Chapter 4 Academy Exam 1/4

- 3 Weeks -

After leaving Ichiraku Ramen Kazuma began searching around the edge of the village until he found what he was looking for.

Finding a river wasn't hard even Naruto spent a lot of his time fishing to survive. 'Now that I think about it isn't it really messed up that the Hokage took some of Naruto's fish when he wasn't even giving him enough money to survive?' he was really disappointed at Hiruzen's behavior as it was a subject of major discussions even back in his old world. Honestly, he didn't see the third as an evil person but that didn't mean he wasn't incompetent.

'Well, he dies in the future anyways so no need to think about it' Kazuma thought while walking along the bank of the river until he found a spot he thought was good. Lots of trees and bushes to cover, and the water wasn't too deep either barely reaching his hips.

'Maybe I should fish here and sell them in the village for extra change? A thought for later' He resumed his focus on his task at hand

"System I'm ready"

[Initiating Genetic Rewrite]

Kazuma began to feel a gentle warmth flow through his body. At first, this feeling was very soothing and felt very good. So good in fact that he almost fell asleep while in this state. Then came the burn, the gentle warmth turned into a furnace as he was cooked from the inside.

"Arghhhh" Kazuma was able to think ahead and brought a branch to bite on just in case it was too much so not much noise was released as he moaned in pain withering on the floor.

[60%]

[80%]

Kazuma's mind was in disarray he couldn't even hear the system doing a countdown. Eventually, the heat became too much to bear and he was fighting with just pure will to stay awake.

[90%]

At this point, Kazuma's skin was blood red with a strange black goo coming out of every orifice of his skin. Whether it was his eyes nose ears or... cough cough you understand. This process looked a lot like those scenes in Chinese manhuas.

[99%]

[100%]

[Congradualtions Host! The gene rewrite was a success you are now one step closer]

Kazuma was unable to share in the system's joy as he recovered but luckily he was able to gain back his senses fairly quickly.

"System how's my progress?"

[Host is now 8% Otsutsuki a full 3% Increase]

Kazuma stumbled for a moment thinking all that suffering was for only 3% and almost cried tears of blood when he realized how many more times he would have to do this just to become an Otsutsuki. Then he imagined what would happen when he absorbed the entire Uchiha genome. "Shivers"

'Well, gains are gains I just gotta live with the pain.'

"System is there any way to track my Senju progress as a percentage instead of just telling 1/4th and can you make it like a status page?" Those things always seemed so convenient in books making it easy for not just the MC but also the readers to track his progress.

[The System is capable of doing that]

[Host: Senju Kazuma]

[Age: 5]

[Chakra: Academy Graduate]

[Otsutsuki 8%]

[Senju 78%]

[Kekkei Genkei: none]

[Inventory: 2% full]

[Missions: 1]

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" He was thrilled with that progress it was really good to have that much. Especially when one considers how the Senju are practically almost all gone with the exception of Tsunade.

This should be good enough to stand out on the Academy entrance exam which should be in 3 weeks if what the Orphanage Matron said is true. Still, it's not like they are expecting much from an orphan with no background.

Now all I need to do is work on my skills and finances. Money doesn't grow on trees after all and I don't really want to end up like Naruto.

"System can I request missions?"

[Yes but all missions through request give Low rewards]

'Low rewards are fine. Any edge I get is good in my book'

"System give me a training mission like Saitama and also a fishing mission"

[Mission Granted will be designated as daily quests]

[Daily Quest 1: 100 Push Ups, 100 Sit-ups, 100 Squats, 10 KM run, Leaf Practice: goal running out of Chakra]

[Rewards: Low Rank]

[Daily Quest 2: Catch 10 Fish]

[Rewards: Low Rank]

Looking up at the sky Kazuma saw there was still some sunlight. 'Well there's no time like the present' He thought as he washed himself in the river before he began running

- Later -

Time flew by fairly quickly for Kazuma. Not one moment was wasted as he spent every day training or catching fish. This didn't go unnoticed by the matrons in the orphanage as they noted how he had recently changed. However, they stopped caring soon afterward while not expecting much from him.

During this time Kazuma made a good amount of money by making a deal with some street vendors to provide daily fresh fish. It wasn't much but it was honest work. He also didn't stop looking for Senju DNA, but there wasn't much luck in the department.

What surprised Kazuma the most these past couple of weeks was his progress in his workout routine. At first, it was very difficult to do but after a couple of days, he started getting the hang of it and even increased the training to 150 instead of 100. He was not sure if this was because of his Senju heritage or the addition of chakra but whatever it was he was glad it was there. Even his appearance slightly changed making him quite a handsome young man with some muscle. Not saying he was ugly before, it's just that he had more of an average appearance prior to his change.

His rewards were also decent, he mostly got wooden practice tools as his rewards but he did get kind of lucky recently in receiving Kick Boxing techniques. He's not so sure how it will hold up against other fighting styles in this world, that are adapted to the use of chakra but at least he knows something.

Currently, Kazuma was walking outside the orphanage on the way to the Academy. That's right today was the day! He was wearing simple grey shorts with a white shirt. While also using bandages to cover his legs and forearms.

He walked along the streets with a confident smile showing how much faith he had in his preparation for today. He was running a bit late but how much would he really miss? The will of fire speech? Yea no thanks.

'Well, I wonder who I'll see today? I am a year older than Naruto so maybe I'll be in the same class as team 3?'

Once he got closer to the academy he began to see multiple families all heading the same way as him 'They must be running late to the academy as well, too bad there's no one I recognize' Even at his orphanage he was the only kid signing up to join the academy while the rest opted to go into a regular school instead.

'Honestly, it is a smart choice to make when one considers the death rate of shinobi but they don't know what I know.' Kazuma thought as he imagined all the future enemies this village would have but before he could continue with his thoughts, a loud voice appeared.

"NOOOO I'M GONNA BE LATE!!!"

Turning around Kazuma saw a kid with a braid, bushy eyebrows, and really weird eyes heading in his direction. 'Huh are those Dojutsu or does he just look weird?' Then Kazuma noticed the kid wasn't stopping. "This Guy!" He tried jumping out of the way but the kid tried dodging him in the exact same direction.

*BAM*

""AHHH"" They both screamed at the same time as they rolled on the floor.

"OWW HUH are you okay!?" The weird kid asked as he began frantically jumping around him

"Yeah I'm fine but can you stay still it's hurting my eyes" Getting up he dusted his clothes a bit before looking at the strange youth in front of him.

"Ha sorry, my bad I'm just running late for school and it's the first day!"

"Yeah yeah I heard you but you don't have to worry about being late The Hokage is probably just giving a speech right now" Kazuma explained as he began walking to school again

"Huh, just a speech! He's the Hokage hearing him might make us legendary ninjas! And are you also heading to the academy?"

Kazuma wasn't sure what to think of this guy. Was it normal to be so loud and have so much energy? Well at least he seemed interesting "Yeah It's my first day in the Academy and I'm Kazuma by the way no last name"

"Really? That's great! I'm Rock Lee mind going together then Kazuma?"

'Wait this is Rock Lee? But where is the bowl cut and green outfit? Hmm he must get that stuff later on when he meets Guy' He thought while he continued to note the various differences he noticed in Lee 'I guess this makes him the first character I see in real life Nice'

"Yeah I don't mind" Lee grabbed his arm the moment he agreed to go as he started running

'Well, I hope we missed most of his speech by the time we get there.' Kazuma thought as he followed Lee

- Academy Entrance -

Arriving at the Academy he and Lee were surprised by the vast amount of kids here. There were easily 500 children his age and possibly more. 'Damn there's a lot of kids but this makes sense as well now that I think about it. If the scale of the village was downplayed in the anime then the Academy must've also experienced the same thing.' Luckily Hiruzen was nowhere to be found meaning the speech must've ended already

While looking around, Kazuma noticed large groups of people bundled together all wearing different symbols. The main ones here seemed to be the Uchiha and the Hyuga. 'With both clans having Dojutsu it's no surprise that they are the top dogs. Especially when there's no Senju to hold back the Uchiha'

"Kazuma! Isn't it impressive there are so many other kids here you think we will pass?" Lee asked with excitement and nervousness at the same time

'Lee made it through in the anime meaning it shouldn't be too hard.' Lee didn't get strong till he met Guy after all

"I think well do fine. Just believe in yourself Lee" He tried encouraging his new friend a bit. Understanding Lee is a kid and should be really nervous right now. Heck, he was nervous every school year on earth and that includes college.

Suddenly multiple Shinobi appeared in the field holding clipboards. One shinobi seemed to stand out as he walked in front of the others. easily gathering the attention of everyone here.

"Hello everyone I'm Shinichi Sarutobi I'll be in charge of this year's exam. To start I want everyone to line up here. You are all expected to run 10 laps at 320 meters each. If you are not able to complete the run then you will fail. Those that don't think they can do this are allowed to leave nothing wrong in giving up."

'I'm not sure how many miles that is but I doubt normal children can run that maybe the clan kids but everyone else? So this means the real test is within this test. They are trying to test our willpower. That's probably why he even offered to let us leave.'

Kazuma was right about the point of this test but what he didn't realize was how this test was actually triple-layered! While Shinichi gave instructions the other teachers were paying attention to the facial expressions of the students trying to see who saw through the test. Strong-willed ninjas are good but smart ones are better. They live longer and complete more missions. So without even realizing it, he had already stood out alongside a couple of others.

"Begin"