Ninja Academy.
It wasn't time for morning classes yet. The training field was already noisy, filled with kids of all sizes. In the center of the crowd, a chaotic scuffle was going on.
"Fire Style! Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"
A young boy formed hand seals and blew towards a few others, startling them, only to produce a tiny puff of flame.
After a brief moment of silence, the boys facing him burst out laughing.
"You call that a jutsu?!"
"Get him!"
"Damn it! Take this!"
About seven or eight boys were caught up in the brawl. They looked like lower-year students and didn't really know any actual jutsu,it was just a wild free-for-all. A couple of the older kids could throw around some basic techniques like Clone Jutsu and a few others, making their fights look slightly more organized.
The onlookers were shouting, cheering, and egging the chaos on. It was a mess, and since it was still early, no chunin instructors had come to break it up yet.
"What are you watching?"
Kaede appeared not far from the field, glanced at the brawl, and walked a few steps closer. He tapped someone on the shoulder in the outer edge of the crowd.
Yūhi Kurenai jumped slightly in surprise. When she turned and saw Kaede, she relaxed with a sigh of relief.
"Morning, Kaede."
"Morning."
Kaede smiled warmly. "Come on, let's go to class."
He had no interest in watching a bunch of kids fight.
Kurenai glanced at the center of the brawl, hesitated, and said:
"Um…"
"Hm?"
Kaede looked over at her.
Kurenai said a bit awkwardly, "My cousin's in there getting beat up… his name's Yūhi Yō. He's my uncle's kid."
Kaede tilted his head. "Yō?"
Kurenai pointed into the middle of the chaos. "Yeah, that one right there."
Never heard of him.
Kaede shrugged. He didn't have any interest in background characters; he had no memory of not even worthy of being a side character.
"Boys fighting is normal. You're a girl, you don't need to get involved. Anyway, the chunin instructors are definitely watching. It'll be fine."
"But…" Kurenai looked conflicted. Not doing anything felt wrong, but stepping in also didn't feel right.
Seeing her so torn, Kaede clicked his tongue, stepped forward, formed a simple hand seal, and gently pressed his hands against the ground.
"Earth Style: Tremor Technique."
"Eh?! Whoa!"
Kurenai's eyes widened at Kaede's jutsu. Moments later, she felt the ground tremble under her feet. She was able to steady herself thanks to being ready for it.
But the rest of the students? They weren't so lucky.
A large portion of the gathered kids swayed and stumbled. The ones brawling were shaken apart by the sudden quake and scattered.
"Kaede, you…"
Before Kurenai could finish her sentence, Kaede brought a finger to his lips, signaling her to stay quiet.
"That should stop the fight. Let's go."
The crowd, thrown into disarray by the tremor, had no idea what had just happened—many thought it was a real earthquake. The earlier brawl was completely broken up.
But not everyone had been thrown off.
Among the crowd, one student narrowed his eyes at Kaede, clearly realizing that the tremor had been caused by him.
"That was reckless…"
The boy shook his head.
He looked even younger than Kakashi and wore clothes bearing the Uchiha clan's symbol. Though he blended in with the crowd, his name was anything but unknown.
Uchiha Shisui!
Unlike Uchiha Obito, Shisui was a genius nearly on par with Uchiha Itachi. Even before awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, he had earned a fearsome reputation on the Mist battlefield. After awakening it, he wielded the strongest illusion technique—Kotoamatsukami.
And it wasn't just Shisui who had noticed the jutsu, so had Nohara Rin, who had been watching Kaede from a distance.
"Kaede, that was too much…"
Rin walked over, muttering to herself. Then she looked at him and said, "But you're really amazing. Tremor Technique is an Earth Style C-rank jutsu, right?"
Kaede hadn't noticed Rin was nearby. He smiled and held a finger to his lips again.
"I copied it from Kakashi. Just a little trick."
Shisui watched this interaction and smirked, but didn't say anything. He turned to walk away, but hadn't taken more than a few steps before stopping again.
Nearby.
Another boy in an Uchiha uniform, wearing goggles, stood directly in front of Kaede and raised his fist.
"Hey! Kaede! Let's settle this once and for all!"
It was none other than Uchiha Obito, challenging Kaede.
He had surprisingly arrived early today without tripping over something or getting caught in an accident, only to find Kaede and Rin laughing together.
His mood tanked on the spot.
The brawling atmosphere around the field didn't help either, and Obito charged over angrily.
"Boring."
Kaede glanced at him.
He had no interest in pre-darkness Obito. Back then, Obito was a kind and cheerful kid, and Kaede had no desire to bully someone like that.
"Don't run!"
Obito couldn't contain himself when Kaede ignored him and jumped in front to block his path.
Whoosh!
He lunged forward with a clumsy punch.
Kaede sighed, sidestepped the attack, grabbed Obito's shoulder, and gently twisted. Obito lost his balance, flipped midair, and crashed to the ground in a heap.
Rin facepalmed.
Kurenai was speechless.
"Is this guy really from the Uchiha clan? That name might be a little overrated…"
The Uchihas were supposed to be elite, respected, powerful, full of genius ninja topping their classes. But Obito didn't really fit the bill.
But just as Kurenai said that, a voice interrupted her.
"That's not something I can ignore."
Uchiha Shisui had approached without her noticing and now looked calmly at her.
Obito might be a distant relative he didn't care much about, but an insult to the Uchiha clan? That he wouldn't let slide.
"You're…!"
Kurenai's eyes widened.
"Uchiha Shisui?!"
Shisui was one of the most well-known students in the Academy. Top of his class in every subject, he had even defeated a real genin recently!
Most people saw him as the only student whose talent could rival Kakashi's, and a future elite ninja capable of graduating early.