4 days ago in the 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. He secured first p the Academy entrance exam. The Hokage has decided to reward him, though he has deyed announg what the reward will be. The boy requested time to think."
Danzo's single visible eye narrowed slightly. "Hiruzen is rewarding an Academy entrant? Strange. He usually reserves such gestures for those who perform exceptionally in the first year. What is it about this child that warrants such attention?"
Silence hung in the room as the implications of his words settled.
Danzo's mind worked quickly. A mere orphan? A civilian? First pce? He hadn't heard this name before.
"Hokage has taken an i in him," the Root agent tinued.
Danzo's fiapped against his e. That was unusual. The Sandaime was seal, but he wasn't oo focus on random orphans—uhere was something unique about them.
"Tanaka Kazeo… why is this the first time I'm hearing about him?
Have you found anything unusual in the records? Bloodliraces? Ary es?"
The root operative shook his head. "None, His file lists him as a civilian orphan. No ties, no remarkable background. Just another name in the war orphans' records."
That didn't sit right with Danzo. ' If Hiruzen was showing i, there had to be more'
He had monitored the new academy batch but hadn't seen any exceptional names beyond the usual heirs and prodigies. A, Hiruzen had noticed him enough to dey a reward?
Danzo's gaze darkened.
"Gather information on this boy," he ordered. "I want his background, skills, and any signs of unusual talent. And when he requests his reward… I want to know immediately."
"If this child is someone Hiruzen sees potential in, then he may be worth . And if he truly possesses talent… he will belong to Root."
------
Hiruzen leaned ba his chair, fingers ced together, his gaze fixed on Okabe. The in stood before him, stiff-backed, yet there was a flicker of something behind his eyes—frustration? No, embarrassment.
The Third exhaled through his nose, watg Okabe shift his weight ever so slightly. A shinobi's pride was a fragile thing, especially when shaken by something they didn't uand.
"Report" Hiruzen anded, his tone measured, ral.
Okabe hesitated—not out of fear, but calcution. He was ae in, someone who had been through wars, but today… today he had been touched.
He inhaled deeply, f himself to meet the Hokage's gaze. "I did as you requested. I tested him." A pause. "And he nded a hit."
Silence.
Hiruzen's fiwitched. A simple movement, but the air in the room grew heavier.
"He what ?"
The sharpness in his tone made Okabe instinctively straighten, his muscles tensing as if preparing for impact. Even now, after decades of peace, the mere presence of the Hokage carried the weight of tless battles.
Okabe swallowed, pressing forward. "It was… ued. I got pt. I didn't even sider the possibility of him hitting me, so I wasn't on guard. But wheruck—" He stopped, his brows furrowing. "No… when he should have struck, I felt… nothing. No shift in air, no pressure ge. One moment, there was a leg. The , there wasn't."
Hiruzen stilled. His expression didn't ge, but the flicker of something—? Curiosity?—fshed behind his eyes.
Okabe ched his fists, his jaw tight. "I don't know how he did it, but it wasn't a simple feint. My instincts—" His voice dropped. "—they failed me."
Hiruzen exhaled, a slow deliberate a, hiding the unease coiling in his chest. This wasn't a o, there was something about that boy.
The Hokage's expression darkened. "Erasing presence… without a sensory jutsu?"
A troubling thought stirred in his mind. A strong soul? A mutation? Or something else?
'Danzo… could this be ected to you?'
The weight of that possibility settled over him like a storm cloud. He o be sure.
His fingers curled slightly on the desk, but his voice remained ral. "tinue him. Report any further developments."
Okabe hesitated, something unreadable in his eyes. He wao ask why—to uand why the Hokage himself was this ied. But he knew better. Questions were a privilege not afforded to soldiers.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." He bowed a, his footsteps fading into the silence.
As Okabe left, Hiruzen sighed, reag for his pipe. The ember at its tip glowed faintly as he took a sl.
"Tanaka Kazeo…" he murmured, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
He would have to keep a close eye on this one.
For a moment, Hiruzen sat motionless, his thoughts ing.
Then, slowly, he reached for the old, dust-covered files hidden in the depths of his drawer.
Records that should. Files that had been buried.
------
Tour of academy -
The Academy wasn't just a school—it was a battlefield in disguise. A pce where kids learo fight, endure, and survive before they even uood what those words really meant.
The building itself felt old, its wooden floors scuffed from years of restless feet. The walls were lined with faded posters—chakra works, vital points, mission formations—all meant to prepare students for a life where failure meant more than just bad grades.
The air smelled of ink, sweat, and the fai hint of old paper, mixing with the distant aroma of rid miso soup wafting from the cafeteria.
Ihe , rows of wooden desks stood in perfeation, eae carved up with kunai scratches or hastily scribbled battle strategies from students who had sat there before.
The bckboard at the front was still covered in notes from the st lesson—tactid formations.
Half the css had probably dozed off during it.
Through the open windows, Kazeo could hear the steady thunk of kunai hitting wood. Outside, students ran through drills, their strained breaths and grunts blending with the occasional bark of an instructor correg their form.
The training fields stretched beyond the main building, littered with battered dummies, trampled dirt, and the occasional scorch mark from an overzealous fire jutsu.
There was no mercy here—if you failed, you did it again until your muscles screamed, until your chakra reserves ran dry, until you either got better or broke.
They passed the infirmary , a small building with sliding doors slightly open.
The sharp st of aic drifted out, and Kazeo caught a glimpse of a student inside, his arm ed in bandages.
Probably overdid it on a spar. Injuries weren't rare here—most of them weren't eveed like a big deal. A twisted ankle? A bruised rib? You just walked it off.
Then came the pyground. A strahing to exist in a pce like this. The old swi creaked in the breeze, the s rusted, the seat empty. Kazeo's gaze lingered on it for a sed. How many kids had sat there, feeling isoted, rejected like Naruto ?
How many had gripped those s like they were the only thing holding them up?
The library, though—that was what really caught his attention. It wasn't just books and scrolls. It was a vault.
A remihat power wasn't just given—it was hoarded, trolled. Rows of ly stacked scrolls lihe shelves, filled with jutsu, strategies, history.
B-rank teiques sat in pin sight, just within reach for those who proved themselves. But anything higher? Locked away. Kept out of reatil you had bled enough to earn it.
"Even knowledge is something we have to fight for."
They moved on, passing the on ste—racks of wooden swords, practice kunai, and dulled shuriken lihe walls. The metallic st of steel g to the air, and the training swords bore fresh dents, proof that someone had been sparring earlier.
Finally, they reached the academy gardens—a rare pocket of peace. T trees cast long shadows across the ground, their leaves whispering in the wind. A rge pond sat undisturbed, koi fish glidih the surface, oblivious to the world beyond these walls. The air was cooler here, fresher, carrying the earthy st of damp soil and greenery.
For a moment, Kazeo almost let himself rex.
But he knew better.
This world wasn't peaceful. It never was.
