Year Sixty of Konoha.
A very particular year, because in the original Naruto storyline, this was where everything began.
On this morning, the Akizuki sisters, the Yukinoshita sisters, Yuigahama Yui, Miura Yumiko, and a crowd of other players all headed for the Ninja Academy together.
Today was the graduation exam.
Four years had slipped by without anyone noticing.
A lot had happened in those four years.
Most of the players, whether veterans like Yukinoshita Yukino and Eriri or newcomers like Yukinoshita Haruno and Kasumigaoka Utaha, had at least mastered the Three Basic Jutsu and picked up enough combat skills to qualify as genin.
But not everyone made it. Some simply lacked the talent and had been expelled along the way.
Aki Tomoya, Kinoshita Kazuya, and Suzuki Sonoko, for instance.
The first two had been hopeless at anything physical back in the real world, and the Naruto universe hadn't magically changed that. Iruka gave them a second chance, held them back a year, but they just didn't have what it took. In the end, all he could do was let them go.
As for Suzuki Sonoko... she simply wasn't cut out for it.
Her expulsion stung less than the others', though. Superpowers or not, her family's wealth back in the real world guaranteed she'd never want for anything.
The school buzzed with chatter when they arrived. Graduation day had everyone restless.
Four years had turned their eight-year-old bodies into twelve-year-olds, and the early signs of adolescence were hard to miss. Girls like the Akizuki sisters and Kasumigaoka Utaha, who'd been blessed in that department to begin with, were already drawing attention.
The most striking of all was Yukinoshita Haruno, whose body had reached fifteen thanks to her age advantage. No contest there.
"I'm definitely becoming a ninja, and then Makoto and I are going to fight side by side!" Airi declared, barely able to contain herself.
Over the past four years, Makoto had made a name for himself not just in Konohagakure's ninja circles, but across the entire Land of Fire. He'd already been promoted to chunin.
Which only made the other players painfully aware of how wide the gap between them and him had grown.
No one felt it more than Yukino.
Four years ago, she'd sworn in front of her mother that she would surpass Makoto Nishikado and become the Yukinoshita family's shield.
The result?
He'd pulled further and further ahead.
"Hey, Hikitani, how's Tomoya doing?" Eriri sidled up to Hikigaya Hachiman.
Ever since Aki Tomoya's expulsion two years back, the two had drifted apart. Eriri had visited him at the orphanage a few times, but each visit ended the same way: Tomoya slumped in a chair with a miserable resting bitch face, muttering, "Why bother visiting a nobody like me?"
As if the whole world owed him something.
Eventually, even Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha, who'd once had a soft spot for him, stopped going. Nobody likes getting the cold shoulder when they're trying to be nice.
"It's Hikigaya..." He corrected her with a flat look, then said, "He's fine. Same as always. Sits around alone, doesn't talk to anyone. The orphanage director says once he turns twelve he can't stay anymore, has to go find work. Whether he can actually support himself..." He trailed off.
I doubt it, he added silently.
He'd barely exchanged a handful of words with Aki Tomoya, but the impression was firmly negative. The guy had zero ability yet an inexhaustible sense of self-importance, walking around like the universe had chosen him for something special.
The thought made another figure surface in Hikigaya's mind. Makoto's silhouette, always three steps ahead of everyone else.
"If anyone deserves to be called the chosen one," he murmured to himself, "it's him."
"Hachiman, wouldn't it be great if we ended up on the same team after graduation?"
A gentle voice at his side. Saika Totsuka.
Color flooded Hikigaya's cheeks. He nodded vigorously. "Y-yeah. That'd be great."
While most of the players were preparing for the graduation exam, Makoto had been summoned to the Hokage's office.
Four years had stretched his body to twelve as well, a little over five foot three now.
"Makoto, I'd like to promote you directly to jonin." Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't waste time.
"That's rather sudden, Sensei." One eyebrow lifted.
The old Hokage smiled around his pipe. "This graduating class has a great deal of talent. I expect many of them to pass. But we're short on jonin, so I'll need to impose on you."
Short on jonin, Makoto thought. Wouldn't be so short if the Elder Council hadn't gotten so many of them killed.
Out loud, his face was the picture of respect. "Whatever you need, Sensei."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, satisfied.
A great deal had happened over these four years. His eldest son and daughter-in-law had been killed during a classified mission.
When Makoto heard the news, his reaction had been the most intense of anyone's.
If Kakashi and Might Guy hadn't physically restrained him, he would have charged out of the village to avenge them on the spot.
That left an indelible mark on the Third Hokage.
From that day forward, Makoto surpassed even Kakashi in the old man's trust. The person he relied on most in all of Konohagakure.
And over the course of those four years, Makoto's actions had earned him a title:
The Hokage's Sharpest Blade.
BANG.
The office door swung open without so much as a knock.
In the whole of Konohagakure, only one person would walk into the Hokage's office like that.
Makoto's eyebrow twitched.
Sure enough. Danzo.
"Hiruzen. You intend to let the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki become a ninja?" His tone was openly hostile. He'd come about Naruto, obviously.
"Is there a problem with that, Danzo?" Sarutobi Hiruzen took a pull on his pipe, unbothered.
"Of course there is." Danzo's expression was stone. "A jinchuriki is inherently dangerous. One slip and the beast could break free.
And once he's an official ninja, he'll be sent on missions outside the village. What if an enemy nation discovers him? What if he's captured, like Kushina was?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had clearly seen through Danzo's motives before the man opened his mouth, kept his tone light. "Then what would you suggest?"
"Hand him over to me." Danzo said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll forge him into the finest weapon Konoha has ever produced."
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help it. He laughed.
He'd known that was coming.
Before he could respond, Makoto's voice cut through the room like a blade. "Decisions regarding the jinchuriki have always been the Hokage's alone. Since when does the head of an underground organization get a say?"
A grin spread across the Third Hokage's face.
He knew his favorite student would step up. It was practically tradition by now. Every time Danzo came looking for trouble over the past four years, Sarutobi Hiruzen made sure to call Makoto in ahead of time.
Makoto, whose trash-talking skills would get him instantly permabanned in League, never failed to roast Danzo alive.
Danzo fixed him with a murderous glare. "Get out, boy. Don't think that clinging to Hiruzen's coattails gives you the right to disrespect your betters. I was bleeding for this village before you even existed!"
Makoto didn't move an inch. "I'm simply stating facts. And according to Konoha's chain of command, Elder Danzo, your authority extends to Root operatives. You have no right to give me orders."
Fury twisted Danzo's face.
The audacity. Some child, daring to dismiss him?
His hand shot to his belt and ripped free a kunai... the same kunai that would one day pierce a Susanoo. "You want to test whether my kunai is sharp, boy?!"
Makoto's eyes went cold. In one fluid motion, his own kunai was drawn.
"My kunai has never tasted defeat either!"
A closer look revealed something on the grip: a strip of paper inscribed with a seal formula.
A Flying Thunder God kunai.
One year ago, after Makoto's promotion to chunin, Sarutobi Hiruzen had granted him access to the Scroll of Seals and the training method for the Flying Thunder God technique.
With his son and daughter-in-law gone, Makoto was now the only person in the entire village the Third Hokage trusted without reservation.
Naturally, he was going to do everything in his power to make his student stronger.