Chakra Mark

"Good morning. That lunch box..."

"I ate it."

Moonlight Ruyun yawned as he sat through the Will of Fire lesson and replied lazily.

Kushina leaned against the desk, twirling her hair around her fingers.

A little apprehensively, she asked, "How did it taste?"

"...Hmm, it was all right."

Last night, he had only managed to finish it because he believed in not wasting food.

There was no helping it. He couldn't expect a little girl's first attempt at cooking to be delicious.

At least her heart was in the right place.

"Really?" Kushina's eyes curved into happy crescents. "I made you another one today!"

"..."

Before long, Kushina's eyelids began to droop, and her little head sank down.

Usually, he and Minato were the only ones who could stay awake through the Will of Fire lessons.

Everyone knew he loved the Will of Fire.

How could he possibly allow sleeping during a Will of Fire lesson?

His gaze swept over the front row and paused briefly.

Huh? Where was Minato?

The question flashed through his mind and vanished.

Without dwelling on it, he propped up his book and began trying to create a chakra mark.

A moment later, a formless, intangible seed emerged from his fingertip.

He looked down but couldn't see anything.

"Invisible to the naked eye, huh? It barely uses any chakra, either."

After considering it for a moment, he wrote down those observations.

He glanced at Kushina, who was dozing beside him, and gently tapped her arm.

"Kushina, why is Lord Third Hokage known as the strongest Hokage?"

Kushina jolted and snapped her head up, instinctively putting on a thoughtful expression.

"Because, because... Lord Third Hokage has the rare ability to master all chakra natures and knows over a thousand ninjutsu. He's truly worthy of the title 'Professor of Ninjutsu.'"

The teacher nodded approvingly. "Very good."

Kushina patted her chest and let out a long breath of relief.

Moonlight Ruyun smiled.

Strongest Hokage? Tell that to Tobirama Senju's Impure World Reincarnation and Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.

Even if he got past Tobirama, Hashirama Senju's giant wooden Buddha would still be waiting.

[Current marks: 1/3]

Suddenly, he closed his eyes.

In the empty darkness, a light appeared beside him.

It was Kushina, now bearing his chakra mark.

"It worked!"

He felt a little more at ease.

The original story's timeline was somewhat muddled, so he couldn't be sure when Kushina would be abducted by Kumogakure.

He only knew it would happen sometime around these years.

He had to admit, for Kumogakure to successfully abduct the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki from heavily guarded Konoha, right under Mito Uzumaki's nose...

That really stretched the imagination.

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. If it really happened, every last member of ANBU and Root ought to slit their own throat in atonement.

In the original plot, Kushina had left a trail of red hair for Minato, which ultimately led to her rescue.

But now that he was involved... rather than pinning his hopes on a trail like that, he preferred a more "direct" approach.

Ninja tool throwing training.

"Next, Moonlight Ruyun."

The teacher called his name from the list.

The Ninja Academy's classes were divided into theory and practical training.

Theory classes included shinobi world geography, shinobi world history, chakra theory basics, ninja tool use and maintenance, trap making and identification, intelligence gathering, tracking and countertracking, and more.

Of course, there was also the indispensable daily Will of Fire lesson, held without fail.

Practical classes were much simpler, consisting of basic physical training, the Three Basic Jutsu, and Ninja Tool Throwing.

"This is the moving target test. I'll throw targets in random directions. Understood?"

He nodded.

"You can do it!"

As he stood before the line marked out in advance, Kushina's encouragement rang out behind him.

He looked back to see Kushina waving enthusiastically.

"Begin!"

The instant the word left the teacher's mouth, three round targets flew out in different directions.

He drew shuriken with his right hand, holding them between his fingers as his eyes locked onto the targets' trajectories.

As he raised his hand, he flicked his wrist. Three shuriken left his hand at once, spreading out in midair.

Thud!

With three dull impacts that sounded almost as one, the shuriken sank deep into the targets.

Gasps rose from the line of students.

The teacher's pupils contracted as he stared at the shuriken buried nearly halfway into the targets, astonishment flashing in his eyes.

"All three hit. Continue."

This time, five round targets flew out.

With two shuriken between the fingers of his left hand and three in his right, he made a quick judgment and flicked both wrists at once.

"Four hits, one miss. Final score: seven out of eight!"

After announcing the score, the teacher gave him a long look.

Seven out of eight was still a little short of Minato's previous perfect scores on moving targets.

But that strength...

"Next, Hayato."

Moonlight Ruyun returned to the line, and Kushina's eyes sparkled. "That was amazing!"

He shrugged and held out his hand to her.

The calluses on it were all marks left by practicing kenjutsu and Ninja Tool Throwing.

"Training must be hard, huh?"

"Hard work makes up for a lack of talent." He paused. "Unfortunately, I still can't hit every moving target like Minato."

"You're already really good," Kushina encouraged him.

By his reckoning, if he wanted to catch up to Minato Namikaze in Ninja Tool Throwing...

He would need exceptional dynamic vision, such as the Sharingan.

Or he would need neural reflexes like Minato Namikaze's, drastically reducing his reaction time.

Or he could learn a Special Ninja Tool Throwing Technique, such as the Uchiha Clan's Shuriken Manipulation Technique.

That used specially made wires to control ninja tools' trajectories, even allowing complex maneuvers like changing direction in midair.

"Three out of eight. Next, Kushina Uzumaki."

Hayato returned to the line with a sour expression.

Someone scoffed. "Forget Minato and Ruyun-you're worse than me. How did you ever have the nerve to mock us?"

Hayato replied disdainfully, "What's so great about Ninja Tool Throwing? If you want to become a ninja, learning ninjutsu is what matters most!"

"You haven't even mastered the Three Basic Jutsu, and you want to learn other ninjutsu? Who do you think you are, the Hokage?"

"Who says I haven't? Just you wait!"

Hayato gritted his teeth and snorted, searching the crowd for Minato Namikaze.

Moonlight Ruyun ignored the bickering and said softly, "Don't be nervous. You can do it!"

"Okay, here I go." Kushina braced herself and stepped forward.

She had never practiced Ninja Tool Throwing.

"Ready."

A moment later.

"...One out of eight. Next."

Laughter rose from the line, and Kushina ran back with her little face flushed red.

He comforted her. "It's all right. You just need more practice."

It was only Ninja Tool Throwing. For someone with chakra by the ton, it wasn't all that important.

Especially for Kushina. With her Chakra Ton, talent for Sealing Jutsu, and status as the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, she could easily become one of Konoha's top fighters.

Her approach was all about overwhelming brute force.

"Yeah!"

Kushina nodded firmly.

Moonlight Ruyun glanced at Hayato, who was laughing the loudest.

You again?

Why was it always you?

You'd just been mocked for scoring three out of eight, and now you were mocking someone who scored one...

Was this some law of conservation of mockery?

Hayato noticed his gaze and looked over, instinctively shrinking back a little.

But a moment later, as though something had occurred to him, his face flushed red, and he actually glared back.

His eyes held an undisguised challenge.

The corners of Moonlight Ruyun's mouth slowly lifted.

Interesting.

Had he gained some new trump card?

Over the past three years, this Konoha troublemaker had periodically tried to challenge him and Minato, hoping to erase the "humiliation" of having once bowed his head and apologized.

Hayato glanced at Kushina's red hair with a look of disgust.

"Minato Namikaze isn't here, so you'll do." Hayato pointed at him and declared loudly, "Teacher, I want to challenge Moonlight Ruyun!"

"Hmm?"

The teacher, who had just finished the Ninja Tool Throwing test and was putting away the scorebook, looked over.

"Are you sure?"