Mentorship Under the Third Raikage

"So, you're here to take the Genin Exam?" The principal of the school looked directly at Mazui's eyes.

"Yes, it's about time I do."

"I'm fine with it, but I'll have to talk to Raikage-sama about it. Come back tomorrow, I'll let you know then."

Mazui just stared at the principal and thought, 'What a waste of my time...'

"Alright, I'll make sure to stop by tomorrow. Goodbye."

Mazui exited the school and made it towards the shopping district. It was the afternoon, so the streets were bustling as usual. People were haggling here and there, while kids ran and played around.

He stopped at a particular shop. The sign of the shop was written in bold words. 'Weaponry Shop'.

Shinobi are permitted to buy weapons, but Mazui is not an official shinoby yet. Not to mention that he is still quite severely underaged, they wouldn't even let him enter the shop.

He skipped the weapon shop, and headed towards the library. Normally, If he wasn't training then Mazui would be studying at the library.

He wouldn't study for the academy, but he would study about the anatomy of the human body and many other techniques that are beneficial for the body's growth.

A few days ago, he finished reading a book about the anatomy of the human body; what was lethal and what was not.

Now, he's studying about genetics and mutation. In his previous world, he was not a biologist, but his knowledge on biology is pretty decent to say the least.

But, the knowledge that's recorded in this world is quite different from his previous one. Due to the influence of chakra, many scientists were able to create cloning machines and other advanced forms of technology.

Mazui knows that he won't be using this knowledge immediately, but it will serve a purpose in the future. A very detrimental one at that.

Still, today he is not here to learn about genetics and mutation. Today, he is at the library to learn about acupuncture.

Acupuncture is a form of alternative, traditional medicine for specific purposes. Mazui is only 8 years old, but he's yearning for a stronger body.

His chakra reserves are higher than ordinary students, but this could also become a problem for him. If his body and mind are not in harmony, he will not be able to fully utilize his chakra, or he might even have difficulty controlling it.

That's why he wants to educate himself in acupuncture; to accelerate his body's growth as much as he can.

With the right training regime and a specific diet, his physique will surely undergo drastic changes.

He checked out the book and headed towards his apartment. When Mazui transmigrated into this world, he did not have parents nor any sort of guardian. In other words, he was just an orphan. But, because he is training to be a ninja, they gave him an apartment and an allowance to make sure he has food and a place to sleep.

It was a small apartment that hosted a kitchen and a bathroom altogether. It was enough for him, it's not like Mazui was a materialistic person anyways.

He sat down, and began reading the book.

...

"Mazui, come in."

Mazui opened the door to the principal's office. There he saw an unexpected person present, two to be exact.

He slightly bowed before saying, "Greetings, Raikage-sama."

The Raikage he was talking about, was the third raikage, Ay. He was tall and extremely bulky. An extraordinary feature of his was his green eyes. The kid beside him was one of his classmates, Darui.

"You must be Mazui. I heard a lot about you from Darui over here." Darui formed an awkward smile at Mazui.

His arrival was unexpected, but he still kept his cool.

'If I remember correctly, Darui was one of the third Raikage's students.' "Is that so? What did he say?" Mazui asked the third raikage in curiosity.

"He said that you're strong, but quite childish. It doesn't seem so when I'm looking at you, but we'll see. Follow me for now, I'll personally oversee your exam." The third raikage, Ay, left the room, bringing Darui with him.

Mazui was left alone with the principal, "Wait, he'll oversee my exam? Does that mean he's going to be my proctor?" Mazui asked the principal.

"Precisely. But, he won't be testing you alone, he'll also be testing Darui. The two of you are the most prominent students that we've gotten in the past few years. Raikage-sama is interested in both of you. Well, I shouldn't hold you any longer than I am, go on ahead."

Mazui left the office, and followed the Raikage and Darui. After catching up to them, he couldn't help but satiate his curiosity.

"Um, raikage-sama, where are we going?"

The raikage turned over to look at Mazui, "Good, question. Well, first let's talk about the exam. Usually, to pass and graduate as a genin, you are required to take a test in your understanding of taijutsu, genjutsu, and most importantly, ninjutsu. But, I'll be giving you a different test. One where I'll personally test your capabilities as a shinobi." He explained as they walked.

Ay brought Darui and Mazui to an empty forest. He stood on barren soil. "You'll be taking your exam here. I'll keep it short and simple. In order for you to pass, you have to at least get one hit from me. Just one, that's all. Because there is a huge difference in strength, I'll be limiting myself by not using any forms of ninjutsu nor any excess amount of physical abilities."

Mazui smiled, "Could you perhaps be uderestimating us?"

Ay laughed at Mazui's remark, "Underestimating you? Haha, I'm just confident you won't be able to touch me! Now, come at me! Just, don't think it'll be easy."

Immediately after he said to start, he striked a defensive position. Mazui and Darui both felt an invisible pressure attacking them.

'Amazing, he hasn't even moved, yet he's already stopped us from moving!'

The only thing they could do was try to withstand it. Eventually, they shrugged off the pressure and began to move. The first to attack was Darui, he threw multiple kunai at Ay. Mazui followed up behind and used the kunai as a distraction.

Ay simply swatted the kunai with his bare hands. Darui was dumbfounded at the feat, but Mazui continued his attack. Mazui jumped high and kicked at Ay's head. Of course, he did not manage to succeed.

'Seeing how difficult this is, I'll have to strategize with Darui.' Mazui used the Substitution Jutsu to swap places with a rock.

"Darui, I'll discuss later with you, for now, throw as many kunai and shuriken as possible, we'll need them for a distraction." Mazui went to Darui's side and spoke to him. Darui nodded and they both enacted their plan. They both ran towards the forest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ay tried to follow in pursuit, but was stopped by the dozens of shuriken that were coming at him. Picking up their speed, Mazui and Darui entered the forest, disappearing from Ay's line of sight.

"Playing the hiding game, huh?" The third raikage quickly followed and entered the forest.

Hidden behind a bush, Mazui drew a plan on the grainy soil. "Alright, attacking straightforward is impossible for now. We need someway, or something to distract him for an extended period of time. It would be beneficial if we knew any ninjutsu, but we'll have to make do with something else. So, this is what I was thinking..."

While Mazui and Darui discussed their plans, Ay was currently searching for them in the forest.

'It's highly unlikely they're atop a tree, they're probably hiding beneath the ground, or behind a bush.'

But, before he could even search further, both Mazui and Darui emerged out of a bush, quite the distance away from Ay.

"You finally stopped hiding. Don't waste any more time and come at me, or I will!" Ay shouted to the youths.

Both of them did not pay any heed to Ay's actions, instead all they did was nod at each other. Mazui grabbed Darui's wrists, and began spinning him around in the air.

After gaining enough momentum, Mazui let of Darui's wrists who then catapulted towards Ay at high speeds. While Darui approached Ay, Mazui hid behind the trees, moving around.

Ay was surprised by the sudden attack, it was a really weird approach, but he still remained calm. He crossed his arms waiting for impact.

Darui slammed to Ay's hands with his right shoulder. He winced in pain, but ignored it and threw a kunai at Ay while he was still in the air. But because of the damage he took from the impact, his aim was slightly off, and it missed Ay.

"It seems you took quite some damage-!" Before he could finish speaking, Mazui emerged from the ground, aiming his fist at Ay's stomach.

'It was a good attempt, it's too bad you're timing was slightly off.' As Ay motioned his fist to stop Mazui, his eyes winced as Mazui suddenly disappeared from his vision and was replaced by a kunai. 'Substitution Jutsu!' Ay thought.

Behind Ay, Mazui had substitued himself with the kunai that Darui threw at Ay. At that time, Darui wasn't really injured, it was all a ploy! By pretending his shoulder was injured and miscalculating the kunai's trajectory, it made it so the plan would work well.

Mazui quickly sent a punch towards Ay's back, but he subconsciously underestimated Ay. Before he could even reach it, Ay's hand reached back and grasped Mazui's tiny wrist, nearly crushing it.

'Damn it, I thought this would've worked.' Mazui was extremely disappointed, but it was okay. They were up against the Raikage, what did they expect?

Darui showed a bitter smile, while Mazui was currently contemplating his next attack.

The Raikage internally smiled, 'Hoh, impressive. They're both so young, yet they were able to pull off a stunt like this.' Ay let go of Mazui while walking away from them.

"Although you guys did not manage to hit me, your performance was commendable. You both pass, From today on, you are both Genin level shinobi. Here, take this as proof that you passed." He took out two black headbands with Kumogakure's symbol engraved on them and tossed them to Mazui and Darui.

Both Darui and Mazui had confusion written on their faces. Mazui voiced his doubts to Ay, "That's it? But we didn't even fulfill the requirement."

"That is true, but since the start of the exam, it was obviously an unfair advantage. No matter what strategy you used, you wouldn't have been able to hit me with your strength. Remember, I said that I was testing your capabilities as a shinobi. The strategy the both of you used was impressive considering the limited amount of abilities you could use."

'That makes sense...' "Then, who'll be our teachers?" Mazui asked.

"From now on, both of you will be students directly learning under me. Tomorrow will be your first day of training, meet me at this exact same spot. For now, you are allowed to go home and rest." After Ay explained, he soon disappeared out of both Mazui and Darui's vision.

Darui was excited from being under the mentorship of the Raikage, and Mazui was shocked. He would've never expected that he would become the third Raikage's student, but he just did. Of course, it didn't help that the Raikage just dropped that news so casually and quickly left, he did not have enough time to digest it.

But, he was actually glad he became his student. With the raikage as guidance to his training, Mazui should grow much stronger before the Third Shinobi World War starts.

As Mazui was thinking, Darui bade farewell to Mazui: "Mazui, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Sure." 'That's the most excited I've seen him since I entered the academy.' Mazui thought.

'Well, I have nothing to do now. Might as well train to kill time.'

Not long after, Mazui too left the forest.