Academy Arc 11

"…and our top scorer of the year is, Shinji Ikari! Well done, Shinji. Keep it up." Iruka announced to the applause of the class.

I stood up from my seat and bowed. Personally, I didn't feel it to be such a note worthy achievement, but I still had to play the part of the humble 'genius'. At this point I was already so far ahead of the class it wasn't even funny. I held myself back just enough to show I was slightly better than everyone but enough to be an oddity. I still 'lost' to Sasuke in the taijutsu examination, but that was by design. It wouldn't make sense otherwise if an orphan who solely utilized the Academy Fighting Style could trump over the last Uchiha who used his clan's exclusive taijutsu style.

In terms of taijutsu, not even Sasuke could match me anymore even without [Chakra Enhancement], [Sharingan] and [Power Strike] reinforcing my blows. My pure stats alone were already superior to his. I was assuming of course since I still wasn't able to view an individual's stat points, but I outperformed the boy in every physical metric during the physical proficiency test, so there was some substance to my claims.

My level had stagnated since the last time I went dungeon diving, but my stats and skills had been slowly but steadily improving. With the eyepatch and the special dumbbell I got from the dungeon boss, my STR training shot up crazily. When I reached 50 STR, I gained a new perk. Coincidentally, my DEX similarly reached 50 at around the same time too.

[Lesser Muscularity]: You have acquired a rudimentary accomplishment in strengthening your body.

+20% increase to physical damage

+20kg increase in exertion of physical force

[Lesser Agility]: You have acquired a rudimentary accomplishment in proficiency of your body's dexterity.

+20% increase to movement speed

Increased expertise in stealth, finesse and flexibility

Since three out of four of my main stats were now at or above 50, I pumped in a few of my free points to my VIT as well, just to even things out. As a result, I got another perk.

[Lesser Physicality]: You have acquired a rudimentary accomplishment in tempering your bodily health.

+10% increase to max HP

+10% increase to HP recovery rate

-10% to physical damage taken

Increased stamina

Because of the three new perks, my physical prowess was greatly improved. With them, and the plethora of skills I had, I could confidently proclaim myself to be the strongest taijutsu practitioner in our year, or even in the entire academy with little margin for error. Of course I wouldn't be able to prove that anytime soon since I still had to hide the extent of my strength.

After Sasuke allowed me entry into his clan's jutsu library, my horizons were expanded greatly – unfortunately however, my actual skill list had barely any difference. See, Sasuke was stubborn about a few things: vengeance, training and brooding. However, there was one other thing he refused to budge on that really irked me.

Before his parents passed, the boy was given strict instruction never to explore the jutsu library beyond his capabilities. Meaning he observed the same rules as what any shinobi would encounter in the Konoha Library, that is he followed a self-imposed mandate to not explore the genin section and beyond before he achieved the corresponding rank.

Such a principle baffled me initially. There it was, the easiest shortcut for him to attain the strength he so dearly desired, yet he refused to budge on this matter. However, when I heard his explanation it made sense. His desire to obey one of the last instructions of his deceased parents far outweighed his desire to avenge his clan. Since they were no longer living, the few ways he could still honour them and show filial piety was to at the very least not succumb to the temptation of the advanced techniques in the library and comply with their instruction.

Unfortunately for me, however, he strongly believed that I too had to follow this edict.

Although it wasn't all bad since we still effectively had free reign in the academy student section of the clan library. And given that when they still lived the Uchiha clan had great expectations of the scions of their clan, the academy section alone was still stocked with what might be deemed as too advanced for academy students in other clans.

For example, there was an abundance of C-ranked katon jutsu scrolls, basic genjutsu scrolls as well as a supply of different taijutsu manuals on display.

As a result, my ninjutsu repertoire was expanded greatly and I also began my foray into genjutsu. Furthermore, I was also able to pick up other fighting styles and thus not be limited to the academy fighting style which was elementary at best when compared to what the Uchiha clan had hoarded. The decades of combating foreign shinobi and copying their techniques with the Sharingan meant that over the years a plethora of different techniques were accumulated.

I found out that just by learning and creating the skills for different taijutsu styles it levelled up my [Intermediate Taijutsu Mastery]. It appeared that the system deemed my holistic knowledge of martial arts as an increase in proficiency over the discipline of taijutsu overall. Similarly, learning and creating skills for different bukijutsu techniques also levelled up my [Myriad Armament Fiend] skill.

I glanced over at Sasuke as I sat down following Iruka's announcement and our eyes met. It seemed he was still somewhat upset over the fact that I let him win the taijutsu contest.

Before the end of year examinations we had already discussed the reasons behind my actions, or at least what I told him was the reasons. He believed that I didn't want all the attention and thus invite greater scrutiny on me which might potentially reveal my lineage on accident. Yet he was still dissatisfied even with that justification. It seemed more like his pride and ego was damaged since he knew I could handily trounce him in our spars. Especially after I picked up the various taijutsu fighting styles from the Uchiha Clan library. Plus, since I too was now intimately familiar with the fighting style he was most proficient in, the Uchiha Interceptor Fist, reading his intentions and predicting his moves was simple enough even without the Sharingan's clarity of vision.

However, what he didn't know was that there were some further machinations to this performance. What I was truly planning for was the eventual graduation and subsequent genin team formation. There was some truth to what I had told Sasuke – I genuinely wanted to avoid the attention being perceived as an overwhelming genius would cast upon me. However, if all I wanted was to avoid the attention, then why do so well in the academy in the first place?

The was because I intend to manoeuvre myself to be on the same team as Naruto. Following the canonical team formation, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura would find themselves on the same team. This was designed to create a balanced team by placing the rookie of the year, the deadlast and the top kunoichi together. Thus if I wanted to be placed together with Naruto, then I had to be rookie of the year when I graduated.

The reasoning behind this could be attributed partly to guilt and a desire to make up to the jinchuriki. If I truly intended to damn Naruto to remain as the deadlast in order for him to acquire the Kage Bunshin jutsu, then I was going to make sure I could be in the same team as him, so I train him up and ensure he prosper.

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The air was thick with a musky stench and a cacophony of dogs barking as Kiba led me into the Inuzuka clan compound. I looked around, wondering how Inuzukas could go to sleep or do anything that needed some amount of peace and quiet in this racket. Not just the noisiness, but the smell too. It was like a 24/7 smell of wet dogs that permeated the area. I could smell the place before I even walked in.

The Inuzuka clan compound was a far cry from the Uchiha's. Unlike the self-contained, mini village the Uchiha sequestered themselves in, the Inuzuka clan lived in what appeared to be a collection of buildings marked with their clan symbol.

We walked further into the compound with Kiba occasionally pointing out buildings and telling me what they were for, as well as Akamaru who yipped in agreement beside us. There were also several people, dressed in shinobi garb and correspondingly accompanied by their own ninken, who greeted Kiba from afar. Not the polite, 'hi, how are you doing', but more along the lines of, 'hey what's up Kiba ya runt!'.

Which only invited said Inuzuka to growl and yell back with whatever retort that first came to his mind.

We reached our destination shortly and Kiba opened the door to the Inuzuka veterinary clinic, which incidentally served as the only veterinary clinic in Konoha, while yelling, "Nee-san! You here?"

At his voice, the several other animals who were in the clinic began responding in kind with their respective cries.

A muffled voice from the back yelled back, "In the back!"

Kiba turned to me and motioned for me to follow him while waving to the receptionist at the counter.

The receptionist, another Inuzuka I assumed, waved back cheerily, "Hey Kiba-kun! Back from school?"

The Inuzuka heir stopped at the counter to pet the small chihuahua looking dog that was lounging lazily on the tabletop. "Yo Manami-san. Yep just here to see my sister."

The now identified Manami turned to me with a quizzical look, "And who's your friend here?"

I stepped forward to introduce myself, "Ah hello, my name is Shinji Ikari. I'm Kiba's classmate from the Shinobi Academy. Nice to meet you."

She chuckled, "Ara, how polite. Nice to meet you too. Why are you here, Shinji-kun?"

Kiba cut in to explain, "He's here to see my sis."

"Oh? Whatever for? Do you have a sick pet?"

Shaking my head, I answered, "Nope. Just something I wanted to ask her."

Manami seemed satisfied even with the admittedly non-answer, "I see. Well, just go right on ahead. She's in the back."

"A'ight, see ya later Minami-san. And you too chibi-chan." Kiba replied while ruffling the top of the chihuahua's head. The small dog seemed completely content to just let the boy do whatever he wanted as it continued sleeping, indifferent to his remarks.

We went through the door in the back and entered some sort of an examination room. A young woman with auburn the same brown hair and distinctive red fang marks as Kiba's sat at a table writing into a notepad.

"Just a second…" She stated, still looking and writing on her notepad,

Kiba just walked in and made himself at home by sitting on the examination table and propping up his legs. "Sure. Wassup Inchi, Nii, San?" He greeted the three dogs that were laying in the corner of the examination room, who barked in response.

I stood awkwardly at the door, unsure whether or not I should join Kiba on the examination table but that might just seem rude, while Akamaru joined his owner by jumping up on the table and laying his head on Kiba's lap comfortably.

The three dogs with grey fur stared at me curiously but remained where they were. It seemed like they were ready and waiting for their owner's signal to do anything in regard to me, be it greeting or attacking.

"And… done." Hana said to herself as she finished writing and closed the notepad before looking up at us. "What's up?"

Kiba gestured towards me, "Oh this is Shinji. He's a friend from school." Turning back to me, he continued, "This is my sister Hana."

Walking towards her, I bowed in greeting. "Nice to meet you. I'm Shinji Ikari."

Hana didn't seem particularly comfortable with the formality of the exchange, so I quickly loosened up to put her at ease. She nodded acknowledgement, "Right then now that that's out of the way, what can I do you for?"

Kiba once again cut in to explain, "This guy asked if I knew any medic nin, so I told him yeah I did, you. Then he asked if he could meet you, so I brought him here."

His sister made an 'ah' face and asked, "Why do you need to see a medic nin? If you're sick you should go to the hospital ya'know? This is a veterinary clinic. We treat animals."

"Ah I know, Kiba told me about it. Uhm, but you did undergo training as a medic nin right? As in, you are licensed to treat people?"

Hana looked back at me with a questioning look, "Of course. Why are you asking? Like I said if you need medical help, you should really go to the hospital instead. Unless there's some reason you can't?"

She glanced at Kiba, trying to ascertain some clue to the purpose of my visit, but the boy already made his way to her dogs and was scratching one of them on the back of their ear.

I cleared my throat to get back her attention, "Uhhum, let me assure you I'm not in need of medical attention at the moment. Not as far as I know at least. As for why I'm here, well… here's the thing." I paused while shifting uncomfortably in place, trying to give off the timid and self-conscious vibe.

"I… want to learn medical ninjutsu!" I declared.

There was a moment of silence with Hana seeming like she was taking some time to absorb what I just said before her face twisted with disbelief, "Huh?? Wh-why are you telling me that? Are you asking me to teach you or somethin'?"

"Yes… please consider my request!" I gave another 90 degree bow again and stayed there.

"This is ridiculous, you're in the same class as Kiba right? That means you're, what, in the third year? I ain't teaching an academy student medical ninjutsu. That would just be wasting both of our time." She countered dismissively.

"Ah, I understand your apprehension. But please just give me a chance, I won't let you down." I continued bowing.

"Oi, oi, can you just stand properly. Getting bowed to feels weird." She requested, and I complied.

Frowning, she continued, "Look, you either take medical ninjutsu way too lightly, or you are really delusional about your own limits. Either way, that rubs me the wrong way, kid."

"Hana-san, I mean no disrespect, but, well, not to brag but I have some confidence in my chakra control." I insisted while looking her straight in the eyes.

My comment made her raise an eyebrow with some degree of mockery. "Oh really? Why don'tcha tell me about your 'chakra control' then?"

I tried my best not to let any of the internal frustration I was currently feeling show on my face, reminding myself there was a reason why I was doing this. Really, it was all about having someone I could point to as being the one who taught me medical ninjutsu if I was ever asked about it.

Being able to heal someone with just chakra was a very important, very useful skill. I didn't want to be in a position where someone needed to be treated but I hesitated because I had a reason not to reveal it. Which was why I was currently prostrating myself in front of someone who severely underestimated me, admitted with good reason since from the outside I appeared just like a cocky academy student who thought himself special.

"I believe I have mastered tree-walking and recently I have started on water walking, Hana-san, no, Hana-sensei." I divulged. All of which was true, by the way. I only recently fully mastered the [Tree Walking Exercise], which took longer than expected. After a certain point, the skill was stuck at level 9, no matter how much I practiced. Only when I started actively using tree-walking in more intense and distracting situations like shadow-sparring with an imaginary opponent, that it finally levelled up. Upon which I began water-walking and sure enough created the [Water Walking] skill in under an hour.

Now she started to look just the slightest bit interested. "Hoh? That's really impressive… is what I would say if that was actually something to brag about. Having good chakra control at your age could only mean one thing – you have shit chakra reserves. Having low chakra reserves tend to mean your chakra control will be proportionately better. But low chakra reserves also mean that you would be a shit medic nin if you get tired after just one jutsu. And who are you calling sensei, kid. Don't think I didn't catch that."

As she harrumphed and looked back at me challengingly, I gave an embarrassed cough. Embarrassed not for me but for her of course. "Uhm, actually… I'm pretty confident in my chakra reserves too. I've been told I have one of the highest chakra pool in the class. So… that shouldn't be a problem, Hana-sensei."

"Bullshit! And who told you that? Your mom?" Hana demanded with incredulity.

At that, from the corner of my eye I could see Kiba turn back slightly but he cleverly declined to correct her. He was right, it wasn't really his place to do so. It was mine.

"Actually, I'm an orphan." I responded blankly.

Hana flinched, "Oh… shit, my bad. But my point stands."

"Well, to answer your question, one of the chunin instructors at the academy told me." This was a lie. Technically. I knew I had one of the highest chakra pools in the class, second only to Naruto of course. No one specifically told me that, but I could see it using [Observe]. So yes, it was technically a lie.

Hana levelled her gaze at me for a moment, "I don't know how you expect me to believe this shit, but you know what, let's suppose I do, just for the fun of it. Even if you have good chakra control and decent chakra reserves, you can't start learning medical ninjutsu just like that. Do you even know anything about the human biology? How our organs function, where do our veins meet, the position of every single one of the 206 bones in our body? It takes years of studying just to get to the starting line."

"Fret not Hana-sensei, I came prepared. I've already read and memorized most of the basic medical texts. So I can safely say I do have the minimum standard of knowledge needed to start learning medical ninjutsu."

Seeing that she looked dubious at my claims, I continued to explain, "Ah, I like reading, and medical ninjutsu has interested me for a very long time."

"Yeah he's a real bookworm, sis. Spends half his time in the library of all places. And I don't know if this would mean anything, but he has been top of the class for two years running." Kiba added, coming to my aid. Our friendship was something carefully nurtured and at a certain point in our relationship, he had come to recognize me, in the primal and animalistic way of how he perceived the world, as the alpha of the class.

He was initially stubborn and headstrong about his place in the class hierarchy – declaring himself to be the alpha male and leader of the pack. But after years of me physically dominating him in both our physical proficiency tests and spars, as well as the amiable way I interacted with him coupled with the good-humoured persona I crafted, I slowly earned his trust and respect. Plus, being able to see what he thought of me with [Observe] helped plenty as well.

"Heh… I don't really trust either of you though?" Hana teasingly replied, to her brother's vexation but resignation – it seemed that their relationship was as one-sidedly dominant as he and I had.

"So let me tell you what," She started as she opened the desk drawer and started riffling through some files. "I have here…" Hana pulled out a couple pieces of paper stapled together and offered them to me, "a copy of the medic nin theory test I took a few years back when I signed up to the Konoha Medic Corp. I keep it as a memento. If you can get, say… just half of the questions right, then I will maybe possibly consider teaching you."

"Deal." I immediately answered as I nearly snatched the paper from her hand.

-----Two hours later------

Hana put down her pen that was being used to grade my test and sighed with some exasperation before writing 68 on the front of the test and circled it.

"Well, a deal's a deal." She began to my delight. "But. If your chakra control and chakra reserves aren't what you said, then deal's off. Got it?"

"Hai, Hana-sensei!"

She smiled, a gentler expression than any she had since I met her, "Can't say I dislike the sound of that. Say it again?"

"Hana-sensei?"

She gave a mirthful laugh, "Good boy! Hmm, 15 years old and already a sensei? Kaa-san won't believe this."