Another two years had passed since the day Raiden's world had violently shattered and reformed.
The class, now all twelve years old, stood on the precipice. Six years of sweat, blood, and relentless training had led to this. They were ready for graduation.
The classroom was buzzing, filled with an electric, nervous energy. The final test had been administered that morning. It was the same three foundational jutsu they had been learning for the last four years: the Clone, the Transformation, and the Substitution.
And for the first time in Yugiri-sensei's tenure, every single student had passed.
They had all been drilled to the edge. They could all perform the three jutsu to the required, exacting Kumo standard. Now, they were just waiting. Waiting for their headbands, and waiting for their teams
.
"I'm telling you, I want a Jōnin-sensei who's seen real action," one boy bragged. "I just want to get paid for a mission," another said. "My mom's been making me do chores for allowance, it's brutal."
"I hope I'm not on a team with you..."
In the back of the class, as always, sat Raiden's group. They had all grown up quite a bit. Karui, at twelve, was lean and wiry, her red hair tied back in a high, messy ponytail. She was all coiled, impatient energy, her hand resting on the hilt of the standard-issue katana at her hip. Omoi was taller, having finally lost most of his childhood gangliness. His silver hair was still an unruly mop, and his face still held that familiar, low-grade anxiety, a lollipop stick hanging from his mouth. His own katana was strapped to his back. Samui had grown into a quiet, almost cold beauty. Her pale blonde hair was longer, cut in a precise, angular style. Her stoic, blue-eyed gaze missed nothing. In addition to her pouch of custom heavy kunai, she now had a new weapon: a sharp, gleaming tanto strapped to the small of her back.
And finally, there was Raiden. He was tall for twelve, with a lean, powerful build that his simple white tunic did little to hide. His snow-white hair had grown longer, silky strands framing a face that had, as Omoi often complained, started to look really good-looking. But the most noticeable thing, the feature that made him a legend in the Academy, was the simple, black cloth tied neatly around his eyes. He was completely blindfolded.
Raiden idly adjusted the cloth, a motion that was now second nature. He still remembered that day, two years ago, after his awakening.
(Flashback: Two Years Ago)
He had woken up in a sterile, white hospital room. The first thing he noticed was the ceiling. It was too white. He could see the individual fibers in the plaster, the microscopic cracks, the faint, swirling energy of the chakra used to reinforce the stone. He sat up.
And the world exploded. He could see everything. The dust motes hanging in the air weren't just specks; they were intricate universes of matter. He could see the life-force, the chakra, of the weak fluorescent lightbulb above him. He could see the chakra of the medical equipment, the flow of water in the pipes inside the walls. He saw a nurse, her bright green medical chakra and her blue chakra network, through the solid stone wall.
"Argh!" he cried out, clutching his head. It wasn't pain. It was... information. It was too much, too loud, too bright.
.
The door burst open. His mother and Elder Fuso rushed in. "He's awake!" Akane cried. "Raiden!" Fuso's voice was sharp. "What is it?"
"I can... I can see... everything," Raiden gasped, his ten-year-old body trembling. "The walls, the air... your chakra... it's too much!" Fuso's eyes widened, a look of profound understanding on his face. He quickly unstrapped a black utility pouch from his own robes, pulling out a simple strip of black cloth. "Close your eyes, Raiden," he commanded. Raiden obeyed, squeezing them shut. The sensory assault lessened, but he could still see their chakra, faint outlines in the blackness. Fuso gently, quickly, tied the black cloth around Raiden's head, covering his eyes completely. The world... stopped. The blinding, overwhelming flow of information was cut off, but he could see everything around him.
"What... what happened to me?" Raiden asked, his voice shaking. "You've awakened, boy," Fuso said, his hand resting on Raiden's shoulder. "Two powers at once. The first was the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Your body couldn't handle the strain of that and your eyes at the same time, so you collapsed."
"My eyes..."
"You can see chakra," Fuso explained, his voice grim. "The flow of life in all things. People, animals, nature. It's a rare sensory ability of the Uzumaki main house. We called it the 'Mind's Eye of the Kagura.' But this... this is different. The doctors say your eyes themselves have... evolved. You aren't just sensing it. You are seeing it. It's an evolution."
Raiden, blindfolded, did as Fuso instructed. He turned this new, strange sense... inward. He looked at his own chakra. It was a raging, bottomless ocean of blue energy, just as he'd always felt. But now, he saw it. And floating in the very center of his being, in a perfect, stable triangle, were three humming orbs of pure elemental energy. A crackling, white-gold ball of Lightning. A swirling, translucent sphere of Wind. A deep, pulsing globe of Water. His three balanced affinities.
Curious, he reached out with his mind. He willed the Water and Wind orbs to move. They drifted together and... merged. A new, beautiful, cold energy sparked into existence. Ice. He pulled them apart. He pushed the Water and Lightning orbs together. They slammed into each other and merged. A violent, chaotic, hissing energy. Storm. He pulled them apart. He tried the last combination: Wind and Lightning. They merged, creating a humming, vibrating, pulling energy. Magnetism.
This sent a shock through him. Three potential Kekkei Genkai. His eyes, behind the blindfold, shot wide. He could feel it. The Kekkei Tota. He focused. He pushed, trying to force all three orbs... Ice, Storm, Magnetism... no, Water, Wind, and Lightning, into one. However, the orbs resisted.
He pushed harder. "Gah!" A sharp, agonizing strain shot through his body. It felt like his very cells were being ripped apart. He collapsed back onto the hospital bed, gasping. "Easy, boy!" Fuso's voice was sharp. "Your mind and your affinities are ready, but your body is not. It's still the vessel of a ten-year-old. You will tear yourself apart." Fuso laid out a plan. "For the next year, you will do nothing but master your three elements individually. You will train with your tutors, get your body stronger, and learn to live with your new eyes. You will not combine them."
"And after that?" Raiden asked, panting.
"After that... we will try to merge two at a time. And if you are successful," Fuso said, a note of awe in his voice, "after you graduate... that is when we will try to merge all three."
And so, for two years, he trained. The first year, from ten to eleven, was hell. He continued to train with Umi (Water), Kaze (Wind), and Raita (Lightning). He mastered the basics and moved far beyond. He learned to live with the blindfold, his new "Kagura Vision" becoming his primary way of seeing. He could see his friends' chakra networks, the flow of wind, and the water in the air.
The second year, from eleven to twelve, he began to merge. Because all three of his elements were in a perfect 1/3 balance, the combinations were natural. They weren't a fight. They were a release. He learned the basics of all three Kekkei Genkai. Storm Release (Water + Lightning): He could create lashing beams of energy and small, controlled thunderclouds. Ice Release (Water + Wind): He could form mirrors of ice to block attacks, or a hail of razor-sharp senbon. Magnet Release (Wind + Lightning): He could magnetize his own katana, pulling it back to his hand, or create repulsive fields to shove opponents away. He had spent the entire last year refining these three powers, all while keeping up with his Academy work.
As Elder Fuso had said, they let everything be known as it unfolded naturally. The news of his awakening, the chains, the eyes, had spread.
But instead of pressuring Raiden, the village... celebrated. Kumo's fierce, possessive love for their nation, combined with the new, softer power structure of the integrated Uzumaki, created a beautiful, understanding environment. They saw him as their prodigy, their boy. Instead of fear or jealousy, there was pride. The Raikage himself had declared Raiden a "Treasure of Kumo," and the village treated him as such. They would see him training, blindfolded, and just cheer him on. They told him to take it easy. They were fiercely protective. It was a luxury Raiden never realized how lucky he was to have.
(Flashback Ends)
"Man, it's just so unfair," Omoi's voice pulled Raiden from his thoughts. Omoi was sighing, his lollipop stick drooping. "You've got the chains, the super-eyes, three Kekkei Genkai, and you still ended up better looking than me. At least give me your looks, you perfect bastard."
Karui snorted. "He can't 'give' you his looks, idiot. You'd probably find a way to make it look anxious."
Raiden, blindfolded, turned his head toward Omoi's voice. A calm, warm smile touched his lips. It wasn't the arrogant smirk of his childhood.
"You're already good enough, Omoi. Keep that confidence high."
This was the other change. The power, the awakening, the guidance... it hadn't made him arrogant. It had humbled him. The weight of his potential, combined with the unwavering support of his mother, Fuso, the Raikage, and his friends, had forged him into someone more mature. He was still a monster in training, but outside of the ring, he was just... Raiden. Calm, confident, and steady.
The classroom door slid open. Yugiri-sensei walked in, holding a clipboard and a stack of Kumo headbands. The room went dead silent.
"Congratulations," she said, her voice holding the same crisp, no-nonsense tone it had six years ago. "You all passed. You are, as of this moment, Genin of Kumogakure." A quiet cheer rippled through the room.
"Shut up," she commanded, and it died instantly. "You are not a true shinobi yet. You are Genin. The lowest of the low. The real work starts now. I will announce the team assignments. Listen up. Your Jōnin-sensei will meet you here after lunch."
She began to read. "Team 3: Hotaru, Teka, and Rinji. Your Jōnin-sensei will be Kitano." "Team 5:..." She read through the list. Names were called. Some kids cheered, others groaned as they were paired with rivals or friends. The room slowly emptied of names. Finally, only Raiden, Karui, Omoi, and Samui remained. Yugiri-sensei looked up, a rare, almost unnoticeable smile on her face. "And finally. We have a special case this year. A four-man cell, approved by the Raikage himself, due to your... unique cohesion and combat potential." Karui, Omoi, and Samui sat bolt upright. "Team 10: Karui. Omoi. Samui." Yugiri paused, her eyes landing on Raiden. "And Raiden Uzumaki."
Karui let out a sharp "Yes!" and punched Omoi hard in the arm. "Ow! Yes! Thank god," Omoi whispered, rubbing his arm. "I'm not with strangers. I might have actually died of anxiety." Samui just let out a quiet breath and nodded once. "Logical." Raiden simply smiled.
"Your Jōnin-sensei," Yugiri finished, "will be Durai."