บท 5: 5 Competition
Ninja Academy.
At the playground,
"At a young age, I was fortunate enough to receive the guidance of Lord 2nd"
"The strength and prestige I have today, Lord second's guidance played a big part in it"
"The reason behind telling you all this is that though hardwork is crucial, someone to guide you properly is necessary as well"
"To me whether you are from a renowned clan or a civilian, everyone is equal and I wanna give everyone here an equal opportunity"
"It's just been a year since you all entered the academy, and after 2 years more, I will personally evaluate your progress, your intellect, your grasp of ninjutsu taught at the academy, all these factors will be evaluated"
"Those who reach the standard which once I and my fellow students of Lord 2nd reached, I'll take them under my tutelage, so do your best!"
Wow!!!
"A chance of becoming a student of Lord Third!!"
At the playground, a lot of kids were gathered, on the elevated platform before them stood a young figure in a white robe, a white and red pointy hat on his head, the words he said bringing out the excitement in every kid present.
"Hmm...so that's how they piqued his interest"
Naoki who was also present in the playground, naturally heard what third hokage said, understanding how civilians like Orochimaru and Jiraiya were able to enter his eye.
Especially Jiraiya, due to constant pranks and bunks, he's at the bottom of the class in overall grades, maybe this announcement had raised his spirit in the canon.
"Should I go for it?"
Muttered Naoki with a thoughtful look on his face, weighing the pros and cons of being third hokage's student.
The first world war had just ended, according to Naoki's calculations due to plot foresight, at least the second world war won't start in 10 years.
His time left in the academy was 6 years, during this time he could definitely gain a lot of knowledge from the library and train his body, but real combat is important as well.
Not just for the devil fruit, there was something else he was suspicious about, and real combat was necessary to see if his suspicions are true.
So he couldn't just wait 6 years for that, and on top of that, more time will be required to prove his suspicions.
By becoming the student of third hokage, he could graduate early from academy, moreover this method was much safer.
Naturally, Naoki has been thinking of graduating early, even before this announcement, and there was only way for him to graduate early, that is revealing his devil fruit ability.
His chakra had stayed the same, no increase whatsoever, he would never be able to meet the required ninjutsu standard for graduating early, which was twice as tough then the normal.
So only by revealing his devil fruit ability he had a chance of graduating early, though this method was dangerous as well.
The current Third Hokage before him was a lot different than the old one in the canon, more radiant, courageous and not so compromising.
But the dark side of Konoha had always stayed the same, chances of him being taken away, made an emotionless ninja or used as a study material were high, so he always hesitating in taking this step.
But now the announcement of Third Hokage had opened a new door for him, a way of graduating early without revealing his devil fruit ability.
Naoki wanted to keep his op op no mi as a hidden trump card for as long as possible, he didn't want to stand out nor he wanted to lag behind too much, just a steady flow.
Two years later, Third Hokage would evaluate them, although in Ninjutsu not as good as Orochimaru and Tsunade, he had confidence of catching up with Jiraiya.
Before going to Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya's abilities were just slightly better than average, so Naoki believed he could reach that level in Ninjutsu.
As for overall strength, two years later his physical capabilities if he keeps training diligently would be way beyond his age, so he had confidence of being the strongest among his batch, even without using his devil fruit.
After raising the competitiveness spirit of every kid in the academy, Third Hokage left as what he announced soon spread in every corner of the village.
The big clans immediately put more pressure on there heirs, not wanting to let the chance of establishing a good relationship with the new hokage through a student waste.
As expected by Naoki, the announcement seemed to have raised the spirit of Jiraiya as well, already imagining being surrounded by girls after becoming a student of Third Hokage.
Though this didn't matter to Naoki, who after the school ended, seeing the blonde girl guarding the gate, quietly jumped over the wall and slipped away, not entangling with Tsunade.
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