Chapter 6: The Genin Shuffle and a Gardener's Bounty
The air in the academy classroom, now filled with newly minted Genin, was thick with anticipation. Iruka-sensei – no, it was a different instructor now, a grizzled Chunin named Morino Ibiki's less intimidating cousin perhaps, given the era – stood at the front, a list in his hand. Kenji maintained his usual mask of mild, unremarkable interest.
"Team assignments!" the instructor barked, and a hush fell over the room. Names were called, alliances forged and broken with each announcement.
"Team Seven: Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade! Your Jonin instructor will be Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
A ripple of murmurs went through the room. Sarutobi was already a renowned Jonin, a student of the Second Hokage himself. It was a prestige assignment, as expected for the Sannin-to-be. Kenji saw Jiraiya whoop, Orochimaru's lips curve into a slight, almost imperceptible smile, and Tsunade nod with grim determination. This aligned perfectly with his foreknowledge.
More names. Then, "Team Ten: Kenji, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi!"
Kenji internally blinked. He had expected civilian teammates. Instead, he was paired with the heirs of two prominent Konoha clans, albeit not the most offensively powerful ones at this stage. This was… unexpected, and slightly more complicated. The Yamanaka were mind-walkers, the Akimichi possessed unique physical enhancement jutsus. He'd have to be even more careful. Their Jonin instructor was a woman named Izumi Chiharu, a Chunin recently promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin, someone Kenji didn't recognize from the main plotlines – likely a competent but not legendary figure. This was still acceptable; a less celebrated sensei meant less scrutiny.
Inoichi, with his bright blonde hair tied back, gave Kenji a cool, appraising glance. Choza, already larger than the other children and munching on a rice cracker, offered a friendly, if slightly dim-witted, grin.
Their first team meeting with Izumi-sensei was predictably awkward. She was a no-nonsense woman with sharp eyes and a scar running down her left arm. She put them through basic teamwork drills, her gaze missing nothing. Kenji performed adequately, focusing on not bumping into Choza and following Inoichi's hesitant attempts at coordinated movements. He presented himself as quiet, slightly withdrawn, but cooperative. He could sense Inoichi's subtle mental probes, like tiny needles trying to get a read on him. Kenji kept his surface thoughts deliberately bland: mild anxiety about being a Genin, a desire to not mess up. Nothing that would flag him as unusual.
Their first few missions were a string of D-ranks, the bane of all new Genin. Weeding gardens, catching escaped pets, painting fences. Kenji performed these tasks with a diligent, if unenthusiastic, air.
It was during one such mission – tending to the extensive, overgrown gardens of a wealthy merchant – that a minor complication provided an opportunity. They were tasked with clearing a particularly stubborn patch of deep-rooted weeds. Choza's brute strength was surprisingly ineffective against the sheer density, and Inoichi was, understandably, of little help with manual labor. Izumi-sensei was observing them from the veranda, sipping tea with the merchant.
"These roots go down forever!" Choza grumbled, wiping sweat from his brow.
Kenji, "struggling" beside him, saw his chance. Under the cover of a large bush, and while his teammates were focused on a particularly large root ball, he subtly channeled chakra to his fingertips. He didn't use one of the overt Doton techniques he'd acquired from the Kusa-nin; that would be too obvious. Instead, he used the basic principle – manipulating the earth. He sent a fine, almost invisible tremor into the ground beneath the targeted weeds, loosening the soil just enough, making the roots easier to dislodge.
He then "stumbled" upon the now-loosened section. "Hey, try here," he suggested quietly to Choza. "The ground seems a bit softer."
Choza, with a mighty heave, pulled. The entire section of weeds came up with surprising ease. "Hey, you're right, Kenji! Good eye!"
Inoichi gave him a curious glance, but Kenji just shrugged, offering a small, self-deprecating smile as if it were pure luck. Izumi-sensei made no comment, but he caught a flicker of something in her eyes – perhaps she noted his observation skills, even if she attributed the success to chance. He had helped, but in a way that drew no direct suspicion to any unusual abilities.
More importantly, while "weeding," he'd felt something else in the soil. The merchant's garden was old, parts of it neglected for years. Beneath the surface, near the crumbling foundation of an old, unused shed, he'd sensed a faint, residual chakra signature. Not human. Something… different. Animal, but with a strange, almost mineral quality to it.
Later that day, Kenji saw Team Seven from a distance. Hiruzen Sarutobi, looking younger than Kenji remembered from his future appearances as Hokage but already radiating an aura of immense wisdom and power, was lecturing them sternly after what appeared to be a particularly chaotic D-rank mission involving a runaway ostrich. Jiraiya was covered in feathers and looked dejected, Tsunade was fuming, and Orochimaru appeared impeccably clean and utterly unfazed. Kenji allowed himself a small, internal smirk. Their dynamic was progressing as predicted. Tsunade's power was evident even in her frustrated stance, a coiled spring of Senju energy. He made a mental note to keep an eye on Sarutobi's training methods; they would undoubtedly shape his future primary target.
That night, the orphanage was quiet. Kenji, however, was not within its walls. He slipped through the darkened village, his movements more fluid and silent than any Genin had a right to be. He made his way back to the merchant's garden, the memory of the strange chakra signature guiding him.
He found the spot near the old shed. With his enhanced senses, he could almost taste the unique energy in the soil. Using the Hiding Like a Mole Technique – a skill he'd been practicing to perfection in secret – he sank into the earth, moving silently through the packed dirt.
There, buried about three feet down, he found it: the desiccated corpse of some kind of large, burrowing mole, but one unlike any he'd encountered. Its claws were unusually long and sharp, almost metallic in their consistency, and its skeletal structure felt strangely reinforced. It had likely died there years ago, its chakra slowly leeching into the surrounding earth.
This was a minor but intriguing find. He performed his decomposition and extraction swiftly. The creature's life force was faint, but its unique biological traits were what interested him. As he integrated the purified essence, he felt a subtle change in his own hands, a slight, almost imperceptible hardening under the skin around his nails, and a new, instinctual understanding of how to move through earth with even greater efficiency, almost like swimming through it. It wasn't a flashy Kekkei Genkai, but it was a practical, useful adaptation, especially for someone who valued stealth and clandestine operations.
He resurfaced, leaving no trace of his subterranean excursion. The night air was cool on his skin. Another small piece added to the mosaic of his growing power. His team assignment, while initially surprising, could be managed. Inoichi's mental abilities were a concern, but Kenji's control over his surface thoughts was improving. Choza was simple enough to manipulate with basic social cues. Izumi-sensei was observant, but he would give her nothing concrete to observe.
Graduation was indeed a gateway. The world was a garden of untapped potential, and Kenji was becoming an increasingly skilled, and ruthless, gardener, cultivating his own terrifying bloom in the shadows. The age of shinobi wars was drawing closer, and he would be ready.