"Substitution Jutsu!"
A puff of white smoke burst across the field. When it cleared, a wooden log took Naruto's place, while the real one crouched behind a training dummy a few meters away, grinning.
The ninja academy's graduation exam was underway.
Despite his legendary laziness in class, Naruto never skipped exams. Reputation mattered, and even a self-proclaimed "genius" like him had to prove it.
"Excellent execution. Ten points." Iruka-sensei's tone carried both approval and exhaustion. His pen scratched furiously in his notebook, recording every hand sign, every movement.
He took grading seriously—it determined which Jōnin each graduate would be assigned to. In Konoha, that book in Iruka's hands could decide whether a student was sent to a famous mentor or left forgotten under a mediocre one. Naruto knew it well: if he didn't have the Nine-Tails sealed inside him, he might've been handed off to some random, underwhelming teacher.
Naruto smirked. "It's just a D-rank technique, sensei. Anyone who can't pull off a Substitution Jutsu should probably quit early, right?"
Iruka sighed. Before he could reply, another voice chimed in—cold, confident.
"Hn. I agree."
Sasuke stepped forward, forming the seals with effortless grace. "Substitution Jutsu."
A perfect replacement. Another ten points.
Iruka smiled weakly. "...Very good, Sasuke. Excellent as always."
He resisted the urge to rub his temples. When the top two prodigies in the class treated the exam like a warm-up stretch, it was hard to sound encouraging.
"Next—Nara Shikamaru."
"Man… exams are such a drag." Shikamaru stepped up, lazily forming seals. "Shadow Possession Jutsu."
His shadow extended across the floor, catching the wooden dummy by the ankle.
"Seven points. Good job. Do your best next time."
Shikamaru just shrugged. "Troublesome."
One by one, the students followed. Inuzuka Kiba. Aburame Shino. Even timid Hinata managed to pull off her Gentle Fist form with shaky determination.
Naruto leaned against the wall, watching it all with a small, knowing smile. Six years already. Six long years since he'd arrived in this world.
Now, he stood at the threshold of graduation—at the edge of the "real story."
His power had grown beyond his age. Strength nearing that of a Chūnin, speed rivaling Jōnin, and his mastery over the Rikudō Shingon's sacred arts gave him an arsenal even ANBU would envy. He could sense life with Ten'gan, hear heartbeats with Ten'on, and glimpse strands of destiny with Ten'mon. If he unlocked the deeper secrets of sealing jutsu, he might even stand against a Kage one day.
But what amused him most wasn't his own progress—it was the trembling kid at the far end of the line. The boy who could barely form a hand sign without fumbling.
Naruto's smile sharpened.
That one. The unlucky replacement.
Mizuki's target.
In the original timeline, Naruto himself was supposed to be tricked into stealing the Scroll of Seals. But now, Mizuki's attention had shifted. He'd been observing that poor kid for weeks, sizing him up as a pawn.
Naruto crossed his arms. "Guess fate's changed hands, huh?"
He wouldn't rely on someone else's 30% success rate. If a scroll needed to be stolen, he'd do it himself.
When Iruka called out his name again, Naruto subtly channeled a thread of chakra—foreign, harmless, but enough to tamper with another's flow. A test. A setup.
Moments later, a voice rang out across the hall.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
Silence. Then—
Poof.
The dummy didn't vanish. The kid froze mid-seal, eyes wide.
"Zero points," Iruka said softly. "Failure."
Naruto smirked. Everything was falling into place.