The Hokage's office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, gazing into a crystal ball with the concentration of a witch communing with spirits.
The translucent orb shimmered before finally displaying the image of Class 1-A's classroom.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had two sons.
His eldest had already joined the Anbu and become a highly capable ninja.
But his younger son, Sarutobi Asuma, was in that rebellious phase, constantly challenging his authority. It was mentally exhausting.
Watching for a few moments, Hiruzen couldn't help but smile.
Kids will be kids.
But competition breeds pressure.
Asuma had coasted through the academy far too easily thanks to his status as the Hokage's son.
Now that Hanekawa was around, maybe his rebellious child would finally be pushed to grow.
"Sei," Hiruzen called calmly. "I want all of Hanekawa's records from the past three days. Now."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
A voice answered from the shadows—it was the Anbu kunoichi known as Sei.
Hiruzen had high hopes for Hanekawa.
If not, he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of pulling him back from Danzo Shimura's hands.
Now Hanekawa was even lighting a fire in Asuma's heart. Two birds, one stone.
"Lord Hokage."
Not even three minutes passed before Sei appeared in front of him.
She wore a frog mask, with only her short black hair exposed.
Hiruzen took the documents from her and began flipping through them. Soon, his brows furrowed.
As expected, Danzo hadn't fully given up. Fortunately, he hadn't stirred up any real trouble either.
Hiruzen kept reading, and eventually, a smile returned to his face.
A hardworking child.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Hiruzen said, setting the documents aside.
The door opened to reveal a blond-haired young man.
"Minato," Hiruzen said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "What is it? Has something happened to Kushina?"
Uzumaki Kushina—the current jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.
Among the nine tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails was the most powerful, capable of destroying mountains and reshaping the land.
A jinchuriki was a ninja who had a tailed beast sealed inside them—the ultimate trump card of any hidden village.
But the beasts were unruly. It was easy for a jinchuriki to lose control.
Not to mention the ever-present threat of enemy villages.
Like not long ago, when Kumogakure tried to kidnap Uzumaki Kushina.
If not for Namikaze Minato's intervention, Konoha might have lost its Nine-Tails forever.
"It's nothing serious," Minato said, scratching his cheek with a sheepish grin. "Kushina slipped past the barrier again. She sealed up the two Anbu watching her."
"Kushina is strong, but we can't be careless when it comes to the Nine-Tails," Hiruzen said, taking a long drag from his pipe. "I know you care about her, but you need to be firm."
"I understand," Minato said, his expression growing serious.
"No need to look so tense," Hiruzen chuckled. "Now that you've mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, I doubt anyone could ever kidnap her again."
The Flying Thunder God Technique—space-time ninjutsu that allowed instantaneous teleportation using marked seals.
As long as Kushina had the Flying Thunder God seal on her, Minato could reach her instantly from anywhere.
No exaggeration: from this moment on, he was the fastest man in the ninja world.
"Is Jiraiya still in the village?" Hiruzen asked, as if remembering something.
"He is," Minato replied. "He's been helping me develop a new jutsu lately."
"A new jutsu?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "What kind of technique needs both you and Jiraiya to create it?"
"It's not quite ready yet," Minato said with a smile. "Once it is, I'll show you."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
They exchanged a knowing smile.
For a moment, the Hokage's office felt warmer, livelier.
Class 1-A.
Hanekawa's eye twitched.
Why the hell did being a ninja require math?
There was an old saying—when people are desperate, they can do anything. Except math. That's impossible.
He stared at the problem in front of him. It was asking him to calculate the arc trajectory of a thrown kunai.
He understood the theory. But what good would this do against something like Susanoo?
It wasn't like he could copy Danzo and try stabbing it with a kunai.
A commotion stirred in the classroom.
Hanekawa looked up and saw a crowd gathering outside.
Leading the charge were Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Obito.
"Obito's challenging Kakashi again," Shizune sighed. "I've lost count of how many times this has happened since school started."
"Who usually wins?" Hanekawa asked casually.
"Kakashi, every single time," Shizune said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "He's the village's genius, after all."
Hanekawa nodded slightly.
Though it had only been three days, he'd already sensed Kakashi's immense popularity.
In simple terms, Kakashi was the Uchiha Sasuke of this generation.
Read more books. Trust fewer Uchihas.
Hanekawa glanced toward the door.
In the few seconds he'd been chatting with Shizune, Uchiha Obito had already lost again—and Kakashi hadn't even lifted a finger.
Obito had coughed violently after trying to use Fire Style: Great Fireball and nearly burned his own throat.
At this rate, he'd cough up a lung.
But despite the pain, Obito seemed oddly satisfied—because Rin was tending to him.
That gentle care could make anyone misunderstand.
Make them think maybe—just maybe—she liked them.
Unfortunately, they had no idea that the gifts of fate always came with a hidden price tag.
Hanekawa returned to his studies.
He was in no hurry to be "optimized" when Obito eventually tried to rewrite the world.
That night, after dinner, he resumed training with kunai and shuriken.
The only difference was that Kurenai Yuhi joined him this time.
A week passed quickly.
Hanekawa had integrated into the class and gotten to know every student.
Aside from well-known side characters like Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma, there was one lesser-known face: Mizuki.
Yes—that Mizuki.
The one who would eventually try to trick Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals.
His only real contribution to the story was unintentionally giving Naruto his first power-up: the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Sunday morning.
Hanekawa tossed a kunai with a flick of his wrist. It hit the wooden post dead center.
Lines of text appeared in his vision.
He finally let out a breath of relief.
[Acquired E-rank Talent: Ninja Tool Throwing]
[Trigger Condition: Reach Beginner Level in Kunai and Shuriken Throwing]
[Effect: Increases arm strength by 10%. Guaranteed hits on stationary targets within 100 meters.]
[Note: Can be synthesized into D-rank Talent "Ninja Tool Mastery" with seven E-rank ninja tool talents.]
Hanekawa clenched his fist subconsciously.
He could feel the increase in strength. It wasn't much—but it was real.
Just beginner level, and he already got a 10% boost. Once mastered, would he grow a literal cannon arm?
He should play basketball. This was a certified Iron Elbow.
He shook away the nonsense.
His gaze shifted to the talent panel.
[E-rank Talent: Seven Ninja Tools (Not Acquired)]
[Trigger Condition: Reach Proficiency in All Seven Basic Ninja Tools]
[Current Progress: 10%]
Same E-rank level, but clearly more difficult than Ninja Tool Throwing.
Made sense—it was required to synthesize a D-rank talent.
The progress bar confirmed that kunai and shuriken counted, meaning he had five more tools to learn.
He gathered the scattered kunai and shuriken from the ground and walked out.
He had told Yuhi Shinku in advance that he'd be going back to the orphanage for the day.
In truth, he was heading off to meet a spy from Kumogakure