Chūnin Exam Arena --- Konoha
The scroll's new section hadn't fully lit up yet.
Just a faint glow at the edges.
Like embers before a fire catches.
But the ninja world had already stopped breathing.
Because the chapter title was right there, burning in golden characters above the blank section:
[Future Pillar Ranking: Those Who Will Carry the Next Era.]
One second.
Two seconds.
Then---
Group Chat:
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: FUTURE ERA?! The scroll is going to rank children?!]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju: "Future Pillar" is the category. It's not limited by age. It's limited by potential.]
[Uchiha Madara: A ranking for those who aren't even at full strength yet? Interesting. Foolish, but interesting.]
[Jiraiya: ...I have a very strong feeling I know who's going to top this list.]
[Uchiha Madara @Jiraiya: Silence. Don't jinx it.]
[Jiraiya: Heh.]
Konoha --- Chūnin Exam Arena
Naruto had wiped his face.
Both eyes were a little red at the corners.
He was pretending they weren't.
Nobody mentioned it.
Sakura, who had been standing closer to him since the parentage reveal, nudged his arm with her elbow.
"Oi. Are you---"
"I'm fine." Too fast. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine. Totally fine. What are you looking at?"
"Nothing," she said.
And didn't move away.
He didn't move away either.
Kiba leaned over from behind them.
"Oi, Naruto. That new ranking---"
"Yeah?"
"You think you're on it?"
Naruto blinked.
Opened his mouth.
Closed it.
The thought hadn't actually occurred to him.
He'd been so overwhelmed by the last ten minutes that his brain had skipped entirely over the part where a new ranking was being announced.
Now it caught up with him.
Future Pillar Ranking.
Those who will carry the next era.
He looked at the scroll.
Then at his own hands.
"...I mean," he started. "Obviously I'm---"
"Obviously," Sasuke said flatly, not looking at him.
Naruto turned.
Sasuke had his arms crossed.
Eyes on the scroll.
Jaw set in that specific way that meant he was slightly annoyed about something he also kind of agreed with.
"Don't get a big head about it," Sasuke added.
Naruto grinned.
For the first time in twenty minutes, a real grin.
"You're definitely on it too, you know."
"I know."
"So we're---"
"Don't say it."
"We're rivals."
Sasuke looked at him for one second.
"...Yeah. We are."
Shikamaru watched this exchange from two rows back with the expression of a man who had just watched a headache resolve itself without his involvement.
Sometimes those two are actually bearable.
Hidden Cloud Village --- Raikage's Office
A had already forgotten about his reassessment order.
He was leaning forward in his chair with his full attention on the scroll.
"Future Pillar Ranking," he said. "Potential-based."
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
"Bee."
"Lord Raikage---Killer Bee is currently composing a rap."
"Get him in here."
A pause.
"He said, and I'm quoting directly, Lord Raikage: 'When the ranking calls my name, I'll be fresh in the frame, don't rush a genius, that's lame, yo.'"
A stared at Mabui.
"...Tell him he has ten seconds."
Hidden Stone Village
Ōnoki's pipe was still unlit.
"Future Pillar Ranking," he muttered. "Potential."
Kurotsuchi: "Grandpa, are you thinking about---"
"I'm thinking about nothing. I'm just watching."
He was absolutely thinking about something.
Specifically: whether a certain granddaughter of his might appear on this list.
He would not say this aloud.
If she ranked low, he would be embarrassed.
If she ranked high, everyone would make fun of him for being emotional about it.
Either way, dignified silence was the correct strategy.
Kurotsuchi was looking at the scroll with wide eyes.
She said nothing either.
They sat together in their shared dignified silence.
It was the most affectionate thing either of them knew how to do.
Pure Land
[Uzumaki Kushina: Minato. Minato, do you think Naruto will rank?]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: ...Yes.]
[Uzumaki Kushina: High?]
Minato smiled.
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Very.]
[Uzumaki Kushina: How high?]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: ...I think you already know.]
Kushina went quiet for a moment.
Then---
[Uzumaki Kushina: He's going to be number one, isn't he.]
It wasn't a question.
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Probably.]
[Uzumaki Kushina: That's our son.]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: That's our son.]
From somewhere nearby in the Pure Land, Uchiha Madara heard this exchange.
He said nothing.
He was thinking about a boy who had grown up alone in a poorly-lit apartment and still managed to grin like the sun.
And whether that kind of stubborn warmth was something that could be ranked at all.
He decided it probably could.
He decided he was fine with that.
He did not say any of this out loud.
Group Chat:
[Uchiha Izuna @Uchiha Madara: Nii-san. Are you okay?]
[Uchiha Madara: I'm fine. Stop looking at me.]
[Uchiha Izuna: You have your "I'm actually moved but I refuse to admit it" face on.]
[Uchiha Madara: I do NOT have that face.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Madara, you absolutely have that face. I invented that face. I taught it to you.]
[Uchiha Madara: HASHIRAMA.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: What? It's a good face! It means you care! That's wonderful!]
[Uchiha Madara: One more word and I swear---]
[Uzumaki Mito: Madara. Thank you. For earlier.]
A pause.
[Uchiha Madara: ...Don't read too much into it.]
[Uzumaki Mito: I won't.]
She already had.
So had everyone watching.
Konoha --- Chūnin Exam Arena
The scroll pulsed.
The blank section under Future Pillar Ranking began to fill---not from the top this time.
From the bottom.
Starting at tenth place and climbing.
The first three names lit up in quick succession, each with a brief evaluation:
[10th Place: Rock Lee --- Hidden Leaf Village][Opens 8 of the 8 Inner Gates. A genius of hard work in an era of talent. His future ceiling remains uncharted.][Reward: Single Gate Stabilizer Seal --- Allows controlled partial release of the 6th Gate without physical self-destruction.]
Rock Lee, who had been mid-push-up, froze.
Guy-sensei was already crying.
"LEE!!!
LEEEEEE!!
YOUR HARD WORK HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE SCROLL ITSELF!!
THE POWER OF YOUTH BURNS BRIGHTEST!!"
He flung himself across three rows of seats toward Lee.
They collided in a hug that made a sound like two boulders meeting.
Everyone within five meters flinched.
Neji, who had been sitting directly next to Lee, was now somehow standing six feet away.
He didn't remember moving.
Group Chat:
[Might Guy: LEE LEE LEE!! This is the true definition of YOUTH!! Your reward is PERFECT!! If you can release the 6th Gate without destroying yourself---you'll be UNSTOPPABLE!! YOSH!!]
[Rock Lee: GUY-SENSEI!! WE DID IT!! THE POWER OF HARD WORK DEFEATED FATE!!]
[Neji Hyūga: ...Congratulations, Lee.]
There was a pause.
Then, very quietly:
[Rock Lee: Thank you, Neji.]
Neji looked away.
His expression was complex.
He understood exactly what Lee's ranking meant, and what it said about talent versus effort.
He was Neji Hyūga.
A genius.
Member of the main branch.
He had spent his entire life believing the world was determined by fate and natural gift.
The scroll had just placed the most un-gifted ninja he knew in the top ten people who would carry the next era.
He looked at his hands.
...
[9th Place: Gaara of the Sand --- Hidden Sand Village][Current jinchūriki of the One-Tail, and first confirmed Devil Fruit user in shinobi history. Combination of Tailed Beast chakra and Logia-type Suna-Suna Fruit creates a defense that borders on absolute. Only beginning to realize his ceiling.][Reward: Shukaku Synchronization Manual --- A technique scroll that, when studied, allows full conscious cooperation between jinchūriki and tailed beast without mental domination.]
Hidden Sand Village
Temari stared at Gaara's name on the list.
Her throat did something complicated.
Kankurō, who had been trying to look unaffected, was now blinking suspiciously fast.
Gaara himself was sitting very still.
He read the evaluation twice.
Slowly.
Like he wasn't sure it was real.
"Only beginning to realize his ceiling."
He was ninth.
Out of everyone in the world who would carry the next era---he was ninth.
A month ago, he hadn't been sure he was worth the sand he controlled.
He looked down at his palm.
His sand stirred slightly.
Like it was responding to something.
Inside him, Shukaku---who had been deliberately quiet for the last ten minutes out of what he would absolutely not call "dignity"---spoke.
'...We made a list.'
Gaara said nothing.
Just closed his hand slowly.
Yeah.
They made a list.
Group Chat:
[One-Tail Shukaku @Nine-Tails Kurama: Nine-Tails. Did you see that. DID YOU SEE THAT.]
[Nine-Tails Kurama: I saw.]
[One-Tail Shukaku: We ranked ABOVE your jinchūriki.]
[Nine-Tails Kurama: The list isn't done yet.]
[One-Tail Shukaku: WE ARE NINTH AND YOUR BOY ISN'T EVEN ON THE BOARD YET.]
[Nine-Tails Kurama: ...The list. Is not. Done. Yet.]
[One-Tail Shukaku: I'm savoring this. This is my moment. Let me have this.]
Chūnin Exam Arena
Naruto, who could see the Tailed Beast chat on the public portion of the scroll, read Shukaku's messages.
Turned to Gaara.
"Oi. Your tailed beast is a lot."
Gaara, deadpan: "I know."
"Does it always talk like that?"
A very long pause.
"...Yes."
Naruto thought about this for a moment.
"Mine too," he admitted.
They shared a look of rare and specific solidarity.
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