The sky kept exploding in color.
Konoha's fireworks festival was the kind of event that reminded you the village had a civilian side — people in yukatas, street food, lanterns strung between buildings, nobody trying to kill anyone. A genuinely pleasant atmosphere.
I'd shown up early out of habit. Standing near the meeting spot, watching the crowd move around me.
A few women walking past did double-takes.
Thirteen years old and already getting that reaction. The height helps.
"Saiki-kun!"
I turned.
Ino was half-jogging toward me, slightly out of breath, yukata catching the light from the fireworks above. She'd clearly spent real time getting ready — hair done, the whole thing.
"Sorry, I'm late—"
"You're not." I checked. "Timing's fine."
She'd been rushing though. A strand of hair had come loose and was sitting wrong across her face from the wind.
I reached over and smoothed it back into place without thinking much about it.
"S-Saiki-kun—"
She'd gone completely still.
Probably should have asked first. Oh well.
"There." I stepped back. "Let's walk."
She stood frozen for another second, then seemed to remember how to operate her legs.
"...Mhm."
The festival was good.
That was honestly all there was to say about it. We walked, watched the fireworks, tried some food from the stalls. Ino talked — she was good at talking, easy to be around once the nerves settled — and I listened and responded and filed away information about her family, her clan's priorities, her read on various classmates.
Practical. But also genuinely not bad as an evening.
Next morning.
Ino walked into class, sat down, immediately put both hands over her face, and made a sound like a kettle.
Shikamaru stared at her for about five seconds.
"What happened."
"None of your business."
"Something clearly happened."
"None of your business."
He looked at me.
I smiled and opened my notes.
He made a face that said this is too troublesome to pursue and put his head back down on the desk.
Chouji ate chips.
Time moved.
The graduation exam got close enough to feel real.
I kept the schedule tight. Library sessions. Meditation. Taijutsu drills. The stat grind that had been running for three years without a day off.
Then, two notifications in the same week:
[Taijutsu has reached LV 80 — Derived Skill Unlocked: Superhuman Physique.]
[Reading has reached LV 80 — Derived Skill Unlocked: Mastery.]
I sat with both of them.
Superhuman Physique — strength, speed, recovery, all physical parameters amplified past normal human limits. Scales with training. No ceiling listed.
Mastery — the ability to synthesize and integrate learned material. Cross-reference skills. Find connections between separate disciplines and compress them into something more efficient.
That second one is going to be quietly broken.
Full status:
[Ninjutsu: 81 | Taijutsu: 78 | Genjutsu: 76]
[Skills: Chakra Burst Jutsu | Combat Intuition | Extreme Speed | One-Handed Seals | Mental Confusion | Analysis and Comprehension | Armor Transformation | Superhuman Physique | Mastery]
Nine skills.
Before graduation.
Two more targets: Hand Seals and Spiritual Energy to LV 80. Suiton and Doton are longer projects. Shuriken can wait.
Goals set. Back to work.
Graduation day.
Separate room. Iruka sitting across from me with a roster in his hands and a look on his face that was trying very hard to be professionally neutral and failing slightly.
"Relax," he said. "This isn't difficult for you."
Iruka-sensei. The man has watched me train for five years and is still worried I'll panic on the Clone Jutsu.
Genuinely touching.
"I'm good," I said.
Hand seals. Standard sequence.
"Bunshin no Jutsu."
Poof.
A perfect clone standing beside me. Iruka stared at it for a moment like he was checking for flaws, found none, and exhaled in a way that suggested he'd been holding that breath for a while.
He laughed quietly.
"I don't know why I was worried."
He reached into the box on the desk and held out a forehead protector.
Metal plate. Konoha symbol.
I took it.
There it is.
"Congratulations, Saiki. You've officially graduated."
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." I meant it more than the standard line. "For everything."
He waved it off, but the look on his face said it landed.
I left.
Behind me, I heard Mizuki's voice as I stepped out.
"Top of the class, right? Talented and hardworking both — that's rare."
And Iruka's quiet, proud response.
Then, a beat later:
"Next — Uzumaki Naruto!"
I paused for half a second in the hallway.
Right. It starts now.
I tied the forehead protector and kept walking.