Ninja Reserve

In Konoha Year 41, the lingering chill of early spring was gradually dispelled by warm sunlight. Kyohaku Uchiha's first year at the Ninja Academy was drawing to a close amid an outward calm that concealed undercurrents beneath the surface.

Six months had been enough for him to thoroughly familiarize himself with the workings of this place known as the "cradle of ninjas," and to gain a clear understanding of the so-called Ninja Reserve training system.

The academy's curriculum was mainly divided into three major categories.

Academic theory courses were Kyohaku's strongest field. He needed to expend little effort to excel in Ninja Continent Literature; Basic Chakra Cultivation Knowledge and Introduction to Ninja Tools corroborated what he had learned from his father's notes and the library, giving him a deeper understanding; Human Body and Taijutsu Fundamentals touched upon his old profession from his previous life as a forensic examiner, and his understanding of muscle structure and the principles of force generation far surpassed that of his peers. He could even occasionally spot places where the textbooks were overly simplistic or insufficiently precise, but he never pointed them out, merely committing them to memory; Shinobi World Geography was an area he had long studied in depth.

In these classes, he consistently remained in the upper-middle range. He neither stood out enough to arouse suspicion nor fell behind enough to require extra "attention." Like the most inconspicuous backdrop, he quietly absorbed, integrated, and deepened his knowledge.

The real challenge had always come from practical and physical training courses.

In Ninjutsu Practice, they were currently teaching the most basic E-rank Three-Body Technique. For Kyohaku, whose chakra control was exceptionally precise, creating a blurry, distorted yet tangible clone with the Clone Technique, swapping places with a pre-prepared block of wood over a very short distance with the Substitution Technique, or transforming into another student of similar build with the Transformation Technique were not especially difficult on the level of chakra manipulation. The difficult part was making the process look "difficult and imperfect," fitting his image as someone with "a crippled right foot and possibly obstructed chakra circulation." He had to precisely control his chakra output, making his clones more insubstantial, his substitutions slower, and leaving occasional flaws in his transformations. This "reverse control" was even more mentally taxing than executing the techniques perfectly.

Taijutsu Training Guidance and Physical Training were his outright weaknesses. He could barely participate normally in basic flexibility, coordination, strength, and speed training. Most of the time, he could only perform the extremely limited adaptive exercises assigned by the teacher at the edge of the field, watching Tetsuzan Uchiha, Daiichi Uchiha, and the others perform energetically while occasionally casting him contemptuous glances. Endurance runs were even more of a nightmare. Leaning on his crutch and moving with difficulty, he was always the last one. Sweat soaked through his clothes, and waves of stabbing pain came from his right ankle, yet he never once said he wanted to quit. He simply completed the greatly shortened distance in silence, one step at a time.

Shuriken Technique was one course where he could reasonably display a slight hint of something unusual. Although his unsteady stance greatly affected the strength and stability of his throws, his fine control of the muscles in his arms and wrists, along with his subconscious calculations of trajectories, angles, and wind direction—stemming from his father's notes and the logical thinking of his previous life—allowed his accuracy to improve at a "slow but steady" pace after an initially disastrous performance. Occasionally, he could even hit the bullseye, drawing a flicker of surprise from the teacher. But he would immediately make the next few throws miss, concealing that "coincidence."

The ideological and special education courses were more subtle. In Inheritance of the "Will of Fire", he listened as the teacher spoke of the First Hokage's ideals, the bonds between companions, and the spirit of dedicating oneself to the village. His expression remained calm, but there was not the slightest ripple in his heart—only a faintly cold scrutiny. Pretty slogans, tools for rallying people's hearts, but they cannot conceal the essence of ninjas as tools. He recorded this material as a sample for understanding the village's ideology and methods of social control.

Tactical Theory and Ambushes and Teamwork Drills were far more interesting. Although his physical limitations prevented him from serving as a main force during drills, his mind, accustomed to logical analysis and information processing, could display a composure and organization beyond his age during tactical discussions and intelligence analysis. The plans he proposed often took unusual approaches, emphasizing efficiency and information asymmetry, and sometimes made the teacher in charge of the course light up. But in team exercises, he was usually marginalized, and when groups were formed, he was always the last one left over.

The academy's teachers also left a deep impression on him.

Teacher Iwakado, who taught taijutsu and shuriken courses, was a burly man with a stern face and a thick beard. He was demanding, loud-voiced, and somewhat feared by the students. But Kyohaku had once accidentally seen him after school, at a complete loss as a little girl clinging to his leg and acting cute—probably his daughter—left his face full of tenderness. He had also heard other teachers joke that Iwakado was afraid of his wife. He was a well-rounded Jonin with a rough exterior and a soft spot inside. He eased his demands on Kyohaku appropriately, but there was no discrimination in his eyes. Instead, he would occasionally teach him techniques for using his center of gravity and crutch to generate force.

There was also a classmate named Ebisu, who always wore sunglasses and carried himself like a little adult. His theory grades were exceptionally outstanding, and every other word out of his mouth was "rules," "efficiency," or "elite." He seemed rigid, but Kyohaku could sense his persistent desire for recognition.

Over the course of a year, Kyohaku Uchiha was like a seed scattered in an unnoticed corner, quietly drawing nourishment without anyone paying attention. He skillfully played his role, burying his true self deep within. While his peers were still naïvely learning how to become ninjas, he was already systematically dissecting the profession of "ninja" through the mindset and perspective of an adult, silently planning an entirely different path for himself.

To him, life in the reserves was more like a long but necessary internship in disguise.