Chapter 20: Graduation

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On a large field, a boy with black-spiky hair was standing, doing nothing but some signs with his hands. He deeply inhaled and in quick movement, finished the hand seals. Then formed his hands into a palm before squatting down and slapping the grass. 

A moment passed, although nothing happened… that was until a rumble underneath the ground. The grass and dirt shook whilst the particles paved a way for something that was making its way out. 

Right now, there were multiple holes made in the grass and coming out of them were spikes moulded from mud. It spanned from a radius of only 7 metres out from where Akio stood. They surrounded him but were much further as only the small area in which he stood wasn't affected. 

The spikes were only six inches in height but extremely sharp. 

'Finally. I have done it. After… what — two months?'

Now that he had learned a jutsu, he was sure the next ones would be much easier. However, Akio could only learn a new one if he was a genin. That was why graduation was already coming. However, he had mentally steeled himself and prepared for the coming days. Training all his aspects to the best of his ability. 

Akio had already learned the three basic jutsu to their pinnacle. Even going as far as to quicken it with time with fewer hand seals and the best efficiency. For his stagnant body — now that he had money — Akio decided to buy weights. This helped a lot toward his physique, gaining a quick boost in only half a month; the results were outstanding. 

Speaking about money, Akio had inherited everything and it was only right to use it to his own benefit. So the first thing he did was sell the house and the land… which was over a century old. This meant the return on investment was through the roof. 

He only lives by himself now. There was no point in such things, including the maids that were previously there. Selling the property, he then bought himself a much smaller one which was a lot cheaper. 

He has the money his father left him and from the property now, so he was more than just financially stable. 

This was a previous clan which had built up generational wealth therefore the amount of money left cannot be small. 

With the millions of ryo he had left over, Akio was just planning for what to do. Money was power after all. For his goals, this was necessary.

'Sigh, a lot has happened. For some reason, the cause of his death had given me a much more peaceful life. His downfall helped my gain. It's almost like a sacrifice.'

He thought about Hagiro sometimes and a lot of things like jutsu and training would have been much easier. On the other hand, his life had gotten much easier in general: there was no Miko, Ariza or Ima annoying him throughout his daily life.

His life has taken a complete 360 — in a good way too. Just around two months ago, he would have a constant berating and chaotic life. But Now that it was peaceful, he could focus on one thing and one thing only… war. 

—--

Only a week later and the time had finally come… for graduation. 

Everyone was standing in the classrooms, waiting for their respective sensei — the leader who will be mentoring them after graduation. It wasn't surprising that the whole class had passed the graduation test which consisted of performing the clone technique. Akio got the highest overall marks in the class, and that was by a mile. 

In three years, he had surpassed everyone that was ahead of him — the gains more noticeable as time went on. 

Now, he was eager to see who his jonin Sensei was; he hoped it would be a good one where they would give a lot of advice and training. This matter decided his future possibilities. 

Time passed and a lot of senseis came in and picked their team. Three people were taken out of the classroom in turns, leading to the last three — Arise, Tsume and Akio. 

Arima stood in front of them with an exciting look. His eyes gleamed when he looked at the prodigious Akio. 

He was the best in the class in every aspect, whether it was theoretical, practical or any sort of activity… he bested them all. 

Even though he wasn't as talented as Minato, he was sure his gifted mind surpassed him by miles. No one could compare to this kid's intelligence. Even though he felt pitiful about his father's death; he thought that his death must have pushed this kid even further. 

Of course, he didn't know that Akio was mentally over twenty years old — combining his previous life and this one.

Akio stood for a while before someone that made his eyes widen for a split second came in. Inwardly he was shocked to the core at who his mentor was.

'Another canon character.'

This person had a snake-like appearance: he had very pale skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also had pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and framing his face or his shoulders. 

It was none other than the future antagonist himself… Orochimaru. 

Never did he expect to have this guy as his mentor. 

Arima's eyes shone with stars seeing who their mentor was going to be — one of Hiruzen's direct students. He felt as though he had accomplished his goal for his class, throughout these three years it had led up to this… he was proud. 

Orochimaru glanced at three prospects with an amused smile. To them, it felt as though nothing was hidden from this man. Akio felt their snake-like eyes scanning him; he made eye contact with Orochimaru. 

However, both Arise and Tsume were excited at their Sensei. It was Orochimaru, one of the strongest shinobi in the village. How can they not be? 

Meanwhile, Akio felt a chill because of this guy. He didn't know whether this was a bad or good thing — on one hand — he would be a competent teacher but his personality… is quite questionable. 

Maybe it isn't as bad as it is in the future, he'll have to see but the guy will be good as a teacher. There were pros and cons to Orochimaru. 

"Interesting," Orochimaru muttered. His eyes looked up and down at them.

Arima's lips creased. "These three are the best in the class. I'm sure they won't disappoint you."

Orochimaru nodded and beamed a smile at all of them. "Well, my students… let's go. It's for you to take your first step into becoming a genin." 

—--

The team of three now stood in front of Orochimaru, who was the first to speak. 

"So state your name, your hobbies and your dreams," he said, smirking at all of them. 

An amused look grew on his face as he folded his arms. "Starting with you," he raised one of his hands and pointed. "The Uchiha." 

Arise grew a gleam in his eyes, contradicting his dull look. 

He puffed up his chest pridefully and said, "My name is Arise Uchiha; my hobbies are training and fighting — and my dream is to serve the police force." 

Contrary to Arise's proud-looking face, Orochimaru inwardly frowned. However, he still kept a smile on his face as he nodded. 

He knew the conspiracy behind the police force and naturally noted this kid's naivety. Although, this didn't matter much as he would grow up and sooner or later find out. 

The next person to speak was Tsume. "My name is Tsume Inuzuka; my hobby is playing with my ninken and my dream is to become a strong kunoichi like Lady Tsunade." 

Orochimaru nodded. This was the typical dream as Tsunade was a direct student under the Hokage and the best medical-nin in the village — but he knew she had the best skill in this world. 

Moving onto the last one — Akio. 

"My name is Akio Hanshiro. I like to read and study everything and anything. My dream is…" he thought for a second. " Well, to just get stronger, to be honest." 

Orochimaru glanced at this kid and had curiosity toward him. He had looked in each of their files and knew everything about them already. Everything from when they started to now… he knew… everything. 

This was why this kid surprised him. He saw the progress and knew he was nothing special in the beginning, except for his superior intelligence but his talent slowly started showing. With this, he surpassed all of them and had gone further too — it's like this kid shot up from nowhere. There were even statements that this kid had more intelligence than the average Nara clan heir.

What he saw was potential… Out of these three, Akio was someone who could be moulded into a fine shinobi. He wanted to see how far his intelligence could go; he had a lot of plans for this kid's future.

Akio, who was standing in front of him, realised the eyes of Orochimaru gazing at him… it kept him aware. 

On the other hand, Orochimaru just thought about how this kid could be useful in the future. 

But first, he needed to test and see how this kid's mind really was…