Year Six of Konoha's Founding
Kenichi Sato's Age: 10 years old
Mid-August – Day One of the Early Graduation Exam
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The outdoor training field felt like a boiling cauldron.
Dozens of students stood in neat rows, their faces caught between anxiety and excitement, sweat running down their brows despite the morning chill.
Kenichi stood beside Dai and Kagami in Temporary Team 3. His eyes scanned every detail: the trainees' breathing, their body language, even their stances.
Dai patted his thighs and said, "I'm ready. I could run ten laps around Konoha if they asked."
Kagami, in his calm voice, replied, "Focus your energy on one point... Today isn't about showing enthusiasm—it's about results."
Kenichi simply nodded, then looked toward the instructors positioned around the training ground.
---
The head instructor stood on an elevated platform.
He spoke in a loud voice:
> "Today marks the beginning of the first stage of the early graduation exam. Your physical ability, speed, and endurance will be tested."
His assistant continued:
> "Each team will rotate through five stations set across the training field and the nearby forest. Each station presents a different challenge."
Each group was handed a scroll containing the details of their first station.
Kenichi took the scroll, unrolled it, and read:
> "Station One: Hidden Enemy Challenge."
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The teams advanced toward the forest in an orderly formation. At the edge of the woods, a group of instructors stopped them and explained the rules:
> "In this zone, a mid-level ninja has been assigned as your opponent. Your mission isn't to defeat him—but to survive ten minutes and gather information about him."
Dai gave a nervous smile. "So… we just run?"
Kenichi, focused, replied, "We don't run. We move—and observe. If we can understand his pattern, we gain more than just survival."
---
Inside the forest, the challenge began.
The three moved in a triangular formation through the trees. Kagami took point, Kenichi followed close behind, and Dai covered the rear.
Suddenly, a smoke bomb was thrown.
Kenichi quickly said, "Twelve-meter radius! Dai—up!"
Dai jumped onto a tree branch while Kenichi channeled a small pulse of water chakra into his palm, sensing air movement.
> "Movement… from the right side."
Kagami swiftly threw a kunai toward the advancing shadow. It hit something metallic with a ringing sound.
The enemy laughed from the darkness, "Not bad… but you're still just kids."
But Kenichi had already begun to form a theory. The enemy never attacked from above. He was testing their horizontal reflexes only.
"A predictable pattern," he thought.
Then he whispered to his teammates, "In the last minute—we close the distance and test his reaction."
---
After ten minutes, the opponent withdrew.
The supervising instructor said:
> "Team 3… completed the first stage with efficiency. Excellent situational analysis and smart reading of the enemy's behavior."
He then added in a lower voice, as if speaking to himself:
> "That opponent wasn't just any ninja… He's one of the elite field assessment specialists. He was observing their skills as much as attacking them."
His assistant nodded beside him:
> "Most teams didn't even realize they were being tested, not truly attacked. Three teams made fatal positioning errors—one revealed their entire location in the first two minutes."
Dai sat on the ground, panting. "That was… insane."
Kagami, wiping sweat from his brow, said, "I expected more." Then, looking at Kenichi, he added, "But clearly, you're not ordinary."
Kenichi didn't smile. He only thought:
> "This is just the beginning… I must always stay one step ahead."
---
At the Hokage's Residence, After Sunset…
Tobirama sat in silence beside his brother's bed—Hashirama, the First Hokage—his body wrapped in bandages from shoulder to waist.
Despite his legendary vitality as a Sage, the wounds were slow to heal.
Hashirama breathed with effort, his chest rising and falling heavily, as though life itself had become a burden.
Tobirama stared at his brother's face for a moment, then whispered to himself, "A body like yours… refuses to collapse, but pain is stronger than the will of wood."
He stood and walked toward the window, gazing at the moonlight reflecting across Konoha's rooftops.
"Is there a way? A technique? Could we redesign advanced medical ninjutsu?"
His thoughts fell into a heavy silence before he muttered:
> "If traditional healing fails… we must redefine what's possible."