"Tomorrow is the graduation exam. When you get home, prepare carefully, review what you learned from last time, and do your best to become a Genin..."
After school, Wu Yu walked through the streets of Konoha Village, thinking about what his teacher had said at the Ninja Academy that afternoon. He felt rather troubled...
Suddenly, a noisy commotion caught his attention.
He looked up and saw Umino Iruka, the teacher of the class next door, with one of his students, Naruto Uzumaki.
The shorter boy had a head of bright blond hair. He carried a bucket for cleaning and followed Iruka toward Hokage Rock Faces, Konoha Village's most iconic landmark.
Konoha Village's residential district formed an almost semicircular fan, with a radius of forty or fifty kilometers. At its innermost point, the very center, stood its core buildings, including the Hokage's office and the Ninja Academy. Behind them rose a tall cliff, its face carved with the gigantic likenesses of the four Hokage, silently watching over the entire village.
But now, those revered stone faces of the Hokage had been covered in all sorts of messy red paint. No need to ask who was responsible. It was undoubtedly the handiwork of Naruto Uzumaki, the village's notorious prankster.
Naruto carried his cleaning bucket as Umino Iruka escorted him to Hokage Rock Faces.
Now and then, villagers on either side pointed at him, but Naruto couldn't have cared less. He made faces at them and even jumped around, shouting insults, until Iruka shut him down with a punch. The whole way, it was lively and full of energy.
Which meant that tomorrow was the day the "story" began.
Naruto Uzumaki would learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu and successfully become a Genin... The story of Naruto Uzumaki, savior of the Shinobi World and Seventh, would officially begin...
As Wu Yu thought about this in dismay, he noticed a student from the Ninja Academy nearby, also standing still and watching Umino Iruka and Naruto Uzumaki walk away.
The distinctive Uchiha Crest on the back of his high-collared, short-sleeved shirt marked him as Sasuke Uchiha.
The moment Sasuke Uchiha realized he was smiling, he snapped out of it. His expression turned gloomy as he lowered his gaze and wiped the smile from his face... Just then, a voice came unexpectedly from behind him:
"You're jealous of him, aren't you? That Naruto Uzumaki."
What!?
Sasuke Uchiha warily turned around. Seeing a black-haired boy about a head taller than him, around fourteen years old, he snorted. "So it's the repeater from the class next door. Nakamori Wu Yu, right?"
Wu Yu smiled. "I didn't expect a genius of the famous Uchiha Clan to remember the name of an ordinary nobody like me. I'm so honored I want to run home and tell my parents so we can all celebrate together—oh, right. I don't have parents either, just like you."
Sasuke's fists clenched. He glared coldly at Wu Yu.
As for Wu Yu... He walked off as soon as he'd finished speaking. It wasn't as if he could beat Sasuke.
Wu Yu had his own troubles.
One of them was graduating from the Ninja Academy. Tomorrow was the graduation exam, and once it was over, he'd be assigned to a team. A Jonin instructor would test him again, and if he passed, he'd officially become a Konoha Ninja Genin. He could take on missions, gain experience, and, as a bonus, earn money...
Wu Yu had already been sent back to the Ninja Academy twice by his Jonin instructors to repeat his studies.
He'd passed the graduation exam the first time at twelve. Now he was fourteen, and tomorrow would be his third try... Come on, Wu Yu, if you didn't become an official Genin and start taking missions to earn money, your family would soon be unable to put food on the table!
Hm?
Was someone following him?
Wu Yu's heart skipped a beat. He controlled himself and didn't look back, acting as if everything were normal as he continued walking at an unhurried pace.
Why would anyone be following me?
Anbu?
Surely not!
I'm just one of countless orphans in Konoha Village whose parents died in the Nine-Tails Attack twelve years ago. What's there to keep an eye on?
It can't be that I'm being followed and investigated just for teasing Sasuke, can it? Oh, god...
Or could it be...
They found out what I did?
Wu Yu was in turmoil inside, but his expression stayed calm.
He crossed two streets and entered the stairwell of a three-story building. He forcibly suppressed the urge to race up the stairs and run home, climbing them steadily, one at a time. He reached the second floor and headed toward his apartment.
His fallen parents had left him this apartment and a little money in savings, which had almost run out. Damn it, why was that person still following him??
Even if they were investigating him, couldn't they at least make sure he didn't notice? Please?
Ding!
Wu Yu pretended to drop his key. As he bent to pick it up, he took the opportunity to glance down the stairwell.
Just as he'd thought!
A strange, muscular bald man was standing there, staring right at him. When Wu Yu glanced his way and quickly looked away, the man gave him a sinister smile and walked straight toward him.
Wu Yu slid the key into the lock, opened his front door, and quickly scanned the room.
Where was she? Where was she? Where'd she gone?
Thud!
Just as the apartment door was about to close behind him, a hand slipped inside and stopped it.
"Are you that afraid of me?" The bald man outside spoke in a voice that carried a wickedly amused lilt.
Wu Yu glanced at the thick scroll, half his height, lying on the small table in the living room. His tense expression suddenly relaxed.
Click. The apartment door shut behind him.
At the same time, after a poof, the low male voice from a moment ago turned into a pleasant female one. She teased, "—What's the rush? I haven't even come in yet."
Wu Yu gave her a dead-fish stare and turned around. "Scaring your own body like that with Transformation Jutsu. What's the point?"
What greeted his eyes was an impressive chest. He nearly couldn't resist burying his face in it.
When he looked up, the muscular bald man who'd followed him inside had turned into a woman wearing a green jacket. Her light-blond hair was tied into youthful-looking twin tails. She looked to be about twenty and was full of spirit.
Tsunade!
One of Konoha's legendary Sannin, founder of the Konoha Medical Unit, student of the Third, granddaughter of the First—Tsunade, who looked like a young woman but was actually fifty!
At his words, Tsunade furrowed her pretty brows and flicked Wu Yu on the forehead with one finger.
Smack!
Wu Yu staggered backward two steps into the living room.
Tsunade followed him in and flopped down on the sofa without a hint of politeness. She crossed her legs and said in annoyance, "I may be your clone, but don't call yourself my master. Watch it, or... Hmph!" She shook a fist at Wu Yu.
Wu Yu rubbed his forehead, dropped onto the sofa opposite her, and gave her a dead-fish stare. "Is that any way to treat your original? It's not. And what about this—are you done writing?" He pointed at the scroll, which was half his height.
"Of course," Tsunade replied coolly.
"You wrote this whole enormous scroll?"
Wu Yu asked in surprise as he dragged the scroll in front of him and unrolled it to check its contents. The first vertical line of text read, "Medical Ninjutsu: Yin Seal..."
"You filled the whole thing? You really know this many jutsu?"
Tsunade relaxed against the sofa, stretching out in a way that made her chest even more striking. She said leisurely, "At my level, there are plenty of jutsu I don't use myself but still understand and know about. Anyone who can become Hokage has to master at least a thousand jutsu. Do you think I'm not qualified to be Hokage?"
"Uh, you want to be Hokage?"
Wu Yu asked casually, keeping his head down as he continued to flip through the scroll: Superhuman Strength Jutsu, Heavenly Foot of Pain, Mystical Palm Technique, Chakra Scalpel... lots of Water Style Jutsu... lots of Fire Style Jutsu... lots of Lightning Style Jutsu... lots of Earth Style Jutsu... His eyes were swimming.
When he'd heard no answer for a long time, Wu Yu reluctantly raised his head and looked at Tsunade.
She was looking out the window. Without expression, she said, "All the Hokage died horrible deaths. Only an idiot would want to be Hokage!"
"..."
Wu Yu thought, So I really did create Tsunade from this point in time!
He waved a hand. "Hey, stop staring. You can't see Hokage Rock Faces from my window. And I haven't even asked you yet—why'd you go out? I thought you'd been discovered! You scared the hell out of me..."
Tsunade looked over at him. "...My hand was tired from writing, so I went out for some fresh air and had a drink."
"I figured."
Wu Yu tapped his fingers on the table, rolled the enormous scroll closed with a rustle, folded his arms, leaned back against the sofa, and sighed. "There's too much! I don't have time to read it all, so I'll just ask you—are there any jutsu I can learn? Preferably something like... like a cheat-level power?"
Tsunade looked puzzled. "What's a cheat?"
"For example, Sage Mode. You know what that is, right?" Wu Yu gestured. "Once you learn it, your strength doubles, or goes up tenfold, even dozens of times! That's what I mean by a cheat."
"..." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "At your age, you're only a Genin, right? It's a little too soon to be thinking about a technique like that! Besides, the more powerful the technique, the harder it is to master..."
She trailed off because the gaze of the little brat—her original—was glued, unsurprisingly, to a place it shouldn't have been.
"Mm-hm, go on. I'm listening..." Wu Yu shifted his eyes away. It wasn't as if he'd intentionally glanced at her chest. It was just... too impressive. She was impossible to ignore!
Tsunade didn't take it seriously. After all, this was her original's request, so she'd do her best to satisfy him.
She stood up, walked around the small living room table, and headed toward Wu Yu. "The most basic requirement for learning Sage Mode is to have a large enough supply of Chakra. Otherwise, as soon as you draw Nature Energy into your body, it'll consume your whole body in an instant, and you'll die immediately. Stop staring. If you want to look, I'll take everything off later and let you have a good look! Now stand up."
"That won't be necessary..." Wu Yu stood up.
Tsunade reached out a finger and touched his forehead. "Have you heard of the 'Eight Ninja Parameters'?"
Wasn't that the set of stats from the official Naruto manga guidebook? So it really existed?
Wu Yu could feel warm Chakra flowing into his body from Tsunade's fingertip. "Tell me about them. I'll see if I know what you're talking about."
"This was a system the Fourth Hokage gradually developed during the Third Shinobi World War. It provided a numerical way to evaluate a ninja's different attributes, so inexperienced Genin could more easily judge the difference in strength between themselves and their opponents."
The Chakra from Tsunade's fingertip coursed through Wu Yu's body. "The Eight Ninja Parameters are nin, tai, gen, intelligence, strength, speed, stamina and Chakra reserves, and hand seals. The first four represent your understanding of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and ninja tactics. The last four measure a ninja's physical strength, speed, stamina and Chakra reserves, as well as their ability to perform hand seals and control Chakra.
"Each parameter has a maximum score of 10. To roughly divide them by rank, 1–2 is the level of a Ninja Academy student, 3–4 is that of an ordinary Genin, 5–6 is Chunin, 7–8 is Jonin, and 9–10 is Hokage-level."
She hooked a finger under Wu Yu's chin and lifted it. "To learn Sage Mode, your score in 'stamina and Chakra reserves' has to be at least 9. You, on the other hand... only have 2."
She just touched me with a finger and could tell how much Chakra I had?
As expected of the matriarch of medical ninjas. She sure knew the human body inside and out!
Wu Yu licked his lips. He knew his results probably wouldn't be very good, but he'd still hoped... "What about the other seven?"
Tsunade flicked Wu Yu on the forehead again, then beckoned him with a finger and smiled. "Come on. Punch me with all your strength."
Wu Yu asked, "A punch? Where should I aim?"
Tsunade grinned and glanced down. "You can try."
"Sure!"
Before the words had even left her mouth, Wu Yu's full-force punch came swinging toward Tsunade.
Tsunade held out one finger and gently stopped Wu Yu's apparently powerful punch.
She judged, "Strength... 2!"
"You're the one who's a 2!" Wu Yu darted away, ran back and forth along the second-floor corridor, then rushed into the apartment, hot and breathless, and slammed the door shut. "What about speed?"
Tsunade, still on the living-room sofa, didn't turn around. She held up two fingers.
"Damn it!"
Wu Yu punched the air.
I swear, don't tell me my intelligence is a 2 too!
Tsunade stood up and walked to the living-room wall. As she formed hand seals with both hands, she took off her high heels. "Gather Chakra in the soles of your feet, then do this..." As she spoke, she stepped barefoot onto the wall.
As if she had suction cups on her feet, Tsunade's whole body lay parallel to the floor as she slowly walked up the wall, lightly marking it every meter.
When she reached the ceiling, just under four meters up, she flipped over and landed soundlessly.
"This test isn't necessarily precise, but... when you first try this training, every additional meter you walk upward roughly counts as one more point in hand seals."
Tsunade rested one hand on her hip and smiled at Wu Yu. "Come on, kid. Give it a try."
"Call me 'Master Original'!"
Wu Yu gave her a dead-fish stare. He didn't even bother forming hand seals to help gather Chakra. He simply lifted a foot and walked up the wall, as steadily as if he were on level ground. He reached the ceiling, then kept going, stepping along it upside down as if it were the floor...
He looked down. "Whoa!" Then he fell.
Tsunade looked up in surprise and caught him without thinking.
I got to touch them! It really was an accident!
After clinging to her for a while, Wu Yu broke free and scratched his head. "Too bad. I'd already done this training, so you can't use my 'first-time performance' to judge me."
"You've already trained in it, yet you can still fall down just like that. Your hand seals are probably only a 2 as well."
"That's nonsense, right? You're just making that up!"
"..."
"..."
Strength 2, speed 2, stamina and Chakra reserves 2... What kind of bullshit stats were these?
Wu Yu was genuinely speechless. He sighed. "Everything a ninja does depends on Chakra. If you don't have enough, nothing else matters! Whatever, let's see if this thing is any use..." As he spoke, he formed the cross hand seal.
To Tsunade's surprise, Wu Yu exclaimed, "Huh? This might actually work!"
Poof...
A cloud of white smoke, much like the one from the Shadow Clone Technique, suddenly appeared in front of him.
When the smoke cleared, it revealed what his newly summoned "Shadow Clone" looked like...
Tsunade saw that her original looked as if he'd seen a ghost, so she took another look at the strange clone Wu Yu had summoned, which was the same kind of being as herself.
A white-haired woman in white robes, with a pair of horns? Did this kid only summon women?
Wait!
Tsunade quickly noticed the new clone's pure white eyes. "Is that the Byakugan?"
Wu Yu swallowed dryly, staring in shock at the freshly created "clone" before him—the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya Otsutsuki, the progenitor of Chakra in the ancient Shinobi World, immortal and inseparably one with the God Tree!
Oh my Six Paths Sage mom...
Before you continue