This is it! The moment I have been waiting for. As soon as I get my first ninja scroll, everything is going to change.
I could barely contain myself as I waited in the line with the other graduates. Sensei Mishima was going on about how much of an honor it is to become a shinobi, but personally, all I wanted him to do was shut up and start handing out the scrolls.
This was the day I was finally graduating from the ninja academy, and being an orphan from the village meant I didn't have a secret technique I could inherit from a clan. It meant I had to make do with the fire scroll just like all the others who were unfortunate not to be a part of a clan.
Out of the 25 graduates, only five of us are in the same situation as me.
Currently, we were standing outside in front of the school as all the major clan leaders watched their members graduate. The clans were highly secretive, so the young shinobi graduates would most likely get their scroll upon returning home.
Young shinobis like me, on the other hand, would receive theirs now when Sensei Mishima finally finished parroting on.
"You shinobis will be the future of our village. You are our last line of defense. I expect good things from each and every one of you."
With those words, the first student was allowed to approach the podium where he was given his headband. The headband had a metal plate with a dragon insignia carved into it. The student was also given a scroll.
I figured the scroll was a dummy. It was just a ceremonial prop since this specific student belonged to one of the 13 clans in the village. Soon, the next student ascended the podium and was given his headband and scroll.
This continued until it was finally my turn. Sensei Mishima gave me a complementary smile as he handed me the headband and the ninja scroll. In this world, the first technique you learn acts as a base for every other technique, so no matter what other technique I managed to learn in the future, this fire technique will be the most important.
It will be the foundation from which my body will be built. Feeling happy about my new scroll, I bowed my head excitedly.
"Thank you, Sensei!" I said, placing my fist in my palm as I bowed deeply.
In response, the sensei did a slight nod.
"Use it to better your village."
After receiving the scrolls, I promptly exited the stairs to rejoin the other students. The ceremony continued until everyone received their scroll and headband.
After the ceremony, Mishima asked everyone who received the fire scroll to stay back while everyone else ran home to their clan to receive their proper scroll.
"Congratulations on obtaining your scrolls. The scroll that you all have obtained is the fire scroll. Feel proud. It is the specialty of our village and is a highly sought-after scroll. In the past, many villages had waged war just to obtain our scroll, so count yourself lucky." Sensei Mishima said as he observed each and every one of our faces.
The fire scroll wasn't the best scroll to be given as a primary scroll, but it was still a sought-after scroll. There were plenty of powerful shinobis who used the earth scroll in the past, so as long as I work hard, I should be fine.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the process of opening a scroll. It should be one of the things you learned at the academy."
To open a scroll, all we had to do was pour ki into the seal. Such seals were impossible to break by physical force, so as long as someone doesn't know the proper qi control, they couldn't hope to open a scroll.
Following the other four students beside me, I began pouring my qi into the seal.
CRACK!
The seal to the scroll of the boy standing next to me was the first to crack. With a wide grin on his face, the boy happily opened his scroll. Suddenly, the letters on the scroll started to glow, and so did the boy's eyes which was now the same color as flames.
It took only a few seconds after for the scroll to disintegrate and the boy to learn its contents. This lit a fire under the rest of us as we hastily tried to open our scrolls.
CRACK!
Another scroll was opened, and its contents quickly learned. It wasn't long before another scroll was opened after that. At this point, my fingers began to tremble as I poured my ki inside the seal.
How fast the seals opened spoke to technique more than anything. I wasn't the best when it came to technique, but I was confident I could open a scroll in under 10 seconds.
A minute passed, and I was now the only person who hadn't opened their scroll.
'What the hell is happening?'
No matter how much I tried, the damn seal wouldn't open!
Sensei Mishima watched me like a hawk. His wrinkled face showed no emotions, which made me even more nervous. At least if he was disappointed or angry, but there he was, with the same blank expression as always.
"That's enough, Kenjaku," suddenly, his cold, emotionless voice spoke.
Still, I didn't dare stop. I continued to pour my qi into the seal. I could hear the muffled voices of the other genins around me but I kept all attention on the scroll.
"That's enough!"
This time, he forcefully took the scroll from my hand.
"You're incompatible with the earth scroll."
Those words were crushing. Hearing them, it felt as if he had stuck a kunai into my stomach and twisted it. Something gripped my heart; I didn't know what but it felt crushing.
This was my last hope.
"You cannot become a shinobi if you don't know at least one technique. Your only hope is learning the technique of one of the 13 clans."
We both knew there was a slim chance of that happening. The clans only trusted those born to them. Plus I was a bastard child of one of the clan members who got thrown out.
If I tried to join, the other clans would suspect that I was a spy sent to steal their technique. None of them would ever take me in, which meant I only had one option.
An option that meant I was as good as dead. An option that was akin to slitting my stomach open and jumping off a cliff. Sensei Mishima realized this but he didn't spare an effort to seal me from the truth as he said the words I most dreaded to hear.
"You need to find your own scroll."