Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Konoha Village, July 1st. Clear skies.

On the day of the Chūnin Selection Exam, the entrance of the Ninja Academy was surrounded by people.

They were all genin from various villages who had come to participate in the Chūnin Exams.

Some were waiting for their teammates, while others had already walked out of the academy without saying a word.

Those who emerged either clenched their forehead protectors with indignation, looked utterly dejected, or muttered to themselves under their breath.

Regardless of which expression they wore, it seemed that before the examination had even officially begun, they had already given up.

“Looks like there’s something going on here.”

Sasuke took the scene in while waiting for his teammates to arrive.

The examination rules stated that once a candidate entered the Ninja Academy, they could not leave unless they voluntarily withdrew.

Yet the examination hadn’t even started.

So why did these people already look as though they had been eliminated?

However, most of those leaving had their heads hanging low.

Anyone capable of displaying such an expression probably wasn’t particularly skilled in the first place.

After observing them for a while, Sasuke stopped paying much attention.

Looking at the familiar building in front of him, Sasuke fell into a brief daze.

It had been a year since he graduated.

Seeing the Ninja Academy again gave him a strange feeling, almost as though he were looking at a place from a previous lifetime.

After all, far too much had happened during that year.

Back when he was still a student, because of Naruto and his other friends, Sasuke’s school life had actually been fairly pleasant.

His classmates had also treated him warmly.

In his memories, those days had still been quite beautiful.

Although, for most of the later period, he had actually been attending school with a Shadow Clone.

And not a single teacher at the academy had managed to see through it.

“Sorry, sorry! Sasuke-kun, we’re late!”

Before long, Karin’s apologetic voice rang out.

Hinata had brought her over to meet up with Sasuke.

“…It’s fine.”

Sasuke looked at Karin, who was panting heavily and whose face was full of apology, and shook his head.

“I only got here a little while ago.”

“I’m sorry, Sasuke-kun.”

Hinata also offered an explanation.

“I should have noticed earlier and helped Karin prepare her ninja tools.”

The main reason was Sasuke’s sudden return yesterday.

Since he was temporarily staying at the Hyūga residence for convenience, Karin had been so excited about having Sasuke under the same roof that she had stayed awake almost the entire night.

Hinata had to go wake her up that morning.

That wasn’t exactly an excuse she could openly reveal, so Hinata had helped smooth things over a little.

“Mm. Let’s go inside.”

“Inside the school…?”

Karin raised her head and looked at the Konoha Ninja Academy.

“Wait, so in Konoha, ninjas actually study at a school?”

“Mm.”

Hinata nodded.

“The exam is being held at the Ninja Academy we attended before.”

“When everyone in Konoha was young, they came here together to learn basic knowledge and ninjutsu.”

“After that, they graduated and became genin.”

Karin was no longer dressed like an ordinary villager.

She had tidied up her long red hair, placed a Konoha forehead protector around her head, and changed into the standard mesh clothing worn by female shinobi.

At around twelve years old, the outfit made her look even more youthful and energetic.

During this period, Hinata and Karin had gotten along extremely well.

Hinata had also learned about Karin’s past from her and had been deeply moved by everything she had experienced.

The two had gradually become good friends.

She knew Karin wasn’t pretending to be surprised.

In her understanding, the very existence of something like a Ninja Academy was extraordinary.

Moreover, throughout the shinobi world, even within the Five Great Nations, ninjas were generally regarded as expendable resources.

Genin, for example, were often regarded as nothing more than inexperienced cannon fodder.

Even many clients who commissioned missions would show some degree of disdain after learning that the ninja assigned to them was merely a genin.

Not to mention students who hadn’t even graduated yet.

In the Grass Village where Karin had grown up, most ninja were apprentices who followed established shinobi around and performed various tasks for them.

Only those who demonstrated exceptional ability would receive training from their superiors, often under the guise of cultivating personal forces.

Karin had been an example of this.

Because of her special physique, she had been given what was supposedly a genin position.

But in reality, nobody had taught her the basic ninja arts of ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.

Nobody even cared about her.

She had merely been treated as a walking medical supply.

Besides the three of them, more and more unfamiliar faces began arriving at the academy entrance.

They were genin from other countries who had come to participate in the Chūnin Exams.

Quite a few of them were also discussing Konoha’s Ninja Academy system.

“The Ninja Academy system actually originated in Konoha.”

“It was established by the Second Hokage.”

As the eldest daughter of the Hyūga clan, Hinata’s knowledge of history was quite solid.

“Oh, so that’s how it is!”

The more Karin learned about Konoha, the more she understood how unfair the suffering her homeland had endured had been.

Once a village became weak enough for others to take advantage of it, even a powerful village like Konoha could find itself in danger.

That was simply how cruel the shinobi world was.

Even the Ninja Academy itself had been established by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, to prevent a shortage of future talent.

Its purpose was to ensure that Konoha could steadily produce enough outstanding ninja in every generation.

In essence, the Second Hokage’s intelligence and political ability had surpassed those of the vast majority of forces in the shinobi world.

Under his outstanding strategic planning and his advanced understanding of the future, Konoha continued to flourish even after losing the legendary God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.

Back then, whenever the Second Hokage implemented a new policy, other forces would often imitate him.

Unlike the legendary First Hokage, whose arrangements were often driven by his personal ideals, many of Tobirama’s policies were clearly designed with the future development and long-term strength of the village in mind.

The students Tobirama personally trained—the generation that eventually produced the Third Hokage and the others—were also filled with capable individuals.

They had once formed Konoha’s core backbone.

Though by now, the Third Hokage had already dealt with most of them.

Essentially, the current Third Hokage was following the example of his own teacher as well.

He was doing everything possible to entrust Konoha’s future to the next generation.

Konoha’s ability to maintain its reputation as the strongest shinobi village was closely connected to the series of systems and measures established by the Second Hokage.

Sasuke glanced back at Hinata and Karin.

In front of them, he casually pulled out his recommendation letter for the Chūnin Exam.

It had been handed to him by Hinata.

[Uchiha Sasuke — Recommended by Hatake Kakashi to participate in the Chūnin Selection Exam.]

So Kakashi still hasn’t made it back?

Sasuke was somewhat puzzled.

Logically speaking, this Chūnin Selection Exam was one of the village’s most important recent events.

Why hadn’t Kakashi managed to return in time?

Seeing Sasuke confirm his examination credentials, Karin suddenly remembered something.

She hurriedly pulled out her own examination permit and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. I didn’t forget it.”

Hinata also took out her examination permit.

“Mm. Let’s go inside.”

“Our examination room is on the third floor.”

Sasuke nodded and led the way into the academy.

He did that on purpose, didn’t he?

He even reminded me to check whether I’d forgotten anything…

So gentle, so thoughtful… I really like him!

Karin, who had been watching Sasuke closely, naturally noticed what he had intended.

She excitedly clenched her fists.

All right!

I absolutely won’t drag Sasuke-kun and Hinata down later.

Come on, Karin. You can do this!

But the moment they entered the academy’s classroom corridor—

A burst of extremely noisy shouting suddenly rang out.