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A cool breeze flowed softly across the tiled roof of the Ninja academy. From there, the village spread out like a living map—houses, trees, and the Hokage Monument watching over all.
The three Genins sat on the steps and looked at the figure leaning lazily against the metal railings with his arms crossed.
Naruto, still chuckling under his breath from the prank, gave a lazy wave. "So are we gonna learn some super cool jutsu now?"
The Jonin kept silent and observed the three kids. Seconds stretched into a minute and Naruto finally burst. "Hey! Aren't you gonna say something?!"
"Hmm… Alright. You all know each other somewhat but still… Let's start with introductions. Why don't you tell me about yourselves one at a time."
Sakura frowned. "Introductions? What do you want us to say?"
"Hmm… Tell me your likes, your dislikes. Dreams for the future and hobbies. That sort of thing."
Naruto blinked. "Why don't you go first? So we can see how it's supposed to work."
Kakashi gave a little shrug. "Me? … Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. What I like and dislike huh… I like many things. I dislike even more things. Now my dreams for the future… Hm…I never really thought about it. And my hobbies are classified." He said it all with a lazy drawl.
The three Genin face-faulted.
Naruto's jaw dropped hearing such an introduction. "That's it?! That's not fair!"
Sakura spoke softly to her teammates with a deadpan expression. "Yeah. That was completely useless. All we got was his name."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. 'He's being deliberately vague. He doesn't want us to know him yet. How exactly did Daichi put up with this guy?'
"Okay. Your turn. You on the right. Go."
Naruto perked up and grinned wide. "Alright! My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I like cup ramen, especially the miso flavor, comparing different ramens and when Iruka sensei treats me to ramen at the Ichiraku noodle shop. I also like hanging out with my friends. Especially my best friend Daichi and..."
He glanced at Sakura with a grin, but she rolled her eyes.
He continued. "I dislike the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, and I hate people who look down on me. And my future dream is… to become Hokage! The greatest ninja in the village. Then they'll stop disrespecting me and everyone will start treating me as someone important!"
Kakashi's expression didn't change, but inside, something flickered. 'Well, he's grown up in a very interesting way.' "Alright. Next."
Sakura gave a quick nod. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like…" She glanced sideways at Sasuke, cheeks pink and a small squeal escaped her throat. Her eyes then briefly flicked toward Naruto before continuing. "I also like people who try hard… And I dislike people who pick on my friends. My hobby is… studying medical techniques and reading books about chakra theory, and as for my dream…" Another quick glance at Sasuke. "I want to protect the people important to me." Her tone softened at the end.
Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "Good." 'Hmm… It's different from what I expected. It seems watching Sasuke nearly die to save their lives has changed her. I wonder how that will play out.'
The Jonin then looked at the remaining Genin. "And last but not least…"
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he said curtly. "I hate many things and I don't particularly like anything. Well, almost..." 'I can tolerate Daichi.'
"And what I have is not a dream, but an ambition: to restore my clan… and to become stronger than someone. My goal is to gain the strength needed to kill him."
The air grew heavier around him. Even Naruto felt it. 'Who is he talking about?'
Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly, but he let the silence linger. 'So that's where you stand… Still driven by revenge… But now with the Sharingan awakened, things might escalate faster.' He made a mental note to watch Sasuke closely.
He gave a nod. Then, with a clap of his hands, Kakashi broke the tension. "Alright. That's enough for introductions. I've learned enough. You're all unique and you have your own ideas."
He straightened from the railing. "Now that we got that out of the way, it's time I tell you something important. We're going to have our first mission tomorrow."
"Oh, oh what kinda mission?" Naruto's excitement could be heard in his voice.
"It's a mission the four of us are going to complete together." Kakashi said mysteriously and Sasuke slightly narrowed his eyes. "A survival exercise."
"Huh? A survival exercise?" "I thought we were supposed to take on a real mission. We already did this stuff at the academy." Naruto and Sakura voiced their confusion but Sasuke remained silent.
"Oh this isn't like the ones you took at the academy. This is a completely different exercise."
"So um… What kinda training is it then?"
Hearing Naruto's question, Kakashi began chucking. It sent an ominous feeling in the hearts of the Genins. "Oh you're not going to like the answer to that question."
"Why not?" Sasuke suddenly asked with a serious tone.
"Of the 27 students who graduated from your class, only nine people will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a pass-or-fail test with a 66 percent chance of failure. At least."
"WHAAATT!?"
—-
A few hundred meters away from the four ninjas was Daichi, quietly observing them from behind a tree. 'Oh man, that look on Naruto's face. Priceless. I'm glad I made it in time to watch the fun. Looks like Kakashi is really making them sweat.'
He then thought back to the two who were once supposed to be his teammates. 'I wonder what they're doing right now?... Eh. Maybe I'll run into them one day.'
—-
"But, but, but… I thought we were already Genins. What gives?" Naruto shouted angrily.
"You're not Genin yet."
"No way!" Naruto exploded.
"You've only passed the academy exam," Kakashi continued, unfazed. "That just gives you the right to be considered for team training." The Jonin's eye curved into a crescent. "Didn't Iruka tell you that? Well… Like I said. Less than a third of you will pass."
Naruto's jaw hit the floor. "Whaaat?! You gotta be kidding me."
Sasuke said nothing, but his fists clenched. 'So this is the real hurdle.'
"Oh, don't worry. It's nothing too hard," Kakashi said with a suspiciously pleasant tone. "Just show up tomorrow morning at six. Training Ground Three. Bring your ninja gear— Oh and… skip breakfast. You'll just throw it up."
The way he said that sent a chill down their spines.
Sasuke frowned. 'A test to filter us even further… Seems he's serious. Hmm… Maybe this is a good thing. Did Daichi have to go through this too?'
Kakashi turned away, giving them a lazy wave. "Anyway, that's all for now. Don't be late tomorrow."
"Wait! You're leaving already?" Naruto asked.
"I've got somewhere to be," Kakashi said calmly, already walking away. "See you at six," he said, before vanishing in a flicker of movement.
—-
The Jonin reappeared not far from where he just was. "Enjoying the view?" He turned his head slightly and spoke to the tree line.
"Caught me." Daichi stepped out from behind the trunk with a small smile.
"Shouldn't you be at the lab getting things ready for the final treatment?"
"Oh I am. But I just couldn't miss this." The Genin said with a smile.
'A shadow clone. Of course.' Kakashi immediately deduced. "You were watching the introductions?"
"Yeah. Naruto almost blew a gasket when you said 'two-thirds fail.'"
A lazy curve crept into Kakashi's eye. "Well, I was simply motivating them."
Daichi shrugged. "Hey I know. Fear is an excellent motivator."
They stood there a beat. After a short few moments of silence Kakashi spoke. "You plan on spying while I talk to my team tomorrow?"
"Maybe."
The Jonin sighed. "I know they're your friends but just don't interfere with the test."
Daichi smirked. "Hey come on. You know me better than that. You won't even know I'm there."
Kakashi nodded. "Hm…"
Suddenly Daichi tensed and then relaxed. "It's time. You should be there." Daichi was ready and he wanted his teacher to be there when he began the treatment.
"I know." Kakashi nodded his head. "I'm on my way."
With that the silver haired Jonin left with a body flicker and Daichi vanished in a puff of smoke.
—-
Inside the medical facility – Noon
The chakra-sealed door slid open with a quiet hiss. Kakashi stepped into the sterile room, joining a gathering of legends.
Tobirama in Anbu disguise, Hiruzen in his official Hokage attire and Jiraiya were present and stood a few feet outside the enclosed treatment chamber. Their eyes focused on Shizune and Daichi as they set up several machines and medical apparatuses.
Inside the small isolated chamber, near Tsunade's bed stood Daichi, in his full sterile gear—long white coat, medical gloves, chakra tags lining the sleeves of his arms.
"Vitals stable," Shizune reported quickly. "Chakra conduction is holding. Organ stress at manageable levels."
"Good." Daichi checked the board, eyes scanning the lines.
Tsunade lay still. Monitors beeped gently, and faint lines of healing chakra traced beneath her skin.
"Let's begin." He unsealed a chilled vial from a lockscroll. "We're beginning the core injection." Daichi carefully inserted the syringe into the IV line. "Infusing," he said.
"This is the new serum?" Outside the chamber, Jiraiya asked.
Hiruzen nodded once. "Daichi called it A.I.P. - X. It will help Tsunade assimilate the foreign cells. According to Daichi, we should get the first results within twenty to thirty minutes."
The vial was emptying slowly. Shizune kept her eyes on the chakra monitors. "Her readings are steady. Chakra network isn't rejecting the infusion."
Shizune leaned in, chakra gently probing. "There," she breathed. "Her body's… adapting. It's accepting the new vector."
Daichi held his palms above Tsunade's abdomen. "Now we wait."
Outside the chamber, all eyes were on Daichi, Shizune and Tsunade. Tobirama looked at Daichi's hands as he was injecting the serum. 'No tremor. No hesitation. It's as if he's done this in his head a thousand times already.'
Time took on a careful pace.
At the twenty-minute mark, Daichi asked with a low murmur. "Numbers?"
Shizune toggled the overlay. "Regenerative markers rising… slowly. Chakra variance down by…" She squinted. "Five percent. It's… much slower than your last simulation."
Daichi didn't answer. He was already checking seals, calibrating the micro-field, nudging the hormone regulator line by half a notch.
At thirty minutes, the curves on the monitor barely crawled.
Shizune swallowed. "It's not matching your models."
"I see it." Daichi's tone was flat, not rattled. His hands didn't stop. 'Her body should be responding to the serum much better and faster than this. So what's going on?'
Daichi retested the admixture, checked the enzyme diffusion run, re-read the binding profile against her original genome. "Serum A.I.P.-X is intact. External variables are controlled."
"What's wrong? Is it not working?" Jiraiya asked anxiously from outside.
The chakra on the monitors began to shift. "It's working," Shizune said softly. "But slowly… too slowly."
Daichi narrowed his eyes. "The serum is fully compatible. No cellular rejection, no degeneration. It's adapting. But her healing rate is far below the expected values."
Jiraiya clenched his fists and frowned. "So what's happening with her?"
Daichi was silent for a few moments and then replied in a low tone. "I don't know."
'I accounted for chakra drain, initial metabolic lag rejection and almost everything else… So what's going on here? Why isn't her body fully responding?'
"Daichi-" "Enough!" Jiraiya was about to call out to the boy but Hiruzen stopped him. The Toad sage turned towards the Hokage and saw the grim expression on the man's face.
"I know you're anxious. I am too. But disturbing them right now won't help anyone. Let them do their work." Hiruzen spoke with a soft tone and his former student slowly nodded. "Sorry sensei."
"I know how you're feeling, Jiraiya." Hiruzen spoke softly. "But now the only thing we can do is trust them to help Tsunade pull through from this nightmare."
He let out a deep breath and kept quiet as the two medics worked on the unconscious Sannin.
Inside the chamber Shizune took blood samples and analyzed them. Time passed by and she made a frightening discovery. 'Why is the reaction slowing down? Instead of assimilating it and speeding up the recovery, her body is slowly ignoring Daichi's serum.'
Tears formed in the corner of her eyes and she looked at Daichi. From his grave expression she understood that he also found the problem.
The older medic turned her head and gently rubbed her teacher's hand. "What's wrong with you Lady Tsunade?" She asked softly but she got no response.
Author's Note:-
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