Kazama genuinely knew very little about his own background.
His father in this life had died before he was even born, while his mother passed away shortly after giving birth to him.
Kazama had only seen her once— at the moment of his birth.
Even so, he had already guessed one thing about his identity.
He was probably connected to the Senju clan.
Otherwise, when he had previously tried wishing for Wood Release, the System hadn’t responded the way it had when he wished for the Sharingan.
When Kazama wished for a power completely absent from his body, the System normally explained that creating something from nothing required at least Level 3 Wish Power.
But that hadn’t happened with Wood Release.
That meant his body already contained the bloodline necessary for the Wood Release kekkei genkai.
Perhaps it was extremely faint.
Perhaps only the tiniest trace remained.
But as long as it existed, that was enough to prove Kazama had some connection to the Senju clan.
Either his father had descended from the Senju— or his mother had.
Even so, Kazama still had no intention of awakening Wood Release anytime soon.
At the very least, he wanted enough strength to protect himself before exposing something that dangerous.
What Kazama didn’t know was that his future jōnin instructor had essentially already been decided.
…
After Kazama finished his spar with Kakashi, most of the spectators gradually left.
Only Kurenai, Shizune, and Rin remained behind to continue training.
Kurenai sat quietly on the grass with both hands supporting her chin.
Her long hair fell across both sides of her face as she watched Shizune and Rin crowd around Kazama, asking him to guide their training.
Kurenai herself looked rather bored.
Her lips were slightly pursed, and she was clearly unhappy.
Whether she was annoyed because of Shizune and Rin— because of Kazama— or simply because Kazama would soon leave the Ninja Academy— even she might not have been completely sure.
As far as Kurenai was concerned, there was no chance Kazama would fail the graduation exam.
With his strength, passing it would be effortless.
“What’s wrong?” “Why are you sitting here spacing out?” At some point, Kazama had told Shizune and Rin to continue practicing on their own and walked over to Kurenai.
She had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even noticed him approaching.
Her unfocused eyes had been staring in the direction of Shizune and Rin, while her mind was clearly somewhere else.
“You’re going to graduate, right?” Kurenai rested her little head in her hands and looked up at Kazama.
Her large red eyes shimmered slightly.
She looked so adorable that anyone would have wanted to pull her into their arms and comfort her.
“Yeah.” Kazama nodded.
He reached out and gently placed a hand on her head.
“Even after I graduate, I’ll probably be busy training and doing missions.” “But I’ll still make time to come see you.” “Really?” Kurenai already knew Kazama’s graduation was practically certain.
She, on the other hand, would probably need another two years before graduating.
Not everyone could graduate early.
And Shinku Yūhi certainly wouldn’t agree to let his daughter rush through the Academy.
Kazama and Kakashi were different.
Neither of them had parents waiting at home to object.
“Of course.” Kazama nodded.
“I wouldn’t lie to Kurenai.” Kurenai narrowed her eyes.
Then she gave a soft snort.
“You lied to me on the very first day of school.” “…” The faint smile on Kazama’s face immediately stiffened.
A quiet sense of helplessness filled his heart.
It’s been more than half a year.
Why does this girl still remember that?
Shouldn’t an ordinary child have forgotten it by now?
“Hmph.” Kurenai looked at Kazama.
“If you don’t come visit me, I’ll tell my dad you bullied me!” That was an undisguised threat.
Unfortunately, Kazama couldn’t think of any effective counterattack.
All he could do was wait until his Sharingan evolved into the three-tomoe Sharingan— or perhaps even the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Once that happened, he wouldn’t have to be so wary of Shinku Yūhi.
But right now…
Kazama still didn’t have enough confidence to say he could break free from a full-powered genjutsu cast by Shinku.
“Cough, cough.” Kazama rubbed his forehead helplessly.
“Can we stop bringing that up?” “You’re hurting the friendship between us.” He had the distinct feeling that Kurenai kept holding onto this one incident precisely because it was the only thing that could reliably make Kazama surrender.
“Shizune.” While Kazama and Kurenai were talking, a woman with long blonde hair tied into twin tails approached.
She wore white clothing beneath a green haori.
It was— Tsunade.
From a distance, she called out to Shizune, who was practicing water walking.
“Lady Tsunade!” Shizune turned around.
When she saw Tsunade standing nearby, a trace of surprise appeared on her face.
She hadn’t expected Tsunade to come here.
Shizune was Dan’s niece.
After Dan died, she was left orphaned and was taken in by Tsunade.
Even so, Shizune continued addressing her as Lady Tsunade.
Tsunade’s gaze shifted away from Shizune and landed on Kazama.
Her sharp eyes swept over him from head to toe.
“So you’re Kazama?” “You’re not bad-looking.” “No wonder you’re so popular with little girls.” Then her expression became slightly more serious.
“After you graduate, be careful.” “Don’t die.” Kazama blinked.
Tsunade’s sudden warning left him somewhat confused.
Shizune, who had just walked over, became slightly embarrassed when she heard the first half of Tsunade’s comment.
After all— she was also one of the girls who often trained around Kazama.
Kurenai lowered her head shyly as well, not daring to look directly at Tsunade.
Naturally, Kurenai knew who Tsunade was.
She was one of the Legendary Sannin— and a disciple of the Third Hokage.
“Thank you for the warning, Lady Tsunade.” Although Kazama couldn’t understand why Tsunade had specifically told him to be careful after graduation, listening to advice from someone like her certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Tsunade said nothing more.
She simply left with Shizune.
After learning that Kazama also possessed Senju blood, Tsunade had ultimately decided to come here and warn him personally.
Members of the Senju clan had gradually disappeared over the years.
Some died.
Others simply vanished into Konoha’s civilian population.
It was difficult not to suspect that someone had once been pushing things from the shadows.
That situation had seemingly stopped many years ago.
And very few people even knew about Kazama’s background.
If the Third Hokage hadn’t brought it up, even Tsunade herself wouldn’t have known that Kazama’s mother had once belonged to the Senju clan— even if she had only been an ordinary civilian without chakra.
Perhaps Tsunade was simply overthinking things.
Hardly anyone knew Kazama’s true lineage.
And whatever hidden force had once been involved with the Senju seemed to have disappeared long ago.
Kazama would probably be fine.
Still— geniuses often attracted trouble.
The moment Kazama began displaying extraordinary talent, he had already chosen to face the dangers that came with it.
So even after Tsunade warned him to be careful, Kazama wasn’t particularly nervous or surprised.
He had prepared himself long ago.
With the Dragon Ball Wish System supporting him— Kazama had confidence that he could survive in this world.
“Be careful.” Rin eventually left as well.
As evening approached, Kurenai still didn’t know why Lady Tsunade had specifically warned Kazama.
But before heading home, she softly repeated the same words.
Then she hurried away.
Kazama returned to the Kazama residence.
After eating the dinner Uncle Gen had prepared and washing up, he went back to his room.
“Release!” Kazama formed a single hand seal.
The ten shadow clones that had spent the entire day training inside the estate disappeared simultaneously.
An enormous flood of accumulated training experience surged into his mind.
Kazama immediately lay down on his bed and began slowly sorting through everything the clones had learned that day.