Naruto: The King Behind the Curtain

Time always slipped away quietly and unnoticed. Before anyone realized it, four years had already passed.

At the Ninja Academy...

"First place goes to Seiki Shimaseki — perfect scores in Body Replacement techniques, Throwing Jutsu, and The Extension and Expansion of the Will of Fire..."

Though these were arguably the most astonishing results since the Academy's founding, no one present looked surprised.

In their eyes, it would be strange if Seiki didn't achieve full marks in every subject.

However, Asuma standing beside Seiki was visibly tense. "I'm second... I'm second..."

Yet as soon as the teacher at the front announced the ranking, Asuma let out a loud cry of despair. "Ow! How did Kurenai beat me?"

Now, Kurenai, who had previously been pleased with herself, frowned. "Asuma, what do you mean? Are you underestimating me?"

"No, that's not—ow! Why is Shizune third then?!"

At this, Shizune, who had already been feeling slightly down from losing to Kurenai, started grinding her teeth. "Am I really that terrible, bastard?!"

Asuma turned his head stubbornly, clearly dissatisfied. "This is so unfair. We all got perfect scores on the practical exams. Just because your theory grades are better than mine, you get ranked above me!"

At that moment, Ibiki's mocking voice drifted over from behind him, "You're the last one who can complain about that. More than half those books on the Will of Fire were written by the Hokage himself!"

Upon hearing this, Asuma shuddered in horror. "Oh man, I failed Old Man Sarutobi's favorite extension of the Will of Fire lecture series! When I get home, he's gonna kill me! Do you think repeating a grade is still an option for me now?"

Ibiki curled his lip slightly. "Did your brain get eaten by Parasitic Bugs? Sure, getting a perfect score like Seiki did is tough, but failing is practically impossible!"

Asuma shot back with disdain, "I just think all that stuff they wrote is nonsense—it's an insult to my intelligence."

"Hmph!"

"You agree too, right? It makes you want to puke just listening to it, huh? So it's not that I don't understand; I just refuse to betray my own Ninja Way!"

Just then, a warm hand landed heavily on Asuma's shoulder.

"Oh really, you have a Ninja Way now? Then tonight when we get home, you'd better show me exactly what that Ninja Way looks like!"

Asuma stiffened, slowly turning around only to find himself staring directly into a pair of 'kind' eyes. "But actually, I—"

Hiruzen, however, didn't stick around to hear the rest. He simply walked past the crowd and straight up onto the podium.

"Hehe, today I'll be giving the graduation speech to all of you!"

Standing below the stage, Asuma felt completely hollow inside as he murmured weakly, "Do I still have a chance?"

Ibiki gave his shoulder a pat, muttering solemnly, "Today is the day you finally live out your own Ninja Way. Rest in peace."

Onstage, the Third Hokage still wore that friendly look. "Children, I'm delighted to see you all here today. From this moment forward, you have taken on a new title — Konoha Genin!"

At this, cheers erupted from the crowd.

For many of them, becoming a real ninja had been a dream they'd cherished for years.

Hiruzen raised his hands, motioning downward. "This means growth, but at the same time, it also means responsibility! The outside world isn't as gentle as our village. Competition, deception, betrayal, and killing are everywhere! Some of you might not return after just one mission!"

Upon hearing these words from Hiruzen, everyone gradually calmed down from their excitement over graduating.

At this moment, the Third's voice suddenly became passionate and inspiring. "But precisely because of that, we should protect this hard-won peace within the village even more! In this village, there are your families and friends, bonds you're willing to fight for. Are you willing to let enemies destroy these precious things?"

Silence fell for a moment, then the crowd exploded with voices.

"No way! Absolutely not!"

Seeing this scene, the Third watched with satisfaction and smiled. "As long as leaves flutter in the breeze, the fire within them will never die. That flame will keep lighting our village and allow new leaves to sprout. Up until now, it was us protecting you. But from now on, it'll be your turn to protect us old-timers!"

Undeniably, the Third's voice carried immense persuasive power.

His speech brought tears to the eyes of every rookie down below, and they were all fired up to serve Konoha right away.

Next came the awarding of Leaf forehead protectors to each of the newly graduated ninja.

"Konoha Genin, huh? Doesn't sound too bad," Seiki said with a smile as he put the protector on his head.

Asuma stared at his forehead protector and muttered, "Do you think if I scratch a line across this thing, the old man might forget what happened today and beg me not to become a rogue ninja?"

As soon as he said that, everyone around him acted like they might catch stupidity and stepped away.

Seeing this reaction from everyone else, Asuma could only accept his fate. "Alright, alright, I get it."

Meanwhile, Kei Yamakei, standing on the stage, hesitated slightly while looking at the list in his hand. "As for team assignments... they'll be announced this evening on the notice board outside the academy. For now, everyone is dismissed!"

Without giving it much thought, everyone cheered and scattered off in different directions.

Some time later, inside the Hokage's office—

"Hokage-sama, isn't this team assignment somewhat against the rules?" Kei Yamakei pointed at the roster with some confusion. "Seiki, Kurenai, Asuma… they've always been among the strongest in class. This won't balance out the teams' strengths properly, right?"

The Third tapped his pipe against the desk calmly without haste. "The difference in strength between them and the others is simply too great. If grouped with other students, missions that are too easy won't provide them enough training, while those that are too difficult would place others in danger."

Kei Yamakei nodded understandingly and sighed, "That's true. Their strength has already surpassed that of standard-level Chunin. Especially Seiki—I actually suspect his power has nearly reached Jonin-level already!"

The Hokage merely smiled without responding. After a short pause, his expression turned serious again. "Besides that, my decision to group these three together also considers other factors."

Puzzled, Kei Yamakei asked, "Other reasons as well?"

"You may not have felt it yet here within the village, but the shadow of war is once again spreading across the lands of shinobi no sekai!"

Kei Yamakei blurted out in shock, "Wait—what? Are we actually going to war *again*?"

In truth, minor skirmishes between villages had never truly stopped. However, since the honored Hokage had spoken so seriously, Kei naturally didn't think this was just another small-scale clash.

"It's just a guess I made from recent changes in missions," the Hokage replied. "If I can help it, I hope I'm wrong about this."

Kei tried to calm his inner disturbance and asked, "But what does this have to do with team assignments?"

The Third's expression turned firm and solemn as he answered, "Those three are all geniuses. If they get strong fast, they could make a huge difference in war!"

Kei said in surprise, "But Asuma is your own—surely you don't mean to send him to the battlefield?"

The Third shook his head, "Exactly because he *is* my son, he *should* be on the battlefield!"

Kei didn't argue further. The look he gave The Third was filled with deep respect. "Hokage-sama, then who will be their lead jonin?"

"Inoichi Yamanaka!"

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