Born Strong (3.8k)

"Boom—hummm—!"

Accompanied by a muffled roar that still resounded across the entire field, that surging pillar of blazing white light shot upward without pause!

"So fast!"

"It's past halfway! He passed!"

The crowd managed only two cries of astonishment before a wave of sharp gasps swept through them.

To their shock, even after the beam had passed the halfway mark—the standard for passing—the speed and brilliance of its ascent showed no sign of fading. It continued racing toward the top of the crystal pillar without slowing!

The Soul Reapers were far more shaken than the ordinary people.

They knew better than the residents of Soul Society what the crystal pillar's brightness and height meant. Just as Ishikawa had said earlier, the test measured the difference in spiritual pressure between the examinee and the Soul Reaper conducting the test. The point the light reached showed what fraction of the examiner's spiritual pressure the examinee possessed...

Reaching halfway meant the examinee had been born with half the spiritual pressure of a Soul Reaper. But judging by the boy's current trajectory, the light would almost certainly reach near the top of the crystal pillar!

In other words, this kid... Menma had only just arrived in Soul Society, yet his innate spiritual pressure could already rival that of a Soul Reaper who had trained in Soul Society for decades?!

The Soul Reapers exchanged uneasy glances, unsure what to make of it.

Naruto, however, gave them little time to digest the astonishing fact. Just a few seconds later, the beam beneath his palm surged all the way to the top!

The crowd erupted in another earth-shaking cry, but none of the spectators looking up at the crystal pillar's peak noticed that Naruto's eyes held not the slightest hint of satisfaction.

Still not enough...

As the thought burst into his mind, the light confined within the crystal pillar gave another deep hum!

It was as if lava roared and surged within the beam. Countless flecks of gold gradually appeared in what should have been a pure-white pillar. They swirled, rushed, and rose, gathering at a single point before suddenly erupting!

The enormous golden radiance engulfed the entire crystal pillar in an instant. Its brilliance cast everyone in the plaza as silhouettes, so dazzling that people could barely keep their eyes open!

"Boom!"

Even the air trembled. The violent golden beam broke free like a giant dragon escaping its restraints, smashing through the top of the crystal pillar with unstoppable force!

The beam pierced straight into the heavens, as if it would punch a hole through Soul Society's ashen sky!

The spectacle surpassed anything any Soul Reaper present could remember seeing in an examination. It even drew the attention of Soul Reapers in nearby districts, who sent people over to investigate.

Amid the blinding golden light, only two people remained calm.

Naruto and Aizen gazed at each other through the dazzling curtain of light.

Once Aizen discovered his identity, Naruto had only one path left.

He had to shine. He had to draw as much attention as possible. He couldn't become someone who could disappear without anyone caring.

That meant he had to be a genius—and keep being one. He had to break every convention and force people to keep their eyes on him.

Only by standing beneath the light of the crowd's attention could he best protect himself.

Naruto had never trusted Aizen. Even though the Naruto here was only a Shadow Clone, he would never entrust his continued existence to the hope that Aizen might choose not to act. He would only trust himself.

Of course, he knew that Aizen wasn't the sort to hesitate just because of this. But every added cost of moving against him gave this Shadow Clone's struggle meaning.

"Then let me see, Aizen..."

Naruto stared at Aizen as the stirring air tossed his hair about.

"Let me see what you'll do next. Let me observe—and learn—more about you."

The light blurred his vision. Through the haze, Naruto seemed to see Aizen gently applauding him.

Two hours later, all the examinations in East District 22 were declared over.

Naruto was the only one who passed.

When the Soul Reaper conducting the examination announced, voice trembling, that Naruto had passed, silence fell over the entire field.

All the earlier mockery, disappointment, gloating, and scheming were utterly crushed beneath the golden beam that had reached into the heavens.

Afterward, Soul Reapers began discussing Naruto in private. Gradually, they started comparing him to Zaraki Kenpachi, captain of the 8th Division, and Hitsugaya Toshiro, lieutenant of the 10th Division. They called him another born strong one like those two: someone whose innate spiritual pressure had reached Captain-level.

That also meant that, during his studies at Shino Academy, Naruto only needed to learn how to control his spiritual pressure freely. As long as he didn't die young, a captain's seat was practically guaranteed for him.

When the news reached Seireitei, it would surely cause another sensation and draw plenty of eyes.

Of course, Naruto knew his own situation best.

At this point, he hadn't even figured out the difference between Reishi and chakra, and he didn't know if he'd be able to learn the skills taught at Shino Academy. He had little confidence about his studies and life in Seireitei.

For now, all he could do was take things one step at a time...

One thing worth mentioning was that, after Naruto passed the examination, Hanama Natsu immediately came over to apologize to him and Ishikawa. He was extraordinarily sincere. He hadn't gone so far as to prostrate himself, but he even managed to force tears into his eyes. The man certainly knew how to bend when necessary.

But according to Kurama, the man's malice toward Naruto and Ishikawa hadn't gone away. If anything, it had only grown... So Naruto could only decide to deal with him for good as soon as an opportunity arose.

It didn't matter that Naruto was a Shadow Clone, but he couldn't let this guy drag anyone else into it.

[Kid...]

At that moment, Kurama, who had held back for two hours, finally couldn't resist asking.

[How did you do that in the examination just now?]

"I didn't do anything. I just guessed right," Naruto explained calmly. "I gambled that the device measured an [energy difference], rather than reacting only to Reishi... So I just poured chakra into it. I was simply lucky."

[Oh...] Kurama suddenly understood. [What if you hadn't guessed right?]

"Then I'd have had to stay in Rukongai for a while."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

"Why ask such a stupid question? We're both just Shadow Clones anyway. We had nothing to lose, whatever happened."

[You little brat, I—&!*@...]

Amid Kurama's incessant stream of curses, Naruto said goodbye to Ishikawa. After promising to visit him again in the future, he left East District 22 with the 5th Division and headed for Seireitei.

Before they left, though, Kenta Ishikawa pulled Naruto aside. Looking a little awkward, he said that one of his mistress's children was studying at Shino Academy and asked Naruto to look after her if he could.

"Her name is Amaterasu Yu. She enrolled three years ago, so she should be a third-year now."

Ishikawa awkwardly added, "Oh, and don't mention my name. She ran away from home, so if she finds out I asked you to look after her... she might get really angry."

Mistress, don't mention his name, ran away from home. Put those words together, and it was obvious there was a troublesome backstory...

Still, Naruto reluctantly agreed. After all, without Ishikawa, he might not have gotten into Seireitei so quickly.

"What happens after we enter Seireitei?"

On the way, Naruto asked curiously. Aizen was carrying him on his back.

—Although Naruto was very reluctant, his walking speed as a "child" really was far too slow compared with this group of Soul Reapers using Flash Steps. Besides, Aizen had volunteered to carry him, and no one dared object.

"Menma, you'll first spend about a week at Ryushinsai. They'll introduce you to the basics of Seireitei, along with some etiquette and rules. After that, you'll join the other examinees who passed in your batch for preparatory studies at Shino Academy," Hinamori Momo explained.

"Preparatory studies?"

"Yes. The formal courses for this academic year at Shino Academy started long ago, so you new students can only begin with preparatory studies. You'll officially enroll when the next academic year starts."

Hinamori Momo explained, "You can think of it as an adjustment period. The environment in Seireitei is quite different from Rukongai. Of course, if someone has exceptional talent and adapts and learns faster than others, they can be granted early admission to the formal program, or even skip grades and graduate ahead of time."

"Take Captain Ichimaru Gin of the Third Division, for example. He studied at Shino Academy for only a year before graduating. He became Third Seat of the 5th Division right away, and worked under Captain Aizen for a while."

"That's because I thought he had a lot of talent, so I used my position to bring him over to our division to help me out."

Aizen joked, and everyone laughed along without taking him seriously.

From their conversation, Naruto also got the general sense that the 5th Division was indeed responsible for personnel assignments within the Gotei 13.

For instance, they were involved in selecting and assigning students, as well as personnel transfers below the rank of captain—or, more precisely, Aizen was.

Kira Izuru, the current lieutenant of the Third Division, had first been assigned by the 5th Division to study Responded in the Fourth Division, then transferred to the Third Division as Ichimaru Gin's subordinate. The appointment letter for Abarai Renji, captain of the Sixth Division, had also been delivered by Hinamori Momo.

At that thought, Naruto couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself.

Had Aizen brought this up on purpose to hint that he'd transfer Naruto to the 5th Division and keep him right under his nose?

Seriously... damn it.

Kalifa was cursing to herself.

She had no idea what had given away her farmer's outfit, which perfectly fit this world's setting.

She'd already come to Konoha several times to gather intelligence and had never made a mistake. But today, she'd been found out—and they'd even started tailing her!

No... Calling it tailing was giving them too much credit. This was an insult to the very idea of tailing!

At the end of her patience, Kalifa reached a quiet path and abruptly turned to face the man who had been following right behind her, less than ten centimeters away, practically pressed against her. She snapped,

"...Why do you keep following me?"

"I'm not following you. I just happen to be going this way," the man Naruto had transformed into replied earnestly.

"...Then stop standing so close to me." Kalifa adjusted her glasses. "...This is sexual harassment."

"Huh?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to be completely thrown. Looking at the old woman with a straw hat and a face full of wrinkles that Kalifa had disguised herself as, he uncertainly checked with Kurama in his mind:

"Kurama, are you sure it's this old woman?"

[That's right. It's her. She really wants to kill you right now.]

"Don't lie to me."

[This old man never lies! Don't lump me in with you humans!] Kurama snapped.

"Sorry, sorry."

Naruto came back to himself and looked at Kalifa again.

Thinking about it, there was indeed something a little strange about the old woman.

When she spoke, her voice always seemed to have a barely noticeable... delay.

"Sorry, granny. I'm with the Konoha Military Police Force." Naruto bluffed casually, thinking that what he said while transformed wouldn't count. "Actually, I'd like to ask you to come with us so we can ask you a few questions..."

Bang!

Before Naruto could finish, the old woman sprang into action and kicked him to pieces.

Then her figure flickered like a ghost, kicking every passerby along the path into clouds of smoke. They were all Naruto's Shadow Clones.

"So none of them were real..."

Kalifa frowned. The power system of this world really was more troublesome than those of the worlds she'd visited before.

With no time to think, she immediately used Soru to leave.

She had to get out of there quickly. No matter what, she couldn't interfere with the big plan two days from now.

However, the instant Kalifa disappeared, dozens of Narutos appeared where she had been standing.

[Southeast! Five o'clock!]

Kurama excitedly called out the direction in his mind. Without hesitation, dozens of Shadow Clones shot after the source of the hostile intent like arrows loosed from a bow.

At the same time, the Naruto back at the rear received their memories. He immediately created dozens more Shadow Clones and sent them to find and alert Might Guy, Kakashi, and the Third Hokage.

That was only common sense. He, Uzumaki Naruto, had an identity he could openly use, and Konoha was his home turf. Why would he ignore that advantage and take a risk alone?

Not every problem had to be solved by charging in headfirst.

After taking care of that, Naruto followed the previous batch of Shadow Clones, quickly using Body Flicker to head southeast.

Excitement gleamed in his eyes.

"That's right... That old woman just now wasn't part of any scene or character from the original story."

Naruto had a powerful hunch.

This person... was definitely connected to the changes in the story!