Naruto - The God of Shinobi

"Ugh… where am I?" Kazeo slowly opened his eyes, his entire body aching with exhaustion and hunger. He sat up after a few moments, groaning slightly as memories trickled back—he had collapsed mid-training, right after cutting himself while practicing wind chakra control.

Glancing at his fingers, he noticed the wounds had already closed, but a dull sting still lingered. 'Good thing the cuts were minor and closed on their own. If they had been deeper, I could've died from blood loss… and no one would've even noticed.'

"I need to be more careful next time." His mind felt cloudy as he struggled to his feet, every joint and muscle protesting. He stumbled toward the table clock to check the date and time.

To his surprise, an entire day had passed. "I slept for twenty-four hours… and ten minutes?"

'I thought I'd crash for twenty hours after three full days—but I only trained for two and a half… and I still slept for this long? No wonder my body hurts.'

Just as he began reflecting on his progress, his stomach growled, interrupting his thoughts. "Alright, I'll have some food first then doing anything."

He walked over to his almirah and grabbed a handful of ration pills, chewing and swallowing them one by one. After washing them down with water, he let out a soft burp and sighed in relief.

"Much better… I probably ate more than usual, but it makes sense considering I haven't eaten in over a day, and my body was burning chakra and stamina non-stop for two and a half days straight."

He looked around the room and noticed the faint, dried blood drops on the floor near where he had collapsed. 'Sigh… I need to clean that up. And disinfect my fingers before bandaging them.'

Bandaging and emergency care were basic skills that every student learned by the fourth year, and Kazeo was no exception.

He opened his almirah again, pulled out the emergency medical kit, and cleaned the wounds before wrapping them carefully.

Of course, if he really wanted, he could've gone to the hospital and had the wounds healed with medical ninjutsu. It would only take a few seconds to treat something this minor, but that came with problems.

'A single medical session for a small wound costs five thousand ryō. It's not that I can't afford it… but it'd look weird.'

'Man... I have money, but I can't even spend it freely.'

As according to Kazeo, an orphan spending that much money on a minor injury would definitely draw attention. If anyone ever decided to investigate his expenses, it would raise questions—after all, an orphan was expected to be frugal and endure small training injuries without fuss.

His thoughts circled back to the pills—the soldier pills he had received through the blacksmith. 'It still doesn't make sense why the blacksmith paid for those… and even attached the purchase to the Hokage's tab. Why?'

He furrowed his brows, but after a moment of silence, he let the thought fade. No answers were coming and overthinking now would only tire him more.

With a deep breath, he sat back down on the bed. 'I'll rest a little longer… then clean up the blood.' And with that, he leaned back, letting his body relax for the first time since he had collapsed.

-------

Days passed, and the time for the graduation exam finally arrived. Kazeo was sitting cross-legged on the floor, eating his dinner in silence. His mind, however, was far from calm.

'Tomorrow's the graduation exam... I've trained as much as I could, but I'm still nervous about the results.'

'I'm confident I'll pass—whether they test genjutsu resistance, taijutsu, ninjutsu, or theory, I'm ready. But what I'm really worried about… is getting first rank.'

He paused, chewing slowly as his thoughts drifted to the reward. The student who ranked first would be granted a wish by the Hokage. And more importantly, they'd be assigned a personal jōnin mentor, even after being placed in a regular team with a sensei.

That jōnin would teach them a single jutsu or technique of that kids choice—though it would, of course, need the Hokage's approval first.

His eyes narrowed slightly. 'I already know what I'll ask for. Something that'll give me both money and some influence in the village. But ideally… I want a jōnin who knows Sunagakure's puppet-string techniques. It'd be badass if I could use my vibration control or wind chakra through dozens of wires at once and manipulate them like limbs."

A small smile tugged at his lips.

'I could use the wires like in that cat's cradle game… make different shapes mid-fight. How cool would it be to form a star-shaped shield, a whip, or a sword with just wires?'

His thoughts drifted to a distant memory, and his smile widened. 'It wasn't possible to create something like a sword or shield with wires in battle back on Earth… but here, with my improved intelligence, memory, and presence of chakra , I think it's possible.'

He chuckled softly. 'I still remember how cool it looked as a kid when I saw it in Doraemon. I kept trying to replicate shapes from the show. After dozens of tries, I finally made the Tokyo Tower… though I got bored after a few days. Still, it was fun.'

Now, that childhood play had become a real ambition—something that could save his life in the middle of combat. His eyes sparkled with anticipation as new ideas flooded his mind—shapes, traps, mid-air switches, shifting patterns of wire defense and attack.

He grinned unconsciously, his face lighting up like a child. Because despite the burden of survival and revenge, he also had a inner kid who dreamed, who smiled, who imagined a future where he could reshape entire battles with nothing but a handful of wires.

A few minutes later, Kazeo's eyes landed on several broken wires scattered randomly across the room. He let out a small sigh as he stood up to collect them. 'Oh right… I forgot to pick those up.' he thought, slightly annoyed. As he gathered the pieces, a more serious thought crossed his mind. 'Still, this is a real problem. If something like this happens during an actual fight… I could die.' His expression turned grim.

He planned to take them back to the blacksmith, hoping they could be reforged or reinforced somehow. This was the seventh wire to break in just the past two weeks of training. Every single one had snapped in the same way—shattering into pieces like glass. The first time it happened, Kazeo had been genuinely confused. "Why would chakra-conducting wire just… break apart like that?" he had wondered. At first, he suspected a defect in the material, but as more wires broke under the same conditions, the truth became clear. His chakra, specifically the sharp, slicing nature of wind chakra—was gradually eroding the structural integrity of the wires from the inside. So, he went to blacksmith in the first week of incident.

(Flashback)

Kazeo stepped into the dimly lit blacksmith shop, the scent of iron and burning coal clinging to the air. The rhythmic clang of hammer on steel echoed from the back, but it stopped as soon as he called out, "Hey, old man! The wire broke."

The blacksmith, a broad-shouldered man with a soot-streaked face and a thick grey beard, came out from behind a curtain, wiping his hands on a worn rag. His eyes narrowed as he saw the shards of broken wire in Kazeo's hand.

"Broke?" he grunted, taking the pieces. "How?"

"I don't know," Kazeo replied, scratching his head.

The blacksmith let out a low whistle, then without another word, turned and disappeared into a side cabin. Kazeo waited outside, the heat from the forge warming his face. Five minutes later, the man returned, holding the shattered wire fragments.

He looked Kazeo dead in the eye. "What the hell are you doing with these wires, kid?"

"Huh?"

"I can see the residue. First, you're vibrating them somehow, then you're forcing wind-nature chakra through it." He raised a brow. "Am I wrong?"

"That's… exactly what I did. How did you—?"

The old man smirked, tapping the side of his head. "I wasn't only a blacksmith always. I used to be a shinobi till the Third Great Ninja war. Retired after I realized I had a better hand for shaping metal than throwing kunai."

Kazeo's surprise slowly shifted into curiosity. "Wait… so you can really tell all that just from the wire?"

"Years of experience," the man said, then shook his head. "But listen, you're pushing the wrong chakra into the wrong kind of wire. These are regular chakra-infused metals, yeah, but they're built to withstand vibration and tension — not wind-nature. Wind chakra is sharp and unstable. These wires can't handle it."

Kazeo frowned. "Then what do I need?"

The blacksmith leaned against the table. "Wires made from wind chakra metal. Rarer than regular chakra metals. See, to make one, the chakra metal ore has to sit near a wind-nature hotspot for a hundred years or more. The elemental chakra saturates it over time, gives it affinity."

"So… there are elemental chakra metals too?"

"Yup. Fire, water, lightning, wind, even earth. But finding them is like finding a needle in a haystack and they are very pricey. Still, if you really want to use wind chakra with wires safely, that's your best shot."

There was a pause. The crackle of the forge filled the room. "Thanks," Kazeo muttered, more thoughtful now. "I didn't know any of that."

The blacksmith gave him a soft grunt. "No worries, kid. Better the wire breaks now than in your gut mid-battle."

Kazeo gave a small chuckle. "Yeah… you are right." He turned to leave after some more talk, leaving the broken wires inside smithy for repair.

Over the next few days, Kazeo found himself visiting the blacksmith shop more often than he'd like. With his wires snapping one after another, he had no choice but to return for repairs or replacements.

By the fourth visit, the old blacksmith had stopped grumbling and simply waved him in with a tired, knowing sigh.

One afternoon, after handing over yet another broken wire, Kazeo lingered a little longer than usual, curiosity bubbling in his mind. "Hey… can I ask you something?" he said, watching the man hammer a glowing rod back into shape.

"You're already asking," the blacksmith muttered, not looking up.

"It's about those soldier pills," Kazeo said. "The ones I got a while back. Why did you put them on the Hokage's tab?"

The hammer stopped mid-swing. For a moment, only the crackle of the forge and the soft hiss of cooling metal filled the air. The blacksmith finally looked up, his eyes tired but sharp. "I figured you'd ask sooner or later."

He set the rod aside, wiping sweat from his brow with his thick forearm. "Look, kid… you know those pills aren't allowed for academy students, right? Strict regulations."

"Yeah. That's why I was surprised you gave them to me without a fuss."

"I didn't say yes because I'm careless," the man said, his tone a bit firmer now. "I said yes because I saw what you're trying to do — the way you train, you remind me of myself for what I couldn't do because no one supported me, so I didn't wanted to say no. But I also didn't want to break the rules outright."

He paused, leaning against the workbench. "So I did the only thing that can be done. I put the pills on the Hokage's tab — let the top know what you're up to without spelling it out. If the Hokage has a problem with it, he'll step in. If not, then it means he's watching... and letting you continue."

Kazeo stood still for a moment, absorbing it all. His lips parted, but no words came. It made perfect sense. The blacksmith had protected him in the only way that wouldn't draw suspicion.

"That's… clever," he finally said.

The blacksmith grunted. "Smart, not clever. I walk a fine line. This way, I don't get scolded, and you don't get blacklisted."

Kazeo couldn't help but smile faintly. "You really thought it through, huh!"

"Been around a while, kid. Learned that doing the right thing doesn't always mean doing it the obvious way."

The two stood there in quiet understanding for a beat longer before Kazeo turned to leave. "Thanks," he said sincerely.

"Don't thank me," the blacksmith said, already turning back to his forge. "Just train hard and don't get yourself killed in future."

(Flashback ends)

'He sure is smart.' Kazeo thought, before his focus shifted back to his own progress. He leaned back slightly, reflecting with a quiet sense of satisfaction. "Anyway, I've gained a lot this past month. The training methods Shisui gave me were extremely helpful. I didn't quite hit the targets I'd set for myself, but I still made solid progress."

In terms of chakra control, his sensing field had expanded to an impressive three hundred and forty-six meters—nearly a full hundred meters more than before. His taijutsu had also improved noticeably. Thanks to near-daily sparring sessions with his shadow clones, his movements had become more instinctive. He had only missed two days of practice every week: one when he was knocked out from the aftereffects of the soldier pills, and the other which was the next day when he deliberately took it easy to avoid long-term strain. Even so, he had already used the pills three times during this period—each time pushing his limits further.

Inside the academy, things were growing more intense—and darker. Over the month, he and his classmates had witnessed three more executions. The psychological toll was evident. Nearly half the class had either given up on graduating this year or begun doubting whether they were ready. Some hesitated simply because they hadn't yet received their elemental chakra crystals. One boy had even tried to quit the academy entirely, but his family had forced him to stay—dragging him every week to watch the executions, whether he wanted to or not.

To make things worse, two students were outright rejected by the teachers after applying for the graduation exam. The instructors had simply told them they weren't ready.

Now, in Kazeo's class, only thirteen students were appearing for the graduation exam. The rest were moving on to take the promotion exam into the fifth year of the elite course, choosing to delay becoming genin in hopes of better preparation—or simply out of fear.

---------

Later that evening, Kazeo stood up and stretched with a quiet yawn. After washing the dinner dishes, he climbed up to the rooftop and sat there, staring at the star-filled sky. The village below was quiet, the kind of calm that made even a restless mind pause.

His eyes drifted toward the brightest star in the sky, and his thoughts turned inward.

"Am I doing everything right, Grandma?" he wondered silently. "Tomorrow's the graduation exam… I hope it goes well. I hope you're watching over me, and I hope you're happy, wherever you are."

He didn't need anyone to answer. Talking to the stars had become his ritual — something he did every week without fail. When he couldn't visit her grave, this was how he stayed close.

A faint breeze passed by, and he closed his eyes for a moment. 'Don't worry… I've already started planning how I'll deal with Danzō.'

'You won't be forgotten. And you'll definitely be avenged.'

His lips trembled slightly on that last part, but he masked it with a soft exhale. He sat there in silence for several minutes, watching the night sky breathe and shimmer above him. The village, unaware of the storm that brewed inside the heart of a boy who looked too young to carry the weight he did.

Eventually, he stood up and stretched, yawning. As he turned to head back down, a sudden thought cut through his mind: "Am I really doing things correctly?"

He froze. 'What's changed in my life, really? Back on Earth… my life was college, novels, anime… then sleep. Over and over. And here… it's wake up, train, academy, train again, sleep and repeat.'

His chest tightened slightly, a strange emptiness blooming in his stomach. 'What changed… despite reincarnating?'

'Am I just wasting my second life the same way I wasted my first?'

Another thought followed, 'Should I stop training so hard? Talk to people more? Live a little…?'

For a moment, Kazeo's mind went blank. His eyes lost their shine, his face void of emotion — like something inside him had been switched off. Then, in an instant, his expression snapped back.

"Shit, tomorrow's my exam!" he muttered under his breath, shaking his head violently. "Why the hell am I wasting time up here instead of sleeping?"

Without another word, he jumped and hurried back into his room, throwing himself onto the bed. He didn't even realize—that maybe something had just nudged his thoughts ever so slightly. And with that, he fell asleep, completely unaware of the presence that had brushed against his mind.

-------

The next morning, Kazeo woke up at exactly seven. He didn't train as he knew today wasn't a day to exhaust himself so he just stretched for about half an hour to loosen his body and keep it light. After getting freshened up, he locked the door behind him and began jogging towards the academy.

When he arrived, the training ground was already crowded with students. He scanned the area calmly as more of his classmates trickled in. Ten minutes passed, and the crowd gradually grew denser until the instructor finally arrived. He stepped forward and raised his voice above the chatter.

"Welcome, everyone. Since all participants have arrived, let's begin with attendance. Anyone who fails to report before the attendance ends will be considered to have failed the graduation exam."

The atmosphere shifted slightly, tension creeping into the air as silence settled over the students. One by one, names were called, and each student responded clearly.

Once the attendance was complete, the instructor gave a nod of approval and continued, "Good, all seventy of you are present. Now, go to the announcement board and find your assigned classroom for the theoretical exam. The duration of this exam is one and a half hours. Stay calm, don't panic, and write your answers carefully."

All the students bowed slightly in acknowledgment before making their way toward the announcement board.

Kazeo moved with the crowd, eyes scanning the lists. He quickly found his name under Classroom 2-C. With his ID and admit card in hand, he headed toward the room. After verifying his identity at the door, he was allowed inside and quietly took his seat, mentally preparing for the challenge ahead.

The classroom had thirty desks arranged in five neat columns, though only fifteen students were seated inside, to avoid any cheating. For Kazeo, the exam itself felt easy. The question paper contained a total of forty-five questions, most of which were multiple-choice, with only five requiring written answers.

As he glanced over the paper, he thought, 'So, all the questions are based on situational scenarios—what we would do if we found ourselves in specific mission-related circumstances. The multiple-choice ones can be answered easily if anyone have memorized the syllabus and protocols… which I did.'

'But these five written questions… they're clearly outside the syllabus. I think they're meant to test our mindset and moral judgment. Still, they're just basic ninja protocol—we were taught this.' So he just write the answers like any standard Konoha graduate would.

The bell rang, and the classroom filled with the rustle of papers being collected. No one moved. The instructor reminded them to stay seated for the next hour, as their answer sheets would be evaluated immediately and the results announced shortly after.

There were no murmurs of surprise—most of the students had already heard about this procedure from their seniors or guardians. It was standard.

An hour passed, and the results arrived.

[ A/N:- Thank you GabeisToxiq for joining patreon. You can read advance chapters on Patreon.

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