I, Too, Have a Cheat

Obito's stride was a little swaggering today.

He walked with his feet splayed, his nose in the air, flashing his forehead protector at everyone he passed, smug as could be.

So what? A ninja had to walk with a ninja's confidence and carry a ninja's bearing.

Otherwise, how would he be any different from those trash still unable to graduate even though it was nearly the second half of their first year?

"Huh? That guy looks so stupid. Why does he kind of look like Obito?"

By the roadside, Kakashi, who was clearly much more cheerful now, asked Ying Shu beside him.

Ying Shu was somewhat distracted at the moment, but he still followed Kakashi's gaze. Then his brows rose.

"Uh... that really does seem to be him. But Kakashi, how's Uncle White Fang? Has he been discharged?"

"He's already out of the hospital, but he still needs to rest for a while." Kakashi answered with a smile. His usual dead-fish eyes had rarely narrowed into slits today. It was obvious that Kakashi was genuinely excited.

"My father told me a lot. I think I was overthinking things before... Father may have challenged the rules, but he made a decision he wouldn't regret. Anyway, thank you, Ying Shu."

Kakashi thanked him sincerely.

But Ying Shu could not bring himself to feel happy.

A decision he wouldn't regret... perhaps it was only because the time had not yet come.

The comrades he had fought desperately to save, even abandoning the mission for their sake, would one day join the ranks of those condemning him.

That kind of blow was no small thing. After all, there was no better way to destroy someone than to destroy their faith.

"That's good." Ying Shu still smiled, though his smile was somewhat stiff.

Kakashi keenly noticed that something was off. "Did something happen, Ying Shu?"

Ying Shu paused. "Nothing. I just feel... it's pretty amazing."

"We were skipping class before, and now we're already ninjas. It happened so fast..."

"Yeah, it really did happen fast." Kakashi sighed as well.

Too much had truly happened during this time. From skipping class to train, to applying for graduation for his father's sake—Kakashi had never even dared to imagine it before.

He was only five! He had already enrolled early, and now he had graduated early too. It was unbelievable.

The two boys gazed up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, displaying a maturity beyond their years, in stark contrast to the spiky-haired boy approaching at a seventy-five-degree angle.

"Yo? Aren't these Ninja Ying Shu and Ninja Kakashi? What a coincidence, what a coincidence! Are you guys starting your lives as ninjas too?"

Obito shouted his greeting at the top of his lungs, drawing quite a few sympathetic looks from the people around them.

"..."

Kakashi instantly returned to his dead-fish-eyed expression. In perfect unspoken agreement with Ying Shu, neither of them responded. They both wanted to pretend they did not know this guy.

Fortunately, a handsome buzz-cut face appeared above the three of them at that moment. Minato had arrived.

As the three boys' examiner and also their Jonin instructor, Minato would be the one leading the three Genin to receive their ninja certificates today.

"As spirited as ever, everyone... Shall we go? The Hokage must have been waiting for quite a while."

Minato's smile was as warm as a spring breeze.

Obito chuckled foolishly, Kakashi nodded politely, but Ying Shu could not feel happy as he looked at that handsome face.

Sigh.

He had thought he could be like Minato, writing his own legend of a commoner's rise.

No cheat, no golden finger—relying only on his own courage and wisdom to bring nuclear peace to the Shinobi World.

But who could have expected...

He had still fallen.

Whenever he thought of how that old man had manhandled his body last night, claiming that he needed to "correct a few things," Ying Shu felt that he was no longer pure.

Ten minutes later, in the Hokage's office.

The three boys had each received their little booklets. They contained their headshots and a string of ninja identification numbers.

Kakashi was still 009720, Obito was 009721, and Ying Shu, the oldest, was 009722.

Yes, Ying Shu was the oldest in this squad. He was already six years and several days old. Obito was still two months away from turning six, while Kakashi was only five and a half.

Still, after putting on their forehead protectors, this squad whose combined ages did not even add up to adulthood really looked the part.

One was a goofy spiky-haired kid, one was a white-haired boy with dead-fish eyes, and the other was a gloomy youth whose eyes were full of sorrow, as though he had lost the most important thing in his life.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi found the three little ones pleasing no matter how he looked at them, and he had long since been grinning from ear to ear!

"Starting today, you are officially ninjas of Konoha, Genin!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his voice, though it remained as kind as ever.

Obito's little face flushed red with excitement, and his whole body trembled slightly. How wonderful it was to receive recognition before his idol!

"I hope you will train diligently, uphold the Will of Fire, observe the Three Prohibitions, and become powerful ninjas worthy of respect."

Hiruzen Sarutobi continued. Then he searched through a drawer and took out several scrolls.

The scrolls were exquisite. In contrast to the other scrolls on the desk, they were small yet carried an air of nobility.

Sharp-eyed Ying Shu recognized them at once. They were the same style as the scroll Orochimaru had given him, except these had less slime.

There were even ninjutsu benefits for becoming a ninja? He had never heard of that before.

Ying Shu was puzzled and found it strange, but he had absolutely no curiosity about what the scrolls contained.

Heh heh...

There was no need anymore.

Ever since he had opened the scroll the old man gave him last night and then had his body thoroughly "corrected" with chakra by the old man.

Ying Shu felt that he was no longer pure, but at the same time, he had gained quite a few benefits.

For example, ninjutsu—ninjutsu of all kinds.

The Mori Clan's accumulation over so many years. The old man said he could not give him forbidden techniques, but as for basic ninjutsu, there was no shortage of it...

That was right.

The old man was not some administrator of Training Ground Three.

That day's "chance encounter" and "staged collision" had not been accidents. They had all been part of the plan.

It was the final protection for a clansman from a clan that had chosen to retire into seclusion, chosen to blend into the village, and had already "disappeared."

He had always felt that he did not have enough chakra and that his talent was not enough either. Yet in all that competition, he had always managed to force out results and proficiency through several times the effort of others.

It was not because he was hardworking, nor because those ninjutsu suited him particularly well.

Of course, those were factors too, but more importantly... he had more chakra than others his age, and greater talent as well...

It was only last night that Ying Shu learned he did not lack a surname. His surname had simply been hidden.

Just like Tsunade. Just like Nawaki.

His name should have been Senju Ying Shu.

He was a member of the Senju Clan.

He, too, had a cheat.