Chapter 19: Shinobi Aptitude Test II
"You're late, Kaede." Sarutobi Jin laughed at the confused expression on another chunin's face.
"...Weren't they supposed to take a few more minutes at least? How did this happen?" Morino Kaede asked a barrage of questions. "Is there another talented Hyuga or Uchiha?"
"Nope. Just a smart kid," Jin laughed. "Now, go. Do your thing."
Rolling her eyes at Jin's snickers behind her, Kaede approached the group of children.
"Three hundred and fourteen..." She narrowed her eyes, "Much less compared to the past few years."
Kaede cleared her throat, "Is anyone here capable of using their chakra already? Step forward."
About a fourth of the three hundred kids stepped forward. Suguru was a part of this. Kaede took a moment to sense their chakra, and upon confirming the validity of their claims, she nodded.
"A pretty good number. Those who stepped forward, come with me. The rest, go with Jin-senpai for further testing."
Kaede then turned around and walked into the Academy building with a fourth of the kids in tow.
She led them all to a classroom where a bunch of leaves could be seen on the teacher's podium.
Suguru took one look at this and knew exactly what they had to do. He was also curious as to how long he could hold it on his forehead.
Out of nowhere, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Suuuuguru~!"
Ah, that voice. Suguru put on an annoyed expression as he glanced at Hana who had suddenly appeared beside him.
"I never knew that you could use your chakra! Were you training in secret?" Hana's voice made the other kids look at her.
"..." Like always, Suguru didn't bother replying. He just continued to look at Hana with disdain. The latter, unfortunately, already had a thickened face when it came to bothering the former.
Looking at the two, Kaede chuckled. "It seems like we have a lively one. Let's see... Hana, right? Why don't you go first?"
"Ack—!"
Hana flinched, realizing her mistake of speaking up. When she glanced back at Suguru, a smug smile was plastered across his face.
'Y-You..!'
Hana wanted to drag Suguru with her, but the gaze of the proctor had a certain coldness that told her not to mess around. Sulking, Hana stepped forward and grabbed a leaf from the table.
'Haha, finally. Vengeance.' Suguru maintained his smug look only for as long as Hana had looked at him.
He didn't want the proctor to see his schadenfreude and force him forward as well. That would ruin his advantage.
Seeing Hana walk up, Kaede nodded, "Place the leaf on your forehead and concentrate your chakra. The longer you hold it there, the better."
Kaede then turned to the rest of the kids, "Everyone, grab a leaf and do the same. Take a seat and focus for the next few minutes."
***
'Fifteen minutes...' Suguru smacked his lips.
It was good for a beginner, but Suguru wasn't a beginner. He had been using his chakra a lot already, training it every day. Furthermore, he had the aid of the Byakugan and Sharingan.
Although it improved by five minutes since he last practiced before assimilating Arata, it was still disappointing.
To the other kids though, it was prodigal.
No one could even hold it for three minutes. Although their chakras had been unlocked, they could barely tap into it.
Seeing this, Kaede's eyes gleamed. 'Oho, so we have someone quite talented again this year... Although the leaf concentration exercise wasn't supposed to be a test, Lord Third has been searching for better quality shinobi compared to the past years.'
Right after the Kyubi's attack, a thousand students had enrolled in the academy, straining the teachers with the sheer workload. The following years had more and more children wanting to become shinobi. Further exacerbating how understaffed the academy was.
Luckily, having more shinobi was good for the village. It would fill in all the vacancies that the Kyubi had created in its rampage.
It was only recently that their desires started to die down. Those born after the Kyubi's attack were less inclined to become shinobi than those slightly older than them. Thus, those who were younger than Naruto did not see much action.
Kaede was pleasantly surprised to see such a motivated seedling despite having been born after the incident.
'Hmmmm, Hiryu Suguru. Orphaned... just recently? Ah, maybe that's why.'
Trauma was an excellent motivator. Anyone would seek power if they witnessed their loved ones being brutally slain by a bunch of bandits.
Kaede was the same.
Clapping her hands together to get the attention of the students, she spoke. "Okay. That's it, everyone. You've all passed. Now, all that's left is to wait downstairs. Lord Hokage will be happy to see you all."
***
'Oh? The Academy accepted only a little bit more than half of us...' Suguru's eyes flashed when he saw how few there would be in his batch.
This dwindling shinobi count was probably the reason why Naruto's batch also wasn't composed of that many kids. Any newborn exposed to the Kyubi's chakra would've had quite the experience.
Out of nowhere, Suguru suddenly noticed a familiar gaze. Upon looking up, he saw someone in white robes looking down at the field from a window.
It was Hiruzen.
'...Is he waiting to make an appropriate entrance?'
Suguru stared at Hiruzen from where he stood. The Third Hokage noticed him and met his gaze.
***
'Oh, has someone noticed me?' Hiruzen chuckled as he looked toward the source of the gaze.
There, he saw a child who was looking at him. His eyes carried no intentions with them as he seemed void of all thoughts. With silver hair and blank silver eyes, Hiruzen had never seen this boy before.
For some reason, the child's gaze was familiar. Yet, despite searching his memories, he couldn't find who the child might've been.
Moreover...
The boy just stared, unbothered by the chattering children around him. He stared and stared, and stared.
"Cough,"
Hiruzen eventually felt awkward and turned away. Glancing back for a moment, he noticed that the child was still staring at him.
"...Who is this kid?"
[]=[]=[]=[]
I made a P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
I'll be working on putting advanced chapters there. OuO For now, there are only two advanced chapters. It'll grow as I write more :>
Big thanks to Godphaze for being my first P@treon supporter!!! <3
[]=[]=[]=[]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone