•Chapter Five-Graduates

Iruka's gaze landed on each one of his twenty-seven students from the podium. Mizuki stood to his side in leisure as silence permeated the room.

The side chats that often interrupted his class were nowhere to be found. This was an important day for everyone who would graduate, regardless of whether they went on to become shinobi or pursue another career.

"I'm proud of you guys."

Iruka's voice boomed with emotion. His eyes clouded but a quick wipe of his hand and he hid it successfully.

"And more than anything, you all should be proud of yourselves."

Iruka had a firm grip on the podium as he said this. These were the students he had taught for the past few years. While he worked to stimulate their growth, they also helped him grow as a teacher.

"Thank yourselves for investing your time in yourself. From studying, to training, and bettering yourself in other ways outside of that."

"I have no doubt in my mind that whatever each and every student in this classroom wants to pursue in life, they will accomplish it."

Although not quite as emotional as Iruka, the students also felt a tinge of happiness. They spent years in the academy. It was like their second home.

They made friends and enemies, some had developed crushes on their counterparts and became rivals of love through that.

Overall, it was a roller coaster year after year. To finally having completed that, there was no way they wouldn't feel a sense of accomplishment.

Muhon surely felt that way. It was the first major step he was going to take towards his dream and survival.

"With that being said," Iruka spoke. "Everyone, get ready for the written and practical test. And good luck."

-

Mizuki and Iruka walked around passing thick packets to every student. These packets contained questions about the subjects throughout their academy curriculum: reading, math, writing, geography, etc.

Each question was phrased in a way that it awakened the strategic and tactical minds of the students in the shinobi arts. It was never as simple as two plus two.

The clock ticked endlessly as pencil sounded on paper and pages were turned. While some students looked to have an easy time, others were sweating buckets and could only look at their papers in frustration.

Muhon was not one such case.

After giving his answer to a question he would check thoroughly, three times over, to make sure he answered correctly and then move on. After flipping through the whole packet, he went to turn it in to Iruka and sat back to his seat.

After Shikamaru, Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura he was the fifth. Not that he minded. It wasn't a competition after all.

"Thirty minutes left."

Iruka's stern voice reminded.

Muhon spent those thirty minutes preparing his mind for the spar that was soon to come. He meditated and focused on his breath. He was alone with his thoughts and filtered out all excess noise.

He would often do this in the military. It served its purpose as it gave him peace of mind. It was essentially another form he used to escape from the real world, even if only for a moment.

"Fifteen minutes."

Time moved faster for the students who were struggling. Pencils move quickly on paper as they no longer had the luxury to sit and think on a problem for long. Putting something down was better than nothing, right?

"Ten."

Each time Iruka's voice rang in the room students would flinch. Some were already pulling their hairs out, but none had given up.

"Five. Start to wrap it up."

Iruka had watched for any sign of cheating for the past hour or so, surprised to find not one student having even considered it.

Well… except Naruto. A quick glance was able to fix that.

"Okay, times up. Pencils down."

"Finally."

"It was so nerve wracking!"

Students released breaths they didn't even know they were holding. After that, chatter broke out as Iruka and Mizuki went around collecting the papers.

Now, it was their turn to grade the work.

-forty minutes later-

"Congratulations, everyone has passed he written exam. We will now move on to the practical exam."

Tense nerves finally calmed down. The hard part was over, now came the easy part. They just had to perform the three academy Jutsu's to officially become genin: Substitution, Transformation, and Clone Jutsu's.

By this point each student practically knew these Jutsu like the back of their palms. All except one.

Naruto was sweating buckets as gazes turned to him. Not only of how he passed the written exam, but also how he planned to pull it off for the practical exam too. It was no secret his chakra control was well… not the best, to put it nicely.

- Gulp.

"Hannya-Kun, please follow Mizuki sensei. Your test will be held elsewhere."

Muhon snapped back to the present moment.

Mizuki gave a slight smile and said. "Let's go Hannya-Kun."

Nodding, Muhon followed the teacher out of the classroom.

-

'The school training field…'

Right outside the school is where Mizuki had brought him. Standing in the middle of the field was another shinobi Muhon recognized.

The other party recognized him too as could be inferred from the nod of acknowledgement. "My name is Kakashi Hatake and I will be overseeing this test to make sure no foul play or cheating is going on."

'Kakashi Hatake… could it be?'

Muhon did a double take. It must be he case. The man standing before him was the youngest genius in Konoha history, having graduated at the tender age of five years old. A man who knew a thousand Jutsu's, the legendary copy-nin.

Kakashi Hatake.

Mizuki nodded and turned back to Muhon with a grin.

"Don't be nervous Hannya-Kun. All it will be is a simple spar. Nothing serious. You are free to use a wooden weapon of your choice if you'd like, but, Kunai and Shuriken are prohibited."

'So I brought this for nothing?'

Muhon tossed his sword to the side and picked up a bokken. He also let go of his shuriken pouch. Aside from the small strengthening his body would receive from his minuscule chakra, he would strictly stick with Kenjutsu and Taijutsu in this fight.

"Let's sta-"

Muhon kicked off of the ground leaving dust in his wake before Mizuki finished. For a moment he became a blur to the Chunin.

- Fwip!

Muhon lashed his sword forward. Seeing this, Mizuki retreated as the weapon missed his knee.

Muhon changed the direction of his blade slashing it upwards.

Mizuki was not the least bit perturbed and tilted his torso letting blade pass by. He was a Chunin, although surprised from the speed and force Muhon generates, he was able to quickly adjust.

'Still… where was he hiding this skill?'

Taking advantage of Muhons perilous position, Mizuki kicked across. Muhon quickly ducked underneath and stabbed his sword to Mizuki's groin.

A cold sweat descended down Mizuki's forehead as he leaped backwards. "That was a ruthless move Hannya-Kun. But how will you handle this? Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings."

All Muhon knew was that Mizuki went through a mirage of hand signs performing a Jutsu of sorts. His high comprehension quickly informed him that he had likely been trapped in a Genjutsu.

He didn't waste time and disrupted the chakra within his body.

Mizuki's jaw slacked going through more hand signs.

- Puff!

Two Mizuki's rushed at the young genin side by side. Muhon dished out chakra to his feet. A moment later, the noise of a defeated clone resounded.

Mizuki launched his wooden Kunai in Muhons blind spot and was almost sure they would hit. Sadly for him, the latter seemed to have eyes on the back of his head as he dodged with the dexterity of a snake.

'Good battle sense,' Kakashi praised.

Muhon leaps to the side with Mizuki's timely disappearance from the battlefield. From the position he was in earlier, Mizuki's arms emerged followed by the rest of his body.

'Phew, that was a close one.'

Muhon mentally sighed and wiped his forehead.

"I'm curious, how did you know where I was?"

Mizuki's smile was anything but friendly.

As he advanced Muhons eyes were glued to Mizuki's frame, searching for the slightest twitch. Muhons hammered his sword down. The Chunin took the attack head on with his wooden Kunai.

That proved to be a mistake.

- Pak!

'What the hell is this strength…!'

Mizuki prides himself on his body. But never would he have thought his guard would be almost broken through by a mere genin.

He staggered back, the bones in his fingers shaking from the brief interaction.

Muhon didn't let up and thrusted at Mizuki's chest. Clicking his tongue, the older man did the slightest tilt and countered with a critical strike to the rib that Muhon couldn't see nor avoid.

- Cough!

The pain left as quickly as it came. Mizuki felt like he had struck an old tree. He glanced at his bruised fist and then to Muhon who had a hand on his ribs.

'This fucker!'

Mizuki jumped into a frenzy of combinations. Kicks, fists, and palms. There was not one single part of his body that he didn't use.

Kakashi stood by idly and watched it play out. Muhon swerved through all of Mizuki's attacks as if he knew what he would do before he did it.

In fact, he did. Through the brief exchanges they had, Muhon had figured out the way Mizuki's mind worked and how he timed his attacks.

'Yes, keep going just like that…'

Muhon could see that Mizuki was getting irritated. He bid his time waiting for one moment he would slip up.

'There!'

He swung his sword at the teachers unguarded armpit. However, that was a trap.

Mizuki grinned and caught the blade with his armpit, his fist immediately came for Muhons head forcing him to let go.

'It wasn't a bad idea, but he was too sure in his judgement and didn't think of the possibility it was a trap. How will you perform without that sword?' Kakashi observed and questioned.

Of course, Muhon had long proven that he was more than qualified to become a genin. His strength and speed were at Chunin levels already, and his technique wasn't lacking.

He was also terrific at analyzing an opponent, although he lacked experience. But, Kakashi was intrigued so he let the battle continue.

Mizuki launched Muhons sword far away and stretched his grin further.

In that split second Muhon berated himself countless times. It was an obvious trick yet he fell for it.

'I have to do better next time.'

- Fuu~

He calmed his breath and loosened his body. The spark chakra he had was distributed to his hands and feet.

"Come at me, Hannya-kun!"

Their fists met. Both of them pushed each other back and shuddered from the sharp pain spread from the knuckles all the way to the shoulders.

'Seriously, what does this brat eat!?'

Nonetheless, Muhon was quicker to recover. He didn't let Mizuki catch a break as he launched his own sequence of blows.

Mizuki's hands couldn't keep up with Muhon and finally one got through. Muhon knocked the wind from Mizuki's abdomen.

"Kuhk!"

Right as he was about to follow up with an uppercut, Muhon sensed a thin blood lust in the air and leaned backwards, a kick barely grazing his hair.

"That's enough."

The copy nin appeared just in time to stop the spar. He looked back and forth between Muhon and Mizuki, finally settling his eyes on the red eyed boy.

"Congratulations on passing the practical exam." Kakashi said, with the most excited voice he could muster.

From his pocket he handed Muhon a forehead protector which the latter received in kind.

"Congratulations Hannya-Kun."

Mizuki spat through gritted teeth. Muhon ignored him like hot air and focused on Kakashi's next words.

"Tomorrow the teams will be announced by your teacher. Do not be late. That's all."

Kakashi vanished as a bundle of leaves. Simultaneously, lazy eyes that were looking from the school withdrew their gaze.

-Next Day-