"It seems the Ōtsutsuki bloodline has begun transforming my body..." Shigure murmured, his steps echoing softly as he walked toward the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Despite the weight of his thoughts, it was surprisingly easy for him to slip into the familiar halls of the Academy. The graduation exam had already begun when he entered, and only one seat remained near the back. He quietly took it.
"Shigure, I heard you were hospitalized. Are you alright now?" asked the girl sitting next to him.
He glanced sideways. She had vibrant purple hair, pale, porcelain-like skin, and the unmistakable white eyes of the Hyūga clan. Her expression was gentle, her chakra calm.
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking," Shigure replied curtly, then turned his attention forward.
Activating his Byakugan—or more precisely, his unique evolution of it, the Byaringan, sometimes referred to as "White Wheel Eyes" due to their unusual glow—he observed the chakra flow of his classmates. Clear, vibrant lines pulsed through the dozens of young bodies in the room.
"As expected, nothing impressive. Their chakra levels are far below what I saw in Hiruzen Sarutobi," he thought. "Then again, they're just kids. Most haven't even unlocked their chakra coils fully."
Yet a few students caught his attention. Some from the Uchiha clan had a distinctly intense chakra flow, tinged with the natural affinity for Fire Release. Others from the Hyūga clan, like the girl next to him, displayed more precise and refined chakra control.
"Alright, listen up!" said the proctor, a chunin instructor standing at the front of the class. "We're beginning the graduation exam. Same procedure as always—perform one of the Three Basic Jutsu: Clone, Substitution, or Transformation. If you pass, you graduate. I'll call names one by one."
"The first one—Hyūga Kōhime!"
The purple-haired girl next to Shigure stood nervously and walked to the center of the classroom. Her movements were graceful, despite the tension in her steps.
"Your task: Transformation Jutsu. Transform into me."
Kōhime performed the Transformation Jutsu, and with a puff of smoke, she turned into an exact copy of the instructor. Shigure's eyes traced the flow of chakra within her.
"Not bad. Her chakra control is fairly stable, though there's still some inefficiency in the molding. But structurally accurate. A pass."
"Pass," the instructor confirmed.
One by one, more students were called. Shigure, meanwhile, had been silently analyzing each jutsu with his Byaringan, passively mastering them through observation.
Then the instructor called, "Uchiha Ren!"
A boy with spiky black hair and the signature arrogance of his clan sauntered up. He glanced at Shigure and smirked—clearly challenging him.
"Clone Technique," the proctor instructed.
Ren formed the necessary seals. With a puff, two identical clones appeared beside him. The class murmured in admiration.
"Perfect execution!" someone whispered.
But Shigure, still leaning lazily on his desk, muttered, "Hardly. His chakra is powerful, but his control is sloppy. His clones flicker—imperfect projection. One already destabilized."
Several heads turned, including Kōhime's. Her wide eyes betrayed her shock. This was the same Shigure who'd barely passed previous lessons?
Ren's face twisted in irritation. "What did you say?"
"I said," Shigure sat up slowly, his eyes gleaming faintly, "your clone vanished in under a second. That's not precision, it's waste. You're brute-forcing with chakra. Amateur work."
Gasps echoed through the classroom. The once-dubbed "dead last" was openly mocking an Uchiha—in front of everyone.
"Haha! What a joke!" sneered Uchiha Rei, glaring at Shigure. "Transformation Jutsu is just basic ninjutsu to trick the eyes. You think you've perfected it? Don't make me laugh!"
The Chūnin examiner narrowed his eyes, clearly unimpressed by Rei's attitude—but he wasn't thrilled with Shigure's overconfidence either. "Uchiha Rei, that's enough. Return to your seat. Now then—Shigure, since you seem so confident, let's see you perform all three of the Academy's fundamental ninjutsu techniques: the Transformation Jutsu, Clone Jutsu, and Substitution Jutsu."
Shigure didn't hesitate. "Understood," he said calmly, stepping to the front of the classroom.
"I'll begin with the Substitution Jutsu."
He formed a seal in a flash. In a puff of smoke—poof!—he vanished, replaced by a wooden log on the practice mat. Instantly, his real body reappeared in his original seat, lying across the desk as if ready for a nap.
"When did he—?!" murmured a few students in disbelief.
"Report, examiner. I've completed the Three Basic Techniques," Shigure said casually, eyes half-closed.
"Ridiculous!" Rei stood up, pointing. "Even if you count that as a Substitution, he didn't show the other two!"
"Enough," the examiner said after a pause. "Uchiha Shigure passes."
Rei's mouth fell open. "What!? That's not fair! What kind of test is this!?"
The examiner ignored him. "Next!"
But Rei wasn't satisfied. As soon as class ended, he cornered the examiner.
"Sensei! What just happened? How did he pass?! I was watching—he only used one jutsu!"
The examiner looked down at him with a sigh. "Rei... you're only seeing what's in front of your eyes. When the exam started, Shigure had already used the Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu. The version of him that stepped up to take the test was a Shadow Clone—disguised using the Transformation Jutsu. That clone then performed the Substitution, replacing itself with the log. When the smoke cleared, the real Shigure was already back in his seat."
Rei blinked, stunned. "That's... that's impossible! The Shadow Clone Jutsu is a B-rank technique! Only upper-level ninja can do that!"
"Exactly," the examiner said flatly. "And that's why you should think twice before judging someone. You and he are the same age, but he's operating on an entirely different level."
Rei gritted his teeth, fists clenched. "Why would an Academy student know a B-rank jutsu?!"
"Ask him yourself," the examiner replied, already walking away. "Though I doubt he'll give you a straight answer."
Rei stared at Shigure from across the courtyard—still resting at his desk like he hadn't moved an inch. A new grudge had quietly begun to take root.