[Reward Settlement...]
[Reward Obtained—Perception Ninjutsu]
[First successful lesson delivered—Reward Obtained: Appraisal Technique]
[First lesson rated A—Reward Obtained: Fire Chakra Nature Transformation Mastery]
Receiving three rewards at once surprised Auron. He felt a flood of memories rush into his mind, especially those related to training in fire chakra nature transformation.
The memories were so vivid that Auron felt like a veteran ninja who had dedicated his entire life to mastering Fire Release.
"Teacher Auron, may I ask you something?" Shisui asked respectfully.
Hearing Shisui's voice, Auron, who was about to review his evaluation panel again, paused. He led Shisui to a quiet spot behind the school building. He then used his perception ninjutsu to check for any strong chakra presence nearby.
Confirming that there was none, he smiled and said, "Was it something from the lesson you didn't understand? Go ahead and ask."
Shisui shook his head. "It's not about the class. I have a different question."
"Teacher, you know that the Senju and Uchiha clans founded the Leaf Village together. But why is it that everyone only remembers the Senju clan's contributions while rarely mentioning the Uchiha?"
Although still a child, Shisui was extremely mature and observant. He had noticed how people reacted to the Uchiha clan symbol when out with his elders—there was something off in those gazes.
Even though both clans contributed equally to the village's founding, not only were the Uchiha's deeds unrecognized, but they even seemed disliked. Shisui couldn't understand why.
Looking at Shisui's confused face, Auron thought to himself, How could the reputation of Hashirama Senju in the village even compare to Madara Uchiha's?
"You've probably only read the history recorded by your clan, haven't you?" Auron asked.
Shisui nodded. What he had access to was limited to the Uchiha's version of history.
"There's a long story behind how things turned out this way—too much to explain all at once." Auron showed a troubled expression.
Seeing this, Shisui felt a little guilty, realizing this issue was more complicated than he thought. Just as he was about to say never mind, Auron spoke again.
"Well, if you have time after school in the future, come see me. I'll slowly tell you about the history behind all this."
"After all, I owe the Uchiha clan a debt—consider this my way of repaying it."
Shisui looked puzzled. Why would Auron owe the Uchiha anything? So he asked directly.
"My parents were surrounded by enemies during a war, and a ninja named Uchiha Kagami saved them. Although they eventually died in another battle, I've always remembered that life-saving favor," Auron said with a look of gratitude, completely making it up.
He was quite glad that the original version of himself was already an orphan—otherwise, it'd be much harder to fabricate stories like this.
Sometimes, the dead are more useful than the living.
Shisui's eyes widened in surprise. Uchiha Kagami was his grandfather. He didn't expect to have such a strange connection to Auron, and it gave him an indescribable feeling.
But Shisui wasn't the type to act entitled over a favor, so he simply thanked Auron.
Before Shisui left, Auron used Appraisal on him.
[Name: Uchiha Shisui][Chakra: 500][Potential: SS-][Evaluation: Inherits Six Paths bloodline, highly compatible with Fire Release and Genjutsu, immense potential. Strongly recommended to take as disciple.]
As he walked back to his office, Auron couldn't help but sigh in admiration—Shisui really was the kind of monster who could activate Susanoo with just one eye. Two shining golden "S"s—it was no wonder even the system recommended taking him as a disciple.
He opened his own panel next to check for any updates.
[Name: Auron][Age: 18][Chakra: 4300][Evaluation: Master of Fire Chakra Nature Transformation. Your limited chakra reserves are your biggest weakness. If this flaw can be addressed, you could be considered an elite among jōnin.]
"Looks like mastering fire chakra nature transformation is even more powerful than I thought," Auron mused, realizing he had underestimated the weight of the word mastery.
He had assumed it was equivalent to a jōnin-level understanding, but it might actually put him on par with the Third Hokage when it came to Fire Release.
Considering he only knew two Fire Release techniques, the Body Flicker, Clone Jutsu, and some basic taijutsu, his skill leap post-reward meant that once he raised his chakra reserves, he'd qualify as an elite jōnin.
An elite jōnin—surely that's about where Kakashi or Asuma were when the main story began, right?
Although his strength had risen dramatically, Auron couldn't feel truly happy when he remembered he was still a Root member.
First, there was the cursed tongue seal from Root that left him feeling constantly unsafe. Second, Danzō was the type who loved sacrificing his own men, which made things worse.
"I need to recruit students quickly and strengthen myself. Even if I can't kill Danzō and walk away clean, I need enough power to survive."
With that, Auron set a short-term goal for himself.
When he entered the office, he found three other teachers—two men and one woman—chatting and complaining about their students.
He recognized them, as he had already met the other teachers on his first visit to the school.
Auron casually appraised each of them.
[Name: Ikeya Isamu][Chakra: 2000][Potential: C][Evaluation: Just another expendable mid-level ninja.]
The other two were about the same—just system-certified cannon fodder.
"Sigh, I really have the worst luck. How did I end up with Class 2 of Grade 4? I already have Class 1 of Grade 3!"
"How am I supposed to teach that class? I've got both Might Guy and Uchiha Obito, the bottom two of the entire year." Ikeya Isamu threw his hands up in defeat.
"And now my family has set me up for a blind date tomorrow afternoon—right during my Grade 4 Class 2 lesson."
"Find a teacher with no class then, or just take time off. Finding love is more important," suggested Ayaka Ueda.
Then Ayaka noticed Auron entering and smiled. "Mr. Auron, how was your first lesson? Did my little tips help?"
Auron recalled how this cheerful female teacher had told him to silently chant "radish and cabbage" to calm his nerves.
"Thanks, the tip worked well. Though after class, the students all told me not to be picky with my food."
"Haha! Mr. Auron, you're too funny," Ayaka laughed. Seeing he was relaxed enough to joke, she assumed his first class went smoothly.
"Ikeya, I don't have class tomorrow afternoon. I can sub for you if needed." Auron placed his lesson plans on the desk, putting on the act of a reliable colleague.
Unlike others, he wanted a full schedule. And since that class had both Obito and Guy, there was even more reason to check it out.
Ikeya looked delighted and thanked him repeatedly, even promising to treat him to a meal sometime.
In the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, watched through his crystal ball as Auron lectured solemnly about the Will of Fire. Stroking his goatee, he thought the young Root ninja wasn't bad—a promising guy who understood the Will of Fire.
Danzō thought he was being sneaky, but Hiruzen was already aware of certain Root-trained individuals who never made it into the official Root roster.
Still, he let it slide—Danzō was, after all, strengthening the village.
But the Ninja Academy was something Hiruzen personally cared about, so he had watched this first lesson. He was pleasantly surprised. Not only did this Root ninja not show signs of secrecy, he was teaching the Will of Fire and encouraging a sense of duty in students.
"Keep observing him. If he proves to be truly talented, remove him from Root."
At this stage, Auron's performance wasn't quite enough to justify pulling him away from Danzō.
Even though Danzō worked for him in essence, Hiruzen still had to consider the man's pride.
With that, the Third ended his observation jutsu and returned to paperwork, planning to inspect the village again by dusk.
After dinner, Shisui began looking for Auron's home using the directions he had given.
It was located in the sparsely built southeastern part of the village—a remote area far from the main district.
Thanks to the open space, it didn't take long for Shisui to find the single-story wooden house within a crude courtyard.
As soon as he entered the yard, he was greeted with a sight so shocking it left him frozen.
After returning home, Auron went to the bathroom and stuck out his tongue in front of the mirror.
As expected, there was a black curse mark on his tongue—the "Tongue Curse Seal" that every Root member possessed. This seal would paralyse him if he attempted to speak about certain topics, particularly those related to Root or Danzo.Tumblr+4Tumblr+4isotls.com+4
Auron wasn't too concerned about accidentally leaking information; he had no intention of sharing Root's secrets. However, he was worried that Danzo might have the ability to activate the curse seal remotely, effectively holding a fatal weakness over him.
He pondered over possible ways to remove the seal.
"From what I recall, the only way to nullify the Tongue Curse Seal is through Danzo's death."
In the original series, no one had successfully removed the seal. Even when the Third Hokage took people from Root, they might have been freed from the seal under his orders. Otherwise, the seal only became ineffective upon Danzo's death.Tumblr+2Tumblr+2Tumblr+2
But Danzo wasn't an easy target. He rarely left the Root base and was known for being extremely cautious. Moreover, he might have had contingency plans or "revival coins" to protect himself.
Considering his current strength, Auron decided to put aside the idea of eliminating Danzo for now.
"For the time being, I have two options: seek help from Orochimaru or research a solution myself."