Kimura Takuya

Konoha Year 62.

June 20th, the sky was just beginning to brighten at dawn.

Inside a resettlement unit in the civilian district of Konoha.

A young boy was rapidly casting the Three Basic Techniques.

First the Transformation Technique, then the Clone Technique, followed immediately by the Substitution Technique to swap positions with his clone.

The boy wore a white training gi, his hair and eyes both black.

He was not old, just twelve years of age, and his name was Kimura Takuya.

He didn't even have a ninja headband, clearly a student who had yet to graduate from the Ninja Academy.

Yet, he was casting the Three Basic Techniques instantly without hand seals!

He was far more proficient than many jounin.

He had been continuously casting the Three Basic Techniques for over two hours.

Yet he still had energy to spare, showing not a hint of fatigue.

"That's about enough. Today is the day of the Ninja Academy graduation.

I need to save some chakra; I can't overdo the act."

Kimura Takuya made himself a simple meal, finished it, and headed out.

With no one else to provide for, he had no worries.

The parents of this body had long since perished during the Nine-Tails' Rebellion years ago.

Originally, this house had been destroyed by the Nine-Tails.

It was only after the reconstruction that a unit was allocated to Kimura Takuya as a "surviving" orphan.

From this, one could see that the lives of ordinary citizens in Konoha were actually quite decent.

After all, Konoha was the leader of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, and the living standards of its people benefited accordingly.

Leaving the civilian district, the shops on both sides of the street were just opening for business.

Pedestrians were constant, and from time to time, traveling merchants passed by, carrying their wares and hawking them along the street.

Kimura Takuya couldn't help but sigh.

The level of prosperity was catching up to some modern cities.

To insist on calling this a village—was it Huaxi Village?

This Konoha was more than just a little bit larger than what he had seen in the anime before.

With a population of over a hundred thousand, the number of students in the same grade as Kimura Takuya at the Ninja Academy alone exceeded five hundred.

A single grade was divided into ten classes.

That made much more sense.

Without this population base, where would the Allied Shinobi Forces of eighty thousand have come from during the Fourth Shinobi World War?

"Takuya-kun, wait for me!"

Hmm? It's this little girl again. Women only slow down my speed of forming hand seals—although I don't really use them, you still can't interfere!

Besides, with the soul of an adult, he had no interest in a little girl.

If this girl were grown up, that would be another story.

But right now? No interest.

Run!

Kimura Takuya took off running, but as soon as he ran, the girl behind him gave chase.

The girl wore purple clothes, her blonde hair and blue eyes tied into a high ponytail.

As she ran, her ponytail swayed, radiating the essence of youth.

"Takuya-kun, it's your graduation exam today, so I prepared a bento for you! Eat it and you're sure to pass!

You go ahead, Ino will bring it to you at noon!"

Seeing that she couldn't catch up, Yamanaka Ino didn't force it.

In any case, it was the sixth-grade graduation exam today, so those in the lower grades like her were on holiday.

He could run for a moment, but not for a lifetime!

"Takuya-kun is so hardworking. Rushing to school like that, he must be going to review for the exam."

The girl comforted herself with this thought.

Ninja Academy.

Inside the classroom.

"This morning, we will test on Ninja Common Knowledge and the Will of Fire, followed by Taijutsu in the afternoon. You must pass all three subjects to graduate successfully. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes, we understand!"

The teacher didn't waste any time and began distributing the papers.

The exam questions ranged from basic information about the various ninja villages and their respective specialties in ninjutsu, to the usage, maintenance, and repair of ninja tools.

There were also bonus questions covering battlefield strategy and overall perspective.

Over the six years at the Ninja Academy, there was quite a lot to learn.

However, most of it consisted of basics, leaning heavily toward common knowledge. As for ninjutsu, taijutsu, and ninja tools, they only covered the basic Three Body Technique, fundamental taijutsu, and basic tool usage.

Even so, the six-year curriculum remained quite heavy.

In reality, elementary school students only learn basic knowledge like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, pinyin, literacy, and recitation.

But in the ninja world, besides basic cultural courses, one had to add this massive pile of combat-related material.

The workload was truly heavy.

Fortunately, Kimura Takuya possessed the soul of an adult, so all the courses over these years had been a breeze for him.

For the first subject, Ninja Common Knowledge, Kimura Takuya answered with flying colors.

He controlled his score to stay above eighty, completing the exam steadily without choosing to hand it in early.

When it came to the second subject, the special Will of Fire exam, he was extremely cautious.

This exam, while called a graduation test, was actually a loyalty assessment.

It was filled with various leading questions; what you might think is a righteous answer often didn't meet the requirements.

To meet the requirements, one only needed to grasp the fundamental rule of answering: the interests of Konoha are above all else!

If your answer didn't align with the demands of Konoha's higher-ups, failing would be the least of your worries.

One feared that a stain would be left on one's permanent record.

From then on, promotions would be blocked, and entering the upper echelons of the village would be impossible.

However, one couldn't answer too well, either.

Performing too brilliantly made it easy to be drafted into the Anbu or even absorbed by Root.

He precisely controlled his score to eighty-five!

Neither high nor low, just right.

After the two morning exams, the students ate their bento boxes.

"Kimura-san, have you really thought it through? Are you sure you don't want to burn your youth with me?"

A boy wearing a beige training suit walked toward Kimura Takuya.

The boy had thick eyebrows and large eyes, and as he spoke, his teeth actually flashed with a glint of light.

Ugh, so shiny and dazzling!

Kimura Takuya narrowed his eyes slightly and shook his head in explanation.

"I was recommended to the Ninja Academy by the hospital. Once I graduate, I will become a medical ninja, and I've already been promised a position as an assistant physician in the emergency department."

The thick-browed boy looked full of regret, muttering strange words about how medical ninjas weren't "youthful" enough.

This boy was none other than Lee, who had yet to become an apprentice to Emperor Guy.

He hadn't yet obtained that iconic green spandex suit.

But that temperament was already beginning to show.

Had Might Guy already taken an interest in him and made contact?

In the original work, Lee not only had zero talent for ninjutsu, but during his time at the Ninja Academy, his taijutsu was even weaker than others.

He could be described as a total failure in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu—a true "three-in-one" loser.

However, his willpower was extraordinary. Like a clumsy bird flying early, he spent all his time practicing taijutsu while others were playing.

Eventually, he caught the eye of Might Guy.

He graduated as a taijutsu specialist and became the disciple of Konoha's Emperor of Taijutsu, Might Guy.

Yet, during his time at the academy, being inferior to others in every way and facing exclusion and mockery left him deeply insecure.

Even when he defeated a genius like Second Pillar during the Chunin Exams, he felt no pride, only a singular desire to gain the recognition of his master, Might Guy.

But now, because of Kimura Takuya's presence, the situation had changed.

Although he was still mocked and excluded by others, Lee now had Kimura Takuya by his side.

Kimura Takuya did this to hide his own strength.

Every day before school, he would exhaust his chakra to prevent his true strength from being detected by the Byakugan.

Consequently, he appeared to be in a state of sickly exhaustion every single day.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons that attracted Ino?

As for why he chose to conceal his strength?

Wouldn't it be sweet to unleash his power, crush his peers, and enjoy the treatment a genius deserves?

It certainly would be sweet.

If not for that incident in his childhood, Kimura Takuya might not have hidden his strength.

Furthermore, there were certain special abilities that could not be discovered by certain people.

At the very least, they could not be discovered until he was strong enough.