Chapter 8: Graduation
Six years had passed since Daniel began training Naruto, and now it was time for graduation. "For your final exam, each of you must create a Doppelgänger," Iruka announced to the class. "Wait here until your names are called," he added as he left the room. The class buzzed with anticipation; some students were nervous, while others were excited.
"Ando," an assistant teacher called as the exams began.
"This is lame. Although I did learn ninjutsu, it's not that great of an improvement to my already OP arsenal," Daniel slouched in his seat, waiting for his turn. During these six years, Daniel never stopped training. After moving out of the orphanage at eight, he had more free time and trained to his heart's content. He could say that he had mastered his abilities and was at the level of a Super Saiyan God. Adding that he also had the abilities and talent of the likes of Frieza, Jiren, Goku, and Vegeta, he was already more powerful than the practical red-colored Saiyan transformation. Not only was his hair a darker color thanks to Broly's unique traits, but Daniel could also transition between the weaker Super Saiyan transformations to the stronger ones—a convenience when toying with his enemies.
"After I mastered Wang Ye's Taichi and the Fist of Flowing Water, I started learning the God transformation," he continued in his thoughts. Along with the training techniques he took here, he also made sure to get the methods for the God transformation, Destroyer transformation, and Ultra Instinct transformation. Since those weren't technically forms he could achieve simply by training like Frieza and his golden form, he made sure to get the methods so he could learn them himself.
"Someone looks rather confident," he observed as he saw Naruto sitting with a rather cheerful expression. "He managed to rise up from his low position to become among the top of the class," Daniel commented, wondering how a certain sensei would react to this change.
"Uzumaki Naruto," the assistant called as the yellow-haired boy rose with confidence and headed to the exam room. You could still feel the resentment in the other students' glares as they watched him leave. When he was at the bottom of the class, he was ridiculed, and when he rose up the ranks, he was said to be full of himself. Truly a sick village—they didn't even really apologize for what they did. They just clung to him after they saw he could protect them. This was one of the reasons Daniel never tried to get close with his classmates and didn't show any mercy when 'disciplining' them when they got out of hand. There were always cases of some unlucky rowdy students being heavily injured from school.
"Hiruzen is the real genjutsu master, to make Naruto have such a twisted perspective on Konoha," Daniel clicked his tongue as he looked at Naruto, not even fazed by the village's treatment of him. He had tried to convince Naruto to abandon Konoha, but none of his efforts got through. He then let it be, understanding and respecting the boundaries of their relationship since he couldn't force Naruto to change. Of course, he never let up on telling Naruto to give up on Sakura. For six years, Daniel sang this song, and he only swayed the blonde Jinchuriki from having feelings for Sakura. Maybe he needed to change his approach. He was team Hinata, after all, even though she didn't like Daniel that much since she thought he was more of a bully.
"The main story is supposed to begin, but I'm here thinking of children and their relationships," Daniel sighed.
"You've finally managed to get it right this time. Congratulations, Naruto. I'm sure you've put in a lot of hard work," Mizuki praised, a smile on his face as Naruto successfully passed the test.
[A/N- I realise it too that Naruto was supposed to fail three times but it was already a plot hole so I changed so this is his first time taking the exam]
Naruto beamed with pride, his heart swelling with a sense of accomplishment. This moment was a testament to his perseverance and the countless hours he had spent training.
"Damn it, I was pretty sure I could've used this brat, but he started improving all of a sudden. Doesn't matter, I'll make up a plan though," Mizuki thought, enraged at Naruto's development.
"Next is Daniel," Iruka announced, flipping his clipboard as Naruto left. Mizuki's face twitched as he forced a smile, masking his true emotions. "Right," Mizuki responded as Daniel entered. Of course, things went well without a hitch, and soon the kids were celebrating with their new ninja headbands. Their parents congratulated them, while Naruto sat by the swing, a little envious of the kids with their parents.
"Must be nice, huh," Daniel approached, leaning against a tree. "To have parents, I mean," he continued as Naruto looked at the kids' smiles and their parents' joy.
"I wonder what it feels like," Naruto responded. Daniel didn't truly understand Naruto's feelings because he had a loving family back on Earth. Although his father left when Daniel was in high school, he still had his mother, grandparents, and uncles. He didn't understand what it felt like to be in Naruto's shoes.
"Parents congratulating their kids on starting their journey as would-be assassins, spies, and possibly some may even defect and commit greater crimes. It's nothing to be so joyous about for your child," Daniel replied, though Naruto didn't follow Daniel's philanthropy. They stood in brief silence as some of the parents started gossiping nearby.
"Hey, isn't that the kid who..." a parent whispered.
"Yeah, it is. I heard he also passed. I hope he dies on a mission," another responded, showing their disdain towards Naruto.
"And look, that kid next to him is the one that injured my son," they continued gossiping.
"Did that one pass too? Birds of a feather really do stick together," another whispered. Daniel and Naruto could feel the animosity directed at them. Daniel could hear what they said, and he sent out a menacing glare, scaring the parents as he left the place along with Naruto.
"How unpleasant. Iruka, I'd like to have a word later," Hiruzen commented, standing amidst the crowd.
"Naruto, a word," Mizuki suddenly called as Daniel and Naruto were walking. "Don't let things like that get to you. I really don't get why grown people would treat a kid like that," Mizuki said, gazing upon the sunset. The two conversed for a while until Mizuki changed the topic. "How would you like to learn a high-rank jutsu to really prove your worth?" he said, grabbing the kid's attention.
"I guess some things are meant to be," Daniel thought, stealthily standing over the building where Naruto and Mizuki were talking. "But this will give me an opportunity to memorize a couple of jutsu from Hiruzen's stash, especially fuinjutsu," he planned to let things pan out.
Later that night, the blonde-haired boy infiltrated Hiruzen's house. "What are you doing in my house this late?" The Hokage yelled as the boy tried to sneak into the house of a literal Kage-level ninja. He was the Hokage, after all.
"Agh," the boy snarked. "Behold my ultimate ninjutsu!" Naruto responded as he performed the Sexy Jutsu, knocking Hiruzen out by overwhelming him. The boy ran to the Hokage's stash and stole one of the forbidden scrolls, making a dash for it and running to the forest. This caused the Hokage to dispatch a small ninja unit to look for the scroll and Naruto.
"Now's my chance," Daniel thought, sneaking in with his clones. Each took a scroll and quickly memorized its contents. There were a lot of scrolls; Hiruzen was called the Professor, after all.
"Okay, let's see. The first technique in the scroll is the Multiple Shadow Clone... This again?" Naruto ranted as he proceeded to practice the technique. "Thanks to Daniel helping me train, this'll be a cinch," Naruto smirked as he continued to practice.
As the moonlight lit up the forest, Naruto sat resting on the ground, the scroll stashed on his back. Iruka, with a worried expression, hopped out from the trees. "Finally found him," he sighed with relief. "Gotcha," he said, standing and towering over Naruto.
The boy chuckled as he stood up. "I guess you really have, huh? I've only memorized one technique," he said, brushing his head.
"What on earth inspired you to steal that scroll?" Iruka asked, seeing the kid a little tattered from what he presumed was practicing one of the techniques in the scroll.
"Mizuki-sensei told me about it. He said if I could learn the techniques in this scroll, then the villagers would acknowledge me for it," the boy responded, proud of himself.
Alarmed, Iruka pushed Naruto out of the way as kunai were hurled at them. "I'm impressed you saw through my plans," Mizuki said, standing on a branch with Iruka pinned by kunai to a small shack nearby.
"You really fooled me," Iruka replied, plucking out a kunai from his abdomen.