Boruto liked to go to school alone. Sometimes he went with his sister but he felt like the walk to the Academy was always a time for him to reflect. Besides that Himawari had a lot of leeway in her classes. Other than the fact that she was advanced in everything to do with battle it was because Dad had asked for permission for some of her classes be taught by Mom and Dad. She had sometimes had to stay at home for a few hours in the morning so they didn't always go to school at the same time.

Today as Boruto was going to school he was thinking about the fact that his Dad had given him permission to learn the Eight Inner Gates, well he had said he could learn it after becoming a Chunin and learning any type of Sage mode but that was permission in Boruto's eyes. Although he wasn't going to complete the conditions anytime soon it was not going to take more than two or three years. If on the other hand he didn't complete the conditions it would mean he would have failed in the opening of the Eight Inner Gates too.

When Boruto had asked Dad how long it had taken him to learn Sage Mode he had said it was less than a month. Boruto could not believe it, he had been taught Sage Arts by his dad for years. The only consolation he got was that Dad was talking about Frog Senjutsu. He had said it took him a bit longer to translate Six Paths Senjutsu into his own Kurama Asura Six Paths.

 

Boruto was in Shinobi History class, Iruka Sensei was teaching about the impact of the First Hokage.

"You must keep in mind that at the time the Leaf Village had two of the strongest Shinobi in the world. Every single village knew this not because of some elaborate Shinobi infiltrations but simply because the battles between Lord First and Madara Uchiha could have been Sensed by any ninja with sensory experience from a world away. Even if the First Hokage was in a peaceful state an advanced sensory ninja would have been able to get a read on his power." Iruka Sensei said.

"I for one would have liked to see him alive at full power. Some have seen him in person at the Fourth Great Shinobi War. He I said to have single handedly restrained the Ten Tails."

"The very announcement of the establishment of the Leaf Village would have had all the other scattered clans questioning if the newly established Village would go on a campaign of conquest. When the Leaf Village stayed quite for a few years all the other clans saw it as an opportunity to band together whilst the Leaf Village was seemingly gathering it forces. So the First Shinobi war was not that surprising in hindsight as almost all the villages were established in anticipation for war." Iruka Sensei said with a serious expression.

"The relief of the villages would have been tangible when Madara Uchiha had seemingly been killed by Lord First, at the same time their estimation of the power of Lord First would have been pushed violently higher. The records of the Final Valley battle are not so solid, some of them might have been changed for being too mythological. We do however have records of Lord First's battle in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, although he was weaker, we can estimate his full strength when he was alive. The estimates, even while looking at records of the carving out of the Final Valley puts Lord First and Madara Uchiha's strength such that their battle caused earthquakes. The estimates from the war make this a certainty, mountains were cut apart as easily as rotten logs, their Chakra would have felt like a multiple day storm raging from the direction of the Final Valley."

"This was probably the battle that solidified the First Hokage as the God of Shinobi. How would every other Village have reacted when they felt such horrible strength. The Tailed Beasts were already legends, the Nine Tailed Fox already seen as a godly entity. Each time it moved nations would be destroyed. It cowed many nations into treating it's citizens with dignity. Each Nation rightly saw treating their citizens with dignity as a matter of national survival because of the Nine Tailed Fox. The fear of the villages as they sensed Madara Uchiha wielding such an entity in battle, all the more when Lord First subdued both of them." Iruka Sensei seemed to be reading from a book.

Everybody in class tried to imagine it. Everybody was quite, how could they say anything while busy digesting such a huge amount of information.

"This is probably the reason for which it was named the Final Valley. A battle on that scale was probably thought to never going to be surpassed. We have some records naming Lord First the second coming of the Sage Of Six Paths, most of the Shinobi Villages did not leave such records. It was probably seen at the time as a delegitimation of their own villages. How could the other villages acknowledge the First Hokage as such a figure and still resist him if he came to their villages and asked for their surrender."

"The First Hokage capturing all the other Tailed Beasts would have put the villages on edge. 'How can the Leaf Village horde all that power?'. 'Do they really intend to conquer the Shinobi world?'. It must have been a relief twice over when Lord First gave the villages the Tailed Beasts. Not only did this scatter any alliance forming in the other villages but it also communicated the intentions of Lord First of peace cleanly." Iruka Sensei said closing the book and preparing for questions.

"Sensei if all the other villages sensed Lord First's power and saw his desire for peace, why didn't they form a united Shinobi Alliance back then?" Mitsuki asked Iruka Sensei.

"I think you should clarify your questions a bit because there are a plethora of reasons, some of which are obvious." Iruka Sensei kindly responded to Mitsuki.

"Sensei, As the First Hokage was both powerful and kind wouldn't the villages have more sway in their nations if they formed an alliance? Wouldn't it be more profitable if they presented a united front to their individual Nations' leaders?" Mitsuki clarified.

"That has a couple of possible reasons but the one that I most believe is the imbalance of power. If Lord First never gave the villages the Tailed Beasts, we could have seen a Shinobi Alliance against the Leaf Village. On the other hand after giving the other villages the Tailed Beasts the question was then, 'How come such village has a stronger Tailed than my own village?'. Even if the Tailed Beasts did not factor in any decisions the geopolitical situation would have. Which village has a greater access to resources and how will such a village leverage those resources to hold power over other villages. The power of the Tailed Beasts while dangerous would also ensure stability for those powerful villages and a constant worry for weaker villages. Not only would larger villages seek out other villages' Tailed Beasts to bolster their own forces, but weaker villages with overall weaker ninjas would not be able to consistently restrain their Tailed Beasts." Iruka Sensei said. Boruto was a little uncomfortable with the detached speech that Iruka Sensei used. Iruka looked a little in his direction.

"Of course we must remind ourselves that the Tailed Beasts are victims in all this. Of course not all of them were peaceful but they generally stayed away from human civilization. On top of considering the Tailed Beasts as children of the Sage Of Six Paths it is all the more terrible." Iruka Sensei said briefly looking in Boruto's direction.

"Sensei, what would the situation of the smaller villages been with peace established by the larger villages?" Shikadai asked.

"Well for the smaller villages were in different situations all around. Some villages could have counted as villages even before the establishment of the Leaf Village working more as a collection of tightly knit clans. This Villages would have been suddenly become weak in a situation where they were previously strong. Some smaller villages had strong leaders that could stand amongst the First Kage, therefore were able to claim a Tailed Beast. And finally some smaller villages were starving or even just had internal strife enough to see war as a viable option."

"Even when not weaker or having internal strife, because the village system encourages allied clans to band together in opposition of their enemies, war became inevitable. Small wars broke out between smaller villages and more powerful villages would intervene and consolidate their strength by annexing those smaller villages, all in the name of peace." Iruka Sensei explained even more. After some time it was the end of the class.

 

"All this to say the cold war in the era of a living Hashirama Senju naturally gave way to actual war in his death." Iruka Sensei said with a final sigh.

"This is the end of class. Remember to prepare for the exams." Everybody in class went out.

 

"Wow what a class, right?" Boruto said to Sarada.

"Yeah, that was heavy, I can't help but think everyone was warmongers in that time." Sarada said in response.

"I don't think so, I just think that people didn't know much about other people in those times." Boruto responded.

"Hmmm... Yeah I kinda get it. Like it would be hard to not fight in a war when you don't know if the other person needs the resources for their hungry people or to hoard them for the next war." Sarada said after thinking about a while. She had gotten his meaning almost immediately. It had Boruto on the back foot.

"Yeah I also understand your point of view. I think even if some of them knew for a fact a person was dying of hunger in the next village they would be happy the village was loosing strength instead of trying to help." Boruto thought about Sarada's point of view a little and saw were she was coming from.

"Yeah, so you ready for the Ninjutsu class today?" Sarada added moving on from the conversation.

"Hey, we both know you are going to win anyway right?" Boruto said feeling a little upset.

"You always win I Taijutsu but you don't see me complaining do you. You really should stop being such a crybaby." Sarada said with a tone that made sure he understood she looked down on him.

"Hey I am not complaining, you get better at Taijutsu when sparing with me, on the other hand I don't think any amount of improvement in Ninjutsu will help me catch up to your Kekkei Genkai." Boruto said trying to defend himself.

"Oh then what about Six Paths Senjutsu huh? Aren't you going to get to be able to discect such Kekkei Genkai? You seriously going to tell me you aren't going to have your own strong, if not stronger Jutsu?" Sarada tilted her head to him to show maximum disdain.

"Hey that's a separate thing. Your Sharingan is the same, just yesterday you were using the Taijutsu styles of the class against me, you'll probably be able to do the same with Ninjutsu soon." Boruto knew he had lost so he gave a sign of defeat by turning the conversation to Sarada's Sharingan.

"... Sigh. Just give your best in class." Sarada resigned.

The kept talking while going to another class. 

As Boruto was sitting in class wondering if Anko Sensei was going to show up at all she bust into the class with flair. Sometimes Boruto wondered if she was actually older than Dad as he always said.

"Alright kiddos. Time for the Ninjutsu training!!" Anko Sensei said with a kind of joy Boruto couldn't describe.

"So last time we were in here I realised that some of you don't understand what I mean when I say you have to have zero hesitation when weaving a Jutsu. You must understand that a Chakra is a combination of your mental and physical energy, to become hesitant in your mind means your Jutsu itself hesitates. A fight between Shinobi is as much a battle of will as it is of wits and physical prowess." Anko Sensei said being serious. Boruto couldn't get over how quickly she changed her attitude.

"You must also keep in mind that in a battle it is not about how many Jutsu you can weave but how quickly you cast then and how tightly they chain together. I know powerful Shinobi with only one family of Jutsu, some with some three Jutsu. That's why you should figure out Jutsu that feel most fluid to you and develop in their direction." Anko Sensei brushed aside her purple hair.

"Since the exams are coming up I wanna see your clone Jutsu. Afterwards we are going to do a capture the circle exercise." Anko Sensei said.

"Alright I am going to time you as always on the quickness of your clone deployment and the speed of your hand signs. Other than that I will give points on the solidity of your clones." Anko Sensei said as they were standing on the field.

"Always remember that even though the Shadow Clone Jutsu developed by Jonin Kiba Inuzuka is not as taxing as the original it is still quite taxing. I don't want to have you be sleepy heads for the next exercise." She said being a bit less serious.

Boruto just remembered that the Shadow Clone Jutsu that his Dad used was dangerous. When Dad had taught it to him he didn't seem to consider it dangerous. On the other hand Boruto didn't like it as much, when he deployed more than five he always felt like there was less on him in his own skin. It was a bit of a relief that they only needed one in the class.

Inoji had used ink to make his clone. Overall he was criticized for his deployment time and the clone's durability.

As Boruto was thinking it was his turn to show his Clone Jutsu.

"Alright kiddo, on my signal you will weave your Jutsu... Go!!"

Boruto immediately weaved the single hand sign. He had not needed multiple hand signs in a long while.

'Shadow Clone Jutsu.' he felt an involuntary exclamation in his mind. His single clone appeared next to him.

"Alright good job your weaving of Chakra and the hand sign was quick. The clone does not seem physically or mentally distinct from you. The Chakra flow is the same between you too. Okay now to test its durability."

Anko Sensei sent blunted Shuriken at different speeds at the clone causing it to puff out of existence by the seventh one. Boruto grimaced as he felt a slight pain is his chest.

"Good score overall. It's durability is decent. Alright next." Anko said writing his result down.

Kosuke was next and he had a hard time with the Jutsu. He ended up using all the hand signs and Anko Sensei criticized his clone for lacking in physical presence. Although in every other way it was a decent clone.

Raiga came after and as expected he made a perfect clone. Well it was not perfect but it was as good as Boruto's clone was. Considering his Dad simplified the shadow clone Jutsu he had to deliver.

After Raiga was given a score Fū weaved her own Chakra around an insect to make the clone.

"I personally would have preferred you to make your Clone from something more like the Chakra Transformations as they are more easily accessible but using your symbiotic insects is fine too." Anko Sensei's gray-brown eyes looked up a little from the scoring sheet.

"Now I can't actually test durability, you'll have to make up the rest of your score in the other expects of your clone." Anko Sensei criticized a bit. Teachers couldn't internationally instill a callous attitude in the students by what Dad had told him. In this case it was probably about the fact that to a certain extent Aburame Clan members could feel the emotions of some of their insects, some after the war (due to less conscription) turned to beekeeping to not endanger their insects.

"Okay good overall presence, but the mental aspect could use some work. Chakra flow is excellent. Hmm next." Anko Sensei said stretching her arms.

Chocho's clone was about as good as Kosuke's. It had always had poor Chakra control. Everybody in class went up until it was Mitsuki's turn.

Mitsuki's gray to white hair blew in the wind as he held out his hand and a snake crawled out from his sleeve. Boruto could have sworn there was never any snake under his robes. He thought about it and concluded that him growing it out of his skin wasn't out of the question.

The snake's mouth practically split apart as a hand as pale as Mitsuki's emerged. Boruto saw Anko Sensei's body tighten, he thought he grasped a little hostility in her breath but whatever he felt she squashed it immediately. Boruto also felt the snake like nature energy around Mitsuki concentrate is attention on Anko Sensei.

Boruto looked at Sarada but she was looking at the scene with black eyes in tension. Sarada's eyes almost turned completely scarlet until she caught her self and released her tension.

The pale hand was then two and a head of gay hair and gold eyes emerged. Before Boruto realised it there were two of Mitsuki in front of their eyes.

"... Good clone. Don't know if I can call it a clone if it made out of skin but so be it. I don't really have to test its durability, I take it it's just yours isn't it?" Anko Sensei asked with a monotone voice.

"Yes, Sensei." Mitsuki answered.

"So that's a nine. Alright next is Shikadai." Anko Sensei said her voice feeling a bit less energetic.

Shikadai moved with a swagger that Boruto appriciated but also kinda hated. But his clone technique was a thing of art is Boruto's eyes.

"Alright you can start weaving your hand signs on my signal... Now!" Anko Sensei gave the signal.

Shikadai waived only one hand sign with one hand and another him jumped out of his shadow.

"Good, excellent even. The Physical and mental presence is consistent. The Chakra flow is a perfect copy." Anko Sensei seemed genuinely impressed.

She threw blunted Shuriken at the clone and it popped at the sixth one dissolving into Shikadai's shadow.

Finally it was Sarada's turn. Boruto knew that she beat everyone in class in this particular Jutsu. In Ninjutsu she was undoubtedly the very best in class with very little competition. Boruto had heard from Iruka Sensei one time when he was out eating ramen with Dad that her skill in Ninjutsu was deserving of a Jonin rank.

"Alright on my signal start your hands signs... Now!!" Anko Sensei shouted.

Sarada used the same hand sign as Boruto and brown bark grew quickly out of her arm and formed her clone next to her. Black hair, black eyes and purple training clothes. Even to Boruto's senses it was the same person but twice.

"Hmm... You've improved. If I didn't see you making the clone I would have been fooled." Anko's assessment suprised the class.

"Let's see the durability!" Anko Sensei threw the blunted Shuriken. It was only by the ninth that the Wood Clone turned to dead bark. Boruto felt a little jealous, his cheeks heated up a little.

The exercise continued with no more surprising developments.

"Alright next is capture the circle!!" Anko Sensei said.

"For the next exercise I will not be giving Sarada the clone scroll as she has just as much mastery as the Shinobi making the scrolls. As always you will be given a tag that you must put into a circle protected by your opponent. I will be providing the barrier. Like always a win or a loss will not be counted in your score. I will only score you on your decision making, vesitility, scale of your Jutsu and speed of Jutsu deployment." Anko Sensei explained the circle game for those who forgot.

Boruto had challenged Sarada to see who could use their own clone by their graduation and she won. He just couldn't get the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he had been told by Dad that it had to do with him thinking too much. He really couldn't get out of his head whether his mind existed in many places at once or that an automated mass of Chakra was outside of his body? What happened when the Chakra from a clone was sealed after it had been destroyed? Would he still get the experience? What about if the Chakra was absorbed?

Boruto held the scroll and tag in his hands and looked at Sarada who had already gotten hers. He knew that he wanted to go up against her. He also wanted to go against Mitsuki but he knew he would hold back as for everyone else he would win against comfortably against all of them. With a clone that was a near perfect copy of him he had a hard time even imaging loosing even if he used only Taijutsu.

Raiga went up against Kosuke. Kosuke lost be handily. Although Raiga was kept together with his partner outside the barrier, inside the barrier his clone had used an additional shadow clone Jutsu combined with transformation to form a two headed wolf that overwhelmed Kosuke's meagre Ninjutsu and advanced Taijutsu alike. Raiga first destroyed Kosuke's clone and only after that put the tag in the circle.

Shikadai's match with Mitsuki was good, especially because of the barrier. The barrier had allowed Shikadai to use his Shadows to the fullest. The shadows could reach anywhere in the enclosed space. Mitsuki had won by using a summoning Jutsu. When he had realised he had been caught by Shikadai's shadow he had flooded the barrier with snakes and one of them put the tag into Shikadai's circle.

Inoji, Fū and Chocho's matches against some of the class were easy wins. Fū and Chocho had destroyed their opponents' clones while Inoji had used a ink bird to deliver the tag.

Then it was Boruto and Sarada's match. Boruto put his Chakra into the unfurled scroll causing a clone of him to pop up next to him. Sarada just used her hand signs and a wood clone manifested next to her. Boruto really wanted to win but he knew he would loose. To a certain extent he knew it wasn't his fault, Sarada's Kekkei Genkai was just that powerful.

Their clones entered the circle and Anko Sensei put up the barrier.

"Deep Forest emergence." The moment Anko Sensei put up the barrier Sarada put up terrain control. In this way Boruto couldn't use a bust of body flicker to place the tag.

"Great Fireball Jutsu." Boruto had learnt this Jutsu just to stop Sarada's Jutsu. Dad had wanted to criticize him but it had only taken him two day to learn the Jutsu. He knew it wasn't going to be enough so he was already weaving his next Jutsu. Boruto had to use this so that Sarada couldn't freely move within the trees.

"Wild water wave." Sarada put out most of the flames and then started weaving her own Jutsu.

Boruto kneaded fire Chakra in this left lung and wind Jutsu in his right lung, he used the same configuration with hand sings.

"Fire tornado combination Jutsu." Boruto couldn't yet do Scorch Release but he had copied some concepts with his understanding of Six Paths Senjutsu. All the trees around him were burnt to ash and the fog had lifted a little. The inside of the barrier became humid and hot. It smelled of burned wood and mud. Boruto couldn't see very far but he backed up to protect his circle. He knew he had been put at a disadvantage. Sarada's clones could overwhelm his so he couldn't go on the attack.

Ten wood clones bust out of the Fog and attacked from around him. Boruto used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create three clones around the circle. He regretted that he didn't use a Wind release Jutsu, but that would have meant letting Sarada's forest potentially dominate his space.

His clones couldn't hold for long so he quickly took care of the five that had come at him. He threw Shuriken wrapped up in wind style Chakra at them, turning them into bark. The worst part about fighting Sarada in this case was that there was no original. As for him he knew that if the primary clone made by the scroll was ever destroyed he would loose as the other clones were weaker.

He turned around and used wind palm to destroy Sarada's clones that were attacking his. Boruto waited for a while after that preparing to use a Wind release Jutsu to clear out the fog obscuring his vision.

"You really are physically overwhelming you know that?" Sarada's voice came over from the fog causing Boruto to pause his had signs.

"This is something that only clicked for me after my Sharingan awakened, consider it my revenge for what you did in our spar during Might Guy Sensei's class." Sarada's voice came over and Boruto was just about done with his Wind release.

"Great Breakthrough."

"Territory Creation: Great Illusionary Swamp."

Boruto's Jutsu broke against Sarada's. More fog flooded into the barrier and he felt Sarada's presence come from every direction. Trees that were felled rose up again, the water that had barely counted as a puddle at his feet now came up to his calfs. The water was muddy and he could feel the ground under his feet was loosening.

"Mud wall!" Boruto quickly made the earth with his circle rise. He had no choice with the ground becoming like that and Sarada's roots beneath him he couldn't risk it.

"I thought you'd do that." Sarada's voice came from above. When Boruto looked up he saw nearly thirty of Sarada's clones fall towards his circle.

Boruto created two more clones and jump to intercept them when his fist passed through one of them as if fog. Boruto thought it was Genjutsu but when he willed himself out of it only half the clones disappeared.

He manoeuvred in mid air and punched at another one of them but is was the same fog as the on he had punched. It was then that he knew he should have used Great Fireball Jutsu to destroy them or even wind palms.

"Your loss." Boruto saw Sarada siting on his raised platform inside his circle with a tag in his hand. When he got down the barrier had already been put down.

As Boruto was digesting the memories of his clone he looked at Sarada.

"Your Genjutsu comes from the trees." Boruto felt a little bit more jealous.

Sarada just looked at him with a smug expression.

"Alright class is ending now. All of you having troubles with your clone Jutsu please work on it before graduation. Good bye and good luck on the exams." Anko Sensei sent them off.