Strength

The next day.

The Ninja Academy.

Twenty training dummies stood on the practice field.

They were rather worn, clearly having been reused many times.

Today's test was designed to see how quickly the students could hit all twenty dummies set up around the practice field with kunai.

The students took the test one at a time.

At the Chunin instructor's command, they all gave it their all, running back and forth across the practice field one after another.

"Burn, my youth!"

Most of them were running so hard they could barely catch their breath, while others seemed quite excited.

"Kakashi, let's have a match. Clone Technique wasn't my strong suit yesterday. Today's test is to assess kunai throwing and Taijutsu, and Taijutsu is my specialty."

Might Guy waggled his thick eyebrows, the yellow scarf around his neck shaking with his excitement.

"You go first."

Kakashi Hatake looked at him with dead fish eyes and let Might Guy go first.

He glanced toward Nohara Rin and saw Obito chattering away about something.

With a sigh, Kakashi Hatake went over to Uchiha Shimizu.

The other kids their age were too noisy. This man was quieter, at least, Kakashi Hatake thought.

"Kakashi, I'll be waiting for you!"

Shouting something about youth, Might Guy ran off to take the test.

The dummies weren't all on level ground. Some were up in trees, while others were opposite half-open windows on the third floor of the classroom building. Each was a fair distance away, so the students had to run back and forth.

"Why don't you graduate early?"

Once most of the people nearby had left, Kakashi suddenly asked.

"Are you talking to me?"

Shimizu turned to look at him.

"Ninety points is more than enough to graduate early. Why don't you?"

"How can that score compare to a perfect one? I'll think about it when I can get full marks."

Shimizu shook his head.

There was no benefit to revealing his strength now. Why would he do it so early?

He would only show some of his abilities if doing so helped him achieve a particular goal.

At present, the strength he showed at the Ninja Academy placed him above average, just shy of the top tier.

He was in the range where he could graduate early, but didn't have to.

There was a reason he had chosen that level.

If he stood out too much, Danzo and the Third Hokage would notice him. They might start drilling the Will of Fire into him and brainwashing him every day, telling him to put the village first.

Shimizu saw no reason to invite that kind of trouble.

It wasn't that he feared Danzo would do anything. If his talent were high enough, the Uchiha Clan would certainly protect him. Danzo had no insiders to work with the traitors within the clan, so how would he dare pick a fight with the Uchiha?

Shimizu simply didn't want to complicate matters. No one knew what unexpected problems might arise.

But if his standing was too low, Danzo would notice him too. That would be dangerous. Danzo could make him disappear without anyone knowing, then have someone from Root disguise themselves as the person he had been watching and take his place.

Because Shimizu would have attracted so little attention, the Uchiha wouldn't keep a close eye on him, and it would be hard for anyone to notice.

Uchiha Heyuan had been replaced by Danzo.

He was weak and had little presence.

Whenever Shimizu thought about it, a chill ran down his spine.

An impostor had infiltrated the Uchiha for so long, yet Fugaku, the leader responsible for the clan's survival, hadn't noticed.

No one knew whether there were others like Uchiha Heyuan.

That was why Shimizu intended to stay above average—not too conspicuous, but still in keeping with the Uchiha reputation for producing elites.

Danzo wouldn't target someone like that. He would only go after people who attracted little attention.

"A perfect score?"

Kakashi murmured to himself.

He had come over partly because he wanted to invite Uchiha Shimizu to graduate with him.

He would be graduating soon, and if Uchiha Shimizu chose to graduate at the same time, they might end up on the same team.

He had observed Uchiha Shimizu. He was far more mature than the other kids their age and had considerable strength.

That would improve their efficiency and success rate on missions.

Kakashi wanted his father to be proud of him. He couldn't let his father's reputation as the White Fang of the Leaf be tarnished.

Shimizu and Kakashi chatted on and off.

Shimizu politely declined Kakashi's invitation.

He wasn't going to graduate early unless he reached Jonin level or above.

"It's my turn. I'll be off."

Shimizu took out a kunai and went to take the test.

It took students in their year an average of five minutes to complete the test.

Finishing in under two minutes counted as a perfect score.

"I'll aim for two and a half minutes this time."

Shimizu kept track of the time, carefully controlling his strength.

Ever since he awakened his Sharingan yesterday, his physical abilities had been steadily improving.

Getting a perfect score by accident would be a problem.

Shimizu planned his route in advance. The dummies were all different distances away, and mapping out the best route would save him a lot of time.

Eight dummies could be hit from the starting point.

The other twelve required him to move.

The kunai Shimizu held flew toward the eight dummies around him all at once.

Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he moved swiftly across the practice field, as if tracing the route he had mapped out in his mind.

Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds... two minutes and twenty-nine seconds. Shimizu stopped at exactly two minutes and thirty seconds.

"Ninety points. As usual, that's an excellent result. You and Kakashi are the best class I've ever taught."

The Chunin instructor smiled.

"Why did I only get seventy points?!"

Uchiha Obito looked close to tears. Seventy was one of his better scores.

"Shimizu, you must work really hard usually."

Nohara Rin rarely saw Shimizu playing with the other kids his age. She guessed he spent all that time training.

"Kakashi, you got a perfect score again."

As soon as Kakashi finished his test, Might Guy eagerly ran up to him.

"But next time, I'll definitely win. I just slipped up this time. I'm faster than you; I only scored a little lower on hitting the dummies."

"Okay."

Kakashi's voice came faintly from beneath his black mask.

"But I think Shimizu's really strong."

Might Guy lowered his voice.

Kakashi glanced at him in confusion, not understanding why he said that.

Might Guy explained, "Didn't you notice that Shimizu hasn't even broken a sweat?"

Kakashi's pupils contracted. He looked toward Shimizu, who stood in the corner as if nothing had happened, his gaze unreadable.

Why was Shimizu hiding his strength?

Was he dissatisfied with Konoha?

Or was there something holding him back?

Kakashi frowned deeply and stared at Shimizu as if trying to see right through him.

"Kakashi, want to walk home together?"

Nohara Rin came up behind Kakashi and asked him.

Uchiha Obito hurried after her. Seeing Rin go over to Kakashi, he ran over too.

"Rin, why don't you walk home with me? We go the same way for part of the journey, don't we?"

Obito grinned foolishly.

He imagined the two of them walking home together, just him and Nohara Rin.

While they were distracted, the bell rang. Kakashi looked around and realized Shimizu had disappeared again.

The bathroom corridor.

The men's and women's restrooms were on opposite sides of the hall, facing each other across the sinks outside.

"Might Guy, a ninja who specializes in Taijutsu..."

Shimizu shook his head and splashed water on his face.

His body was strong, so this amount of exercise wasn't tiring.

He had let his guard down without meaning to.

Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem, and not many people had noticed.

The Chunin instructor still had no idea Shimizu was hiding his strength, even though awakening the One-Tomoe Sharingan yesterday had made him stronger.

"Uchiha Shimizu."

A clear female voice suddenly came from behind him, melodious yet bold and free-spirited.

Kurenai Yuhi, with red eyes and a chubby face, walked over.

"Can you use genjutsu?"