With the final ink drying on the registration scrolls, the atmosphere within the Ninja Academy courtyard shifted from festive to clinical. The instructors, seasoned Chunin with eyes that had seen the horrors of the front lines, didn't care for pedigree—they cared for fundamentals. The placement assessments began immediately.
Evan Kamiyo stepped forward when his name was called. He didn't use the flashy techniques he had been honing in the dark of the forbidden forest. Instead, he performed a simple Clone Technique. It was a basic E-rank jutsu, yet Evan executed it with a level of precision that made the air hum. The clone appeared in a crisp puff of white smoke, identical to him down to the subtle glint in his eyes. There was no flickering, no transparency, and no wasted chakra.
The instructor nodded, scribbling a high mark. Evan passed with ease and was directly classified into the elite "Class A."
Not far away, Sasuke Uchiha stood in the center of a small circle of gawking students. When his turn came, he performed the Transformation Technique. With a sharp hand seal, he didn't just transform into a random object; he perfectly replicated the image of the instructor himself. The execution was flawless, the mimicry extending even to the fold of the vest and the scowl on the man's face. It drew more than a few impressed looks and hushed whispers from the girls.
One by one, the other children of the prominent clans—Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Aburame—stepped into the light. For them, these tests were mere formalities. They had been bred for this, their clans providing them with private tutors and secret training regimes since they could walk. Their grades were excellent, exactly as the village expected of its "noble" bloodlines.
In contrast, the children of civilians relied on raw, unrefined talent. They were the wildcards. If luck favored them and their chakra coils were naturally robust, they could scrape their way into the elite class. If not, they were relegated to the general curriculum, destined to become the rank-and-file Genin who handled the village's mundane logistics.
"Wait! Wait for me!"
Just as the lead instructor was about to close his ledger and conclude the morning's assessment, a familiar, high-pitched shout shattered the professional silence.
Naruto Uzumaki came sprinting through the gates, his orange jumpsuit a loud blur against the muted grays of the Academy walls. He was panting heavily, his face flushed, and he nearly tripped over his own feet as he skidded to a halt under the mixed, often cold gazes of the crowd.
"I—I'm sorry! I overslept!"
Evan glanced at Naruto from the shade of the tree and let out a soft sigh. He understood perfectly. Yesterday, Naruto had been so consumed by the excitement of finally entering the Academy that he had completely ignored Evan's repeated reminders about the importance of a morning alarm. As expected, his lack of discipline had come back to bite him within the first hour of his ninja career.
Still, the world of the Leaf was not entirely fair, even in its punishments. Thanks to the legendary physical vitality of the Uzumaki clan and a "highly suggestive" recommendation letter from the Third Hokage that the instructors didn't dare ignore, Naruto was allowed to participate.
He barely made the cut, fumbling through a shaky Transformation that looked more like a melting wax figure than a person, but his raw chakra volume was so high it practically screamed for attention.
"Yo! Evan!"
After the placement results were pinned to the notice board, Naruto came charging over, his earlier embarrassment forgotten in a surge of boundless energy.
"Idiot, didn't I tell you to wake up early today?" Evan snapped, though there was no real malice in his voice, only the weary tone of a parent dealing with a rambunctious pet. He rolled his eyes as Naruto reached him.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, his whiskers twitching as he offered a wide, sheepish grin.
"I was just too excited last night! I kept practicing my 'Hokage Pose' in the mirror! But it doesn't matter—I'm in! I've entered the Academy now! I'll definitely become the greatest Hokage ever, just you watch!"
Evan stared at Naruto for a long, silent second. He looked at the boy who carried the weight of the village's hatred and the power of a disaster, and he felt the sheer noise level radiating from him. Without saying a word, Evan silently took half a step away.
Too noisy.
"Come on," Naruto said, undeterred by the cold shoulder. "I'm starving! I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate our first day!"
Evan waved him off, turning his back to head toward the exit. "I have training. And you should go home and actually read the orientation manual before you get expelled on day two."
Naruto pouted, lingering at the gate and glancing back reluctantly as Evan disappeared into the crowd. For now, Evan knew they weren't suited to spend too much time together in public. The village elders and the Root were watching the Jinchūriki closely; being his only friend was a political minefield Evan wasn't ready to detonate just yet. There would be plenty of days ahead in the classroom.
From a distance, Hyuga Hiashi watched the interaction, his pale Byakugan eyes tracking Naruto's retreating figure. His expression was deeply unsettled.
Approaching the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki so openly… and with such a lack of fear, Hiashi thought. Is that child brave, or simply reckless?
At that moment, the Hyuga patriarch realized something that made the hair on his neck stand up. The boy named Evan Kamiyo… the boy his daughter was so fond of… might not be nearly as simple or as "civilian" as his file suggested.
The Interior of the Mind: Data and Power
After finishing the day's formalities and escaping the social pressures of the Academy, Evan returned to the sanctuary of his home. His body felt a slight, lingering fatigue from the social exertion, but his mind was as sharp as a freshly whetted kunai.
Enrolling in the Academy changed nothing for his real self. His daily training routine—his "Grind"—would not stop. It had long since transcended mere habit and become a biological instinct.
He sat on his bed, closed his eyes, and summoned the status panel that only he could see.
Status Panel Character: Evan Kamiyo Age: 6 years old Constitution: 65.8 (Sage Body awakening: 58%) Spirit: 45.9 (Yin Affinity: High; Eyes dormant) Chakra: 18.6 Cards (1 Card = 1 Kakashi Unit)
Skills:
Chakra Refinement: (Lv.7) - High-efficiency conversion, minimal leakage.
Great Fireball Technique: (Lv.7) - Output capable of incinerating a small forest.
Fire Style: Fireball: (Lv.6) - Rapid-fire, high-velocity projectile.
Lightning Style: Ground Walk: (Lv.7) - High-voltage area denial.
Lightning Style: Web Spider: (Lv.5) - Chakra-conductive binding.
Wind Style: Vacuum Sword: (Lv.6) - Condensed cutting wind.
Chakra Attributes: Wind (5), Thunder (5), Earth (3), Fire (6), Water (4), Yin (2), Yang (5) Credits: 8963
Evaluation: Superior physique and chakra reserves. You possess the raw destructive power comparable to an elite Jonin. However, you lack the systematic combat experience of a war-veteran. In a battle of attrition, you are a monster; in a battle of wits, you are still a student.
Evan exhaled slowly, the breath leaving his lungs in a steady hiss. More than a year of brutal, shadow-clone-assisted accumulation had refined not just his raw attributes, but his fundamental control over the elements themselves.
In the standard ninja hierarchy, very few shinobi ever reached Level 7 in a technique. Usually, that level of mastery was reserved for a Jonin's signature jutsu—the one move they had practiced ten thousand times until it was part of their DNA.
However, Evan noticed the looming plateau. Each subsequent level now required a massive, exponential increase in experience and points. The stronger the jutsu became, the greater the gap between levels. If he truly wanted to destroy the arrogant legacy of Uchiha Madara or the impending threat of the Otsutsuki, his Ninjutsu Level and Nature Transformation would eventually have to reach their theoretical limits.
At only six years old, Evan Kamiyo possessed the raw power of an elite Jonin. Combined with his terrifying chakra reserves and the accelerating vitality of his Sage Body, he was a variable that could technically threaten a Kage-level opponent if they were caught off guard.
It was a remarkable achievement. It was a miracle.
And yet… he wasn't satisfied.
He knew the "Abnormal Growth" trap. Although his physical strength and melee ability were terrifying, he lacked the "Systematic Combat Experience" that only comes from surviving a hundred life-or-death missions. He was a powerhouse with no scars to show for it. Against a truly seasoned opponent like Kakashi or Itachi, pure strength wouldn't be enough—they would bait him into a trap and kill him with a toothpick.
Then there was the other, more pressing problem. Shisui was dead.
Despite the "Uchiha Bloodline Talent" he had harvested from Shisui, Evan's own eyes had not awakened the Sharingan. He had analyzed this possibility extensively. The awakening of the Sharingan—and subsequently the Mangekyō—was tied biologically to extreme spiritual trauma and violent emotional swings.
But Evan was a "Reincarnator." His soul was that of an adult. He lacked the volatile, hormonal emotional spikes of a typical Uchiha child. He was too rational, too clinical. He wouldn't awaken eyes through grief because he viewed death as a biological eventuality.
Step by step, he thought. If I can't awaken them naturally, I will buy them through the system.
His gaze shifted to the restricted section of the System Store, scrolling past the standard scrolls until he reached the "Bloodline" tab.
[Nine Tails Chakra Seed – 15,000 Points] Description: A fragment of the Primeval Nine-Tails' chakra. Once absorbed, it will act as a parasite-symbiote, growing naturally alongside the host's own chakra network. Upon full maturation, the host will possess a localized, complete Nine-Tails Chakra core. Note: This chakra exists in a dormant state and helps condense and stabilize the host's elemental transformations. It does not possess a sentient consciousness, but it carries the "Will of the Beast."
The value of this seed was staggering—equivalent to the progression required for an Eternal Mangekyō. But unlike the eyes, which required specific conditions to use, the Chakra Seed offered a passive, permanent upgrade to his "Engine."
Evan stared at the prompt silently. If he could harvest enough points to buy this seed, and if it matured within his Sage Body...
That would mean he would possess his own, internal Nine-Tails. He wouldn't be a Jinchūriki in the traditional sense; he would be a progenitor.
Which also meant—Ten Tails Jinchūriki was no longer a fever dream of the distant future. If he could gather fragments of the other beasts through "healing" their future hosts, he could synthesize the ultimate chakra.
Thinking of that future, even Evan felt a slight chill ripple down his spine. The power to reshape the world, to end the cycle of hatred, or to simply be left alone in a world of ants.
For now, he had no intention of spending his hard-earned points. He was just short of the 15,000 mark anyway. In the coming years at the Academy, true danger would be rare. The Uchiha Massacre was still years away. The Konoha Crush was further still.
He could afford to wait. He could afford to be the "Salted Fish" on the surface while the leviathan grew in the depths. After all, true strength required the patience of a mountain.
And when the time finally came for him to step out of the shadows—
Even the gods would have to look up at him.
Author's Note:
Thank you for your continued support! Every Power Stone helps us dive deeper into the lore.