building that hadn't changed at all. His enrollment six years ago still felt like it was just yesterday.
"Haruma, good morning!"
A girl's voice came from behind his ear. Haruma didn't turn his head but instead stood still and waited.
In no time, he felt a soft weight press down on his back from behind.
Seeing this, many boys and girls of their age all showed envious expressions.The boys envied the boy, the girls envied the girl.
From a passerby's perspective, one could see a beautiful girl with long blond hair tied in a single ponytail, wearing a purple cropped outfit, leaping onto the boy from behind, without a trace of ladylike demeanor. Her legs clamped around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck, and with a bright smile she greeted the boy.
The boy being "attacked" didn't sway at all, nor did he pull the girl down. He simply carried her like that as he walked into the school.
When the girl got down on her own, the bystanders noticed the boy was more than half a head taller than her, at least around ten centimeters.The girl looked to be about 150 cm tall, meaning the boy's height was at least a little over 160 cm.
Being 160 cm tall at only twelve years old made him stand out like a crane among chickens in sixth grade.
Just from his height, these students recognized his identity. He was the one who had held the position of top student for six consecutive years.
And the blond girl was, of course, Ino.
Over the years, Haruma had changed quite a lot. Because he often went into the wild and devoured beasts, his physical and spiritual energy skyrocketed each year to more than ten times that of his peers.
Combined with adequate sleep and nutrition, starting from fourth grade, his height pulled ahead of his peers bit by bit at every stage.
Now at just twelve years old, his height had reached 163 cm.
What does this mean?
Next to him, Ino, when she was sixteen or seventeen, during Shippuden and the Fourth Ninja World War, was only 162 cm tall.
In other words, Haruma's current height was already one centimeter taller than Shippuden Ino.
If not for his still slightly youthful face that hadn't fully matured, claiming that Haruma was already fourteen or fifteen years old wouldn't sound like an exaggeration.
If his height continued to grow at this pace, then once he reached adulthood, he might become a giant like Jiraiya. Jiraiya's height was 191 cm, which was extremely rare in the Naruto world.
"Hinata, good morning."
When they arrived in the classroom, Hinata was already sitting in her seat.
"Good morning, Haruma-kun, Ino." Hinata looked up at the two, then lowered her head again, responding softly.
Six years had passed, yet Hinata was still so shy but she had grown a little more confident to talk to Haruma, even if for a few seconds at a time.
After sitting down and chatting, before long, Shikamaru and Choji also walked into the classroom.
"Today's the graduation exam. I wonder how the classes will be divided tomorrow." As soon as he sat down, Choji tore open a bag of chips and spoke while munching.
"Ha…" With one hand supporting his chin, Shikamaru still looked half-asleep. He yawned and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, Ino, you, and I will be in the same squad. After all, our fathers' 'Ino-Shika-Cho' combo is way too famous."
At his last sentence, Shikamaru glanced at Ino.
"Do you think… I can apply to be on the same team as Haruma-kun?" Ino asked, unwilling to accept otherwise.
"You're overthinking it. If applications were possible, who wouldn't want to be in the same squad as Haruma or even Sasuke?" Shikamaru said mercilessly.
"Damn it!" Ino ground her teeth in frustration.
Haruma looked at Shikamaru with interest and asked, "So then, Shikamaru, can you guess who I'll be teamed up with?"
"Heh… I actually thought about it before and came up with some answers."
Shikamaru finally showed a little interest. The corner of his mouth tilted slightly as he raised three fingers, "One, you'll be teamed up with Kiba and Shino. Two, you'll be with Kiba and Hinata or three, you'll be with Shino and Hinata."
"Why's that?" Ino asked curiously.
Hinata, however, upon hearing she might be teamed up with Haruma, had her beautiful eyes light up slightly.
"Because… of specialization!"
Shikamaru continued, "Back in fourth grade during the survival exercise, Haruma displayed powerful sensory ability and genjutsu. Just like how our new generation's Ino-Shika-Cho will very likely not be split apart, Haruma will probably be grouped with others who are also good at sensory abilities, or genjutsu and medical ninjutsu. But in our class right now, aside from Haruma, no one else can use genjutsu the way he can. So most likely, he'll be grouped with others good at sensory skills."
In truth, he had one more theory, but if Haruma knew Shikamaru's thoughts, he would've surely admired him greatly. As expected of the smartest mind in the Naruto world.
Just as Shikamaru predicted, Haruma was very clear that the new generation's Ino-Shika-Cho definitely wouldn't be split.
And if he wanted to be on the same squad as Hinata, just being the top student wasn't nearly enough.
So, back in fourth grade, Haruma began to gradually display a different set of talents. Not his body flicker technique or elemental ninjutsu, but instead sensory skills and genjutsu prowess.
This type of talent was inherited from his mother, who was this kind of ninja. In her belongings, there were also books on different training methods for these two areas so Haruma wasn't worried about drawing suspicion.
As long as Iruka reported this, the Third Hokage, who arranged Kurenai Yuhi as Hinata's teacher, would surely face a tough choice.
Abandon a top student with genjutsu talent, or let the top student take the spot of a ninja clan child?
Whether it would succeed depended on the Third Hokage's decisiveness.
If he couldn't be in the same squad as Hinata, Haruma wouldn't mind since someone with his strength was someone an ordinary jonin instructor would be able to teach like any ordinary genin.
Once he left the village, he could simply use genjutsu to hypnotize his instructor and teammates, then act on his own.
Maybe not, that sounds abit evil...