"Ruyun, no drinking."
His aunt shot his uncle a fierce glare. "And you! Ruyun is only nine. How could you pour alcohol for a child?"
"Mina, Ruyun's swordsmanship has been improving so quickly. I wanted to celebrate..." Moonlight Naoto gave a sheepish laugh and scratched his head.
"Not even to celebrate!" His aunt crossed her arms into an X.
Moonlight Ruyun sat up straight and nodded repeatedly, discreetly withdrawing the hand he had been about to reach for the cup with.
He really didn't know what to make of this shinobi world.
Three-year-olds could go to war, but minors couldn't drink.
His aunt nodded in satisfaction and handed him a glass of juice. "Apple juice will do. You can drink alcohol when you're an adult."
His uncle shrugged helplessly. "Mina, even Lord Hokage's disciples aren't held to rules this strict."
"How is that the same?"
The name "Sannin" hadn't emerged yet, but the Hokage's three disciples were already quite famous.
Of course, a few less flattering stories had made their way into the mix.
Like the "rumors" that the Sannin had womanizing, gambling, and drugs covered between them...
After the noisy yet especially warm dinner.
Moonlight Ruyun didn't practice his swordsmanship as usual.
Instead, he took advantage of the time he spent clearing the dishes with his uncle.
"Uncle, I want to learn ninjutsu."
Who could come to the shinobi world and not be interested in ninjutsu?
Either they were one of the Otsutsuki, wielding divine arts and disdaining ninjutsu.
Or they were like him: someone with hereditary swordsmanship and too little chakra, whose veteran shinobi uncle insisted that he focus on the sword.
But things were different now.
Minato Namikaze had already begun training under Jiraiya.
With his terrifying combat instincts and reflexes, along with chakra reserves far greater than Ruyun's, mastering even a few ninjutsu would send his combat strength soaring.
Wouldn't getting his blood become even harder then?
"Wait another two years." His uncle glanced up from his practiced dishwashing and refused without a second thought.
"Uncle, you said that two years ago, too..."
"Uh... did I?" His uncle instinctively scratched his head with his suds-covered hand, then hastily wiped it with his wrist.
Seeing his determined gaze, his uncle sighed and said solemnly, "Ruyun, I understand. Every child your age wants to learn ninjutsu."
Moonlight Ruyun silently waited for the "but."
"But you don't have enough chakra. Even if you learn ninjutsu, a single C-rank technique could use up all your chakra. One careless mistake could leave you injured. You wouldn't be able to use it for now even if you learned it, so it would have no practical value in combat.
Focus on your swordsmanship first. Give it another two years. I promise that before you graduate from the Ninja Academy, I'll teach you any ninjutsu you want to learn, as long as I know it."
He had heard that speech once already, two years ago.
He understood his uncle's good intentions. Chakra was a mixture of physical and spiritual energy produced by the body's 130 trillion cells.
Although practically everyone in the shinobi world was a miniature superhuman, a little science still applied.
Chakra was extracted from within the body. Overdrawing it meant draining one's vital potential, which directly harmed the body. At best, it damaged the chakra pathways; at worst, it killed outright.
In the original story, Naruto opened with the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. People with chakra by the ton could do whatever they pleased.
Sasuke could use the Great Fireball Technique in his first year, and his chakra reserves were far from ordinary, too.
But ordinary people with limited chakra like him had to be extremely careful about learning ninjutsu.
It was hard to relate to freakishly gifted people like Naruto.
"Uncle, I have a reason I absolutely have to learn."
Left with no choice, he resorted to the Naruto world's time-honored "bond technique."
"Oh?" His uncle put the washed dishes away and asked curiously, "Why?"
"A classmate and I agreed to have a match in half a month. I want to win."
"So that's it." His uncle laughed heartily and patted his shoulder. "What's your classmate's name?"
"Minato Namikaze."
"He has a surname... must be a little prodigy, then. Can't you beat him with your current swordsmanship?"
Moonlight Ruyun: "..."
He smoothly skipped over his uncle's habit of judging someone's strength by whether they had a surname.
Beat Minato Namikaze with Genin-level swordsmanship?
That certainly took some imagination.
By his rough estimate, Minato Namikaze was at least at Chunin level already. Once he learned a few ninjutsu, he might even rival Ruyun's uncle.
Kakashi had become a Jonin at twelve, and Minato Namikaze was even more gifted than Kakashi.
Otherwise, Jiraiya wouldn't have taken the initiative to accept him as a student.
His uncle walked out of the kitchen without even bothering to dry his hands, pacing back and forth in a long silence.
"I can teach you, but you have to agree to one condition."
Moonlight Ruyun's eyes lit up. This trick actually worked that well.
His uncle looked him in the eye, his expression serious. "I'll be there to watch your match in half a month. You have to promise me that you won't use ninjutsu unless you have absolutely no other choice."
"No problem. But don't you have a mission?"
He had wanted to learn ninjutsu as a last resort in the first place. With his current chakra reserves, using a single technique would leave him completely drained.
"I'll finish it quickly and come back before your match." His uncle raised a fist. "This is a promise between men."
Moonlight Ruyun reached out and lightly bumped his fist against his uncle's.
Root lay deep underground.
There was no sunlight and no windows. The air was thick with the smell of earth.
A masked Root member stood at every turn in the labyrinthine hidden passages.
Danzo sat in the deepest stone chamber, the overhead light dim and his eyes hidden in shadow.
He looked at the figure kneeling before him and asked in a low voice, "Are there any promising prospects at the Ninja Academy?"
The person kept his head lowered, his voice perfectly flat. "Nawaki in sixth year. Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Inoichi Yamanaka in fourth year. Minato Namikaze and Moonlight Ruyun in third year. Yakushi Nonō in second year."
Danzo already knew about Senju Nawaki and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Those children were certainly talented, but Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow him to bring them into Root.
At the thought, Danzo's gaze grew colder.
Damn Hiruzen. He refused to hand the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki over to me.
And Mito Uzumaki. If not for that old hag, Senju Nawaki should have joined Root, too.
"The files on Minato Namikaze, Moonlight Ruyun, and Yakushi Nonō."
The kneeling figure rose and presented a scroll with both hands.
Danzo read through the information on the three:
Minato Namikaze, orphan. Preliminary assessment: Chunin-level strength. Demonstrated exceptionally keen combat instincts in multiple combat tests. Note: target is highly wary.
Moonlight Ruyun, member of the Hayate Clan. Preliminary assessment: approaching Genin-level strength. Proficient in Konoha-Style Swordsmanship.
Yakushi Nonō, orphan. Preliminary assessment: Genin-level strength. Outstanding performance in intelligence analysis classes. Note: target is extremely wary.
After carefully reading all three files, he crossed out Moonlight Ruyun first.
Approaching Genin-level strength in his third year might make him a minor prodigy at the Ninja Academy, where mastering the three basic techniques was enough to graduate.
But his Root had no place for such mediocrities.
"Why are you only reporting the information on Minato Namikaze and Yakushi Nonō now?"
The Root member remained silent.
Damn Hiruzen!
Danzo cursed inwardly. Until now, he and Hiruzen Sarutobi had maintained a certain understanding.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't interfere with his recruitment of talented shinobi clan members in Root's name, and he wouldn't touch the Ninja Academy's students.
But now...
"Raise Minato Namikaze and Yakushi Nonō to the highest priority. Report to me once a week."
Before you continue