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Five years had passed.
During that time, Naruto had lived a disciplined and fulfilling life. After the Uchiha massacre, Konoha entered a period of true peace. The other great villages—Cloud, Stone, and the rest—had never learned the real truth of that night. With Konoha's reputation still holding strong, and with all of them yet to fully recover from the Third Great Shinobi War, the Fourth was suppressed before it could begin.
In this rare time of peace, Naruto paid no mind to outside affairs.
Every day, his routine was fixed and simple:
Academy → Home → Forest training ground.
He devoted himself to practice, honing knowledge and skills without distraction.
And over those years, he noticed something else: the ANBU that had once shadowed his every step were quietly withdrawn.
Maybe it was because graduation was near, and he was about to become a full-fledged shinobi.
Maybe it was because his years of docile behavior had finally reassured the Third Hokage.
Either way, about a year ago, the constant prickling sensation of being watched had vanished. That day, Naruto had almost shouted for joy. Only then could he begin to move forward with his true plans—without the mask of weakness.
Everything was going smoothly.
All he had to do was wait for graduation, wait to be assigned a team, and the next phase could begin.
But Naruto had forgotten one small, crucial detail—
The graduation exam.
It wasn't until the day itself that the truth came crashing down.
In the examination room, his turn came.
"Clone Technique!"
Bang!
Golden hair, a steady voice, a flare of chakra—white smoke burst outward with force.
But when the haze cleared…
There were no clones.
Instead, on the ground lay two orange, formless lumps. Well—perhaps they weren't entirely formless. Compared to years ago, they almost looked vaguely humanoid. If you were generous, you could even say they had… color.
Still, in this setting, it was far from funny.
This was the Academy's examination hall.
The year was Konoha Year 60.
Naruto was twelve.
Despite being consistently among the top five in class, sometimes even first in theory, Naruto had once again failed the Clone Technique.
Even he couldn't stop the twitch at the corner of his mouth as he looked at the pathetic blobs beside him.
He had always known this would happen.
But facing it again, after five whole years, was another matter.
Especially when he glanced at Iruka, whose forehead veins bulged as he fought to keep calm. Naruto hunched his shoulders, scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and forced a grin.
He wanted to speak—
But Iruka's face had gone completely dead.
This kid could master almost anything with ease.
The Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique had taken only days.
His theoretical knowledge and taijutsu were excellent.
Three years ago, after pestering Iruka endlessly, he'd even learned a C-rank Wind Release ninjutsu in record time. (That was when Iruka had tested his chakra nature—Wind. Though Iruka himself wasn't Wind-natured, as a seasoned chunin he still knew a couple of C-rank wind techniques. Teaching one wasn't strange at all.)
And yet, this one single jutsu—Clone—
No matter what he tried, no matter how he practiced—
He simply could not learn it.
Iruka was beginning to wonder if the boy had been born cursed against this technique. But the graduation exam required Clone Technique. Giving him another chance was only formality, and as expected—failure.
This wasn't a clone. This was…
Well. Better left unsaid.
"...Sigh."
Iruka let out a silent breath, then hardened his face and looked directly at Naruto.
"Unqualified."
He didn't want to say it. He wanted Naruto to graduate.
But rules were rules.
The exam existed to measure overall ability.
The Three BasicTechniqueswere the foundation.
If you couldn't even manage those, you had no right to call yourself a genin.
The word landed like a stone in Naruto's chest. His face fell.
What? No way.
If he couldn't graduate, if he was forced to repeat the year…
That would be a disaster.
He had no time to waste.
The original story had mentioned Naruto failing multiple times, but this Naruto doubted the truth of that. Graduation exams were annual, yes, and early graduation was possible—but only in wartime, and only with Academy approval. You couldn't just decide to take the test whenever you liked.
So the claim that the original Naruto had failed multiple times?
A giant bug.
Regardless, this Naruto had no intention of repeating a year.
This was Konoha Year 60—the beginning of the story itself.
Every step from here on mattered.
He had no time to squander.
So what if he couldn't use Clone Technique? He could always learn real clone techniques later.
"Iruka-sensei, maybe I could—"
But before he could finish, Iruka cut him off with a wave.
"No, Naruto. Unqualified means unqualified. That's the rule. The exam exists to evaluate you comprehensively. The Three Basictechniques the very foundation. If you can't master even those, you aren't fit to be a genin."
Iruka crossed his arms on the desk, his face set and solemn.