Chapter 6: The Copy Ninja and the D-Rank Grind

The sun rose on a new era. I awoke not to the familiar, impending dread of an Academy lecture, but to a profound and unnerving silence. There was nowhere I had to be. No schedule to keep. No Iruka-sensei to please. The only directive I had was the one from the Hokage: "Rest and be ready." It was a vague, disquieting freedom.

I sat up, my eyes falling on the Konoha headband sitting neatly on the small table next to my futon. Its metal plate caught the morning light, the engraved leaf a stark, black symbol of my new reality. I was a shinobi. A genin of the Leaf. The thought was both a heavy weight and a soaring flag of victory.

I went through my morning routine, the movements automatic. As I strapped the daisho to my hip, my fingers brushed against the cool fabric of the headband tied there. I hadn't decided where to wear it yet. My forehead felt too presumptuous, and tying it on my arm seemed impractical. For now, my hip felt right.

When I opened my door, Satoru was already leaning against the opposite wall, as was his custom. He had his headband tied exactly like Gojo in the anime—over his eyes, replacing the blindfold and sunglasses. It looked impossibly cool and utterly ridiculous at the same time. The stark black of the Leaf symbol stood out against the shocking white of his hair.

"Morning, Genin," he said, his voice muffled slightly by the fabric. "Sleep well knowing our little orange protagonist successfully became one of us?"

"You watched the whole thing, didn't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Every second," he confirmed with a smug tilt of his head. "The Six Eyes are great for long-distance observation. Naruto got beat up pretty badly, then Iruka took a shuriken to the back for him. Very dramatic. Tears were shed. Then Naruto unleashed about a thousand Shadow Clones and pummeled Mizuki into a fine paste. It was a 10/10 origin story. Iruka gave him his own headband. All's well that ends well."

We started our walk, but without the Academy as a destination, our steps were aimless. We simply wandered through the bustling morning streets of Konoha, two newly-minted shinobi with all the power in the world and nothing to do.

"So, what now?" I asked, watching a team of chunin leap across the rooftops on their way to some early morning mission. "Do we just wait for the Hokage to call?"

"We could," Satoru said, "or we could continue the grind. Our special status is useless if we're not strong enough to back it up. Iruka isn't here to hold our hands anymore. Our progress is entirely on us now."

He was right. We instinctively gravitated towards our usual spot, Training Ground 3. The familiar clearing, with its three iconic posts, felt like our true home in this world. The morning was cool and quiet, the only sounds the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves in the gentle breeze. We were about to begin our usual warm-ups when a voice, lazy and chronically unenthusiastic, drifted from the branches of a nearby tree.

"My, my. Eager beavers, aren't we? Most new genin spend their first day celebrating."

We both froze, spinning towards the source of the voice. Lounging on a thick branch, reading a small orange book that I recognized with a jolt of alarm, was a man with gravity-defying silver hair and a mask covering the lower half of his face. His own Konoha headband was tilted to cover his left eye.

Kakashi Hatake. The Copy Ninja. Konoha's most famous Jonin.

My hand immediately went to my katana. Satoru's body went still, the air around him seeming to thicken with condensed energy.

"Relax," Kakashi said, not even looking up from his Icha Icha Paradise novel. "I'm not here to fight. The Hokage sent me. He thought his new 'special purpose team' could use a proper assessment." He closed his book with a snap, the sound echoing in the quiet clearing, and tucked it into his pouch. In the blink of an eye, he was on the ground, standing before us. He was faster than anything I had ever seen.

"The name's Kakashi," he said, his visible eye curving into a pleasant, unthreatening crescent. "Lord Hokage wants to know exactly what he's dealing with. So, we're going to play a little game. The rules are simple." He reached into his flak jacket and pulled out two small, silver bells that tinkled musically. "You have until noon to get these bells from me. If you can't, you fail the assessment. Oh, and if you want any chance of succeeding," his eye narrowed, losing all its earlier warmth, "you'd better come at me with the intent to kill. Begin."

He vanished. Not with a puff of smoke or a swirl of leaves. He was just… gone.

The silence he left behind was heavier than his presence had been. I scanned the trees, my hand gripping the hilt of my sword so tightly my knuckles were white. Satoru stood perfectly still, his head slowly tilting as he surveyed the entire training ground at once.

"He's good," Satoru murmured, a hint of genuine interest in his voice. "His movements are incredibly efficient, almost no wasted chakra. He's hiding his presence like a pro. But…" A smirk grew on his face, visible even with his mouth covered. "He can't hide from my eyes." He pointed to a dense thicket of bushes to our left. "He's right there. Crouching. Preparing for a classic misdirection play."

This was the power of the Six Eyes. Deception was useless against it.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, my voice low. "Flush him out?"

"No," Satoru said. "Let's play his game, but by our rules. He expects us to act like frightened genin. He wants us to split up so he can pick us off one by one. So, we do the opposite. We stick together. You're the vanguard, I'm the support. Your eyes see the path, my eyes see everything else. Let's show him what we can do."

I gave a sharp nod. It was a simple plan, but a sound one. Our greatest strength was the fact that we were a perfectly synergistic duo.

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei!" I called out, my voice ringing with a confidence I didn't entirely feel. "If you won't come to us, we'll come to you!"

I charged towards the bushes Satoru had indicated. As I moved, I activated my Heavenly Eye. The world bloomed into its familiar tapestry of blue lines. I could see the optimal path through the grass, the weakest branches to cut through, but more importantly, I could see the faint line of Kakashi's impending action.

Just as I got within ten feet of the bushes, the "Kakashi" inside leaped out, kunai in hand. But my Eye wasn't focused on him. It was focused on the ground behind me. I saw a blue line erupting from the earth. A trap.

"Satoru, now!" I yelled, not breaking my stride.

I didn't need to look back. Satoru's hand shot out, and a shimmering, invisible wall of force materialized behind me just as the real Kakashi erupted from the ground in a spray of dirt, his hand outstretched in a Tiger seal.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A massive torrent of flame blasted from Kakashi's mouth, aimed directly at me. But it slammed into Satoru's invisible wall, splashing harmlessly against the barrier of Infinity. The heat washed over us, but the flames couldn't touch us.

At the same time, the Kakashi from the bushes charged at me. I met him head-on, my chakra-infused katana swinging in a clean arc. The blade passed right through him. A water clone. It dissolved into a puddle at my feet. A feint to cover his real attack from underground. It was a classic, perfectly executed Jonin-level tactic that would have annihilated any other genin team.

Kakashi landed on a branch, his visible eye wide with shock. "He blocked my Fireball Jutsu? Without a seal? What was that?"

"My turn," Satoru said coolly. He clapped his hands together. "This is a technique passed down in my family. It's a little flashy. Hope you don't mind."

He was bluffing, making it sound like a formal jutsu. He spread his fingers, and the puddle of water from the defeated clone rose into the air. It split into dozens of sharp, needle-like projectiles.

"Cursed Technique… uh… 'Aqueous Needles!'" he declared with all the gravitas of a master naming his ultimate attack.

The water needles shot towards Kakashi with incredible speed and precision. Kakashi's eye widened further, and he became a blur of motion, leaping through the branches to evade the volley.

While he was distracted, I moved. My Eye showed me his predicted landing spot, a thick branch on the other side of the clearing. I channeled chakra to my feet and sprang forward, my speed far greater than what a normal genin should possess. I was a pink-and-white blur.

I landed on the branch a split second after Kakashi did, my sword already in motion. The swing was aimed directly at the bells on his hip.

This time, he was forced to react. He couldn't dodge in mid-air. He drew a kunai with lightning speed to block.

CLANG!

The sound of steel on steel rang out. The force of my blow, amplified by my momentum and chakra, was immense. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise at my physical strength. He was pushed back, his feet skidding on the bark.

"Impressive," he grunted, holding the block. "You're no ordinary genin."

"We're not," I replied, pressing my advantage with a flurry of slashes. Each one was aimed with perfect precision, forcing Kakashi onto the defensive. He was a master, parrying each blow with his kunai, his movements fluid and economical, but he was being pushed back. My Eye was a perfect counter to his experience; I wasn't reacting to his movements, I was moving to where I knew he would be.

"You're good with that sword," Kakashi complimented, leaping back to create distance. "But Kenjutsu isn't all there is to being a shinobi."

He vanished again. This time, there was no subterfuge. It was just pure, unadulterated speed.

"He's coming for you, Musashi!" Satoru's voice called out from behind me. "High, from the right!"

I didn't have time to look. I trusted him. I angled my sword upwards, bracing for impact. A split second later, Kakashi appeared above me, his leg scything down in a powerful axe kick. I caught the blow on the flat of my blade, the impact jarring my arms and making the branch beneath my feet groan in protest.

He used the rebound to flip backwards, landing on the ground. He reached for his headband. "You two are… interesting. Very interesting. I think it's time I stopped taking it easy."

He slowly raised the headband, revealing the eye beneath. It was a normal eye, but it was scarred, and in its center was the spinning, three-tomoe Sharingan.

The air grew heavy. The legendary dōjutsu of the Uchiha clan, in the eye of a non-Uchiha. The sight of it was chilling.

"The famous Sharingan," Satoru said, his voice laced with academic curiosity rather than fear. "Let's see how it stacks up against my Six Eyes."

Kakashi didn't waste any time. He blurred forward, his movements now exponentially faster, the Sharingan tracking our every twitch. He appeared in front of Satoru. "Let's see if your little barrier can stop this."

He threw a punch, but just like before, it stopped an inch from Satoru's face. "As I thought," Kakashi murmured, his Sharingan spinning as it analyzed the phenomenon. "It's not a physical barrier. It's some kind of spatial or conceptual manipulation of chakra… fascinating."

"You get an A for observation," Satoru quipped.

While Kakashi was focused on Satoru, I made my move. This was our chance. Satoru's Infinity was the ultimate defense, the perfect anvil. And I was the hammer. I charged, my blade glowing with a brilliant blue aura. My Eye was screaming at me, showing me a single, fleeting path to the bells. It was a complex maneuver, requiring a feint and a near-instantaneous change in direction.

Kakashi's Sharingan saw me coming. He abandoned his attack on Satoru and turned to face me. "I see your attack coming, little one."

"But do you see the one after it?" I shot back.

I lunged forward with a powerful thrust aimed at his chest. He sidestepped it easily, just as his Sharingan predicted I would do. But it was a feint. The moment he moved, I let go of my katana with my right hand, my body spinning with the momentum. I used my chakra-coated left hand in a knife-hand strike aimed at his hip.

At the same time, Satoru acted. The ground beneath Kakashi's feet suddenly turned to mud, a low-level Earth Style jutsu Satoru had copied and perfected after seeing it once in the Academy.

Kakashi's footing faltered for a fraction of a second. That was all I needed.

My hand slapped against his hip. My fingers closed around something small and metallic. The bells.

I sprang back, landing next to Satoru, holding the two bells triumphantly in my hand. Their tinkling sound was the sweetest music I had ever heard.

Kakashi stood there, ankle-deep in mud, his visible eye wide with utter disbelief. He looked down at his empty hip, then back at us. A slow smile spread across his face, reaching his eye.

"Well, I'll be," he said, a chuckle in his voice. "The genin who actually read the instructions underneath the instructions. Teamwork." He pushed his headband back down over his Sharingan. "You pass. With flying colors."

A wave of relief so potent it almost made me dizzy washed over me. We had done it. We had bested the Copy Ninja.

[High-level combat against an elite Jonin has provided invaluable data.]

[System synchronization has been greatly accelerated.]

[Miyamoto Musashi (Saber) Synchronization Rate has increased to 5.25%.]

[Senji Muramasa (Saber) Synchronization Rate has increased to 1.10%.]

[Minamoto-no-Raikou (Berserker) Synchronization Rate has increased to 0.40%.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Mana/Chakra Burst (Lightning) (Embryonic) from Raikou template.]

[Fellow Transmigrator 'Satoru' has demonstrated advanced control over his Template's abilities.]

[Satoru Gojo (JJK) Synchronization Rate has increased significantly.]

[Analysis of Sharingan Genjutsu has provided data for 'Infinity Barrier' refinement.]

The fight had been worth it. The gain was massive. I could even feel a faint, buzzing energy in my limbs—the first stirrings of Raikou's lightning.

"I'll be giving my report to Lord Hokage," Kakashi said, pulling himself out of the mud. "He'll be… very interested to hear about this." He gave us a one-eyed smile. "Don't get cocky, kids. You're strong, but you're still green. There's a whole world of shinobi out there who could eat you for breakfast." He gave a lazy wave. "I've got to go meet my other new genin team now. I have a feeling they're going to be a lot more work."

And with that, he vanished for the final time.

We stood there in the clearing, the two bells in my hand. We had been assessed, and we had passed.

Later that afternoon, we were once again in the Hokage's office. Hiruzen had Kakashi's report in his hand, and he was looking at us with an expression that was equal parts awe, concern, and pride.

"Kakashi is not a man who is easily impressed," the Hokage said, setting the report down. "His report states that you possess 'unprecedented abilities' and 'flawless teamwork'. He recommends you be given a high degree of autonomy. A recommendation I am inclined to agree with."

He reached into a drawer and pulled out a small, unassuming scroll. "Your status as Team Ronin is now official. Your training will be your own responsibility. However, you are still genin of this village. And all genin must learn the value of contributing to the village, no matter how mundane the task."

He handed the scroll to me. I unrolled it.

My face fell. Satoru leaned over my shoulder to read it, and I could feel him slump in disappointment.

Mission Scroll: D-Rank

Client: Madam Shijimi, wife of the Fire Daimyo.

Objective: Find and capture the runaway cat, Tora.

Reward: 5,000 Ryo.

"You're a two-person team, which makes you ideal for this particular client's… recurring needs," the Hokage said, a faint, long-suffering sigh in his voice. "All genin teams start with D-ranks. It builds character."

We walked out of the Hokage Tower, the mission scroll in my hand. We had faced down the Power house of Konoha. We had passed the test of the legendary Copy Ninja. We possessed abilities that defied the logic of this world. And our very first mission… was to catch a cat.

"The D-rank grind," Satoru said, his voice flat. "I knew it was coming, but it doesn't make it any less painful."

I looked at the scroll, then at the bustling village around us, then at the headband on Satoru's head and felt the one on my hip. A laugh escaped my lips. It was absurd. It was ridiculous. It was perfect.

"Come on," I said, a grin spreading across my face. "Let's go be the most overpowered cat-catchers in the history of the Ninja World."