Naruto: The Sarutobi Who Can't Spark

As Raijin approached the building that would hopefully become his school, he was struck by the sight before him. The grounds were buzzing with prospective students– Konoha's shinobi force.

Children from prominent clans stood out easily. Their family crests were proudly displayed on their traditional garments. They clustered in small groups, and many were accompanied by parents who wore the same emblems or similar attire.

Scattered among prominent clans were civilian children, their clothes simpler but their eyes just as bright with anticipation.

Then, there were the orphans – children with no guardians, standing slightly apart, their solitary presence a mirror of Raijin's situation.

The cacophony of excited chatter and nervous whispers filled the air across the ground. Rather than joining the crowd, he approached a lone tree's shade at the training ground's edge.

The examination itself remained a mystery. Raijin got lost in the thought of tests.

Suddenly, a commanding voice cut through the air. "SILENCE!!"

The chattering crowd fell quiet, heads turning toward the source of the voice. Raijin also straightened his back, attention drawn to a young instructor striding toward the gathering.

The man with dark skin, black eyes, and a distinctive scar carved across his cheek stood before the prospective students. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five years of age but had a commanding presence.

'The scar across the cheek is carved probably from a shuriken or kunai.' Raijin mused looking at the scar of the instructor that had a stark contrast on his dark face.

He held a thick file, likely containing the day's procedures. "The entrance examination for this year's class will now begin!"

A ripple of whispers spread through the crowd, but they died instantly when the scarred instructor's eyes narrowed. "Let me be absolutely clear," he continued, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Your ability to follow instructions is the first step toward becoming a shinobi. Disobedience now means waiting another year for your chance at becoming a ninja."

"Anyone who disrupts this examination will forfeit their chance at enrollment," the scarred instructor announced. His voice carried across the now-silent courtyard.

The instructors exchanged a nod. "We will now call the name of students as a group of 10."

There were hundreds of children. Some were already overwhelmed, others bounced impatiently on their toes, eager to prove themselves, and many stood still with calm and cool heads.

Another instructor stepped forward, his voice carrying across the silent courtyard, "First Group: Miyasa Nakamura, Denki Tomura, …."

Raijin sat below the tree anticipating the exam being held on another ground.

After the third group completed their test, Raijin's name was called as a member of the fourth group. Alongside him, nine other kids began walking toward the designated ground.

When they arrived, an instructor gestured toward a circling route that stretched across the field, "The first exam will test your agility and endurance" he announced. "You'll have to run in this field five times in succession."

Raijin studied the layout, noting that it allowed only one to pass through at a time. Multiple narrow beams, wooden posts, rope bridges, and training dummies positioned as enemies created a circling path.

"However," the instructor's lips curved into a slight smile, "…this isn't just about completing the obstacles."

He paused, letting the tension build. "We'll call your names in sequence, with one-minute intervals between each participant. When your name is called, you'll start the course."

"Here's the crucial part," the scarred face continued. "To pass, you must complete your five laps without being caught by the one behind you. If you're caught, you must finish the remaining laps within 20 minutes to pass."

"Now, for the fun part. If you manage to overtake someone, you will automatically pass— but only if you don't let the person, you just passed, overtake you again in a subsequent lap."

To clarify, the instructor continued, drawing a diagram on a nearby board. "Let's say we have six participants: A, B, C, D, E, and F. If C overtakes B, C will pass automatically, but only if C doesn't let B pass again during the remaining laps." He drew the following scenario: [A C B D E F]. "In this case, C automatically passes."

"But if D overtakes C," the instructor continued, "C's success isn't wasted as long as B is still behind. So, if D passes C and the order becomes [A D E F C B], C still passes because B hasn't overtaken C yet."

"And if B surpasses A while C surpasses B, C passes so does B. The situation here could be:"

[D C B A F E]

"In this case, D, C, B, and F pass automatically, whereas A and E must run the remaining lap in 20 minutes to pass."

A murmur of confusion rippled through the 10 children. '…This is about strategic thinking. Run too fast, and you'll catch the person ahead, potentially forcing them to run 5 times. Run too slowly, and you risk being caught yourself. The optimal pace would depend on the students ahead and behind you.' Raijin realized.

The scarred face instructor said, looking around the group. "The goal here is to get past the person behind you. If you do, and they don't pass you again, you will automatically pass."

"One final note," the instructor continued, his scar catching the morning light as he spoke. The first student will chase one of the instructors, while the last student will be pursued by another instructor." He paused, drawing a diagram on the board to illustrate:

[I A B C D E F I]

"Get ready." An instructor called out, as the first participant was about to begin. "We'll start in a minute."

At that moment, another instructor sprinted through the obstacle course. After completing exactly 60 seconds, the instructor began to call out the names.

"Ame Tora."

…

"Hey, I am Satoru Takahashi. What's your name?"

The boy beside Satoru shifted nervously, fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. "Uh... Ka-Kaide Ono..." he stammered, eyes fixed on the ground.

Satoru offered a gentle smile, understanding the Kaide's anxiety. "Nice to meet you, Kaide. Best of luck!"

Satoru moved away, not wanting to add to the boy's nervousness.

Satoru's attention caught another candidate, a boy in a blue jacket with spiky black hair and brown eyes. "I'm Satoru. This is fun, isn't it?"

"Ah…yes, it is fun indeed. I'm Raijin." Raijin replied with a smile.

Just then, the instructor called out, "Kaide Ono." It was the turn of the anxious boy, among the remaining three.

"I hope he passes," Satoru whispered to Raijin, a look of concern crossing his face. "He's nervous about this exam. If you are next, please do not get past him. He might lose his confidence." Satoru requested Raijin to help the kid.

'Assuming I can run five times.' Raijin added internally.

"Yeah, I can tell. But don't worry too much," Raijin reassured him. "If I'm called next, I won't pass him and if possible, I'll help him out."

"Thanks." Satoru expression softened.

Raijin chuckled, "Sure, but what if I am called after you."

Satoru's expression turned serious before breaking into an excited grin. "Then you better give it everything you've got to catch me! But if I'm after you..."

"Same thing," Raijin replied. "Try your best, just like I will."

"Satoru Takahashi." The instructor called out, signaling it was his turn.

"Best of luck," Raijin said to Satoru as he parted ways towards the obstacle ground with an encouraging smile.

"Thanks – you too!" Satoru flashed a thumbs-up before entering the obstacle course.

…

Raijin stood at the entry – his view blocked by the barriers set up for the fair examination.

After a tense minute of waiting, his name was finally called. He walked forward, and when he was signaled to enter, he dashed towards the narrow beam.

As he ran down the narrow beam, Raijin gained a clear view of the entire course. Multiple similar obstacles were strategically spread at different positions, which was annoying. The obstacles were designed to either wear out the participants or force them to overtake others.

However, Raijin could already tell that this wouldn't be a challenge. He could run the five laps around the obstacles without sweating a bit. Thanks to the past two years of rigorous training, he was confident enough even to catch the first instructor who entered first. However, recalling Satoru's earlier request, Raijin decided against overtaking the instructor.

Raijin slowly navigated through the course, he moved through narrow beams, wooden posts, rope bridges, and some dummies scattered along the way. He completed his first lap at a slow, steady pace, taking five minutes to finish it.

The course was a bit dull, honestly – he would've preferred staying home and training. As for the situation he was in now, there was no turning back.

He sped up, and within a minute, he was behind Satoru.

Satoru handled the obstacles with ease, but his pace was deliberately slower. He was clearly trying not to overtake Kaide, who was still far ahead.

"Hello!" Raijin called out, deliberately loud, startling Satoru from behind. Satoru nearly jumped in surprise. Raijin grinned, amused by the small bit of entertainment he could find.

"Hah…So fast! You're incredible, Raijin." Satoru praised between breaths.

"I have been following Kaide closely, He is only about 20 yards away from us."

"How about we make him run past someone else," Raijin suggested his voice still light from the fun of scaring Satoru.

Satoru's eyes lit up. "How?"

"By scaring him," Raijin said with a mischievous smile.

Satoru paused, trying to make sense of Raijin's words. Slowly, he understood. "Ah, I get it. So, how should we go about it?"

"First, increase your pace to get 10 yards ahead of Kaide. Make a lot of noise—footsteps, and maybe kick some obstacles to create a ruckus," Raijin explained.

"But won't we get disqualified if we damage the obstacles?" Satoru asked, concerned.

"Not completely. Just enough to make it sound like we're causing destruction—some kicks or punches to make noise," Raijin clarified, his grin widening.

"That sounds fun!" Satoru said eagerly. "Then we'll race to see who finishes first after we make Kaide pass someone."

"Sure," Raijin chuckled.

The two sped up, increasing their pace to close the gap. They quickly reached Kaide, who was still trying to keep his focus on the course. Satoru and Raijin made a lot of noise—footsteps pounding on the ground and obstacles being lightly kicked or knocked. The sound echoed across the course, startling Kaide and forcing him to speed up.

After five more minutes of Kaide pushing himself to stay ahead, he finally ran past the person before him. Satoru and Raijin seized the moment, bolting past Kaide and the student behind him.

"Go!" They both shouted in unison, seeing Kaide finally overtake another kid.

The two continued to race through the course easily, overtaking everyone multiple times, including the instructor. The instructor seemed to be lagging, barely keeping up with the speed of two 6-year-old children.

As they entered the final lap, Satoru glanced at Raijin and grinned. "Now, this is our final lap." Satoru looked at Raijin with a competitive grin, "Let's go!"

Satoru exploded forward, attacking the course with everything he had. He cleared obstacles in fluid succession—narrow beams, wooden posts, rope bridges, and training dummies becoming blurred. Four minutes later, he burst through the finish line, only to find...

"Yo! Took you long enough"

Satoru was taken aback when he saw Raijin, who had no haggard breathing or a drop of sweat. He'd finished sixth overall.

Satoru collapsed onto the ground, exhausted but grinning. "Damn, I thought I left you in the dust. You're something else, Raijin."

Raijin chuckled, offering a hand to help him up. "You're fast too..." His grin turned playful. "Just not as fast as me."

The remaining four students continued their struggle through the obstacle course as Raijin and Satoru caught their breath outside the obstacle course. They watched as Kaide emerged seventh, his face flushed with exertion but bearing a hint of pride. It was the first time they'd seen anything but nervousness in his expression.

"Kaide! Over here!" Satoru waved enthusiastically. "You did great out there!"

Kaide approached tentatively, his steps still unsteady from the physical effort. "Th-thank you for... for helping me," he managed, glancing between them.

"I'm Raijin," Raijin offered with a casual wave. "That was some impressive speed at the end there."

A ghost of a smile crossed Kaide's face. Though he still seemed reserved, the tremor in his voice had lessened. A small help made the conversation slightly easier for him.