15 Chapter 15 : Ninja Academy

[ Next day ]

Shirou was on his way to the academy when he saw a strange scene.

Guy and Duy were hugging and crying tears of joy on the streets for everyone to see.

"Those two are really getting out of hand." - Random civilian 1.

"I know, they are crazy." - Random civilian 2.

"My son's efforts have finally been recognized." - Duy.

"I have been accepted at the academy." - Guy.

"Everyone. Thank you for all your support." - Duy and Guy say with a thumbs-up pose.

The civilians were clearly disturbed by this and decided to leave.

"Let's leave quickly." - Random civilian 1.

"Yes." - Random civilian 2.

Shirou admired the father-son duo. Their ability to express themselves freely like this without being affected by society's comments was something Shirou wished he had been able to do in his past life. But he couldn't. He was too afraid.

"Your youth is only beginning my son. Let's head to the academy." - Duy.

"Yeah, let's.. huh?" - Guy.

"Hey I remember you." - Guy.

Both father and son saw Shirou who was watching them.

"Oh... Hi." - Shirou.

Shirou walks up to them and introduces himself.

"I am Muramasa Shirou. I was on my way to the academy when I saw you two. You were at the entrance test, right? I think I have also met you when I was training for the entrance test." - Shirou.

"That's right. I knew I had seen you before. Anyway, the name is Might Guy. And this is my dad, Might Duy." - Guy.

"Hi there." - Duy.

Both Guy and Duy were a bit surprised. People don't exactly tend to openly interact with them unless they are really close. So seeing Shirou willing to talk with them made them surprised and happy.

They all started talking as they walked towards the academy.

"So Shirou, where are your parents? I guess they must be busy Shinobi?" - Duy.

"I am an orphan, I don't know who my parents are." - Shirou.

"Oh. I am sorry." - Duy.

Might Guy was also a bit sad for Shirou. His mother died when he was young but he still had his father.

"It's ok. It never affected me much" - Shirou.

"I see... Well, I hope you find people you can cherish as a family one day." - Duy.

"I hope so." - Shirou.

'I hope not.' - Shirou. He did not want to end up like his past life again.

"Hey Guy, you were really good at the physical exams. But why was it that you were struggling so much in the chakra tests? Anyone can tell you must have put a lot of effort into training." - Shirou.

"Well, improving chakra control is too difficult for me and Dad. We checked with doctors before. They said that we have a condition called Yang Imbalance. Something about our physical energy being too strong compared to our spiritual energy." - Duy.

Duy and Guy were a bit sad at remembering this but they immediately perked up.

"But all this is not going to stop us. We may be bad at Ninjutsu and Genjutsu but we will work hard to make our Taijutsu stronger than all the other Ninja skills combined. Isn't that right son." - Duy.

"Yes. We will become the strongest Taijutsu users in the ninja world. We sear it on our youths." - Guy.

"To ignore all the voices of society and to continue to work hard in what you believe. You guys sure are amazing." - Shirou.

Father and son were extremely touched by Shirou's words. They barely managed to stop themselves from crying.

Shirou did not have any ulterior in meeting them. He just wanted to get to know these two amazing people in real life, not from a Television Screen.

"I also didn't think you would have a condition similar to mine." - Shirou.

"Huh..." - Guy, Duy.

"Yeah, I have Yin Imbalance. My spiritual energy is too strong compared to my physical energy. My body is too weak but my chakra control is very high. My Tenketsu is also narrower than average. Although we have opposite conditions, our situations are a bit similar." - Shirou.

Guy realized that during the tests Shirou was excelling in the chakra control exercises but struggled to pass the physical tests.

'So Shirou was also facing similar difficulties as me.' - Guy.

When they nearly arrived at the Ninja Academy, they met another father-son duo. They were Hatake Sakumo and his son Hatake Kakashi.

"Oh hey, my son Kakashi is also attending the academy. I hope everyone will get along." - Sakumo.

"Of course. Guy, Shirou. Make sure to not cause trouble and get along with everyone. Ok?" - Duy.

"We know" - Guy/Shirou.

"Are they both your kids?" - Sakumo.

"Guy here is mine. Shirou is a friend we met on the way here." - Duy.

"I see. Huh... Shirou?" - Sakumo.

Sakumo found that Shirou was staring at his White Light Chakra Sabre ignoring everyone else. Even Kakashi found his stare a bit strange.

"Hey, what are you doing?" - Kakashi.

"Huh?!... Oh sorry, I was just looking at that weapon of yours. It gives a special feeling." - Shirou.

"Oh, my Chakra Sabre, you must be knowledgeable on weapons if you can tell that just by looking at a sheathed weapon. Do your parents run a smithy?" - Sakumo.

"No, I am an orphan. But I am working at a smithy part-time. Your weapon felt different from all the others I have seen there." - Shirou.

"Is that so, maybe I will come by the smithy where you work. What is the name of the place?" - Sakumo.

"Tetsuya's Forgings." - Shirou.

'This scene is different from the anime. Looks like the butterfly effect is already in action. Or maybe this could be a different Naruto timeline where some events happened differently.' - Shirou.

"I will check it out as well." - Guy.

'It looks like l did not inherit Shirou Emiya's luck. What a great opportunity. I can observe the Chakra Sabre.' - Shirou.

Shirou wasn't simply staring at the Chakra Sabre. He was synchronizing with it using his new ability to grasp everything about it. Shirou had absorbed all the blade's information. This included its materials, the forging process, the techniques used during combat and the experience. With this Shirou now knows the Hatake clan Kenjutsu, the battle experience of Sakumo and his techniques. The best part is that the Sabre has seals placed on it that amplify chakra flow. This sealing knowledge was really valuable to him.

"Everyone, we are going to be late. The opening ceremony is about to start." - Kakashi.

Realizing Kakashi was right, Sakumo and Duy left the kids at the Academy gate and left.

"Kakashi and everyone, make sure you all get along." - Sakumo.

"Guy, Shirou, Kakashi. Never become lazy. Always make sure to work hard." - Duy.

The trio of Kakashi, Guy and Shirou waved goodbye to the two people and entered the academy.

[ After some time ]

Shirou was regretting his decision to join the academy. He hated standing under the sun among countless brats listening to a stupid long speech. It reminded him of his past school life. The Third Hokage is currently giving a speech to all the children about being a Shinobi and the will of fire.

Many were showing excited faces at the Hokage's words, while others like Shirou and a few others wanted to leave already.

"... When the tree leaves dance, One shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, And once again, tree leaves shall bud anew..." - Hiruzen.

To the people of this world, these were divine words but to Shirou who knows the story and read dozens of Naruto conspiracy theories and fan fics in his past life, these words were nothing but brainwashing.

'To give our lives for the village. Such bullshit. It is easy when you say it. But in reality when you say "for the village", it is the higher government that controls Konoha. Shinobi fight not for the village but for the leaders who control the village. These leaders are people and people are complex creatures. They can be good and bad. More often than not those in power are very likely to be corrupt.' - Shirou.

'Danzo and village elders are perfect examples. Maybe even Hiruzen. Although I need to observe him more to be sure. All of them have the same excuse "Everything we do is for Konoha". In the story many innocents died because of those bastards.' - Shirou.

Shirou was thinking about the Uchiha massacre. It was because of these higher-ups that the Uchiha clan began to plan a coup and also why Itachi became mentally unstable enough to kill his own family. Some may be able to sympathise with Itachi but the innocent people of the Uchiha clan will never accept it. If Shirou was born as a Uchiha he would also never forgive Itachi or higher ups.

'Who knows what other shady stuff they were involved in that wasn't mentioned in the anime or manga.' - Shirou.

Finally, the speech was over and everyone left.

Shirou finally managed to sit in the classroom and rest his legs.

'I didn't get much sleep yesterday. (Yawn)... so tired...' - Shirou.

Exhausted he fell asleep.