The Ninja Academy's playground buzzed with energy as every student in Class A formed a wide circle. Inside it stood Naoto Yamanaka, roster in hand, doing his best to sound inspiring.
"This assessment isn't just because Lord Orochimaru is selecting an apprentice," he announced. "It's also a schoolwide test of ability. I expect everyone to give their best. Understood?"
"Understood!" the class replied in unison.
"Good! That's the spirit," Naoto said, nodding approvingly. He flipped through the roster. "When I call your names, step forward and spar. Winners advance to the next round."
Haruya sat cross-legged, watching with mild amusement.
To put it politely, the action so far could only be described as rookies slapping at each other.
Graduation standards at the Academy were simple: learn the Three Basic Techniques. First-years barely started on them, so most of today's matchups looked like toddlers wrestling in the dirt.
Haruya, on the other hand, already had five jutsu under his belt: the Three Basic Techniques, Body Flicker, and Water Style: Water Surge among them.
Honestly, he could've stood up, pointed at Uchiha Itachi, and said, "Everyone else here is just background scenery."
He observed the matches for a while and soon recognized the pattern: the winners were overwhelmingly shinobi-clan kids. Civilian students simply didn't have access to advanced training early on.
Take Sakura Haruno as an example—early on in the original story she'd seemed average at best: yelling "Sasuke!" every other minute and "Naruto!" the next. But even she was considered a top-tier civilian student. Most others fell far behind.
"Next—Haruya vs. Kenji Kuzuryu!" Naoto Yamanaka called.
Haruya stood, stretched lazily, and strolled into the circle.
"Go for it, Haruya!" several girls cheered from the sidelines.
"Damn it," Kenji muttered under his breath. "Does being pretty automatically make you popular? I'll beat you for sure!"
"Do you play shogi?" Haruya asked.
"…What?" Kenji blinked, thrown completely off.
Trash-talking time, and this was the best comeback his opponent offered?
Haruya repeated, "Do you play shogi? I know someone with your surname—Kuzuryu. He's a monster at shogi. People call him the Dragon King."
"I—I don't!" Kenji sputtered. "And that won't help you now!"
Fair enough.
Haruya didn't bother with more chatter.
Body Flicker.
A burst of chakra flooded through his legs, and in an instant he vanished—then reappeared right in front of Kenji. Before the boy could register the movement, Haruya's kick slammed into him and sent him rolling across the dirt in a very undignified sprawl.
"Haruya wins," Naoto Yamanaka declared quickly when Kenji didn't get up.
Not far away, Uchiha Itachi nodded slightly.
His Flicker is decent. But still nowhere close to Shisui-nii.
"Next match: Uchiha Itachi vs. Uchiyama Neko!"
Haruya sat down again just in time to witness the shortest duel imaginable.
Itachi stepped into the ring.
Three seconds later, Uchiyama Neko lay facedown and unconscious in the dirt.
Most spectators hadn't even seen the movement.
Haruya guessed Itachi was already nearing mid-Chūnin level. Which, for a first-year, was plain terrifying.
Match after match passed until only two students remained: Haruya and Uchiha Itachi.
Naoto Yamanaka wasn't surprised. One was Tsunade's apprentice, and the other was the son of Uchiha Fugaku. Blessed by talent and training both.
"Your match decides who represents Class A in the inter-class tournament," Naoto explained. "The top ten across all grades will have a chance to become Lord Orochimaru's disciple. Give it everything."
He stepped back, leaving the stage to them.
A raised platform had been set up at the edge of the playground, where Orochimaru watched from above.
"The one on the left is Itachi Uchiha," Vice-Principal Yoshiyuki Nara said respectfully. "Perfect scores in both theory and practical assessments. Our top student."
Orochimaru licked his lips faintly.
Haruya didn't fully believe Itachi's earlier claim that he possessed the potential for Mangekyō Sharingan—but true or false, Orochimaru would absolutely want to check for himself.
"And the other boy?" Orochimaru asked.
"That's Haruya—Lady Tsunade's apprentice."
"Mmm?" Orochimaru's interest flickered for a moment. "Bloodline limit?"
"None. But he shows excellent Water Style aptitude," Yoshiyuki replied.
Orochimaru's interest evaporated instantly.
No bloodline? No use.
Worse—Tsunade's student. Not worth the trouble.
While the two adults spoke, Haruya and Itachi took their stances.
Itachi opened the match by flicking six shuriken into the air—effortless, precise.
Haruya met them head-on.
Clang—clang—clang—
The weapons collided in midair.
But then Itachi raised two fingers subtly. The shuriken that should've fallen instead curved, spinning anew and raining down from above.
Haruya's eyes narrowed.
Wire manipulation…? He's using shuriken-handling technique already?Ordinary genin couldn't pull that off.
Body Flicker!
He blurred aside, escaping the kill zone.
But Itachi anticipated the movement. The wired shuriken swerved with him like heat-seeking missiles.
Water Style: Water Surge!
Haruya formed seals in an instant. Chakra surged to his throat, and a stream of pressurized water burst forth, stunning the onlookers.
A first-year using elemental ninjutsu? That alone was enough to shock half the playground.
But Itachi didn't flinch. He snapped the wire, formed his own seal, and—
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
A massive fireball roared forward, colliding with the water jet.
Normally, water overpowered fire. But Itachi's chakra output eclipsed Haruya's completely—the flames evaporated the water, swallowing it whole.
"I surrender," Haruya said, Body Flickering backward to the edge of the circle.
It was only natural. He couldn't use Wood Style publicly, and in raw output, he wasn't beating Itachi yet.
"Haruya performed excellently," Naoto Yamanaka declared warmly. "But the winner is Uchiha Itachi! He'll advance to the next round."
Other classes finished their matches around the same time. Students from grades one through six participated, all because Orochimaru had announced he would take a disciple.
Weaker lower-grade students normally couldn't touch upper-grade ones.
But then there was Uchiha Itachi—who bulldozed his way up the ranks with chilling ease.
By evening, ten finalists stood atop the raised platform, staring reverently at Orochimaru.
All except Itachi, whose calm expression stood out among the excited faces.
Shisui hadn't mentioned the ambush attempt by Orochimaru, so the boy still viewed the sannin favorably. In Itachi's eyes, becoming Orochimaru's apprentice meant gaining deeper understanding of the Will of Fire.
After all, Orochimaru had once been the Third Hokage's own student.
Surely that meant something.
Orochimaru looked the group over, barely interested—then pointed lazily.
"You two."
Just like that, he made his choice.
At that moment, Haruya felt the Holy Ring of Fate pulse.
[Because of your actions, Uchiha Itachi's fate has changed. You gain 18 Fate Points.][Because of your actions, Yugao Uzuki's fate has changed. You gain 49 Fate Points.]