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Kuro made his way through the crowd toward the front, slipping between people who glanced up but quickly looked away once they saw the number in his hand.
As he neared the hallway where the others were being called in, a shinobi standing by the entrance checked his number, gave a nod, then tilted his head. "Down the hall and take a left."
Kuro nodded wordlessly and followed the instructions, his footsteps echoing faintly as the noise of the lobby dimmed behind him. Following the shinobi's directions, Kuro walked into a small hallway. The hallway was quiet, with cushioned seats lined up along one wall. A few people were already sitting down, looking nervous. Some were biting their nails, others just staring ahead, lost in thought.
At the end of the hallway was a single closed door. Kuro didn't know what was behind it, but it was clear everyone was waiting for the same thing.
He found an empty seat and sat down. A couple of people glanced at him when he sat, but they quickly looked away and went back to staring into space.
CLICK!
The door at the end of the hall opened slightly with a soft creak, and a woman peeked her head out. She wore a white medical-nin uniform, her dark black hair tied back into a neat bun. She looked around at the people in the hall before speaking.
"Next! " She said.
From the other side of Kuro, a large man wearing standard shinobi gear stood up. Without looking at anyone, he walked toward the door, muttering something under his breath, too low to catch clearly. The woman at the door waited for him to step through before shutting it firmly behind him.
A few seats ahead, another man sat hunched over, whispering to himself. "I have to get a sponsor… if I need to provide for my family, I need to get that sponsor…" His voice trembled, and his bottom lip quivered as he spoke.
Kuro glanced at him for a second, then looked back at the wall in front of him. For Kuro, this evaluation wasn't about survival or feeding a family. With the system and dungeons on his side, getting stronger was something he could do on his own. But for others, this test meant everything.
But fitting in made things easier. The more normal he looked, the less attention he'd draw, and that was exactly what he wanted. If the Yamanaka ever got curious enough to dig around in his mind, he'd be screwed. No one would believe he was some guy from another world reborn into a little kid. They'd label him a spy, and if the mind-reading didn't break him, the torture probably would. At worst, they'd kill him before he could explain.
Just thinking about it made Kuro tug at his collar, trying to cool himself down.
But for everyone else in this room, the evaluation wasn't just about higher mission ranks or recognition. It was survival. This was their only real shot at getting steady income. Without a sponsor or access to higher paying missions, not only would they go hungry, so would their families. Especially after the Nine Tails' attack, which threw the entire village into a financial mess. The economy still hadn't recovered and people were still scraping by.
But even after things started to improve, the damage had already been done. Thousands were still jobless, barely able to keep food on the table. The village was healing, but slowly, and not everyone had the time to wait for things to get better.
A couple minutes passed in silence, until the door ahead creaked open again.
This time, only the nurse appeared. The burly man from earlier didn't come back out.
"NEXT!" she called out.
The nervous man sitting a few seats ahead stood up, his legs slightly shaky as he made his way to the door. Without another word, he stepped inside, and just like before, the door shut behind him.
The process repeated over and over. One by one, people were called in and never came back out. For each person who left, two more seemed to show up, filling the hallway again. It didn't take long before Kuro realized...he was next.
"NEXT!" the nurse called out again.
Kuro stood up, gave his collar a small tug, then made his way toward the door. As it opened, he stepped inside and was met with a quiet, white room. It was simple, almost too plain. To his left was a desk with a few computers running.
And directly ahead, seated in a plain wooden chair, was a man in standard shinobi gear, a green flak jacket over a black long-sleeve shirt and matching black pants. The usual uniform. He had a square jaw, a long scar cutting down the side of his face, and a headband tied tightly around his forehead, holding back a mess of unkempt black hair. His dark eyes locked onto Kuro the moment he walked in, sizing him up without saying a word.
"What's your name?" the nurse asked.
"Kuroshin Kagemura," he answered. It still felt strange saying that out loud, it wasn't his real name. But by now, it came out naturally.
The nurse gave a short nod and turned her attention to the screen. Her fingers tapped away for a few seconds, but then her expression shifted. Her brows pinched together and she let out a small sigh, her disappointment clear from her reaction.
Kuro mentally shrugged, he expected that kind of reaction. He didn't know the exact details listed on his file, but he was sure of one thing... it wasn't anything good.
The nurse turned from the computer and faced the scarred man across the room. "Alright, do your thing," she said, sounding almost tired.
The man gave a short nod and looked Kuro up and down again, slower this time. He stood from his seat, walking around Kuro in a slow circle, his eyes scanning every inch of him like he was trying to read something written across his skin. When he returned to his seat, he sat down cross-legged and reached into his flak jacket.
Kuro's gaze followed him as the man pulled out a cigarette packet and slipped one between his lips.
"He's a level one…" the man muttered, voice rough and unimpressed. He tapped the box and searched for a lighter.
Kuro stayed quiet, not even flinching at the comment.
"You can't smoke in this facility... how many times have I told you?" the nurse said with a glare, her tone firm.
The man let out an annoyed sigh, slipping the cigarette back into his pocket without argument.
Shaking her head, the woman turned her attention back to Kuro. "Alright, now we can move onto the next step," she said, "Which shouldn't take too long and you can head to the next evaluation test." She added, pointing toward a different door on the other side of the room.
Kuro stood there, looking between the two of them before finally asking, "Level one...? What does that mean?"
The room went quiet for a second.
The nurse glanced at the man with the scar, then back at Kuro, a hint of tiredness in her voice as she leaned against the desk slightly.
"Level one just means we're gauging your current chakra reserves," she said plainly. "There are five levels we use. First is where most low-level genin's fall, sometimes even civilians with a bit of training. Second is where mid-tier genin usually are. Third is for Chuunin-level reserves. Fourth is Hokage-tier."
She paused, then added, "Fifth level… well, that's a category that's almost never seen. People with chakra reserves that go beyond even the Hokage's. It's only shown up in a few records...barely 0.001 percent of the time. Just a handful of shinobi's in history ever managed to achieve that."
'So if I get enough ability points, I should be able to achieve that… but it'll take a while,' Kuro thought, letting out a small sigh.
"Any more questions?" the nurse asked, one brow raised as she watched him. "If not, we can move on to the next part."
Kuro shook his head. That was enough for now.
With a short nod, the woman turned back toward the desk. "Now we'll have you demonstrate your level of chakra control," she said as she reached under the table and pulled out a strange-looking device. It looked like a flat tablet, with a single kunai embedded in the center, and a few wires trailing out from the base and into the computer beside her.
She set it down carefully on the desk and gestured for Kuro to step forward.
"All you have to do is simple," she said. "Just coat the kunai in your chakra. The device will measure the rest."
Kuro stepped forward toward the desk, his eyes looking over the device. He took in a slow breath and reached out, wrapping his fingers around the kunai. It was cool to the touch, metal smooth against his skin. He narrowed his eyes and let his chakra flow, just as the woman instructed.
A faint hum pulsed from the tablet beneath the blade, the wires twitching slightly as his chakra flowed into the kunai. He didn't force it. He simply let the chakra coat the metal evenly.
After a few seconds, the nurse nodded. "That's enough," she said, already moving behind the desk again and stopping in front of the computer.
Kuro let go of the kunai and stepped back as she started typing.
Her brows raised. She leaned closer toward the screen, then tapped a few more keys, her expression tightening in confusion...then surprise. After another few seconds, she dropped back into her chair.
"Your chakra control is…" She paused, as if unsure how to even word it. "Perfect."
Kuro blinked. "Perfect…?"
She looked up at him, still surprised. "I mean that literally. You had zero expended chakra. Not even a sliver wasted. It was so precise it was almost surgical."
She turned the monitor slightly toward him, showing a digital readout with a clean, flatline graph. "Genin's usually have around thirty to sixty percent control. Even the more talented ones waste some chakra whenever they try this. "
She looked back at him again. "This level of control… I've only ever seen it from Hokage-level shinobi or highly trained Jonin. To be frank, there's no reason a Genin should have this kind of chakra control." She leaned back, studying him carefully. "Either this is an error... or you're some kind of monster."
'It must be the system... since technically I'm the one using the chakra itself, but it's probably the system that's doing all the work...' Kuro thought to himself, trying not to show how stunned he really was.
The woman raised her hand slightly, still staring at him. "Just who are you, kid?" she asked, tone curious but edged with suspicion.
Kuro scratched the back of his neck and shrugged, forcing a small chuckle. "I'm just as surprised as you are, ma'am…"
She sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Well, whatever. I don't get paid enough to dig through people's backgrounds, and honestly, I don't really care." her gaze shifted to the scarred man still lounging in his chair. "Not sure about him though…"
The man blinked, clearly having zoned out for most of the conversation. He let out a long sigh and sat forward slightly. "Don't worry. I don't care either. As long as you're not a threat to the village, I've got no complaints."
Clapping her hands, the woman stood from her chair. "Well, that's it. You can move on to the next test...just head through the doors and keep walking straight."
Kuro gave a short bow. "Thank you," he said, before turning and stepping through the exit.
On the other side, he entered a narrow hallway. Cushioned seats lined both walls, leading toward another set of doors at the far end. He walked quietly down the hall and found an empty seat, settling in. The wait wasn't long. People went in, and they didn't come back, just like before. And soon enough, he was the only one left.
A Shinobi in standard guard gear stepped out, calling him in with a nod.
Kuro stood and followed him in.
The next room was massive compared to the rest. A sparring ring sat in the center, surrounded by white tiled flooring. High above, black one-way glass wrapped around the walls, angled downward like watchful eyes from above. Kuro could feel the weight of the gazes on him, even if he couldn't see who was behind them.
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[ QUEST STARTED]
"THE GENIN IN TRAINING, PART 2..." Quest has started
Type:Chain Quest
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-QUEST INFO-
As a Genin in training, this is your moment to prove yourself.
OBJECTIVE:
➤ Defeat the Instructor in Combat.
[0 / 1]
CAUTION: FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE QUEST WILL RESULT IN A PENALTY OR WORSE.
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Walking in from the other side of the room and stepping onto the sparring ring was a man who looked older, probably in his late twenties. He had a slim jaw and a lean build that made him look deceptively light. He wore a simple open green flak jacket over a dark long-sleeve shirt, matched with black pants. His leaf headband hung loosely around his neck, slightly tilted to the side.
The man stopped at the center of the ring, stretching his arms once before letting them fall to his sides.
'Fuck...' Kuro thought to himself.
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