Naruto: Mind Games Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Academy Part 2: The Exhibition



While the students were on the ground with the teachers, a certain few individuals kept monitoring them from the shadows. 



"Is this alright, Lord Hokage? He is your son and if things continue this way, he might get hurt." 



The question made the Hokage smile.



"It is fine." He answered. "If he is being confident, then he will succeed but if he is overconfident… he will fail. It's that simple, Danzo."



Danzo didn't like the answer but decided not to go against the Hokage's words. 



"He wrapped up his friend into this mess. Is that also fine, sensei?" This time it was a blonde woman that asked the question. 



"And if the kid fails, the blame will be on your son." Added a white-haired man.



"I understand your concerns, Tsunade and Jiraiya. But I will not expel the kid even if he fails, so do not worry about that. As for my son, if he fails it will be a lesson for him." The Hokage rubbed his beard. "Don't you think so, Orochimaru?"



Everyone looked at the man that was standing quietly behind them. But the Hokage didn't get the answer he expected from the man.



"Mayhaps." He shrugged with an uninterested face. 



"We don't know when a war might break out, Lord Hokage. It's already taking effect at the border and it's only a matter of time before it affects us." Danzo said. "And breaking the morale of new recruits might be the worst possible scenario."



This time, surprisingly Orochimaru answered instead of the Hokage. "If a shinobi's morale can be broken that easily, they have no right to follow this path. Besides… they might just surprise you with the results."



Orochimaru knew that his sensei's son wouldn't fail and as for the other kid, it didn't matter. But he knew that the kid was a Yamanaka and that might be useful to him.



"They are starting." Tsunade announced. "Let's hope that your son can hold his ground, sensei."



The Third Hokage merely smiled as the two boys walked forwards. He saw his son standing near the dummy and analysing the surroundings.



"You can take your time." The teacher suggested. "Not that it will make much of a difference, but feel free to take as much time as you like."



Tsunade didn't like his tone but she couldn't just reveal her presence yet so she persisted through the urge of beating him up.



"No, I am ready." Arima stated as Hikaru stood behind him with his arms crossed. "I can start if you want."



"Go ahead."



Arima kept a distance of a few meters between him and the dummy. He had already analysed the distance and the radius required to destroy the dummy.



"Ready?" Hikaru asked and Arima nodded.



"Yeah."



Arima replicated the handseals shown by the teachers while arranging his chakra to create the fireball.



<<Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu>>



The moment he released his jutsu, everyone that was present had their eyes wide open.



A massive fireball that rivalled the teacher's fireball formed before him and it shot towards the dummy.



*Boom!*



It crashed on the dummy and exploded— disinteresting it in the process.



"That was…" Tsunade was amazed that such a young boy was able to perfectly mimic the fireball jutsu.



"Amazing?" Jiraiya finished for her. 



"So, he has gotten better." The Hokage smiled. "He did better than I expected."



While everyone had a surprised expression on their face, Danzo and Orochimaru were emotionless. 



Danzo was conflicted about whether to feel happy that there was a talented kid within the batch or feel worried that he might grow arrogant.



Meanwhile, Orochimaru had a totally different opinion.



'How uninteresting…'



He wasn't impressed… At all. He saw how devastating the fireball was and he also saw how easily Arima casted the jutsu. But there was a flaw.



'The reason he made it so devastating was because he lacks chakra control…' He noticed Arima's not so great control over chakra. 'He has massive chakra reserves and his output is also great… but the control is barely average.'



"Was that satisfactory, Teach?" Arima asked his teacher who stood baffled at the display.



"Y-Yeah…" He said, barely coming back to his senses.



"It's your turn now, Hikaru." Arima looked at his friend. "Good luck."



Hikaru was not happy with Arima's actions but he gave the boy a reluctant nod.



"Yeah." He said.



"Do you think that the boy can replicate the results?" Tsunade asked which made Jiraiya rub his chin.



"Unlikely." He answered.



"You can never be sure about kids." The Hokage added. "He just might pull it off."



As they were talking, Hikaru looked at the teacher not so happily.



"Err… Sir." He said, drawing the man's attention. "I don't have any affinity with fire."



Now this made everyone surprised.



"Then what was this about?" Tsunade asked in annoyance. "If he didn't know then why did he accept?"



"Technically he didn't accept. He was forced to accept." Jiraiya chuckled.



"Then it's over?" Tsunade asked. "Since he cannot use the fireball jutsu."



But what everyone missed, Orochimaru picked on. 



'Children from shinobi clans are taught about ninjutsu at a young age… and since he knows about affinities and chakra natures… he might know a few jutsus.'



"I can use water and lightning… so, if you allow it... I can use a jutsu of the fireball's level but of a different element." 



Orochimaru smirked as he heard Hikaru's suggestion.



"I guess we won't be as disappointed as we thought." Jiraiya laughed.



The teacher thought about the suggestion but ultimately accepted.



"Go on."



He nodded and stood before the dummy and started making handseals.



*Tiger → Ox → Tiger → Rat*



<<Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu>>



Compressing the water into a ball, Hikaru used one of the water bullet variants that was used for piercing through solid armour. 



And it happened to be one of the only offensive jutsus that he knew.



He shot the fist-sized water ball at the dummy and as it landed on the dummy— it went piercing through it, leaving a moderately big hole behind.



Now, Hikaru's exhibition didn't draw as much attention from the kids as Arima's fireball jutsu. But while the kids were not that happy, the adults were more than surprised.



"That was a single target killing blow…" Jiraiya said with wide eyes.



"And the size of the bullet was massive." Tsunade added. 



But the Hokage, Danzo and Orochimaru were interested in a totally different thing. 



'His chakra control is unlike any other. And it's more than likely that could have made an explosive jutsu… but he chose one which was not so flashy and required more chakra control.' A small grin formed on his face. 'Impressive.'



*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*



"That was an impressive show." 



The Hokage revealed his presence which drew everyone's attention towards him.



"Don't you think so, Orochimaru?"



The chalk-white man smirked. "I do." He said. 'After all, I just might have found my student.'