"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Within the Senju Clan Estate, Tatsuma formed the hand seal, and four perfect copies manifested in puffs of smoke. He turned to his clones and began delegating: "You, go practice nature transformation. You, work on ninjutsu. You, focus on sealing arts. And you, study medical ninjutsu."
The four clones nodded and dispersed to their respective corners. Not far away, Minato was using the same "cheat code" to maximize his training efficiency, leaving Nawaki watching from the sidelines with a face full of envy.
It had been nearly half a year since Tatsuma and Minato began their training under the Senju roof. Jiraiya had returned briefly once or twice, offering a few days of intensive guidance before vanishing back to his missions.
Nawaki waited until the clones were busy before walking up to the two boys. "Do you think... I should apply for early graduation?"
The question caught Tatsuma and Minato off guard. Minato knit his brows, silent as he processed the thought, while Tatsuma asked directly, "Why do you want to graduate early?"
"I'm ten years old," Nawaki said, his voice dropping. "I'll be eleven after the New Year. I have a feeling I'll finally be the top student in my class this semester. Early graduation shouldn't be too much of a stretch, right? You two only went to school for two and a half years. I've been there for four and a half. Or... do you think I'm still not good enough to be a ninja?"
A look of disappointment flickered across his face. As the grandson of the First Hokage and the younger brother of the legendary Tsunade, Nawaki carried an invisible, crushing weight on his shoulders.
Before, he hadn't dared to mention graduating because he knew his skills weren't there. But after six months of grinding alongside Tatsuma and Minato, he felt his strength had skyrocketed. He was two years older than them, yet he had started school late at age six. Most of his original classmates were already gone. If he didn't graduate soon, he'd feel like a permanent "dead last."
Tatsuma seemed to grasp the insecurity eating at the boy. After a moment of silence, he spoke gently. "Nawaki, in terms of raw ability, you wouldn't have any trouble passing the exam. I support your graduation based on skill alone. However, if you're graduating just because you've 'been there long enough,' then I don't support it. Because right now, you don't know why you want to be a ninja."
"Why I want to be a ninja? My grandfather was the Hokage. My grand-uncle was the Hokage. My parents were Leaf ninjas, and my sister is one too. Isn't that enough reason?"
Nawaki was practically reciting his family tree. Tatsuma shook his head. "Just because your family are ninjas doesn't mean you have to be one. If you step out onto that battlefield, it has to be for your own reasons."
"Then why did you and Minato graduate so early?" Nawaki challenged.
Tatsuma pursed his lips. He couldn't exactly tell him that the teachers were practically begging them to leave, or that they'd been drafted into the "Kushina Security Detail" after the Whirlpool Incident.
Taking a deep breath, Tatsuma asked, "Nawaki, how many jutsu have you studied? Not mastered, just seen the theory for?"
Nawaki thought for a second, then shook his head. "I can't remember exactly. Fifty or sixty? Maybe a hundred?"
Tatsuma shrugged. "And if Minato and I had stayed in school until we were your age, do you know how many we would have had access to? Five. The five basic jutsu they teach in class. That's it. For us, the only way to get the village to notice us, to provide us with resources and powerful mentors, was to prove ourselves through early graduation. We had to fight for every scrap of knowledge."
He looked around the sprawling, wealthy estate. "Unlike you, who has a library of secret scrolls at your fingertips, our only path forward was to catch the village's eye. We needed them to realize we were worth the investment."
Nawaki's mouth hung open. He had never realized that ninjutsu was a luxury. To him, scrolls were just things lying around the house; he'd never considered that for most people, they were unreachable.
Sensing the mood had turned heavy, Tatsuma reached up and patted Nawaki's shoulder. Even though Nawaki was taller, he instinctively slumped his shoulders, accepting the gesture like a younger student.
Tatsuma smiled. "Nawaki, you have the same fire as Minato and me. You're willing to bleed and sweat to become strong. The only thing you're missing is a goal. I know a ninja—he's only a Genin, but I respect him more than almost anyone. He works ten times harder than anyone else every single day just to prove that you can be a ninja even if you can't use Ninjutsu. He lives to protect his own Ninja Way."
"Who is he?" Nawaki asked, intrigued.
"His name is Might Duy. If you want to find him, just wait at the base of the Hokage Rock. He runs past it... dozens of times a day. Ask him how he found his path."
Nawaki remained silent for a long time before nodding firmly. "Okay. I'll find him. I'll find my own goal first—and only then will I graduate from the Academy!"
"I believe in you. With your heart, you'll find your path in no time. But until then... it's time for today's sparring!"
"Wait! I wasn't—" THUD![Ding!]
"Hey! I wasn't ready! Again!"
In the distance, Kushina watched the exchange while stretching. She turned to Lady Mito, who had uncharacteristically come out early today.
"Mito-obachann, look at that Tatsuma. He's so fake. Poor Nawaki is being led around by the nose, getting beat up just because Tatsuma fed him a few compliments."
Uzumaki Mito shook her head slowly. "Kushina, you're mistaken. That boy, Tatsuma... he is incredibly sincere. His praise isn't a lie; it comes from the heart. He is simply gifted at finding the light in others and acknowledging it. Whether it's Minato, Nawaki, Tsunade, or even you—when he compliments someone, he truly means it."
"No way," Kushina huffed, pouting. "He just wants an excuse to keep hitting Nawaki and Minato."
Mito didn't waste breath arguing. Instead, she smiled and reached out, placing a hand on Kushina's shoulder. Suddenly, a wave of warm, red chakra surged from Mito, enveloping Kushina's senses.
Across the field, Tatsuma had just knocked Nawaki down again. He reached out a hand, flashing a bright, radiant smile. "You okay? Can you keep going?"
"Of course! I'm Nawaki, aren't I?"
"That's what I like about you. Your persistence is something even I struggle to match."
Words that would have sounded hollow and manipulative before suddenly felt different to Kushina. Through Mito's sensory link, she could feel the intent behind the words. She felt the genuine goodwill... the absolute sincerity.
And then there was Minato, standing nearby. In Kushina's eyes, the boy who usually wore a polite, slightly distant smile now felt like a rising sun—warm, steady, and blindingly bright.
"Well? Do you see it now?" Mito whispered.
Kushina nodded subconsciously, stunned into silence. After a moment, she whispered, "But... Grandma, why? Why did I see him so differently before?"
"Because to your soul, the world is a mirror. The scenery you see is often just a reflection of the landscape within your own heart. Sometimes, the heart is blind or narrow—like a colorblind person who can't tell two shades apart, the heart can easily mistake one emotion for another."