"What is he doing?"
The question echoed quietly around the Hokage's office as the assembled shinobi watched the crystal orb resting on the desk. All eyes eventually shifted towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Third Hokage, he was widely revered as the "Professor" of ninjutsu. If anyone could identify the strange sequence of hand signs Suzuki was weaving, it would be him.
"Hmm... it appears to be an improvised technique. Perhaps a self-created jutsu?"
Hiruzen leaned forward, his brow furrowing in concentration as he analyzed Suzuki's rapid hand signs and the chakra molding technique at his lips. Suddenly, the seasoned Hokage's eyes widened. Sensing the massive spike in chakra nature transformation, he quickly squeezed his eyes shut just before the crystal orb erupted in blinding light.
"My eyes!"
The less experienced ANBU guards in the room weren't fast enough. The intense, blinding white flash overloaded the feed of the Telescope Jutsu, causing several shinobi in the office to flinch and cover their faces.
The Telescope Jutsu projected everything exactly as it happened in the targeted space. Consequently, it perfectly transmitted the blinding intensity of Suzuki's newly innovated technique: Fire Release: Flashbang.
"Smart!"
Even though his vision was slightly swimming with afterimages, Hiruzen couldn't help but praise the boy's effortless, calculated fighting style.
Suzuki was a civilian-born ninja. His chakra reserves were minimal compared to the prominent clans. Engaging an Uchiha in a prolonged battle of attrition was practically a death sentence. Therefore, his strategy to end the fight instantaneously was flawless.
More importantly, he had directly targeted the enemy's absolute greatest strength.
The Sharingan was a terrifying dojutsu, capable of tracking high-speed movements and trapping opponents in lethal genjutsu with a single glance. However, it was still ultimately a biological eye. By weaponizing the light-emitting properties of fire rather than its destructive heat, Suzuki had instantly overloaded the sensitive optic nerves of the Sharingan, rendering the legendary bloodline completely useless.
"What an incredibly smart fighting style..." Hiruzen murmured, genuinely surprised he had never considered modifying a standard fire jutsu in such a practical way.
"Hokage-sama, what exactly was that...?" an ANBU guard asked, blinking away the spots in his vision.
"That jutsu..." Hiruzen smiled, his voice warming with the doting kindness he reserved for the village's future generation. "It seems Suzuki-kun took the only C-rank technique left behind by his deceased parents and drastically improved it."
"The jutsu left by his parents?"
"Are you referring to the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique?"
"Yes," Hiruzen nodded, his sharp mind easily reverse-engineering Suzuki's mechanism. "Instead of compressing the chakra to increase the thermal output or the explosive radius, he shifted the chakra nature to violently amplify the light aspect of the combustion. He created a flash so intense it temporarily blinds his opponent. What a brilliant boy."
Hiruzen stroked his goatee, feeling a surge of satisfaction. "He truly embodies the Will of Fire."
It was deeply ironic. Konohagakure possessed some of the most powerful shinobi in the world, yet true innovation in Fire Release was shockingly rare. The Sarutobi and the Uchiha clans were famous for their fire techniques, but their "innovations" simply involved pumping more chakra into the jutsu to make the fire larger, hotter, or shaping it into giant dragons. None of them had ever stopped to create something as elegantly simple and devastatingly practical as Suzuki's Fire Release: Flashbang.
Despite its simplicity, the jutsu perfectly hard-countered the legendary eyes of the Uchiha, and realistically, any dojutsu user who relied entirely on their ocular powers.
"What do you think, Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked, glancing at the silver-haired Jonin leaning against the wall.
Kakashi, the famous Copy Ninja, slowly blinked his one visible eye. He casually rubbed his eyelid before answering. "It's a simple jutsu. I've already copied the chakra flow. But unfortunately, it's a one-trick pony. It relies entirely on the element of surprise."
"That is true."
The jutsu was highly effective, but once an opponent knew it was coming, they could simply close their eyes or look away. Still, Hiruzen felt a rare spark of excitement. He had just witnessed a civilian-born genin outsmart and defeat an elite clan heir possessing a legendary bloodline. It was the ultimate underdog victory.
"Cat," Hiruzen commanded, turning to the ANBU captain. "Summon him here immediately after the spar concludes. I wish to speak with him."
Yup, Suzuki's plan had worked flawlessly. He had successfully captured the Third Hokage's attention.
While attracting the Hokage's gaze also meant attracting the gaze of troublesome figures like Danzo, it was a calculated risk. As long as Hiruzen was alive and actively supporting him, Suzuki's life in Konoha would be incredibly comfortable~.
"Suzuki Tanaka is the winner!"
Iruka's stunned voice echoed across the training grounds.
"Sasuke-teme... lost...?!"
The sheer shock hit Naruto the hardest. The blond boy, currently at the bottom of the class rankings, stood frozen with his mouth hanging open.
A second later, he threw his hands in the air. "Whoa! Suzuki-kun actually won! That's awesome! He beat Sasuke-teme!"
While Naruto was the most vocal, the rest of the class was equally dumbfounded. Nobody had ever imagined Suzuki would actually win this duel. The moment Sasuke had activated his newly awakened Sharingan, the class had collectively assumed the match was over. Yet, Suzuki had completely flipped the script with an unknown, blinding fire jutsu.
"What a drag..."
Shikamaru Nara grumbled, aggressively rubbing his tearing eyes. "His jutsu is so incredibly troublesome."
Shikamaru instantly recognized the tactical implications. A flashbang jutsu was a massive annoyance to his family's Shadow Possession techniques—if there was too much ambient light, shadows were erased. Yet, conversely, it made Suzuki the absolute perfect tactical ally. A blinding flash cast incredibly harsh, sharp shadows for a brief moment, giving a Nara clan member an absolute, inescapable advantage.
He sharply nudged Ino's side, whispering, "He is going to become incredibly popular after this. You should probably make your move now before the competition gets fierce."
"Shut up, Shikamaru! I'll cut your tongue out if you keep talking!"
Ino's face turned crimson as she violently glared at her teammate. Yet, as she turned her attention back to the ring, she let out a quiet sigh of relief. She felt a surge of pride watching how effortlessly Suzuki had dismantled Sasuke's arrogant offense.
Yes, Sasuke was naturally talented. But Suzuki was smart.
Ino didn't care about the other girls suddenly swooning over him, but she couldn't help but shoot a wary glance at Hinata Hyuga. Hinata had been the very first person in class to truly pay attention to Suzuki.
"Suzuki-kun!"
Hinata's face flushed with pure, radiant happiness as she watched him secure the victory.
Standing in the center of the ring, Suzuki offered a small, polite smile.
He felt the victory was incredibly standard. Frankly, he had possessed a dozen different ways to defeat Sasuke. Thanks to his unique ability, Manager, he had run countless combat simulations prior to the fight. But this victory wasn't just a system cheat; it was the culmination of his own relentless, hard work before he had even awakened the Manager system.
Fortunately, I have the knowledge from my previous life, Suzuki thought.
Relying solely on modern scientific concepts, he had deduced how to manipulate standard chakra flows to create unique, physical reactions. He might not have an overpowered bloodline limit or secret clan techniques, but as long as he had his creativity and the tactical processing power of the Manager, he could develop countless unique jutsu to drastically improve his survival rate in this violent world.
While Suzuki felt great about his success, Sasuke was plummeting into an abyss of despair.
His heart pounded wildly, filled with toxic, suffocating rage. He had lost.
How?!
How could I possibly lose to a civilian?!
If he couldn't even defeat a nameless orphan in the academy, how could he possibly avenge his clan?! How could he ever kill Itachi?!
"I HAVEN'T LOST! DIE, YOU LOSER!"
Sasuke's mind snapped. Blinded by fury and humiliation, he ignored Iruka's call, grabbed a sharpened kunai from his holster, and violently lunged forward to stab Suzuki in the back!
"SUZUKI-KUN!" Hinata screamed.
"STOP, SASUKE!" Iruka yelled, diving forward.
"SASUKE-TEME, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Naruto roared.
Suzuki didn't even flinch. Through his Manager's peripheral tracking, he had already seen the blur of movement descending from the academy roof.
Just before the sharp kunai could pierce Suzuki's shoulder, a dark blur materialized directly behind Sasuke. A swift, brutal chop struck the back of the Uchiha's neck.
"Huh?"
Sasuke's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed into the dirt, completely unconscious.
The dust settled, revealing a lone figure standing over the unconscious Uchiha. The shinobi wore standard ANBU armor, a short blade strapped to their back, and a porcelain cat mask hiding their face.
The ANBU operative turned their blank mask toward Suzuki.
"Suzuki Tanaka. The Hokage requests your presence. Please accompany me to the Hokage's office immediately."
"...."
The entire academy training ground fell into absolute, stunned silence.