Another three days passed.
This afternoon, the school bell had long since rung, but the campus was unusually crowded with more students than usual.
The crowd whispered amongst themselves, their gazes turning in unison toward the classroom designated as the special examination hall.
Today was the day Kakashi Hatake was taking his early graduation exam.
Living up to his name as a Genius, the five-year-old Kakashi Hatake passed all the assessment items with an impeccable performance, officially graduating from the Ninja Academy and setting a new record for the youngest graduate since the founding of Konoha.
After the exam, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had come to observe in person, personally tied the Konoha forehead protector, representing the status of a Genin, onto Kakashi's forehead.
Many people gathered at the entrance of the examination hall; Shinichi went there as well.
The door opened.
Kakashi walked out with a brand-new forehead protector on his brow. He didn't show the slightest bit of joy for passing the exam or breaking the record, nor did he show any excitement about wearing the protector and becoming a Ninja.
On that face, mostly hidden by a mask, his eyes were hollow and devoid of spirit, like a puppet.
He ignored any classmates who gathered around trying to strike up a conversation or offer congratulations, as if they didn't exist.
He just slightly lowered his head and walked through the crowd that automatically parted for him, step by step, walking outward in silence. His figure appeared exceptionally lonely and heavy in the elongated shadows cast by the setting sun.
Shinichi watched that small, backlit figure gradually walking away. His face showed no expression, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
After Kakashi left, the gathered students gradually dispersed. Shinichi turned, joined the flow of students leaving school, and set off on his way home.
The sky over Konoha remained azure, and life in the Village seemed calm as usual, but Shinichi knew that this peace wouldn't last for long.
Four years.
At most, there were only four years left.
Although the original timeline in his memory was blurry and chaotic, he could still make a rough estimate through certain fixed "nodes."
For example, most people in their year—Sarutobi Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi, Shizune, and even dead-lasts like Uchiha Obito—all graduated at the age of nine.
As for himself, because he started school a year late, he would be ten years old by then.
This meant that in four years at the most, Konoha's graduation policy would inevitably change.
By then, some major incident must have occurred. Even if the Third Ninja World War hadn't fully broken out, the situation would have certainly become tense, giving the Konoha higher-ups a strong sense of crisis, leading them to approve a batch of students for early graduation to replenish their ranks.
In other words, the relatively stable time he had to grow in school would only last for four years at most.
Four years later, whether or not he stepped directly onto the most brutal battlefield, he would inevitably begin a true Ninja career woven with blood and fire.
A sense of urgency, like a silent second hand, began to clearly tick in his heart.
Walking in the afterglow of the setting sun, Shinichi's mind raced, constantly planning his future path.
Building a persona, generating and upgrading tags, remained the most core and fundamental path to increasing his strength; this had never wavered.
The efficiency of tag generation and upgrading fundamentally depended on the breadth, depth, and authority of external perception. There wasn't much difference in efficiency between studying at the academy and just becoming a Genin after graduation; one could even say it might be worse.
The true watershed lay in becoming a Ninja with a renowned title.
When he could possess a unique title that echoed throughout the Ninja World, like Konoha's White Fang, the Sannin, or the Yellow Flash, it would mean his existence was known, discussed, feared, or admired by countless Ninjas and factions across the entire Ninja World.
That would be a qualitative change in the range of perception. Only then would the speed of tag generation and upgrading potentially see a true explosion.
So in these four years, Shinichi wanted to farm as many tags as possible and raise them as high as he could.
This wasn't just so he could start from a high point of strength when he became a Ninja, ensuring he wouldn't die young in the early stages, but also to shorten the time it would take for him to become a titled Ninja.
At the same time, besides tags, how to effectively use existing resources to contact and obtain higher-level legacies and guidance was also put on the agenda.
His gaze fell on his two special deskmates—Might Guy and Shizune.
Over the past few months, by virtue of his gentle temperament, consistently top-tier grades, and the invisible help of the [Affinity] tag, his relationship with these two deskmates had become quite good.
Interacting with Might Guy was the most direct and straightforward. This dark, sturdy, and cheerful boy had a simple mind and worshipped hard work and persistence. Shinichi's solid performance and diligent attitude in Taijutsu were very much to his liking.
The two often sparred and exchanged Taijutsu insights. Their relationship had long surpassed that of ordinary classmates, carrying a sense of mutual respect between comrades.
Through Takashi, contacting the Taijutsu expert Mr. Chen, who was hailed as the "Konoha Dragon God," seemed like a feasible path.
As for his relationship with Shizune, it was a slow-growing familiarity and rapport. Shizune was somewhat lazy and introverted, but she had keen observation skills and a kind heart.
As her deskmate, Shinichi's daily diligence, steadiness, and occasional reliability gradually won her trust and a faint sense of goodwill.
Now, she would occasionally mention that "unreliable Lady Tsunade" from her own mouth.
Relationships were bridges, but how to cross the bridge, gain trust, and then obtain guidance or legacy required more refined design and timing.
Four years was neither short nor long. He had to formulate a more precise and efficient plan, incorporating the accumulation of tags, the leap in strength, and the building of key connections, advancing them all in parallel.
Shinichi slowed his pace and withdrew his gaze from the gloomy sky.
Lead-gray clouds hung low, and the air was filled with the earthy smell and stifling heaviness characteristic of the moments before rain.
"It's going to rain," he thought, quickening his pace home.
However, just as he turned a street corner, his heart gave a slight, unheralded throb.
It was like a vague pull, an indescribable sensation that made him involuntarily stop in his tracks and turn his gaze toward the west side of the Village—the direction of the silent cemetery.
He thought for a moment, then turned and changed direction, walking toward the graveyard shrouded by the increasingly gloomy sky.
Meanwhile, at the Konoha Cemetery.
The leaden clouds almost pressed down to the treetops, and the wind began to wail, swirling the fallen leaves and dust on the ground.
In front of a relatively new tombstone, a small figure had been standing for an unknown amount of time.
Kakashi.
He stood there motionless in silence. The wind before the rain ruffled the hair on his forehead and his brand-new Ninja forehead protector, but he seemed oblivious.
Those eyes above the mask stared blankly ahead, devoid of any strong emotion, only a near-deathly blankness, as if all his feelings had been buried along with the person beneath the tombstone.
He was completely immersed in his own world, or rather, immersed in a silent void.
Rumble!
A ghastly white bolt of lightning tore through the sky, followed immediately by a clap of thunder that made the earth seem to tremble slightly.
The long-accumulated storm finally poured down in an instant!
Raindrops the size of beans pattered down, instantly shrouding the world in a white curtain of rain and deafening clamor.
The gale whipped the lines of rain, lashing against the tombstones, trees, and everything on the ground.
Kakashi still stood in place, seemingly intending to let the cold rain soak him through, as if the numbness of his physical body could validate or dispel something in his heart.
But the expected sensation of rain hitting his body did not come.
A relatively quiet shadow enveloped him. A dark umbrella had been opened over his head at some unknown point, blocking out the sound of the whistling wind and rain for him.