41 Kaito Chapter 41

Kaito Chapter 41

He pulled out a notebook filled with his scribbled ideas and handed it to Kushina.

She flipped through the pages, thoroughly impressed. "Wow, Kaito-kun...these are some really good ideas," she praised with a smile.

And so, they continued to discuss and brainstorm about potential seal ideas for the rest of the evening.

…

The sun had just begun to rise over the hidden leaf village, casting a warm golden glow over the rooftops and streets. On the porch of the Uzumaki residence, Kaito sat wearing his sandals while Kushina stood behind him, cradling baby Naruto in her arms. She handed Kaito his packed lunch before he stood up to head off for the day. "Here, shouldn't forget your lunch, ya know," she said with a smile.

"Thanks, Mom. See you later," Kaito replied, taking the lunch from her and turning to walk towards the academy. "Good luck, do your best, ya know," Kushina called out after him as she watched him go.

Kaito quickly made his way towards the Konoha ninja academy, jumping effortlessly from rooftop to rooftop. Today was the graduation exam and he, along with Itachi and Hotaru, would be graduating after only one year of enrollment. As he neared the academy building, Kaito landed gracefully in front of it and walked towards the entrance.

There, standing at the entrance, was a familiar face - Hotaru. She smiled warmly at Kaito as he approached.

Kaito approached Hotaru, who was waiting for him outside the academy with her usual air of calmness. "Yo Hotaru-chan, have you been waiting long?" he asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Good morning Kaito-kun," replied Hotaru, returning his smile. "No, I just arrived."

As they walked inside and made their way to their classroom, Kaito couldn't help but notice Hotaru's fidgeting. "So, are you nervous?" he asked her.

"A bit, I guess," admitted Hotaru.

"Don't worry, you'll do great Hotaru-chan," reassured Kaito with a bright smile. "It'll be easy for you, ya know."

Hotaru smiled at his words as they reached their classroom and entered. They saw Itachi sitting in their usual row and walked up to greet him.

"Yo Itachi, so is it the real you or a shadow clone?" asked Kaito as they sat down next to Itachi on the same bench.

Hotaru also greeted Itachi with a polite bow. "Good morning Itachi-san," she said as she took her seat next to Kaito in the middle.

Itachi nodded in response to their greetings and said, "I am the real one. I didn't think it was necessary to send a shadow clone."

They settled into their seats and continued to chat as they waited for class to begin.

The instructor entered the classroom, his authoritative voice cutting through the chatter of the students. "All right class, settle down," he commanded. And as if on cue, the students stopped talking and focused their attention on him.

"Good. As you all know, today is your graduation exam," he announced. "We will begin with the written test, which you will have 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete. And let me remind you, any attempts at cheating will result in immediate disqualification." He handed out the test papers to each student.

"All right then...you may begin," he said, signaling the start of the test.

Kaito took a quick glance at the questions and thought to himself, "This is easy." He wasted no time and started answering them.

Within 20 minutes, Kaito had finished answering all the questions and looked around at his classmates. He noticed that Itachi had finished after only 30 minutes. "Damm, it's crazy how smart he is," Kaito thought to himself .

Kaito was in awe of Itachi's intelligence. kaito knew that his own ability to learn quickly was due to him having memories from hi previous life, but Itachi was only 7 years old, and was able to keep up with him.

"If Itachi is this smart...I wonder how brilliant my dad was at his age," Kaito wondered, remembering that Minato was hailed as the greatest prodigy ever produced by the Hidden Leaf Village.

Not long after, Hotaru also finished her test. Kaito shook his head in amazement and thought, "Here's another one...she's almost as good as Itachi."

As the written exam came to an end, the students eagerly awaited their results. The instructors moved around the room, and collected the papers. "All right class," announced one instructor, "now on to the next part - the shurikenjutsu test. Please follow me." With a sense of nervousness and anticipation, the students followed the instructor out of the classroom and onto the academy training ground.

Upon arrival, they were greeted by rows and rows of targets set up at varying distances. One by one, the students stepped forward to take their turn. Kaito and Itachi seemed to effortlessly hit their targets with precision, earning them full points. Hotaru was just one point behind them.

After the shurikenjutsu test, the students were then tested on taijutsu skills. Each student would have to face a chunin instructor in a one-on-one battle.

The instructor went through the names on the list, calling out each student's name as they faced their opponent. Sweat dripped down their faces as they engaged in intense combat.

after going throught the list of students the instructor announced it was time for recess, Kaito raised his hand in confusion. "Sensei, what about us?" he asked, referring to himself and Itachi. "You missed our names for the taijutsu assessment."

The instructor smiled nervously and looked at them before responding, "It was decided not to test you both seeing that it wouldn't make any difference."

Kaito couldn't help but sweat drop at this decision. But before he could say anything, the instructor continued, "As I was saying... all of you are free to go for recess now. The ninjutsu test will be conducted after recess." With that, the instructor left and the students dispersed.

With a disappointed sigh, Kaito turned to his friends and said, "Come on guys, let's go." He started walking away, They all climbed up to the roof of the academy, where they often went to hang out and talk.

As they sat down on the cool concrete, Kaito spoke up again. "Man, that's just unfair. We didn't even get a chance to fight that chunin," he grumbled as he opened his lunchbox.

Itachi took a bite of his lunch before adding, "Well, he does have a point. We always seem to go overboard when we spar with each other. Maybe the instructor thought it would be a waste of time."

Hotaru chimed in between bites, "I guess that could be true. Every time you guys spar, things get pretty intense."

Kaito shook his head. "But that doesn't mean it was fair. I was really looking forward to testing my skills against that chunin," he complained.

The three continued chatting and eating their lunches until it was time for them to head back to class for their next test.

As the students gathered back in the classroom after recess, the instructor swept in and announced the final part of their graduation exam: the ninjutsu test.

"When I call your name, come to the front and perform the Transformation, Clone, and Substitution jutsu, and collect your headbands," he said.

The names were called one by one, each student nervously stepping forward. When it was Hyuga Hotaru's turn, Kaito called out "Good luck!" as she confidently went up to demonstrate her skills.

She flawlessly executed each jutsu and proudly received her headband from the instructor. Returning to her seat, Kaito congratulated her with a smile while Itachi gave a small nod of approval.

"See, I told you not to worry about it," Kaito whispered as Hotaru tied the headband around her neck. She smiled and nodded back at him before settling back into her seat.

As Itachi's name was called, both Kaito and Hotaru wished him luck. He made his way to the front of the group, a determined look on his face. As he performed the jutsu perfectly, he received his headband with pride. Kaito's name was then called by the instructor, "Uzumaki Kaito." With a sense of relief, Kaito got up and walked towards the front. Hotaru whispered a good luck and Itachi nodded in support as they passed each other.

Kaito stood in front of the instructor who instructed him to perform the clone jutsu. With ease, he created three perfect clones without using any handsigns. Impressed, the instructor then asked for the transformation jutsu. Kaito transformed into the Fourth Hokage, his father, flawlessly. For the final task, he was asked to replace himself with a log using the transformation jutsu. Once again, Kaito executed it with precision.

"Congratulations, you pass," the instructor declared while silently thinking how all of Kaito's techniques were done without any handsigns. Impressed by his ability, he handed Kaito a headband with a black cloth.

Smiling with pride and gratitude, Kaito tied it around his forehead before returning to his seat.Hotaru welcomed him back with congratulations and Itachi gave him a nod of approval.

After going through every student, the instructor announced, "Congratulations to you all on passing the graduation exam... for now. Please remember to return next week for team placement." The students cheered and exchanged excited whispers as they left the room.

The trio of young ninja, Kaito, Itachi, and Hotaru, stepped out of the Konoha Ninja Academy, proudly sporting their freshly-earned forehead protectors. Excitement and pride filled the air as the students were greeted by thier parents.

Kaito's spotted his mother, Kushina, waiting for him with one year old Naruto in her arms. As they approached, Kushina's face lit up with a huge smile and she waved to them.

She eagerly hugged Kaito and exclaimed, "Congratulations you guys!" Looking at the three of them with pride.

"Thanks, mom," Kaito replied with a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Lady Kushina," said Hotaru and Itachi in unison.

They were then joined by Itachi's and Hotaru's parents who had also come to celebrate their children's graduation. After some small talk and congratulations, they parted ways.

"See you guys next week," Kaito called out to Itachi and Hotaru as they left with their families.

Itachi nodded while Hotaru replied with a polite "Hai" before departing with her parents.

As they walked, Kushina couldn't contain her excitement and told Kaito, "I'm so proud of you, Kaito-kun! Let's celebrate with ramen!"

"Hmm...sure mom," Kaito replied with a sweat drop.

They made their way to Ichiraku Ramen stall where they were greeted by Teuchi. As they entered, Kushina announced with enthusiasm, "Two bowls of miso ramen please, Teuchi-san! We're celebrating my son's graduation from the academy."

Teuchi raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked, "Didn't he just join the academy?"

Kushina beamed proudly and replied, "He's just too talented, you know. The whole village is going to see just how amazing my son is!" as she playfully ruffled Kaito's hair.

Kaito blushed at the praise and Teuchi nodded with a smile before preparing their ramen. As they were served their steaming bowls of miso ramen, "here you go two bowls of miso ramen"

Kushina and Kaito said "Itadakimasu" in unison before eagerly digging in. Kushina took a spoonful of ramen and fed it to baby Naruto, who was happily sitting in her lap.

"Here you go, open wide Naru-chan!" exclaimed Kushina. And with enthusiasm, little Naruto slurped down the noodles and soup.

"It's good, isn't it?" Kushina asked with a grin.

To which Naruto giggled and clapped his tiny hands in excitement.

After satisfying their appetites at the bustling ramen stall, the trio emerged onto the busy streets. Kushina, with her vibrant red hair and infectious energy, had devoured four bowls of savory ramen while Kaito, with a small smile on his face, had only managed to finish one.

Naruto, who had started off with his mother's first bowl, had eagerly slurped up every last noodle in record time. As they strolled away from the stall, Kushina playfully cooed "Did my little Naru-chan enjoy his ramen?" .

The infant giggled and squirmed in her arms, clearly delighted by the mention of his favorite food.

Kaito could only sweatdrop and think to himself "Naruto definitely inherited mom's love for ramen." they continued home with live chatter, with little Naruto happily babbling about his ramen feast.

Kaito and Kushina made their way back to their humble home, the sky above them a deep shade of indigo. After wishing Kaito goodnight, Kushina left to put Naruto to sleep, leaving Kaito alone in his thoughts. he undressed and took a hot shower before retiring to his comfortable bed. Lying on his back, Kaito stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. "This is just the first step," he mused with a heavy sigh. "Things are only going to get harder from here."

Feeling a weight around his neck, Kaito remembered the pendant that Minato had given him. Carefully removing it from his neck, he held it in front of his face and whispered, "Dad."

Sitting up, Kaito unsealed the pendant and found two letters inside - one addressed to him and another addressed to Naruto. Along with the letters were several scrolls containing Minato's most prized jutsu. Tears welled up in Kaito's eyes as he realized that this was Minato's final gift to him.

Kaito opened the letter addressed to him and began to read its contents. Minato's neat handwriting filled the page, apologizing for his death and expressing pride in Kaito's abilities. He had also sealed some of his most prized jutsu scrolls and a training plan for both him and naruto, this also including detailed instructions for the Rasengan and Hiraishin no Jutsu along with a few techniques from each elemental nature. Minato's last request to him was to care for Naruto as his brother.

As Kaito read through the letter, tears welled up in his eyes. He missed Minato terribly and swore silently to himself, "I won't let you down, Dad." Clutching the scroll tightly, he sealed the letter back into the pendant and held it close to his heart. Kaito's mind as he drifted off to sleep, determined to fulfill his father's last wishes.

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