~Soutarou POV, One Week Later~
Soutarou's brows twitched as he found himself across from Itachi who'd just finished the most standard graduation test possible: the three academy jutsu, a basic ninja tool or bukijutsu assessment, a paper test, and even a basic medical knowledge test.
'What kind of set up is this…?'
Before Soutarou had been called down from the stands, even though he should've been in class, no one had said anything... Not Fujimoto-sensei... Not the other instructors… Not even the proctors standing around like nervous houseplants pretending they weren't part of this nonsense.
And now… Now he found himself standing on the academy training grounds across from Itachi Uchiha, with a chunin he didn't know acting as a supervisor, several dozen students and teachers watching from the stands, a few Uchiha, a few curious chunin and a prickling sensation in the back of his head that told him a certain monkey fox was absolutely peeping through a telescope technique.
'That shameless old man can't you just let things happen naturally can he? But nope… God forbid two child prodigies breathe in the same direction without Konoha's upper brass turning it into a political event… Worse imagine one of them was a talented Uchiha! Better throw the best talent in the entire generation to ruin that Uchiha genius' reputation.'
Soutarou let out a long, suffering sigh and looked across at Itachi with a glare before saying, "You damned bastard, you really had to jinx us? Ugh… Whatever, let's get this on with."
Itachi, for his part, didn't even look embarrassed... That calm little neutral expression of his only made Soutarou want to smack him more.
The Uchiha boy merely said, "I told you the graduation might be modified."
Soutarou deadpanned and replied simply, "And I told you that was a terrible omen."
Soutarou sighed one more time running his hands through his hair before he rolled his shoulders and stretched for a second… And then all traces of laziness bled out of him... His eyes sharpened... His posture settled... The atmosphere around him changed so abruptly that even the nearby chunin proctor straightened unconsciously.
Across from him Itachi did the same… In both gone was the academy classroom familiarity. Gone was the boy that tossed notes with him in class, ate ramen with him, and occasionally spiraled into philosophical nonsense far too early for his age… No… in front of him stood Itachi Uchiha… A monster in the making.
And from the way Itachi's gaze narrowed, Soutarou knew the same thought had crossed the other boy's mind. The proctor flickered back a good distance and called out, "The moment this coin hits the ground… begin!"
The coin arced up into the air and Soutarou's eyes glinted in scheming fashion…
In a split second before the coin even began descending, a ninjato flashed into his hand as he pulled it out from his self made fuinjutsu inscribed bracers. His back leg slid behind his front into a triangular stance, precise and compact, while chakra poured through his system in a violent controlled flare that pressed down on the entire training ground…
His chakra coating activated instantly… Then his blade lit with neutral chakra first, before water nature flowed into it in a majestic thin veil of azure that danced like a living current along the edge of the sheath and steel…
'Let's see it then, Itachi... Show me what your ridiculous fair and balanced eyeballs can do… And show me the talent of the future greatest user of the base Mangekyo'
Meanwhile, the very moment the coin began falling, Itachi's hand was already moving… One hand flew through seals with absurd speed while the other flashed to his ninja pouch… Kunai. Shuriken. Steel wire. All of it threaded together in just a heartbeat beneath the command of fingers so deft they resembled a hidden marionettist.
And then Itachi's eyes shifted to a deep glowing crimson red with two tomoe.
'Yep… Fair and balanced… Totally… Absolutely no issues here… Meanwhile I have to work like a dog and this bastard just opens his eyes and unlocks premium DLC… I hate kekkei genkai like that…'
Still despite his agony and mental pain, his body never stopped moving and preparing for battle. His hand, which was once just resting against the sheath, moved through one handed seals of his own.
Then both of them seemed frozen in time as the coin descended and in mere moments a subtle clang rang out as the coin hit the ground.
Itachi's head snapped back and he exhaled a massive column of fire, 'Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!'
At nearly the same instant, his off hand launched a cascading storm of shuriken and kunai wrapped in carefully controlled steel wire, folding the entire attack pattern into the flames in a combination strike that would've minced apart an ordinary genin before they even understood what happened.
But, Soutarou ignored all of it… His blade flashed free and a thin azure slash screamed across the field, ripping straight through the dragon fire, the steel wire, and the incoming projectiles with terrifying simplicity before blasting towards Itachi.
The Uchiha boy dove under it at the last possible second, body flickering forward as several phantom images trailed after him.
'I must admit… That was fast… Unfortunately… not faster than my senses. And not faster than me.'
Soutarou didn't so much as blink at the phantoms, instead he shifted to a single handed grip, cocked his head back, and spewed out a massive torrent of water, 'Water Style: Water Colliding Wave!'
A massive flood roared across the ground like a river breaking its banks, instantly swallowing the battlefield and forcing Itachi and his phantoms to backpedal and Soutarou followed without hesitation.
His hands flashed and in an instant smoke burst revealing half a dozen shadow clones that immediately split off and charged in different vectors while the main body stood in place weaving another set of hand signs.
Still much to Soutarou's surprise and subtle understanding, the Uchiha boy danced between the clones with frightening precision, never overcommitting, never letting one get close enough to lock him down… His sharingan spun, catching movements, predicting angles, reading intent… Still one clone slipped into Itachi's guard.
Itachi tried to react and his gaze flashed in a crimson gleam, but just as the clone's body shuddered under a sharingan genjutsu… It exploded with violent force.
Itachi had already started withdrawing, but the shockwave still blasted through the wet air and sent him reeling. That momentary gap was enough and the remaining five clones hounded after him immediately, forcing him to flicker again and again, only to suddenly find himself right in front of a sixth Soutarou who had just finished a set of hand signs.
Releasing a massive water dragon came crashing toward him in majestic, overwhelming fashion.
Itachi's eyes widened… The clones closed in from all flanks and Soutarou watched in open curiosity.
'Now then… what will the great Itachi Uchiha do?'
And as expected Itachi responded instantly… Three shadow clones split from him and branched off with perfect timing, intercepting several of Soutarou's clones before detonating themselves via the copied shadow clone explosion jutsu to create space. At the same time Itachi dove low beneath the descending water dragon, body almost skimming the drenched ground.
Soutarou shook his head in regret, 'I see… Well he gambled… and took the wrong call…'
Then Soutarou finished the jutsu, 'Water Style: Water Dragon Biting Explosion.'
And instead of simply crashing, the water dragon smashed into the soaked battlefield and collapsed into a swirling whirlpool that immediately began spitting out compressed blades of water in all directions.
A line of red appeared across Itachi's side… Another blade slashed through part of his sleeve. Forcing Itachi to grimly abandon all thoughts of retreat and so he came in and closed the gap fast. A kunai appeared in his hand, then another… Chakra surged through the metal as he launched them with such terrifying accuracy that even Soutarou had to admit it was a bit absurd.
Still he barely reacted and felt only a smidge of a threaten, in his eyes it was just flashy technique without the corresponding ability to back it up and so with a casual neutral chakra slash Soutarou cut them down.
Soutarou rapidly closed the distance between Itachi and himself, as he slammed his fist into the ground… The wet earth cracked and water splashed upwards… And before Itachi could fully correct his footing, Soutarou was on him.
As Soutarou closed in he felt a prickling sensation and his eyes snapped shut as his chakra flared to break any possibility of genjutsu as he thought, 'You wanna use those eyes? Fine… I'll just stop giving you mine.'
Soutarou's sensory field expanded over every inch of Itachi's body, every twitch of muscle, every shift in weight, every pulse of chakra and what followed was a clear beat down where Soutarou didn't even bother using tactics. Punch, bruise. Short kick, blocked elbow. Jab of a sword, line of blood. And realizing his situation was getting worse and worse Itachi tried to disengage only for Soutarou's shoulder to slam into his chest.
At the very last second Itachi pivoted and struck back with elegant precision, only for Soutarou to catch the angle, redirect it, and cut across the opening and continue his brutal dismantling of a Punch, a bruise… A jab, line of blood. The rhythm turned truly merciless.
Soutarou admitted that by far Itachi was brilliant amongst the most brilliant, no that much was obvious and even destined to a degree. His reactions, his composure, his ability to chain options together on the fly ridiculous to the highest caliber. Completely ridiculous for their age and even more ridiculous than Itachi's original prowess at this point in time.
But in close quarters? Against Soutarou's sensory field, chakra coated body, and obscene foundations hammered into him by monsters like Tsunade, Kosuke, Guy, and his beastily physicality….? The gap was still there… And it was big.
By now Itachi was panting like crazy and barely holding himself together as his clothes were cut in several places and small injuries had piled up across his arms and side.
Sweat mixed with spray from the waterlogged ground as he tried one final disengagement step… Only for Soutarou to slip inside it as he rested the edge of his sword lightly against Itachi's neck.
Silence… Even the proctors looked stunned… The chunin who'd been trying to keep up with them was literally sweating as if he'd just run a full mission route around Konoha.
Soutarou opened one eye and then the other…. He looked at Itachi quietly for a moment before saying, "You're really strong, Itachi. So strong that if I opened my eyes from the start, I'd lose."
A murmur broke out across the stands… Soutarou ignored it.
He continued, voice calm and blunt, "I'll be honest. I don't have a strong effective counter to your sharingan genjutsu yet. But to use those eyes well you need effective combat ability to back them up."
Itachi stared at him in silence, as Soutarou continued his tone remained even, "You've focused too much on genjutsu, bukijutsu, and the body flicker… In all honesty you're excellent in all three… Freakishly excellent… I admit my kunai and shuriken skills don't match yours. But you gave up too much close quarters combat for it. And so… the gap is still big."
He paused for a moment and then, because it was Itachi, because he respected him, because false praise would only insult the other boy, he added the rest plainly, "I also took this battle fairly slowly except for the opening clashes. But I know you'll catch up soon Itachi. Won't you?"
Itachi's fingers tightened slightly, but Soutarou smiled faintly and said, "Graduate and we'll meet again... Then we'll see who stands the strongest."
The main proctor finally arrived, breathing harder than he should've been, and shakily said, "W-winner… Soutarou Morita."
Soutarou lifted the blade away and stepped back as he said, "Don't feel disheartened Itachi, you are strong and I sincerely look forward to your improvement."
For a brief moment Itachi's expression dipped… Then, just as quickly, it transformed into admiration, resolve, and something bright and dangerous.
He straightened despite the blood and the wet clothes and nodded quietly. "Yes, I do too… I won't let you down Soutarou. Let's spar again when I've gotten stronger. Thank you for guiding me."
Soutarou waved a hand dismissively even while inwardly groaning, 'Great. I accidentally motivated him again... Fantastic... Excellent work me… Truly a generational self sabotage. Don't go getting too strong now… I just want a bit of a challenge, not too much a challenge'
Though out loud he just said, "If they don't pass you after that performance, I'll go talk to Grandpa Third."
A few teachers choked in the background, Itachi almost smiled, all before Soutarou added, "Don't go taking the Chunin Exams without me though. I'd like to compete against you."
Itachi's brows rose slightly and he just drily said, "Then just graduate."
Soutarou shrugged and returned the ninjato to his bracer seal in one smooth motion. "I prefer sluggishly passing the days, you know? Slacking off while we still can… The real shinobi world is too complicated for all of that…"
That got an actual quiet chuckle from Itachi… The two of them began walking back toward the main grounds, their pace slow now that the fight had ended.
As they moved, Soutarou could feel the stares from every direction… Awe from the students… Shock from the chunin… Heavier, more measured gazes from those in the shadows. And from the edge of the crowd, one especially stern gaze.
Soutarou glanced over and found a strict looking Uchiha man standing there, face severe, posture rigid, eyes fixed not on Soutarou but on Itachi, 'Uncle Fugaku. You look like you're trying to decide whether to be proud, annoyed, worried, or all three at once.'
Soutarou suppressed a sigh… He lightly jerked his chin toward Fugaku and silently wished Itachi luck. Itachi followed the look, then rolled his eyes in a way that was so oddly normal it nearly ruined the entire dramatic atmosphere. He waved dismissively as if to say he'd deal with it. Soutarou snorted, 'Yep. That's still just Itachi.'
Still… As they stepped off the field, Soutarou's expression dimmed for only a fraction of a second.
'Too fast… He's growing too fast. Naori too. Izumi's not far behind either. This generation is becoming too monstrous too early... Hah… what a pain.'
His eyes drifted once, very briefly, toward the Hokage monument in the distance.
'Old monkey fox… I know you saw that… I just hope you don't let the darkness consume you.'
Then Soutarou stretched his arms over his head and yawned as if he hadn't just put on a demonstration terrifying enough to make academy instructors question their career choices. He then muttered, just loud enough for Itachi to hear, "Man… all that for a freaking graduation exam… I should be paid for this."
Itachi actually let out a soft huff of amusement… And side by side, one bloodied and one dryly complaining, the two prodigies walked back across the grounds while the academy remained trapped in stunned silence behind them.