With a flicker of chakra Kakashi disappeared from the clearing and left behind three tired but happy Genin.
He appeared roughly four hundred meters north east of the training ground under the shade of a tall tree and leaned against the trunk, crossing his arms. His body relaxed as he felt the cool winds and the songs of birds from all around.
On the exact opposite side of that tree, was his now former student Daichi. He had a smile as he felt his teacher's arrival.
After nearly half a minute of silence, Kakashi spoke. "You picked a good seat to watch everything."
"Yeah. It's nice. I've never gotten a view of this training ground from that high before."
"So? What did you think?" Kakashi asked, looking up at the sky.
"You really went with it, huh?" Daichi called out with a small smirk. "You took what I said during my Genin exam and reworked it…"
Kakashi closed his one visible eye as he thought of that exam. "Of course I did. You made a compelling case. And I thought… why not? So I made a few tweaks but the core idea stayed the same."
"It was a decent test. Specific to them."
Kakashi nodded even though Daichi couldn't see. "Mm. I read their files. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura… They've already worked well together during the Mizuki incident. I wanted to see that dynamic again—see how much of it was real and how much was luck."
Daichi folded his arms. "So you added a third bell so there's no competition, no infighting."
"Yeah. They didn't have to worry about not getting a bell and being left out." Kakashi opened his eye and looked at the sky. "With three on the line, it removed the need for infighting. I wanted to see how they'd act without that pressure. Test their cooperation skill, not drive a wedge between them. Would they still help each other? Or go solo?"
Kakashi sighed and a small smile appeared behind his mask. "And they chose to work together… Eventually."
Hearing that, Daichi sighed as he thought about the two teammates he was assigned a year ago. 'Smart move. You can't build a team on a foundation of mistrust.' He then thought about Sasuke and Naruto. 'If they still turned on each other with such an advantage, Kakashi would have failed them on the spot no doubt.'
Daichi tilted his head. "And you still kept the lunch part of the test?"
Kakashi chuckled behind his mask. "Of course. Some traditions are worth keeping."
Daichi nodded and glanced toward the treetops where he'd previously hidden himself during the test. "I saw your clones," he said offhandedly.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, not surprised.
"You had one follow each of them… kept tabs on their movements without them noticing. One tailing Naruto. Another near Sakura. A third keeping an eye on Sasuke. They only dispelled after you passed the team."
"You caught that?" Kakashi asked, a faint smile in his voice.
"Don't pretend like you didn't want me to see it sensei. They weren't exactly hiding their presence."
"Heh. Fair enough."
They stood in silence for a beat, watching the wind rustle the leaves around them.
"Were you serious about the second test?" Daichi finally asked, his tone shifting slightly. "I mean… it felt like you were. The tension… the stakes."
Kakashi looked out over the trees. "At first, yes. I even planned it all out… But after seeing them in action I changed my mind."
Daichi's eyes slightly narrowed. "This wasn't just about their teamwork. That's not what made you change your mind."
Kakashi let out a soft sigh. "No. It wasn't."
"So what was it?"
Kakashi closed his eye for a moment. "A few things. I wanted to see if Sasuke would willingly help the other two get a bell when he was tired and when it would hurt his chances of succeeding later. Not when it was his only option. He said he wouldn't… but he still did. And Sakura—asking for help when she could've just tried on her own. That kind of vulnerability takes courage, trust, and self awareness. She knew her own limits… but more importantly, she trusted Sasuke."
Daichi's expression shifted as the realization settled in. 'Of course… In a real team, knowing when to ask for help isn't a weakness. It's a strength. And the fact that she asked Sasuke… despite knowing he was tired…'
"Asking for help in such a situation does take courage. She trusted him to help her accomplish something she knew she couldn't do alone." Daichi muttered in understanding.
He paused and then turned his head to look in his teacher's direction. "That's why you put extra pressure on Sasuke early. You made him fight harder. You pushed him to use his Sharingan. And then you let him get a bell."
Kakashi gave a light shrug.
Daichi quickly pieced everything together. "You made sure he got the bell first. But only after burning a lot of chakra. You wanted him tired. And then you waited to see if he'd still help when it cost him more."
"Guilty," Kakashi nodded, not denying it. "Would he help his teammates or walk away? I wanted to see if with that Sharingan came the right attitude… In the end he did help them."
Daichi nodded. "Yeah. Even though he said no at first. That was just instinctive pride. But he thought it through."
Kakashi closed his eye for a second. "Yes. It was a gamble. But it paid off."
Daichi chuckled. "You're sneakier than I thought."
"You should've known that already."
Daichi's eyes narrowed in amusement. "So when Sakura got a bell… and Naruto failed… you wanted to see what they'd do. You deliberately let her have a bell."
Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "And they did the right thing."
"So in short, this entire test was really three tests." Daichi crossed his arms. 'First he tests Sasuke. Pushes him to see how he handles pressure and whether he'd help the others when it's no longer about him. Second: See what they'd do during lunch. Would they listen to orders… or choose each other over rules? The final choice—would they still stand together when it looked like one of them had failed?'
Kakashi scratched his head and sighed. "You really do see through everything, don't you?"
Daichi gave a satisfied smirk. "You're not that hard to figure out."
"Don't let it go to your head. I might still be able to surprise you once in a while."
A light breeze passed through the training field. Daichi closed his eyes, listening to it for a moment. "…What would've happened," he asked after a moment, "if Naruto had gotten a bell before the others?"
Kakashi was silent. Then he exhaled slowly and glanced sideways. "You know him. You should already know the answer to that."
Daichi sighed. "Yeah." 'Even if Naruto had gotten a bell first… he wouldn't have rested. He would've fought tooth and nail to help Sasuke and Sakura. Even if it meant giving up his own chance.'
Kakashi looked skyward for a beat. "He's loud and impulsive. But… he's got the heart of a shinobi."
Daichi's expression softened. "That's true…So. Hypothetically," he said, "if you had gone ahead with the second exam… what would it have looked like?"
"I would've held back slightly… but not too much." He looked at Daichi. "Anyone can attack as a team. That's what they did earlier. But what happens when I'm the one coming at them? Would they scatter? Defend alone? Or would they form up and fight as one?"
Daichi nodded slowly. "So that's it. Attack together. Survive together. Defend together."
"That was the real goal of this modified exam," Kakashi confirmed.
There was a long pause.
Daichi looked out across the clearing, thoughtful. "Were you planning to take them to the memorial stone?"
"…Yeah." Kakashi looked away, his tone quieter. "But not today… Well, I'm officially their problem now. I'll see you around Daichi. Good luck." With that, he turned, his body fading into smoke and leaves.
Daichi was left alone under the large tree. 'Guess it time I visit those three and congratulate them.'
Just as he took a step forward to find Naruto and his teammates, his expression shifted. The communication array activated and his clone from the lab sent him a message. "Boss, I got news."
In the next second, Daichi vanished from the training field in a silent body flicker.
—-
Hokage Tower: Medical lab.
The lab was quiet and the humming of machines was the only sound that filled the sterile room. A lone shadow clone of Daichi stood over a sealed compartment, hands moving with silent precision as it calibrated a diagnostic seal array.
On a nearby table, two labeled vials glowed faintly under UV chakra light: one marked Dan Kato, the other Nawaki Senju.
The clone's expression was calm but focused and his eyes were scanning the latest comparative results displayed on the monitor. It tapped a few keys, initiating another series of bio-genetic comparisons between the two carefully sealed blood samples. 'Interesting… Nawaki's genetic markers for wood affinity are significantly more active than expected. Compared to him it's almost dormant in Tsunade… but not entirely gone. The potential is there.'
At that moment the door at the far end of the lab opened with a soft hiss. In a blink, the clone turned and nodded. "You're here."
The real Daichi stepped in, eyes sharp. "Status?"
"All comparative testing completed. I ran a triple-layer genetic marker scan. Bloodline projection models too."
Daichi gave a quick nod, "Release." and made the seal.
The clone dispelled without another word. The real Daichi closed his eyes briefly as a wave of information flowed into his mind. Every discovery, every analysis, every theory.
He opened his eyes and walked to the terminal, gazing at the fluctuating chakra signatures and lineage traces on the screen. 'So that's what's hidden in their blood…'
The readouts were clear. Wood Release affinity markers—genetic traits linked to the First Hokage's bloodline. But unlike Hashirama's stable and dominant genes, the traits in Nawaki were unstable and faint. 'Faint but not absent.'
'If Tsunade ever had a child…' Daichi's fingers danced across the console, expanding one of the bloodline projection graphs. He layered the genetic structure of Dan Kato and Tsunade Senju on the inheritance model simulation and uploaded the data. 'I accounted for the Grandparent effect, recombination probabilities and almost every other variable in this simulation model.'
A minute later, Daichi saw the same results he shadow clone saw earlier. 'It's showing stable markers. If sensei and Dan had a child, then there was a high chance the offspring would have awakened the wood style ability. Not guaranteed but high.'
He turned his attention to Nawaki's genetic sequence. 'Nawaki's affinity is even stronger than Tsunade's. Not stable, but more pronounced. The signs are all there. If he had survived…'
Daichi ran another generation forward model simulation and waited. A minute later, the results were out. 'His offspring would've carried a potent version of the wood style bloodline. Possibly even rivaling Hashirama Senju himself if properly cultivated it. Which means his descendants would be monster level strong. In a good way but also in a terrifying way.'
Daichi stepped back, arms folding, his mind racing. 'Who would want to prevent that? Who benefits from erasing future bloodlines of Hashirama Senju?'
Daichi inwardly snorted as that question came to his mind. 'The other four nations would have loved to see it happen. Then there's the Uchiha clan. It was just after Madara's era and the Second Hokage's policies were starting to take effect. So that probability is not small.'
Daichi took a deep breath and crossed his arms. 'But whoever is behind this had to have known that Nawaki and sensei would pose a threat… Beyond the standard assessment. But then why target Dan? Why not go after Tsunade?'
Several theories ran through his mind in seconds and his eyes widened. 'Sensei and her brother had the potential to pass on Wood Style and restore the Senju name in a powerful way. But then she lost them both and their deaths traumatized her to the point where she left the village and never even moved on… It was as if someone wanted to cripple the Senju line permanently and wanted to make it look like an accident…'
Daichi's expression darkened. "…This wasn't just some random tragedy. It was calculated."
All the missing puzzle pieces came to Daichi's mind. He recalled the information on the incident report of the two deaths noted down in the Root archive.
Daichi mentally pulled up a timeline reconstruction of the two deaths. Orochimaru's report of Nawaki's death came to his mind. 'There was no way a guy like Orochimaru was negligent on his mission. Especially with Tsunade's little brother… The possibilities for that are very slim.'
Then came the reports of Dan's battlefield location. Autopsy analysis. Chakra residue scans. All the necessary information fed into Daichi's mind and he soon came to a conclusion.
'These were strategic eliminations. They killed Nawaki to wipe out a potential future threat. But Tsunade was strong and under the protection of the Third Hokage. And the death of another grandchild of the first Hokage would have undoubtedly brought scrutiny and the wrath of the village. But whoever is behind this needed to make sure Tsunade never became a threat… They killed Dan and made it look like some curse from the First Hokage's necklace… That's got to be it.'
Daichi let out a deep breath of air and sat on a nearby seat. The joy of watching the original Team 7 pass vanished and he stared at the monitor as one question rang in his mind.
'Who was behind this?' Several names both in and out of the village came to his mind.
He quickly shortened the list one by one and soon Daichi clenched his jaw as one name remained.
'Madara.'
—----------
Author's note:
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