“As expected, he won again!” Kakashi left, while the others remained behind staring at Kazama with all kinds of emotions in their eyes.
Admiration.
Awe.
Envy.
Jealousy.
Asuma Sarutobi, Obito Uchiha, and the others had all challenged Kazama before.
Every one of them had lost.
As time passed, Kazama’s strength continued rising faster and faster.
Kakashi was the only one who could barely keep up.
The others had already fallen behind.
But none of Kazama’s strength had come for free.
It had all been earned through sweat.
Even after learning the Shadow Clone Technique, Kazama never stopped training his main body.
Every minute of every day was carefully planned.
He practically treated himself like a machine.
Compared with the original timeline, Kakashi should already be considerably stronger.
But just as Kakashi himself understood— while he was growing stronger, Kazama was improving too.
And Kazama had another advantage Kakashi simply couldn’t match.
Ten shadow clones were constantly accumulating training experience for him.
Only because Kazama possessed such powerful spiritual strength could he withstand the experience transferred back from ten shadow clones.
Kakashi, at most, could probably maintain one or two.
And even then, he wouldn’t be able to use them for extended training sessions.
“Just another expected victory.” Kurenai watched Kazama with a small smile, clearly happy for him.
“He’s so strong…” Rin Nohara looked at Kazama with admiration.
“If only I could become that strong too.” “As long as we keep working hard, we’ll become strong someday too,” Shizune replied calmly.
But deep down, she understood something.
With their talent, perhaps one day they really could reach Kazama’s current level.
But by then— Kazama would undoubtedly have become even stronger.
Catching up to him might be impossible.
“I heard Kazama and Kakashi are graduating in a couple of days.” Rin’s voice became noticeably more subdued.
“After that, we won’t see them at the Academy anymore.” Having Kazama around had been incredibly useful.
He guided them during classes, and after school he often helped them train as well.
Their improvement had been much faster because of him.
“…” Kurenai and Shizune both fell silent.
If Kazama and Kakashi passed the graduation exam, they would officially become genin.
That meant Kazama would stop attending the Ninja Academy.
Afterward, he would begin carrying out missions.
The opportunities for everyone to train together would probably become much rarer.
…
Inside the Hokage’s Office— Orochimaru watched the crystal ball thoughtfully.
“He concentrates chakra beneath his feet with extremely precise control, then combines that chakra with explosive physical force to step against the air.” “The stronger the chakra output and physical force, the faster he can move through the air…” “A very interesting taijutsu technique.” “I’ve heard the brat created it himself.” Orochimaru had never personally seen Kazama use Geppo before.
He was far too busy.
Most of his days were spent buried in experiments.
Why would he waste time closely following the activities of a child like Kazama?
Everything he knew about Geppo had mostly come from reports and other people’s descriptions.
But everyone currently gathered inside the Hokage’s Office was an expert in their own right.
Simply by watching Kazama and Kakashi fight, they could already identify several impressive taijutsu techniques Kazama had developed.
Geppo was no longer much of a secret.
And there was another technique Kazama had displayed earlier— rapidly stamping against the ground multiple times in an instant to produce an explosive burst of speed.
That was clearly another form of specialized taijutsu.
Even the genjutsu he had used earlier appeared quite impressive.
If Orochimaru’s experiments hadn’t recently entered a crucial stage, he might actually have considered teaching Kazama himself.
“Sensei, why exactly did you call all three of us here?” Tsunade looked at the Third Hokage in confusion.
“Don’t tell me it was just to watch this brat fight?” “And then have the three of us decide whether one of us wants to take these two kids as students?” Kakashi and Kazama unquestionably possessed excellent talent.
But Tsunade had little interest in teaching either of them.
Kakashi’s path was already obvious—swordsmanship, taijutsu, and ninjutsu.
Kazama, meanwhile, was developing in an all-round direction.
Making him focus on medical ninjutsu under her would honestly be a waste of his broader talent.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.” Tsunade felt this matter had little to do with her and turned to go.
“Strictly speaking…” The Third Hokage slowly drew on his pipe.
“Kazama can actually be considered a member of the Senju clan.” Tsunade’s steps paused slightly.
Hiruzen continued, “Kazama’s father died before he was born.
He was only an ordinary merchant.” “But Kazama’s mother…” “She was originally a member of the Senju clan.” “Because she possessed no chakra, she stopped using the Senju name and later married Kazama’s father.” “So if you really trace his lineage through his mother…” Hiruzen smiled faintly.
“Perhaps his name could even be considered Kazama Senju.” “The Senju clan?” A sharp gleam flashed through Orochimaru’s eyes.
Ever since the death of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Senju clan had gradually declined.
Even during the reign of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, the clan’s population had somehow begun steadily decreasing.
Decades had passed.
By now, the Senju clan had almost completely faded from the stage of history.
Very few recognizable members remained.
At present, Tsunade was essentially the only prominent Senju still known publicly.
Yet apparently there were still descendants who had completely integrated themselves into Konoha’s civilian population.
Tsunade didn’t stop because of Hiruzen’s revelation.
She simply continued out of the Hokage’s Office.
Still— she remembered the name Kazama.
After all, even if only through his mother, he was still half Senju.
“In that case…” Orochimaru spoke.
“Give Kazama to me.” Originally, Orochimaru hadn’t been particularly interested in Kazama.
But after hearing that the boy possessed Senju blood— he suddenly decided he was willing to teach him.
Among the Three Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru had undoubtedly studied the broadest range of subjects.
Ninjutsu.
Taijutsu.
Genjutsu.
He had researched all of them.
Jiraiya was also relatively versatile, but compared with Orochimaru, there was still a considerable gap.
From Hiruzen’s perspective, Orochimaru was actually one of the best possible choices for teaching Kazama.
And Kazama’s talent truly was exceptional.
The Third Hokage knew that better than most.
After all— he had spent quite a lot of time secretly observing Kazama’s training.
From chakra shape transformation— to chakra nature transformation.
Although Kazama deliberately left many of his shadow clones inside the Kazama estate to train in private, Hiruzen had still noticed.
Or perhaps— Kazama had never truly expected to hide everything from the Third Hokage in the first place.
As for why Orochimaru had suddenly decided to accept Kazama— was it because of his Senju lineage?
Because he wanted another experimental subject?
Because of Kazama’s talent?
Or perhaps because the death of Nawaki had influenced his decision?
No one knew.
Perhaps all of those reasons played some part.
As for Kazama himself— whether being handed over to Orochimaru meant walking straight into a tiger’s den or receiving the perfect teacher remained impossible to say.
“In that case, Kazama will be assigned to Orochimaru.” Hiruzen agreed.
Then he looked toward his student.
“But don’t underestimate that brat.” “He’s far more complicated than you might think.” “He has already completed a considerable degree of chakra shape transformation and has begun working on chakra nature transformation.” “Teach him properly.” Hiruzen smiled faintly.
“If you do, you might end up with an extraordinary disciple.” The Third Hokage’s reasoning was simple.
Kazama’s talent was so great that Hiruzen intended to place him under one of the Three Legendary Sannin— Orochimaru, Jiraiya, or Tsunade.
He hoped that by giving Kazama such a prestigious teacher, the boy would develop a deeper sense of loyalty toward Konoha.
Unfortunately— that plan was almost certainly doomed from the beginning.
Kazama possessed the soul and memories of an adult.
He wasn’t some ordinary five-year-old child who could be molded however others wished.
Making him devote himself completely to Konoha would already be extremely difficult.
And Kazama had also seen the original story.
That alone made it even harder for anyone to control his thinking.
More importantly— the person now assigned to teach Kazama was Orochimaru.
Of all people.
How exactly was Orochimaru supposed to teach Kazama to become fiercely loyal to Konoha?
That was going to be difficult.
Very difficult.