Hatake Kakashi stared at the four files in his hand.
Four.
"Hokage-sama." He looked up. "Everyone else gets three."
"Yes."
"I get four."
"You do."
"...I get tired too, you know."
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled the smile of a man who had already made his decision and was simply waiting for the other person to catch up.
"The current Konoha," he said pleasantly, "has exactly one person qualified to teach this particular student. That person is you."
Kakashi looked back down at the files.
First one. Uzumaki Naruto — bright grin, whisker marks, the face of a kid who had no idea how much weight his existence carried. Minato-sensei's son. Kakashi's single eye stayed on that photo a beat longer than necessary.
Sensei.
Second. Uchiha Sasuke. Last surviving member of the clan. Obito's blood, in a roundabout way. The guilt that came with that name was old and familiar by now, but it still showed up every time.
Can't exactly say no to these two.
Third and fourth. Two civilians. He glanced at them and was about to suggest that one of them get reassigned to make a normal three-man squad, when Hiruzen slid an additional folder across the desk.
"Read this one first."
Kakashi picked it up.
He read it with the detached efficiency of someone who processed mission files for a living.
Then he slowed down.
Then he stopped.
Created an original ninjutsu before leaving the Academy.
No clan. No prior training. Civilian background.
Top of the class for six consecutive years.
Spiritual energy cultivation started in year three — genjutsu stats approaching jonin level at graduation.
Derived skills: Combat Intuition, Extreme Speed, One-Handed Seals, Mental Confusion, Armor Transformation, Superhuman Physique, Mastery.
Kakashi looked up.
"He made his own jutsu as an Academy student."
"He did."
"That's not a talent thing. That's a—" He stopped. "That's something else."
Hiruzen nodded slowly.
"His parents died in the Nine-Tails attack. He was there." The old man's voice was even, but the weight behind it wasn't. "The line in his file — I never want to watch the people I care about fall in front of me again — that's where it came from. He's been building toward something since the day he walked through the Academy doors."
Kakashi was quiet for a long moment.
He looked at the photo. A kid with a calm expression and a slight smile. Not performing. Just — steady.
They're so similar.
He said it out loud without meaning to.
"Like Minato," Hiruzen agreed quietly. "The talent, the work ethic, the civilian start. The will to protect instead of the will to dominate." He paused. "I've been watching him for years. The resemblance has only gotten stronger."
Kakashi set the file down.
He didn't say yes immediately. He turned it over for a few seconds, looking at the middle distance.
Then: "My test is what it is. I don't pass people out of sentiment."
"I know."
"Sensei's son included."
"I'd expect nothing less."
"Fine." Kakashi tucked all four files under his arm. "What about the girl?"
Hiruzen cleared his throat.
"Every squad needs someone to manage the group dynamic."
"..."
She's a buffer.
"Got it." Kakashi stood. "I'll see them tomorrow."
He left.
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling.
The best teacher in Konoha, for the student with the most potential in Konoha.
The rest is up to you.
I didn't know any of this was happening.
I was sitting cross-legged on my apartment floor, watching a progress bar.
(997,240 / 1,000,000)
Squad assignments were probably going to be fine. Given everything I'd put on paper over six years, I wasn't realistically going to end up in a throwaway team. The kind of placement that mattered — a jonin instructor with actual ability — required standing out clearly enough to be noticed.
I'd been very deliberately noticed.
(998,801 / 1,000,000)
The Hand Seals bar was close but not there yet. The Spiritual Energy bar was the one I was watching tonight.
(999,500 / 1,000,000)
(999,877 / 1,000,000)
(1,000,000 / 1,000,000)
[Spiritual Energy Cultivation Method has reached LV 80 — Derived Skill Unlocked: Kyoka Suigetsu.]
I opened my eyes.
Kyoka Suigetsu.
The name alone was enough to make me sit up straighter. In Bleach, Kyoka Suigetsu was Aizen's zanpakuto — complete hypnotic control over all five senses of anyone who had ever seen its release. Effectively unbeatable as long as the opponent didn't know they were already under it.
Please don't be that.
That would be genuinely broken and I'm not emotionally ready.
The system description loaded:
[Kyoka Suigetsu — Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water. Cast a genjutsu upon oneself. All damage received is redirected to the illusion.]
I stared at it.
...Oh.
So it wasn't perception control. It was self-targeting genjutsu — a permanent illusion layered over my own body. Any hit that landed, any damage that connected, got absorbed by the illusion instead of me.
Not the original. But the logic of it —
I take no damage as long as the genjutsu holds.
"Yeah," I said to the empty room. "That's broken too."
Different flavor of broken. But broken.
[Skills: Chakra Burst Jutsu | Combat Intuition | Extreme Speed | One-Handed Seals | Mental Confusion | Analysis and Comprehension | Armor Transformation | Superhuman Physique | Mastery | Kyoka Suigetsu]
Ten skills. Graduation day.
Tomorrow I meet my jonin instructor.
Let's see what Hiruzen decided I deserved.
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~ Every 100 PS = Bonus Chapter!