"Fight me, you just have to nd a hit in five minutes " Okabe-sensei said.

  ----

  A mier inside css-

  I was standing in front of the entire css, my stomach twisting into knots.

  The air felt heavy. Like the room itself ressing down on me. Every seat was filled, my cssmates leaning forward, their eyes locked onto me like vultures waiting to see a corpse hit the floor.

  I swallowed.

  'It is my first fight in this world, and I'm extremely nervous.'

  My heartbeat was a steady drum in my ears.

  My palms were slick with sweat, but I curled my hands into fists anyway, trying to ground myself.

  'Five minutes , O'

  That was all I needed.

  Okabe-seood across from me, arms crossed, pletely at ease. He wasn't taking a stance. He wasn't preparing. He was just… watg.

  He doesn't see me as a threat.

  I rolled my shoulders, f a breath out. The wooden floor felt solid beh my feet, but my legs were stiff—too tense. I could hear the faint creak of the walls, the scratch of chalk from another , but everything else had gone silent.

  Just me , him and the weight of every pair of eyes in the room.

  "Is he actually gonna fight sensei?"

  "Man, this is gonna be over in two seds."

  "He got first pce, but that was just training, right?"

  Okabe-sensei smirked. "Well? Show me what all that training was for."

  I ched my fists and moved.

  It wasn't a pn. It wasn't a strategy. It was just the sudden, overwhelmio act.

  My feet smmed against the floor as I surged forward, my arm swinging toward his ribs. My breath hitched—this was it—

  And then I was stumbling forward.

  My punch met nothing but empty space.

  Okabe-sensei had moved. Effortlessly.

  A sed ter, a sharp tap against my shoulder sent me reeling.

  I barely caught myself, my knee smming into the wooden floor. My hands scraped against it, the sting barely registering through the rush of adrenaline.

  The erupted.

  "Did you see that?!"

  "He just dodged like it was nothing!"

  "Man, this is embarrassing."

  Heat rushed to my face, my breathing uneven. I scrambled up, shaking my arms out. My muscles were too stiff—I o loosen up, move faster. I ched my teeth and lunged again, this time aiming for his chest.

  Blocked.

  I spun, trying to kick—too slow. His arm barely moved, yet he deflected me like I was nothing.

  Frustration burned under my skin. I wasn't thinking—I was just reag, and it wasn't enough.

  Okabe-sensei sighed. "You move well, but you're fighting like a wild animal."

  Something in me snapped.

  I threw myself at him again, no teique, no pn—just pure, desperate movement.

  His foot hooked around mine.

  My world flipped.

  Air rushed past my ears, my stomach lurg as my back smmed into the floor. The impaocked the breath from my lungs, leaving me gasping like a fish.

  I stared at the ceiling, the world spinning.

  "Lesson one," Okabe-sensei said, standing over me. "Strength is useless without trol."

  The room was silent again.

  For the first time, nobody had anything to say.

  He's right.

  I 't fight like this. I'm just throwing myself at him, hoping something nds.

  It won't.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, inhaling sharply. My heart pounded against my ribs. I needed a different approach.

  I o use my power.

  It wasn't fshy. It wasn't some grand teique.

  But it was deceptive.

  I climbed bay feet, slowly this time. My legs felt like lead, my arms trembling from exertion, but I stood tall. I forced my expression into frustration—like I was out of ideas.

  Okabe-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Already giving up?"

  I didn't answer. I just exhaled.

  Then, I lunged forward.

  My right fist shot toward his face—a feint.

  He dodged easily, already shifting into a ter—

  And that's when I erased my left leg's presence.

  For a fra of a sed, his instincts told him nothing was ing.

  No sound , no shift in the air , dispt.

  Just nothing.

  Then my foot smmed into his shin.

  A sharp thud echoed in the room.

  Okabe-sensei's stance buckled, his eyes widening as his brain caught up to reality.

  A stunned silence followed.

  "Wait… what just—?"

  "Did he just—?"

  "Sensei didn't dodge?!"

  Okabe-sensei looked down at his leg, his hand brushing over the spot I'd struck. His lips twitched.

  "Huh."

  I was exhausted—due to this damned body of mine— but I didn't let the moment slip.

  I took a shaky step forward and tapped two fingers against his chest.

  "Hit."

  For a sed, nobody moved.

  Then—

  The exploded.

  "WHAT?!"

  "He nded a hit on sensei?! How?!"

  "I didn't even see his kick!"

  "Was that genjutsu?!"

  Even Okabe-sensei looked both dumbfounded and impressed at the same time.

  He let out a quiet chuckle, rubbing his shin. "That was… iing."

  I kept my expressioral.

  "Does this mean I pass, sensei?"

  He snorted. "Yeah, yeah. You got me. But don't get cocky, kid. Same trick won't work twice."

  His voice was low "You have potential."

  I blinked.

  He was smirking.

  "Just don't die before you reach it."

  I nodded and turned bay seat.

  As I walked past my cssmates, their wide-eyed stares followed me.

  "He's actually terrifying."

  "I wanna fight him."

  "Damn… first pce is no joke."

  A small smirk tugged at my lips.

  My heart still rag.

  I hadn't nded a hit.

  But for a moment—just a moment—

  I had forced a in to take me seriously.

  And that was enough.

  For now.

  ****

  The training ground was still tense from the earlier fight. Kazeo could feel the lingering gazes of his cssmates, their eyes flickeriween awe, curiosity, and, in some cases, irritation.

  Okabe dusted off his uniform, his lips curving into a smirk. "Alright, css, pay attention." His voice cut through the whispers, drawing everyone's focus back. "Today, we'll begin with an academy tour and some fual lessons about being a shinobi."

  He turned his sharp gaze toward Kazeo, but this time, there was no hostility—just something unreadable in his expression. "And Kazeo-kun, don't think I personally targeted you. Every year, I test my css toppers like this." He crossed his arms, letting the words sink in.

  "You're the sed persoo nd a hit on me." His eyes flickered, just for a sed, as if recalling something. "The first was Uchiha Itachi."

  The name sent a ripple through the css.

  Itachi , The prodigy.

  The legend in the making.

  Kazeo kept his faeutral, but inwardly, his mind was rag.

  ' So… Itachi was the only one before me?'

  He had expected to be strong—but to be pared to him? That was something else entirely.

  Okabe tinued, "Don't let it get to your head. One lucky hit doesn't mean anything in real bat. If you don't train properly, you'll be left behind." His voice hardened. "And as for the rest of you—if you want to surpass Kazeo, you'd better start putting in more effort."

  A heavy silence followed his words. Kazeo could feel the shift imosphere. The challenge had been thrown. The petitive spark in the eyes of his cssmates told him ohing—he had just bee the benchmark they all wao beat.

  Okabe let the momele before tinuing. "Now, let me expin something important about your css." He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over them.

  "Uher csses, which have over a huudents, your css only has thirty. The top thirty students of this ech."

  A murmur ran through the room. Kazeo gnced around—some looked proud, others nervous.

  "There will be exams every six months. And at the end of each year, the sed exam will be personally observed by Lord Hokage himself. Whoever ranks first in that exam—" Okabe's voice dropped slightly, making them all lean in, "receives a personal reward from the Hokage."

  Kazeo's fiwitched.

  'A personal reward? That means… access to jutsu , to resources.'

  But then, Okabe's words made the css stiffen.

  "However, if you 't keep up, you will be demoted to the lower csses, where over a huudents struggle for a spot." His eyes darkened. "And if they perform better, they will repce you. This css will always have only thirty seats."

  Kazeo saw the way some of his cssmates tensed, realization dawning.

  No free rides

  "The vilge has very high expectations for you," Okabe finished. His words weren't just a warning, they were a burden. Ohat had just been dropped on all of their shoulders.

  A few students gulped. Others set their jaws iermination.

  "So this is how Konoha breeds its elites."

  Kazeo could feel his heartbeat steadying. Pressure breeds diamonds—or corpses.

  He would make sure he was the former.

  ---

  After the shock of Okabe's words faded, introdus began. One by oudents stood and spoke, their voices steady, fident, or in some cases, shaky with nerves.

  The kids carried themselves with pride.

  Three Uchiha—sharp-eyed, posed. Their gazes held a natural arrogance, as if they already khey were superior.

  Two Hyuga—their pale eyes unreadable, but their postures screamed discipline.

  Two Nara— had bored expressions, hands stuffed in their pockets. Lazy geniuses.

  Two Yamanaka—blonde hair with sharp tongues, whispering to each other before speaking.

  Two Akimichi—rger than most kids, but their eyes were warm.

  Two Inuzuka— their eyes were fierd they were talking with their dogs.

  One from the Aburame—silent, stiff, hidden behind dark gsses.

  One Sarutobi—probably ected to the Hokage himself.

  One Shimura, oatane, ookado—hat carried weight in Konoha's politics.

  And one from the Hatake —a surprise, sidering their numbers were almost extinct.

  Then came the true shockers.

  Two Senju.

  Kazeo felt his brows lift slightly. The Senju name was legendary, but their numbers had dwindled over the years. Yet, here were two, sitting in the same css as him.

  Even rarer were the two from the Kurama own for their deadly genjutsu abilities.

  And then, the final seven—including Kazeo himself—were civilians.

  He could feel the unspoken divide.

  children held power, resources, training passed down from geions.

  Civilians? They had nothing but their own willpower.

  When it was finally his turood.

  He didn't bow, didn't smile. He simply said, "Tanaka Kazeo."

  His voice was even. Steady. But the weight behind his name was felt by everyone in the room.

  Eyes so him.

  The civilian who came first irance exams. The orphan who nded a hit on a in.

  He met their stares head-on before sitting down.

  The message was clear.

  'I don't need a ame. My strength is my own.'

  -------

  Hidden Underground Base

  Danzo sat in the dimly lit chamber of his underground hideout, fingers steepled together as he listeo the test report from his Root operative. The flickering torchlight cast long shadows on the cold stone walls, making the atmosphere even heavier. The masked ANBU k before him, his voice ft and devoid of emotion.

  "The st report s a civilian orphan.."

  ( To be tinued....)

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