The rooftop of Konoha Ninja Academy.
A breeze swept past, carrying a hint of summer heat. In the distance, Hokage Rock stood quietly in the sunlight, overlooking the entire village.
The four members of Team 7 sat side by side on the steps.
Kakashi Hatake leaned against the railing, hands in his pockets, studying the four problem children before him with his signature dead-fish eye.
"All right, before we begin our real first mission, let's get to know each other," Kakashi drawled. "The usual self-introductions. Tell us what you like, what you hate, your dreams for the future, that sort of thing."
"Sensei, sensei! Why don't you show us how it's done first?" Naruto raised his hand and shouted eagerly.
"Me?" Kakashi pointed at himself. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. As for what I like and hate, I don't feel like telling you. My dreams for the future... nothing in particular."
"What the heck! All we learned was your name!" Naruto shouted in frustration.
Sakura silently agreed. Exactly! He barely even tried!
Shengu Xuan gave a cold snort inwardly.
Kakashi Hatake, Konoha's Number One Technician, the Copy Ninja, Fifty-Fifty Kakashi... behind those titles, he's nothing but a pitiful man shackled by his past. What he likes is Icha Icha Paradise, what he hates is the past that gave him PTSD, and his dream is probably to protect his comrades, then drift through the rest of his life.
How small.
"All right, your turn. Let's start with you, the blond one." Kakashi pointed at Naruto.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like the Ichiraku Ramen that Iruka-sensei treats me to, and my favorite is the extra-large bowl of chashu ramen! I hate the three minutes it takes for instant noodles to be ready!" At that point, Naruto suddenly stood, pointed his thumb at himself, and roared with ambition written all over his face:
"My dream is-to surpass every Hokage who ever lived! And make everyone in the village acknowledge my existence!"
An almost imperceptible flicker passed through Kakashi's visible eye. Oh? An interesting kid. Just what I'd expect from the Fourth Hokage's son...
Shengu Xuan remained unmoved. Acknowledgment? What a cheap pursuit. When your power can crush everything, you don't need anyone's acknowledgment.
"Next, you." Kakashi looked at Sakura.
"Yes!" Sakura immediately straightened her back and clasped her hands over her heart, stealing shy glances at Sasuke as she spoke. "My name is Sakura Haruno. What I like is... (glances at Sasuke) actually, it's more like who I like... (glances at Sasuke again) and my dream for the future is... eek-this is so embarrassing!"
Sakura practically curled into a ball, letting out an incomprehensible squeal.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, expressionless.
"Naruto!" Sakura answered without hesitation.
"Aaaah! Why, Sakura?!" Naruto took another devastating blow and turned gray.
Kakashi sighed inwardly. Girls this age have romance on their minds, not ninjutsu...
Shengu Xuan was even more speechless. Stupid female hormones. Emotions like that will only get in the way of growing stronger.
"Next, the dark-haired one." Kakashi looked at Sasuke.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke's voice was as cold as ancient ice. "There are plenty of things I hate. Things I like... none."
He crossed his arms over his chest, and the azure sky reflected a stretch of bottomless darkness in his black eyes.
"As for dreams... I don't want to use that word. I have an ambition-to restore the Uchiha Clan, and... kill a certain man!"
Sasuke practically forced those last words through clenched teeth. An icy killing intent radiated from him, making Naruto and Sakura beside him shiver despite themselves.
Kakashi's gaze grew grave. So it's just as I thought... what happened with Itachi is still too heavy a burden for him.
Shengu Xuan finally showed a slight reaction, giving Sasuke a glance. Hatred is a decent driving force. Unfortunately, your capacity is too limited, and so is your perspective. The man you hate is nothing but a pawn on someone else's board. And you don't even qualify to be a pawn yet.
"All right, you're last."
Kakashi's attention finally focused entirely on Shengu Xuan.
This was the person he most wanted to understand today. The Third Hokage had given him personal instructions, Danzo had gone so far as to send Root to seize him, and he possessed an unheard-of "Kekkei Genkai."
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all turned to look at him as well. They, too, were curious about what sort of person this "dead last" was, who had beaten up a teacher during yesterday's exam and prompted the Hokage to issue orders personally.
Shengu Xuan slowly stood and brushed the dust off his trousers.
He was neither as fired up as Naruto, nor as bashful as Sakura, nor as weighed down by bitter hatred as Sasuke.
His expression was as still as stagnant water, his voice devoid of any emotional rise or fall, as though he were merely stating the simplest of facts.
"My name is Shengu Xuan."
"You aren't qualified to know what I like or hate."
"As for my dream..."
He raised his head slightly, and a crimson, demonic gleam seemed to flash through his dark eyes. His gaze swept over the three before him, then the thoughtful Kakashi, before finally settling on Hokage Rock, the symbol of Konoha's will.
The corners of his mouth curved into a smile that sent a chill through everyone.
"My dream is-"
"-longevity."
Longevity?!
That single word exploded across the rooftop like two heavy bombs!
In that instant, the air froze completely.
Naruto's mouth fell open, his expression shifting from curiosity to utter confusion. "L-longevity? What kind of stupid dream is that? That's so boring! Everyone dies!"
Sakura looked equally bewildered, completely unable to understand. "Longevity? You mean you want to live a little longer? Th-that counts as a dream?"
Sasuke's brows knitted tightly, his gaze filled with contempt and disdain as he looked at Shengu Xuan. To him, pursuing something as elusive and meaningless as "longevity" instead of power or revenge was nothing short of the behavior of a coward and a failure.
"Hmph. What a boring guy."
Unlike the three children who failed to understand, however, the normally lazy eye Kakashi Hatake left exposed suddenly shrank to a pinprick when he heard the word "longevity"!
A bone-deep chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!
As an elite jonin, he had encountered far too many of the village's secrets. He knew very well what "longevity," or rather "eternal life," truly meant in the ninja world!
It was not some vague, elusive word, but a forbidden domain!
Orochimaru!
That member of Konoha's Sannin, that legendary genius, had become obsessed with researching immortality and conducted inhumane experiments on human beings, ultimately defecting from the village and becoming an S-rank rogue ninja!
And this boy before him, only twelve years old, had actually made a taboo capable of leading countless powerful figures down an evil path his dream?!
Cold sweat instantly soaked Kakashi's back.
Looking into Shengu Xuan's calm eyes, with their hint of mockery, he felt for the first time that he could not see through a Genin at all.
This guy... just where did he come from? Could his "Kekkei Genkai" have something to do with "life" itself?
Did the Third entrust him to me out of faith in me, or... did he place a bomb at my side that could blow up all of Konoha at any moment?
Kakashi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
He decided that he had to use the harshest, most direct method to test Shengu Xuan's true abilities and capacity!
"...An interesting dream." Kakashi's voice grew low and dangerous. He straightened away from the railing, a fierce aura surging skyward. "But before you think about how to 'live long,' you'd better think about how to survive me."
He took two small bells from his Ninja Tool Pouch and shook them between his fingers, producing a clear chime.
"Meet at Training Ground 7 at five tomorrow morning. You'll be taking your Graduation Test-a Survival Exercise."
Kakashi's visible eye swept over the four before finally fixing on Shengu Xuan's face, a cold smile curving his lips.
"The rules are simple. Take these two bells from me before noon, and you pass. Anyone who fails will not only be tied to a post and forced to watch me eat lunch, but will also be sent straight back to the Ninja Academy for remedial training!"
He shook the two bells in his hand and added, "Incidentally, there are only two bells. That means at least two of you four will be eliminated. The graduation rate has always been above sixty-six percent... but with me, not a single team has ever passed with every member."
"What?! Then didn't we graduate for nothing?!" Naruto cried.
"So the four of us have to compete against each other?" Sasuke immediately caught the key point, casting hostile looks at Naruto and Shengu Xuan.
"You can think of it that way." Kakashi's voice was full of malice. "Come at me with all the killing intent you have. Otherwise, you'll never get the bells."
He put the bells away and turned, preparing to leave with the Body Flicker Technique.
"Oh, right." Kakashi suddenly stopped and looked back at the four, revealing a chilling smile.
"You'd better skip breakfast tomorrow."
"-Or you'll throw it up."
Before his words had finished fading, Kakashi vanished into a cloud of white smoke with a pop.
Only the four remained on the rooftop, each wearing a different expression.
Naruto and Sakura were still reeling over being "eliminated," while Sasuke had already begun considering tactics for tomorrow.
Only Shengu Xuan remained as unruffled as ever.
He looked at the spot where Kakashi had disappeared, an amused smile curling his lips.
"You want to test me with killing intent?"
"Kakashi, you'll understand soon enough..."
"When a real 'demon' descends, that laughable little killing intent of yours won't even qualify to interest me."
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