Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

The Hidden Leaf Village, Hatake Clan Compound.

Kinoshita Genichi and Sakumo Hatake sat drinking tea.

Looking at the student before him, Sakumo felt both gratified and emotional. He had known from the beginning that Genichi was destined for great things, but he had never imagined his growth would be this rapid.

As news spread from the Village Hidden in the Mist, the Leaf Village was also shaken. The title of "Genjutsu Prodigy Who Surpasses the Uchiha" was becoming more and more renowned. Initially, when Kumogakure had given him this title, many thought it was just an attempt to sow discord and didn't believe Genichi's genjutsu could truly be compared to the Uchiha's. But after Genichi presided over the end of the third stage of the Chūnin Exams, even the Uchiha clan had acknowledged the "Genjutsu Prodigy Who Surpasses the Uchiha."

And now, many ninja within Konoha felt that the "Uchiha" part should be dropped. Kinoshita Genichi should simply be Konoha's number one genjutsu prodigy. Before, Genichi was riding on the Uchiha's coattails. Now, the Uchiha were riding on his.

However, many also believed that "Konoha's number one genjutsu prodigy" was no longer a fitting title for him. After all, the intelligence Kirigakure had released about Genichi didn't just mention his powerful genjutsu. It also included his Water Release, his Body Flicker, and his Wind Release. His Water Release, in particular, was described by the Mist Village as having the power to contend with a Kage.

If Konoha had said this themselves, it would likely be seen as boasting. But coming from the mouth of an enemy, it was certainly not an exaggeration. Thus, the Konoha ninja unanimously agreed that Genichi possessed abilities on par with the Mizukage.

As a result, in just a few short days, anyone in the village below the rank of jonin, aside from his former classmates, would address Genichi with the honorific "Lord."

Lately, the ninja of Konoha had also taken to trying to give Genichi a moniker, similar to Minato Namikaze's "Yellow Flash."

Some felt he should be called "Genichi of the Body Flicker." Others felt that didn't do justice to his astonishing abilities. After all, his Water Release was at the Kage level, so he should be called "Genichi of the Water Body Flicker." Someone else—Minato, as a joke—suggested "Genichi of the Illusory Water Body Flicker," which was unanimously rejected by Kushina, Ina, and the others.

The only issue was that Genichi's hair color wasn't unique enough. If he had white, purple, or red hair, he might have earned a name like "White Flash," "Purple Flash," or "Red Flash." And if he were skilled in more areas, he might have earned a title like Kakashi's "The Copy Ninja of the Leaf."

For now, opinions were divided, and Genichi was still without a cool moniker.

"Genichi, a great deal of intelligence about you has been leaked. You need to be even more cautious from now on," Sakumo reminded him. He was afraid his student would become arrogant, even if Genichi didn't act like an eleven-year-old at all.

"Don't worry, Teacher, I understand," Genichi nodded seriously.

If he didn't know that people like Madara Uchiha were still hiding in the ninja world, that Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was sealed on the moon, that the moon held a giant Tenseigan capable of monitoring the entire world, and that Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was living as a parasite inside a monk… perhaps he really would have become arrogant.

But as he was now, Genichi knew very well that his current level of strength was fine for conventional warfare. In the later stages of the Fourth Great Ninja War, however, he would be nothing more than a side character. Arrogant? He was still just crawling on the ground.

Seeing his student's earnest expression, Sakumo was completely reassured. He then asked, "I hear you've been developing Ice Release recently? Have you made any progress?"

Genichi nodded. "A little. Not much, but at least there's a chance I'll succeed."

Sakumo smiled comfortingly. "Don't rush. You still have plenty of time. With your talent, you have a very long road ahead of you. All of us will be surpassed by you."

Genichi smiled. "The student surpasses the master. I have great confidence in that!"

Hearing this, Sakumo couldn't help but laugh heartily. He liked this humble yet confident version of Genichi.

After having lunch at the Hatake home, Genichi finally left. However, he didn't go straight home or to the hospital. Instead, he bought some fruit as a gift and went to the Uchiha clan's compound to pay a visit to Uchiha Namiichi's mother. This wasn't his first time visiting her; he had already come once after the New Year.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while and drinking a cup of tea, Genichi didn't stay long.

Uchiha Misen stood at the door, watching him leave, silently praying that this child would survive the war and live a long life. That way, her son Namiichi would, in a way, live on as well.

Genichi could feel Uchiha Misen's gaze from behind. He wondered, if he were to die in the war or on a mission, would his parents be the same as her? And who would come to visit them? And even if someone did, could that really fill the void in their hearts from losing a son? Clearly not.

The gaze from behind him disappeared, and Genichi sighed internally.

As he was leaving the Uchiha compound, a young voice interrupted his thoughts. "Lord Genichi!"

He looked up and saw a small child wearing clothes with the Uchiha clan crest. Stopping, Genichi bent down slightly and asked with a smile, "What's your name?"

The child looked up at him. "Lord Genichi, my name is Uchiha Shisui!"

Shisui? It's Shisui!

Genichi sized up the little guy before him and could indeed see some resemblance to the future Uchiha Shisui. Judging by his height, he looked to be about five or six years old. So he was about five or six years younger than him?

"Shisui, huh… are you in school already?" Genichi asked with a smile.

Uchiha Shisui nodded. "Yes, Lord Genichi. I enrolled last spring."

Genichi chuckled. "If you've already enrolled, then you're a pre-ninja! You've already started on the path of a shinobi. Keep it up!" Genichi reached out and patted Shisui's little head. "I look forward to the day you become a true, dependable ninja!"

Encouraged, Uchiha Shisui was a little excited and nodded vigorously. "Yes! I'll definitely work hard!"

"Well, see you later, Shisui." Genichi waved.

"Goodbye, Lord Genichi!" Shisui quickly waved back.

Watching Genichi walk away, Shisui thought to himself, "I didn't expect Lord Genichi to be such a gentle person."

If Genichi had heard that thought, he definitely would have asked Shisui to use a different word.

"Minato is about ten years older than me, Shinnosuke-senpai is about five years older, I'm about five years older than Shisui, and Shisui is about four or five years older than Itachi. Then Itachi is five years older than Sasuke… A five-year gap seems to be a popular choice." Genichi grumbled internally.

By this calculation, the era of power creep wasn't far off.

In his past life, there had always been much debate about Shisui's age. Itachi viewed him as an older brother and had trained under him, and they didn't look that far apart in age. But in reality, when Itachi awakened his first tomoe at age eight, Shisui already had three tomoe and was a jonin. If he were only two or three years older, at around eleven, that would be highly unlikely. Especially since Shisui already had the moniker "Shisui of the Body Flicker" at that time. It could only be blamed on the art style.

When Shisui died, he was 1.8 meters tall. Genichi felt that at that time, Shisui must have been at least fifteen or sixteen. Itachi was eleven then, so it was reasonable for Shisui to be four or five years older than him. The current Shisui should be about six or seven.

If he followed the original timeline, during the Nine-Tails attack in October of Konoha Year 50, Shisui would be around ten years old. At that time, the Third Great Ninja War was technically not over. Only Konoha's wars with Iwa and Suna had ended. They were still officially at war with Kumo and Kiri. Therefore, Genichi speculated that Shisui earned his title "Shisui of the Body Flicker" in the later stages of the Third Great Ninja War, after Konoha Year 50.

And Shisui's fight with Ao of Kirigakure happened when Hiruzen was in power, which should be the era after the Fourth Hokage died and Hiruzen was reinstated. That would be at least Konoha Year 51 or later. In the original timeline, Naruto was born on October 10th, Konoha Year 50, which was the day of the Nine-Tails attack. The 24-year-old Fourth Hokage and his wife died in battle. Konoha suffered heavy losses, and it would have taken Hiruzen a considerable amount of time to handle the aftermath and go to the Daimyō's court to be reappointed. By the time Hiruzen became Hokage again, it would be at least Konoha Year 51. It would also take time for Kirigakure to gather intelligence and confirm that Konoha was weakened and vulnerable before launching a new war. That timeline could be pushed to Konoha Year 52 or even 53. At that time, Shisui would be around 13, similar to Kakashi's age when he became a jonin.

"The Mangekyō… how did Shisui awaken his Mangekyō?" Genichi was rather curious.

Most Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyō had a clear trigger. For Itachi, it was Shisui's suicide. For Sasuke, it was the death of his brother Itachi and the truth behind it. If Fugaku had a Mangekyō, he would have awakened it during the Third Great Ninja War by witnessing the death of a close friend. And for the brothers Madara and Izuna, during the Warring States Period, their relatives died even more frequently, so the triggers for their awakenings were also clear.

But Uchiha Shisui was different; his story was too vague.

"I hope it was 'love'…" Genichi sighed internally. The method for awakening and upgrading the Sharingan was too messed up.

Pushing these thoughts aside, Genichi arrived at the Hokage's tower. He was here to select a ninjutsu, his reward for wiping out the Six Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. However, he didn't plan to choose a new jutsu. Instead, he was going to take the Spirit Transformation Technique. He had already acquired this jutsu by overdrawing from the future, but now he had to obtain it through official channels so he could use it openly. As for the Reaper Death Seal, he could get that from Kushina. Now that he had Ina, their relationship had become even closer, so it wouldn't be a problem at all. He could even skip the step of a jutsu exchange.

But Genichi wasn't stingy. He had already given Kushina all the sealing jutsu he had collected in the Land of Whirlpools.

After getting the jutsu, Genichi immediately used a Body Flicker to return home and continue his training.

At the same time, after a period of quiet, February arrived. Kirigakure once again began sending large numbers of ninja squads into the Land of Fire to gather various kinds of intelligence. With this, the intense skirmishes between the two great ninja villages officially began.

Although they were not yet in a state of all-out war, everyone knew this was the prelude.

(End of Chapter)

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