The Konoha Shinobi Academy was a place where legends were born, but it was also where the forgotten were buried.
Kaito sat on the far edge of the wooden bleachers, his legs dangling over the side. At seven years old, he was a year older than most of the prodigies in his class, a "late bloomer" who lacked the aristocratic grace of the clan children. Below him, the training ground was a flurry of activity.
He watched Jiraiya trip over his own feet while trying to impress a scowling Tsunade. He watched Orochimaru move with a liquid, predatory efficiency that made the other students instinctively step away. They were the center of the universe—the "Will of Fire" made manifest.
Kaito, meanwhile, was the shadow.
Hiss... Haaaa...
He wasn't practicing jutsu. He was breathing. To the instructors, he looked bored. To the System, he was a furnace.
> [System Status: Calibrating...]
> Current Task: 10,000 Total Concentration Breaths (9,842/10,000)
> Condition: Do not break rhythm for 4 hours.
> Reward: Permanent +2% Oxygen Saturation.
>
Every breath felt like a needle of ice entering his lungs and a wave of molten lead leaving them. This was the "Human" cost. While the others spent their chakra, Kaito was rebuilding his very biology. He didn't have a clan to teach him the secrets of the elements, so he had to turn his own body into a temple of steel.
"Hey, Loser-Kaito!"
A boy from a minor branch of the Sarutobi clan swaggered over, flanked by two others. "Teacher says we're doing sparring today. Hope you're ready to be my punching bag again. Or are you too busy 'breathing' to fight?"
Kaito didn't look up. He didn't break the rhythm. 9,843... 9,844...
"Ignoring me?" The boy reached out to shove Kaito's shoulder.
Kaito's Observation Haki—little more than a tingle at the base of his skull—flared. He didn't see the hand move; he felt the displacement of the air. Without standing, he shifted his weight by a fraction of an inch. The boy's hand slid off Kaito's shoulder, his momentum carrying him forward until he stumbled against the railing.
"What the—?"
"Leave him alone, Enma," a cold, sharp voice interrupted.
Tsunade stood at the base of the bleachers, her hands on her hips. Even at six, she carried the terrifying gravity of the Senju name. "He's doing more in a seated position than you've done all morning. If you want to fight someone, come down here. I'll show you how we handle bullies."
The Sarutobi boy paled, grumbled something about "civilian trash," and hurried away.
Tsunade looked up at Kaito. Her eyes weren't filled with pity; they were filled with a strange, burgeoning respect. "You're doing it again, aren't you? That weird rhythm."
Kaito finally let the breath out, a thin stream of white vapor escaping his lips despite the heat of the afternoon. 10,000.
> [Task Complete]
> Reward Applied.
> New Skill Opportunity: [Observation Haki - Fledgling]
> Requirement: Successfully evade 50 strikes in a single combat session without attacking.
>
"It's just breathing, Tsunade-san," Kaito said, his voice raspy.
"Liar," she muttered, turning away. "Nobody breathes like that just to stay alive."
The Spar: The Anomaly Revealed
The afternoon sun was a brutal, unblinking eye as the instructor, a scarred Jonin named Daigo, called the class to order.
"Today is the final evaluation before the 'War Readiness' placements," Daigo announced, his voice grim. The news from the borders was bad; the Second War was no longer a rumor—it was a looming storm. "I want to see intent. I want to see how you handle an opponent who is superior to you."
He looked at his clipboard. "Orochimaru. Kaito. Center circle."
A hush fell over the grounds. Jiraiya stopped his boasting. Even Orochimaru's expression shifted from boredom to a faint, razor-thin curiosity. He stepped into the circle, his hands tucked into his sleeves.
"Be careful, Kaito-kun," Orochimaru whispered, his yellow eyes tracking the way Kaito's chest didn't seem to rise or fall. "I've been watching you. Your heart rate... it doesn't change, does it? Even now."
Kaito stepped into the dust. He didn't take a stance. He stood with his arms hanging at his sides, a "nobody" facing a godling.
System, Kaito thought. Activate the evasion quest.
"Begin!"
Orochimaru didn't waste time. He lunged, his hand forming a snake-strike aimed at Kaito's throat.
Kaito didn't block. He moved his head an inch to the left. The strike whistled past his ear.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. He followed up with a lightning-fast sweep of his leg. Kaito hopped—just enough to let the foot pass beneath him.
One. Two.
To the students, it looked like Kaito was dancing on the edge of a blade. To Kaito, the world was slowing down. The Observation Haki was feeding him the "intent" behind Orochimaru's movements. He felt the cold, violet energy of the prodigy's chakra before the muscles even twitched.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve.
Orochimaru's speed doubled. He was a blur of pale skin and black hair. He was using the Body Flicker in short bursts, trying to overwhelm Kaito's senses. But Kaito wasn't using his eyes. He was listening to the world.
Forty-eight. Forty-nine.
"Stand still!" Orochimaru hissed, his frustration finally showing. He threw a punch with everything he had, aimed squarely at Kaito's chest.
Kaito didn't move. He took the punch.
THUD.
Orochimaru's fist connected with Kaito's solar plexus. But instead of the soft "oomph" of a child being winded, there was a dull, metallic sound. Orochimaru's eyes widened as the shock of the impact traveled up his own arm. It was like hitting a block of solid iron.
> [Quest Complete]
> Skill Unlocked: [Observation Haki - Fledgling]
> Bonus Reward: [Total Concentration Breathing - Burst Mode]
>
Kaito looked down at Orochimaru's fist. He hadn't used Haki—he didn't have it yet. He had simply used the Total Concentration to harden his muscles to their absolute limit at the point of impact.
"My turn," Kaito said.
He didn't use a jutsu. He didn't have the chakra. He simply stepped forward and delivered a straight punch to Orochimaru's ribs.
CRACK.
The prodigy was launched backward, skidding through the dirt.
The silence that followed was the loudest thing Kaito had ever heard. Daigo the instructor dropped his clipboard. Jiraiya's jaw hit the ground. Tsunade gripped the railing of the bleachers so hard the wood splintered.
Kaito stood in the center of the circle, his breathing still perfectly rhythmic. He didn't look like a hero. He looked like a machine.
The Political Ripples
High above the training ground, in the shadow of the Hokage's office, two men watched the scene.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, took a long pull from his pipe, his eyes troubled. "A civilian child with no lineage, hitting like a master of the Iron Fist. And that breathing... it's not Ninjutsu, Danzo."
Beside him, a man with bandages covering half his face and a cold, calculating gaze remained silent. Danzo Shimura watched Kaito with the eyes of a hawk.
"It is an anomaly," Danzo finally said, his voice a low rasp. "A body that can achieve the results of the Eight Gates without the drawback of death. He is a 'Hollow' vessel, Hiruzen. If the Uchiha or the Hyuga get their hands on him, the balance of the clans will shift. If the Iwa or Kumo find him... he is a threat."
"He is a child, Danzo," Hiruzen warned.
"He is a soldier we haven't trained yet," Danzo countered. "The Second War is here. We cannot afford to leave such a weapon in the civilian districts."
The Bond: The Night After the Storm
That night, Kaito sat on the roof of his small apartment, looking at the moon. His ribs ached—the "Human" cost of the spar. The System was currently tallying his growth, but his body was reminding him that he was still just a boy.
"You should put ice on that."
Kaito didn't turn. He felt the warmth. Tsunade climbed onto the roof, carrying a small bag of medicinal herbs. She sat down beside him, looking out at the village.
"You're the talk of the Academy," she said, her voice unusually quiet. "Orochimaru is in the infirmary. He's not mad... he's obsessed. He's been asking the doctors to save the blood on your knuckles for 'study'."
Kaito let out a dry laugh. "He's weird."
"He's a genius," Tsunade corrected. "And so am I. But neither of us could have done what you did today. Where did you learn to be so... hollow?"
Kaito looked at his hands. "I didn't learn it. I just... didn't have anything else. You have your grandfather's name. Jiraiya has his dreams. I just have my breath."
Tsunade reached out, her hand glowing with a soft green light as she pressed it against his bruised ribs. The pain vanished instantly. "Well, 'Hollow Boy', from now on, you're not allowed to die in the war. Jiraiya is too loud, and Orochimaru is too creepy. I need someone normal to talk to."
Kaito looked at her and, for the first time, a small, genuine smile touched his lips. "I'll try my best, Tsunade-san."
> [Relationship Established: Tsunade Senju (The Healer's Trust)]
> Bond Level: 1
> Perk: +10% Recovery Speed when near the target.
>
As the two children sat on the roof, oblivious to the fact that their names would one day change the world, the System hummed in Kaito's mind.
> [Next Main Quest: The Blood of the Rain]
> Time to Deployment: 48 Hours.
> Objective: Survive the first week of the Second Great Ninja War.