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Ding!
A long, gleaming sword flew in from afar, perfectly blocking the kunai in Aburame Ryōma's hand.
A masked, purple-haired kunoichi landed atop a tree branch, panting.
She'd finally made it—yinggao Uzuki exhaled in relief. But when her eyes fell on Ryōma's tattered clothes and the blood trickling from his left shoulder, her expression turned grave.
In contrast, the boy he'd been chasing—Uchiha Ying—stood there without a scratch.
Unbelievable.
"Hey! Fox spirit, quickly hand over the scroll to—"
Mizuki, who had just arrived with Naruto, froze mid-sentence.
Something wasn't right.
Naruto was clutching the forbidden scroll, sure—but there were three unexpected guests:
A masked kunoichi—likely ANBU.
A Root ninja with black insects swarming around him.
And ying—just another student... supposedly.
But weren't those first two giving off way too much pressure?
Mizuki instinctively reached for the sword hidden behind him. Facing both Root and ANBU? That was suicide.
Damn it… why are there so many people here?
Could it be—did Naruto already realize I wanted to use him to steal the scroll?
Root ninja… and the Nine-Tails…
After being interrupted, Ryōma grew even more cautious.
Seeing Naruto cradling the scroll and being chased by ANBU, he realized things were spiraling.
But he was still unwilling to give up.
Had the Hokage's reinforcements arrived?
Iruka soon arrived behind Mizuki, joining the tense standoff.
Spotting the masked kunoichi, he assumed she was with the Hokage's faction.
But neither Ryōma nor yinggao had time to worry about these "strays" stumbling into the wolf's den.
Only ying watched calmly, inwardly eating melon seeds.
Sure, this chaos was mostly his fault, but who said he couldn't just sit back and enjoy his own masterpiece?
He wondered what kind of face the Third Hokage was making right now.
—
"Has Root gotten so ruthless they're targeting literal Academy students now?"
yinggao couldn't fathom why Root would pursue ying so obsessively.
"This brat... barely has Genin-level strength. Could he be a spy from another village?"
Ryōma's face twitched as he spoke.
"What's your real reason for hiding your strength?"
"I didn't hide anything," ying said flatly. "You just walked into my trap and got yourself hurt."
His voice cut like a blade.
All he needed was to provoke Ryōma into lashing out again, and the victory was his.
"And you—so weak, yet you made it through the Academy? I'd say *you're* the spy planted here to weaken our village!"
"You little—! You're asking for death!"
Ryōma lost control, summoning his swarm of insects and lunging at ying.
"No hurting the shadow!"
Naruto, still confused, leapt in front of ying, arms spread wide.
"That's my friend you're attacking!"
He puffed up proudly.
"I just learned a super-strong jutsu! I'll beat this guy myself!"
He began forming hand seals.
Despite everything, this guy had accepted him—even knowing he carried the Nine-Tails. Maybe only ying and Sasuke had ever done that...
"So—! I won't let anyone hurt my friend!"
"...Naruto."
ying watched as Naruto positioned himself between him and danger, clumsily protecting him with a scroll tucked under one arm.
Damn. I came too early. This was supposed to be Iruka's job...
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto charged, a swarm of clones bursting into the clearing.
Ryōma blinked, torn between surprise and frustration.
How had the Nine-Tails learned a forbidden technique so fast?
But there was no time to think.
Even so, this jutsu didn't work well against him.
Bang—bang—bang!
Naruto's clones swarmed, only to be popped by the insects as fast as they appeared.
One clone managed to trap Ryōma temporarily, but Naruto himself soon found insects crawling all over him.
"What are you doing?!"
Iruka rushed in, seeing Naruto caught and Ryōma about to strike ying again.
"What is happening?!"
Mizuki was long gone. Iruka stood protectively between Ryōma and the boys, demanding answers.
ying stepped forward.
"I don't know either. He attacked me in the village, unprovoked. Said the entire Uchiha Clan should disappear."
He glanced to the side, making sure the right people heard him.
"Tch. Uchihas are evil by nature. You must be hiding something…"
Ryōma wasn't helping his own case.
He was too fixated on grabbing this brat and escaping.
"Aburame Ryōma!!"
A heavy voice cut through the clearing like a whip.
"...Lord Hokage?!"
The moment he heard it, Ryōma froze in place.
Hiruzen descended with two ANBU in tow—and a very panicked Mizuki.
"Stop this nonsense!"
"Yes…"
Ryōma lowered his head. But he wasn't done.
"But Lord Hokage, this boy—"
"Enough!"
Hiruzen's voice boomed.
"A Genin defeats a Chunin through tactics and traps, and you're the one complaining? Shame on you!"
He scanned the battlefield, immediately piecing things together.
"ying is a hero. If you still recognize my authority, then apologize—to him and his shadow."
"...I…"
Ryōma ground his teeth.
He *had* said those things. He *had* been provoked. But it was still on him.
"I apologize. I was wrong to doubt you. And I shouldn't have slandered the Uchiha clan..."
ying gave a small smile.
"It's fine. After all, with only two of us left, killing me probably wouldn't make a difference."
His words stabbed deeper than any kunai.
"So next time, go ahead and do it. You probably won't even need to say sorry."
"You—!"
Ryōma opened his mouth, but seeing the Hokage's glare, he quickly bowed even lower.
"I swear, on the Aburame clan, I will never raise a hand against you again."
Tch. Stupid brat. Next time, I'll rip your spine out.
"Good. I can rest easy now."
ying turned away, but the glint in his eyes said everything.
Next time... it won't just be your shoulder that's ruined.
"Right."
Hiruzen nodded, then smiled at Naruto and ying.
"Shadow… you did well. And Naruto, you've proven yourself. Despite taking the scroll, you fought for friendship. That's the Will of Fire."
Iruka announced Naruto's graduation and led the group out of the Death Forest.
The awkward praise was clearly damage control after this whole mess went off-script.
—
Back at the Hokage's office...
"That damn Danzo! I told him to contact Orochimaru, and he sends *that* Root freak instead?!"
Hiruzen slammed his pipe onto the desk.
"My apologies, Lord Hokage. It's my fault for not watching Root more closely..."
yinggao Uzuki hung her head.
She blamed herself—and secretly resented being pulled from a moonlight date with Hayate for this mess.
"It's not your fault. Go rest."
Hiruzen waved her off without punishment.
He knew she was no match for someone like Ryōma anyway.
But to think… ying actually injured him.
Even without awakening his Sharingan… could this boy be something special?
He picked up the 'Future Notes' from his drawer and exhaled smoke.
If this future is real… has it already started changing?
A man nearing death rarely gets second chances.
—
"The Uchiha clan really isn't lacking in monsters, huh?"
At the Root base...
Danzo listened to the report, unmoved.
Things had escalated too much. Time to cut ties with the current plan.
But...
Why did nothing go as planned today?
All those ANBU mobilized, yet not a single target eliminated.
Suspicious.
And that monkey… acting weird. Could he be planning to bring Orochimaru back?
Hmph. That might work to my advantage too.
"Ryōma," Danzo said coldly. "You failed today. I should punish you."
"...Yes, Lord Danzo."
"But for now, your next assignment will redeem you."
The woman bowed and left.
Danzo tapped his desk.
No… something's off with Hiruzen.
He's hiding something.
—
"ying... Uzumaki Naruto...!!"
Meanwhile, completely forgotten...
Sasuke stood alone beneath the evening sky.
He'd been waiting since school ended to discuss 'dream tactics' with Naruto and ying.
But the two had never shown up.
He stood there in silence, the cold wind brushing his face.
Then—he saw them.
Naruto and ying emerged from Ichiraku Ramen, arms over each other's shoulders, laughing.
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto waved, full of joy. "Too bad you didn't come earlier! Iruka-sensei only treated *us* to ramen!"
He pointed proudly at the headband on his forehead.
But Sasuke said nothing.
He turned his back, and walked away without a word.
"Eh? Why's he being all cold again?"
"I think he's angry," ying murmured, his eyes narrowing.
Shit. We forgot we were supposed to meet him.
"Oh no. He waited for us…"
Naruto finally realized his mistake.
They'd left Sasuke behind—and now tonight's 'dream mission' was already a failure.
And in that same dream, ying's bond with *certain* NPCs had grown ever stronger.
Tsunade's body was fragrant.
Hinata's was… unbelievably sweet.
If only the real ones were that easy to touch…
And that was that.
—
"I wonder which team I'll be assigned to today…"
The next morning.
Same rooftop. Same morning haze.
ying glanced at the pale-eyed girl beside him, blushing so hard she looked like a kettle about to boil.
A new day had begun.
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