"Night, this is the latest directive from Lord Danzo."
A ROOT agent handed Takuya a scroll. "Night"—that was his codename within the organization.
Takuya accepted the scroll with a nod. The two exchanged no further words. The ROOT agent vanished immediately—after all, Takuya was a hidden piece on the board. Too much contact might alert the ANBU.
Just before the man disappeared, Takuya used Appraisal on him.
Name: Hirasuiro
Potential: B
Chakra: 7000
Evaluation: A fairly strong jōnin
Looking at that massive 7000 chakra value, Takuya couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He wasn't even close to 5000—basically five Shisuis short of this guy.
Once the ninja's chakra signature vanished from his sensory range, Takuya stepped into the house, opened the scroll, and read Danzo's latest command.
"The Uchiha student in your class, Shisui Uchiha, is reported to be a genius. Observe his behavior, evaluate his personality, and assess his potential."
Takuya shook his head with a sigh. Danzo's paranoia toward the Uchiha was practically pathological.
Shisui was only six. He'd just entered the academy.
Yet just a hint of "genius" within the Uchiha was enough for Danzo to assign surveillance.
Then again, it was possible Danzo had his eye on recruiting Shisui into ROOT.
Not that Takuya thought that would ever happen. Hiruzen would make sure Danzo knew exactly who was really running the show.
The Third Hokage could tolerate ROOT's existence—but not a ROOT growing too powerful.
A genius Uchiha had too much potential. Who knew how far someone like that could rise?
So there were only two acceptable outcomes for a gifted Uchiha: stay confined to the clan or be absorbed into ANBU, where the Hokage held the reins.
Takuya burned the scroll with a Fire Release jutsu.
This assignment was within acceptable bounds. In fact, even if Danzo hadn't issued the order, Takuya had already planned to report Shisui's potential. With Danzo's obsession, hiding something like that would only bring disaster on his own head.
He then created a shadow clone to continue practicing ninjutsu, while he focused on chakra cultivation.
Chakra was still his biggest weakness. No matter how many jutsu he learned or how skilled he became, without sufficient chakra, his power would always be limited.
In the ninja world, low chakra meant a low ceiling—while high chakra could make even the untalented dangerous.
The Next Morning
Takuya had no classes that morning, so he used the time to visit the Academy's archives.
His goal? Gather the last few years' worth of fourth-year exam papers. Since things went smoothly, he also pulled the first-year exams while he was at it.
It wasn't just about prepping for new disciples—he truly wanted to improve Obito and Guy's test scores too.
He soon discovered a pattern: the exam content barely changed from year to year. Same question types, just different phrasing or numbers. Some papers even had identical questions.
Takuya nodded with satisfaction. He was now confident both of them could pass. Honestly, they didn't even need custom practice drills—just doing past exams would be enough.
After grabbing a few papers, he made his way back to the office.
"...she kept listening to me talk the whole time. That means she was interested in me!"
"Or maybe—just maybe—she didn't want to talk to you at all."
"She offered to split the bill! That means she was already thinking of our future together!"
"Or, maybe she just didn't want to owe you and give you an excuse to ask her out again."
As Takuya entered, he found Ayaka Ueda and Isamu Ikeya mid-argument. Sugito sat nearby, clearly enjoying the show.
"Didn't Isamu go on a blind date yesterday?" Takuya asked Sugito.
"Yeah," Sugito replied with a smirk. "He's recounting the date now—hoping we'll help him figure out how to win her over. Ayaka thinks the girl's just not into him and told him to move on."
"Perfect timing, Hoshino-sensei," Isamu said, turning to Takuya. "You got any secret moves when it comes to dating?"
He glanced at Takuya's face—good-looking and calm—and immediately assumed he must be a natural ladies' man.
"Secret moves?" Takuya thought for a moment. "I think as long as you let the other person feel your sincerity, that's all that really matters."
Whether he actually had tricks or not didn't matter—he certainly wasn't sharing them. That wasn't in line with his humble, good-guy persona.
"Sincerity…" Isamu looked troubled. "How do you even show sincerity?"
"Just give it up already," Ayaka sighed. "Look at Hoshino-sensei's face. Even if he told you his tricks, they wouldn't work for you."
"What? Come on, I'll admit he's a bit better looking than me, but not that much better," Isamu protested.
"You're hopeless," Ayaka muttered, clearly at her wits' end.
Takuya just smiled and offered a casual "Good luck." If even Ayaka couldn't convince him, what was the point in trying?
Besides, the more distracted Isamu was, the more Takuya could step in to sub for his classes.
"You see that? Hoshino-sensei gets it. Just you wait, Ayaka—I'm going to win her over!"
That afternoon, Takuya decided to run a little experiment. He deliberately lowered the quality of his lecture.
Based on previous system feedback, he suspected that lesson ratings came from two main factors: teaching quality and student satisfaction.
He wanted to see if getting a B-rank would also trigger a "first-time reward" like A-rank had.
『Lesson Complete — Calculating Results...』
『Evaluation: B』
『Reward Received: +20 Chakra』
『First B-Rank Lesson — Bonus Reward: Chakra Shape Transformation (Proficient)』
His mind flooded with memories of shape transformation training—refined chakra control, forming and maintaining stable constructs.
Takuya was pleasantly surprised. In the chakra system, shape transformation was just as important as nature transformation. Both significantly enhanced a ninja's techniques.
Though his current mastery was "Proficient" rather than "Mastered," shape transformation wasn't limited by element type.
And speaking of shape transformation... it was the foundation of Rasengan—the iconic A-rank jutsu Naruto used throughout his journey. Even without elemental infusion, Rasengan had devastating power.
"I can start developing Rasengan," Takuya muttered, excited. With canon knowledge of the technique's training method and his solid foundation in shape transformation, the process shouldn't be too difficult.
The chakra bonus from the B-rank class also gave him a new perspective: maybe it was worth occasionally aiming for B-rank evaluations. Each bonus might be small, but they could accumulate over time.
With Rasengan development now on his to-do list, Takuya realized his life had become incredibly full.
Morning classes, afternoon sessions with Shisui, evening self-training and jutsu development, weekend tutoring for Obito and Guy... his schedule was packed.
He truly wanted to live this peaceful, productive life for a few years—to quietly grow stronger.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been lucky enough to reincarnate into an era of peace.
Because on his fourth day in the ninja world, troubling news arrived in Konoha... from the front lines.