11

In the Senju clan, Haru and Nawaki were training in the training grounds while their tutor, Hiroshi, stood by and watched occasionally offering correction. He is a special jonin specializing in taijutsu.

Suddenly, Hiroshi yelled for them to stop and called them over. He began giving them an evaluation of their training for the day. "Haru, good job," he said with a big smile on his face. "You can continue to practice this technique until you no longer feel growth in your physical strength. You have already mastered it. All you have to do now is continue training until your body grows. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime."

Since Haru joined the training, he has been one of the best students Hiroshi has ever taught. If he wasn't part of the Senju clan, Hiroshi would have taken him as his personal disciple. However, his smile faded as he looked at Nawaki. "Nawaki, you have superior physical strength, but you are using it very ineffectively. You need to learn to use your abilities to their fullest advantage if you want to go far in the ninja world. Pure strength won't take you that far; you need control," Hiroshi then continued, encouraging Nawaki. "But that doesn't mean you haven't progressed. In the past few months, your progress has been excellent. Keep up the hard work, and I'm sure you will be an excellent ninja." After that, he left, ending their lesson.

Nawaki sat on the ground with a frustrated look on his face. "I feel like no matter how hard I try, it's never enough. Why do the teachers always correct me and never say anything to you?" he complained.

Haru smiled and sat next to Nawaki. "I should be the one feeling jealous, don't you think? So why are you the one complaining?" he asked. Nawaki looked at Haru with fierce eyes, but Haru just shrugged and continued. "Regardless of what they say, you have a better physical potential than I do. That's why the sensei always focuses on you. He knows your potential and believes that you can still improve a lot with just technique. As for me, all I can do now is wait for my physical development to catch up."

He sighed with a defeated look. "We are opposite in a way; you excel in technique, while I excel in physicality. If only we could combine our strengths, we would make the perfect ninja," Nawaki said wistfully.

Haru laughed and replied, "Come on, we are still young. We have a lot of room to grow. Don't talk like an old man just yet." Nawaki laughed along with Haru before saying, "The academy is about to start. Are you excited?"

Haru nodded, replying, "Yes, but I still need to take the test first." Nawaki looked at Haru with amusement. "Come on, don't make it sound so hard for you. I don't think you should have to take it. It would be unfair to the other kids," he said.

Haru shrugged and replied, "I'll just aim to get into the top 10." Nawaki and most of the kids from the clans didn't need to take the test. The skills gap

between them and the civilian kids was significant, allowing them to easily outclass most competitors. Thus, it was widely understood that the test was restricted to just the civilian kids. The children of the clans already had their place secured

The next morning, Haru went to the academy with encouragement from the Dean. He completed the writing test in under an hour, and in the afternoon, he took the physical test, which consisted of a few kilometers race with obstacles. Haru finished with relative ease. After that, he met with Nawaki and the rest of his friends, who insisted on celebrating. They ended up spending most of the day eating and strolling around the village.

When Haru was in his room, he couldn't help but think about how far he had come. At the beginning, all his hard work was to get into the academy, but now it seemed so easy. The training he underwent with Nawaki significantly accelerated his improvement. It all started a couple of months ago when Nawaki told him he could join him. Initially, he believed it was just Nawaki's suggestion, but as time passed, he realized that the Senju clan really did see him as a future helper for Nawaki. Therefore, they provided him with the best education available in Konoha, something many people would dream of. Haru seized this opportunity with both hands, being aware that having the support of the Senju clan would be a significant advantage for him, as it would provide him with the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities to the leaders of Konoha without fear of exploitation.

Haru was still holding back some of his abilities, even though he trusted Nawaki. This did not mean he fully trusted the Senju clan. He needed to showcase sufficient talent that would prove useful to them. So, he decided to establish himself as a genius civilian kid, possibly a weaker version of Orochimaru. In doing so, he would be able to attract enough attention and resources from the village to have enough time to develop and grow.

Haru was aware that if he wanted to grow up peacefully, he couldn't reveal all of his talents. He didn't want to follow in Kakashi's footsteps, who, despite having a lot of talent, did not reach his full potential because he took on too much responsibility at a young age, which stunted his growth. In Haru's plans, he wasn't going to graduate early. Instead, he would take all the time he could get, as he understood that being a young genius during war time was the worst identity one could have.

After rethinking his plans, Haru drifted into sleep, eagerly anticipating the start of school the following week.