Naruto: Mixed Heritage

Chapter 24: Final Exams (3)

[This is Monday's Episode]

"Hmm...This guy looks familiar. Where have I seen him? Wait, is that Who I think it is?" Renjiro could not help but blurt out.

The man Renjiro was referring to was erringly familiar to one Hatake Kakashi, the famed copy ninja and the future sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. The similarity between the two was uncanny. Almost terrifying.

'That must be Hatake Sakumo, without a doubt,' Renjiro concluded.

Hatake Sakumo was a famous shinobi from Konoha. His was known as White Fang of the Leaf. His genius-level intellect and fighting prowess made him a thorn in every elemental nation's backside. Him being an S-Rank ninja, even stronger than the famous Sannins, made his name feared throughout the lands.

'It could not have been Kakashi. Besides, if I remember correctly, he must be a toddler right now. But I wonder what he is doing here.'

Sakumo, who was walking with Hiruzen, felt a tiny prickling sensation on his skin. He could tell that someone was looking at him. Following the sensation, his gaze locked onto a young boy.

The boy was barely ten. With his red hair and all-black dressing, the boy stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd. After not sensing any malicious intent of sorts from the boy's gaze, Sakumo shifted his thought from that trivial matter.

'When will this end?' Sakumo thought.

Ever since he could remember, Hiruzen had made it a tradition of sorts, to make an appearance during the official rank promotion of Shinobis in the leaf. He claimed that being the father of the Konoha family enabled him to pass the will of fire to the next generations.

In most of his appearances, especially the initial ones on a shinobi's life like the genin and chunin promotion, Hiruzen had to appear in the presence of the village's council member or any other dignitary like other Kages.

The aforementioned council mainly consisted of clan heads. Sakumo being the head of the Hatake Clan, was the latest victim. At first, he was not up for it, but as he was the only one available he was mandated to.

There was also the fact that a member from his clan was also participating in this promotion exam that Hiruzen used to strong-arm him into doing this. All of this was on a light note of course.

Even the clan member participating, Hatake Hiro, was only his cousin's son. Trying to figure out their true familial connections would force one to draw it out in the sand. This was not strange as all shinobi clans had loose familial ties and were mainly bound together by their shared ideals.

As they made their way to their designated seats, Kurama approached them. After reaching them, he bowed before saying,

"Lord Third, It is a pleasure to see you here."

"How is the exam fairing on?" Hiruzen asked.

"It is going on well. We have an increase in the number of students who managed to reach the final two stages. The number is double the average of the last five years." Yaza replied in glee.

"That is good to hear. Now don't mind this old man and carry on with the exam."

Yaza promptly did so. He returned to his post and a few minutes later the Taijutsu spars began. Although only 256 students were remaining, only a hundred would proceed to the next stage.

The students were going to potentially go through 8 battles. They would be under the first round of battles where the losers would be eliminated. This would go on till the final match where the winner would be crowned. It was simple and straightforward. However, only the top 64 students would proceed to the next stage. Hence the pressure was still on.