Ring ring ring...
Izanami and Hinata had only exchanged a few quiet words before the school bell rang.
The classroom immediately fell into silence—a rare occurrence under normal circumstances.
"The topic for the graduation exam is the Clone Technique. The testing room is at the end of the right corridor. Students will be called by name."
Iruka Umino's voice came from the doorway. He didn't enter or take the podium—just gave the brief announcement before stepping away.
Moments later, a Chūnin in a green vest appeared at the door with a clipboard in hand. Without wasting time, he began calling names.
"Minako…"
One by one, students were summoned every couple of minutes. Some stood nervously, others strode out with confident steps—but none returned.
Hinata was among those called early.
"…Izanami."
Hinata had been gone only a few minutes when Izanami's name came. He rose calmly and left the classroom.
At the end of the corridor, he pushed open the door to the testing room.
Inside, Iruka Umino and Mizuki—homeroom teacher of Class Two—were seated behind a long table.
Seeing Izanami enter, Iruka offered a warm smile. "Izanami, let's begin."
"Yes, Sensei."
With a nod, Izanami quickly formed the required hand seals and said in a steady voice: "Clone Technique."
Poof—
Two identical bursts of smoke erupted beside him. When the mist cleared, two perfect copies of Izanami stood on either side. From facial features to posture, even the small fold of his uniform collar—nothing was out of place.
Iruka and Mizuki exchanged a glance, impressed.
Iruka stood and retrieved a forehead protector from the table. "Your clones are flawless. Congratulations, Izanami—you've passed. From this moment on, you're officially a Genin."
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. Thank you, Mizuki-sensei."
Izanami stepped forward, accepted the forehead protector with both hands, and bowed respectfully.
"You don't need to return to the classroom," Iruka added. "Just head to the training grounds and wait. Once all students finish the exam, we'll take your profile photos."
"Yes."
With that, Izanami left the testing room.
Outside, just past the school steps, he spotted Hinata waiting for him beneath the shadow of a sakura tree.
They exchanged a smile and walked side by side toward the training grounds.
A dozen students were already gathered there, chatting casually.
"Hey—look who it is! Izanami, Hinata!"
"Knew you two would pass without a hitch."
"Are we celebrating after this?"
"Eh, maybe not today. My family's waiting outside—I want to go home first."
"Let's plan something later."
"I wonder how many in our class will pass?"
"Twenty at least. We are Class One, after all."
"Still, Naruto's probably doomed…"
Izanami and Hinata were quickly surrounded by their classmates. Friendly banter flowed, and Izanami joined in easily.
Then a familiar voice cut through the chatter.
"Izanami—want to spar later?"
Uchiha Sasuke approached, eyes sharp, stance ready. As always, he exuded quiet confidence—ranked third in the grade, and one of Izanami's long-standing rivals.
Sensing the tension, the others slowly backed off, giving the two boys space.
Looking at Sasuke's eager expression, Izanami chuckled lightly and shook his head.
"Not today. From what I've heard, Genin are assigned to teams of three under a Jōnin instructor. We'll be training with them soon enough."
He added with a calm smile, "Besides, we already know each other's strengths. Fighting again right now won't change anything. Let's both grow first—and see how we compare then."
Sasuke paused, recalling their frequent matches… and frequent defeats.
His fighting spirit dimmed, replaced by grudging respect. "Alright. Next time, then."
"Next time," Izanami agreed.
Over the years, Sasuke had been more than just a rival—he'd been an unexpected benefactor. Every sparring match contributed to Izanami's growth.
From Sasuke, Izanami had earned chakra control points, rare ability drops like Shadow-level Talent (Purple), Uchiha Bloodline (Purple), even the rare Ōtsutsuki Bloodline (Blue).
Most had been broken down for points—over ten thousand of them. Sasuke alone had provided the majority.
The rest? Hinata... and the rest of the class.
But no one—not even Sasuke—realized just how much stronger Izanami had become.
And this was only the beginning.
Within their entire class, Izanami's strength stood in a league of its own.
Uchiha Sasuke and Hinata belonged firmly to the first tier—exceptionally gifted and capable in both theory and combat.
The second tier was composed of the children from various ninja clans—Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and the like—each possessing inherited techniques but lacking the polish of the top three.
The rest of the class fell into the third tier, consisting mostly of ordinary students with average chakra reserves and basic skills.
By the time they reached third grade, very few students outside of Sasuke and Hinata were still capable of producing useful ability drops for Izanami's system. The occasional entry would appear, but it was typically low-level and not worth keeping.
Had strength been measured purely by chakra quantity, the entire class—and perhaps the entire school—would have bowed to Uzumaki Naruto. But raw chakra meant nothing without control or technique.
Over the years, Izanami had already harvested Sasuke's potential to its limits—not only the ability entries he dropped during spars, but even the Ninjutsu scrolls Sasuke brought from home had been "milked" repeatedly.
Despite this underlying motive, a genuine friendship had formed between the two boys. Their routine sparring had long since become an unspoken pact—one that pushed them both to grow stronger.
Sasuke, in particular, had evolved far beyond the counterpart known from the original story.
Among the orbs of data that floated around him, one had already changed: what had once been [Uchiha Bloodline] (Purple) had evolved into [Kekkei Genkai · Sharingan] (Purple).
He could now activate his Sharingan at will.
The moment of its true awakening had come on the night of the Uchiha clan's annihilation. The trauma had opened his eyes—literally and figuratively.
Since then, Sasuke had developed a noticeable sense of superiority. With the Sharingan at his disposal, a deeper chakra pool, and several new jutsu learned through Izanami's indirect guidance, Sasuke believed himself nearly invincible among his peers.
The only people he considered worthy opponents were Izanami—and Hinata.
Hinata, with her precise Taijutsu and terrifying mastery of acupressure strikes, had earned Sasuke's grudging respect. Even in direct combat, her close-range fighting style made her a challenge, if not an outright threat.
Still, in an all-out, regulation-free duel, Sasuke believed the outcome would favor him now that he wielded the Sharingan and had increased his chakra control. Whether he was right or not was a different matter entirely.
If fate aligned and Izanami, Sasuke, and Hinata were ever assigned to the same Genin squad, there would be no question—they'd be the strongest team in the village.
Not even the famed Ino-Shika-Cho trio or the Hidden Sand's Gaara and his siblings could match them.
But everyone knew that was a fantasy.
The threads of destiny—both karmic and political—ensured that Sasuke and Naruto would be placed on the same team. Their fates were too intertwined, too significant, to allow otherwise.
And in the entirety of Konoha, there was only one person suited to guide them:
Hatake Kakashi.
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