Shinra stood still upon seeing the person who had just walked past him.
'Orochimaru? He hasn't defected yet?' Shinra thought, quickly averting his gaze.
'If that's the case, then his labs should still be in use… Although getting my hands on Hashirama cells would be a massive milestone, someone like me—who hasn't even reached genin level—shouldn't be thinking about that yet.'
'I still need to get stronger.'
Shinra clenched his fists tightly.
The routine at the academy didn't change much over the next six months. Reigen had introduced the three basic academy techniques to the class. While he taught them earnestly, he didn't expect the students to master them during their first year. But on the off chance that a prodigy appeared, they would nurture that student early and prepare them for field missions.
As the academy exam approached, the instructors were summoned by the Hokage to report on their students' progress.
Hiruzen listened carefully to each instructor's assessment before finally turning to Reigen.
"So, Reigen," the Hokage asked, "are there any promising students in your class?"
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Reigen replied, handing over his report. "Three students in particular have caught my attention."
"The first is Uchiha Ren. He's not quite as talented as Itachi was last year, but he ranks at the top in all subjects—except taijutsu. I believe his future potential is Jōnin-level."
"The second is Hyūga Hatori. While he falls slightly behind Ren overall, he's a hard worker with excellent chakra control. If he can learn the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist, I expect he'll become at least a chūnin—possibly a Jōnin if he's lucky. Unfortunately, he's from the branch family and seems to harbor a strong grudge against the main family."
"The third is a civilian, Kamikaze Shinra. He's currently the best in the class at taijutsu—already at a genin level—but his theory scores are dragging him down. His chakra control isn't quite on Ren or Hatori's level, but it's still good."
"Overall, he ranks around fifth in the class, but what's most impressive is his dedication. After school, he trains his body until midnight before heading home. For someone his age, his drive is extraordinary."
Hiruzen took a long puff from his pipe and nodded slowly.
"You've done well. Right now, we need to fill in the gaps left by the war. If you believe any of your students are ready, include them in the upcoming graduation exam."
After Reigen left the office, Hiruzen turned toward the portraits on the wall, his gaze lingering on the faces of past Hokage.
'Sakumo, Minato, Kushina… all gone. Jiraiya and Tsunade have left the village. Only Orochimaru, Danzo, and I remain. Konoha is at its weakest… but we can't let the other villages realize that.'
'Still, the next generation shows promise. All they need is time to grow.'
It had already been six months since Shinra arrived in this world.
Six months of training.
His life in the academy wasn't hard, the competition in class was almost nonexistent, but keeping his true ability under wraps was more troublesome than he thought.
During class, he made sure to mess up a few hand signs here and there. Sometimes he'd even pretend to lose focus halfway through an exercise, earning the occasional disappointed sigh from Reigen.
'They probably think I'm the kind of student that's only good in taijutsu and little else.'
But in reality, his chakra control had advanced far beyond what a normal 1st year academy student should have almost comparable to a genin. He could keep the leaf on his forehead from falling for over two hours now. At this point, it wasn't even yielding much rewards.
'I should start tree climbing and learning jutsu soon. I've already delayed it long enough.'
At night, once the lights in his neighborhood went out, Shinra would head out quietly to train. He'd sprint laps through the woods, and practice his strikes against the bark of trees till his hands burned.
Despite his progress, he never stopped being cautious.
After all, this wasn't a game. Every step forward had to be calculated.
Lately, even the air in the village felt heavier.
The Uchiha district was being watched more openly now. Shinra had passed by the area once out of curiosity—only to see two masked ANBU posted nearby. It wasn't subtle anymore.
Even among the villagers, whispers had started to spread. Comments about the Uchiha being too proud, too quiet, too dangerous. None of it said out loud, but all of it loud enough to be heard.
'It hasn't even been two years since the Nine-Tails attack… the village is putting a lot of pressure on them. But it's only a matter of time now. The Uchiha won't just sit still and wait for things to get worse, this will cause tension to increase even more.'
There was nothing he could do. Not yet. But he kept the information stored, filed away with everything else.
One afternoon, Reigen stood before the class, arms crossed, looking unusually serious.
"We'll be having our year-end exam in two weeks."
The classroom stirred at his words. Some kids looked nervous, others excited. Kenta raised his hand only to ask something stupid, as usual, and was promptly ignored.
"The exam will cover taijutsu, chakra control and a written test. Those who pass will continue to the next year. Those who fail will retake the course," Reigen said.
Shinra leaned back in his seat, resting his chin on his hand.
He glanced at the window, sunlight pouring through the glass and warming his desk.
Two weeks.
'I wonder which attributes I possess. I highly doubt this body has any kekkei genkai. The more affinities a shinobi has, the greater their potential.
Take Kakashi, for example—he was called the Copy Ninja for a reason. While it was the Sharingan that allowed him to copy jutsu, none of the Uchiha clan earned that title despite their power. That's because most Uchiha specialize in Fire Release combined with either Lightning or Wind. But Kakashi? He had all five elemental affinities.'
A/N:
Sasuke was already able to perform the Fireball jutsu when he was just seven, so I guess that the current progress of the Mc is still within reach by hard work.