(POV Tsunade)
When my sensei summoned me back to the village I feared the worst at first like a new war was fast approaching. Shizune and I rushed back as fast as we could but when we got to the village everything was perfectly fine. I remember the last two wars so I was confused to see that there was none of the signs of a war coming, no prepping shinobi, no anbu watching the gate, nothing.
“Why did you summon us back if theres no war coming?” I asked my sensei confused after arriving at his office.
The old man with stress wrinkles and loose skin sitting behind the desk didn’t say a word but took out a folder from a drawer and pushed it towards me. It was clear he wanted me to read it but I couldn’t imagine why any report would have anything to do with myself. I picked up the report and began to read through it and my eyes widened more and more the further I read and not for a good reason either. The file was simply about a single child who just graduated from the academy.-
Psychological, medical, chakra, skill and more types of evaluations were all listed in detail describing this child. At first glance one might think that Kenzo was merely a once in a millennia genius from the reports but to me they were uncomfortably similar to my old team mate Orochimaru’s file at the same age. You could practically hold the two side by side and have trouble telling them apart beyond a few small details.
“Is all of this correct?” I asked seriously.
My sensei nodded “It is though there is a few details that are left out since we can not verify them for reasons explained in the file.” he said honestly.
“Combat rating right?” I asked.
“Yes the boy is highly secretive with his training and displays of power. There are signs that he is much more powerful than what he has shown but there is no way to verify it as he hides his strength anytime someone tries to observe him. I have no idea why though, he has not gotten burned for showing his power nor does he have any enemies, quite the opposite in fact as he is practically idolized by his teachers and classmates.” he said seriously.
“How is that possible with his behavior listed here?” I asked confused.
“It’s because despite his behavior he doesn’t create problems on his own, he is reactive. In all circumstances where there was an issue he was never the one to cause it but simply acted to resolve it in his own way even if that way was disproportionate to the situation. Thanks to this all the people around him find him quiet but agreeable.” he said with a sigh.
“At least he’s different in that regard at least, Orochimaru was always rather abrasive towards the rest of us in our class.” I said with a pang of sadness when thinking of my old teammate.
“Indeed and that is why I want you to take him on as a student. I can admit that I failed you three as a teacher. I was so eager to make you powerful that I neglected your growth as people and in the end the village paid the price for my folly. I don’t want Kenzo to follow in Orochimaru’s footsteps and only you and Jiraiya could show the boy the way forward properly.” he said and I immediately wanted to reject him.
I had very complicated feelings about the village after my experiences in the last two wars and tried hard to stay away from it. Taking a new student would draw me back instead and I violently wanted to resist. But, at the same time I knew what my sensei said was true as only us three were truly familiar with what led to the birth of the monster that Orochimaru became. Without our guidance it truly would be oh so easy for this child to follow the same or at least a similar path.-
“IF and that’s a big if. IF I do this I have some demands that aren’t up for negotiation.” I said firmly after thinking it over for a few moments.
“If they are not too extreme I may accept them.” he said with a tired sigh.
“First we won’t be in the village for the vast majority of the time. Second we will put the boy through a test of character before I agree to be his teacher and if I don’t like what I find I won’t do it. Third he will be learning Iryonin jutsu no matter what as a priority over combat. Finally I alone decide when or if I will give you a progress report.” I said firmly as I stared the old man down.
He frowned “I don’t like the first or the last but I can accept all of these demands. Now about this test of yours.” he said and we began to discuss the matter and argued a bit at some points but came to a solid plan of action.
The test was a simple carrot and stick treatment with me honestly teaching the boy for a few days before setting forth terms that we knew he was going to react poorly to. The goal here was to see if his reaction is the same as what Orochimaru would have done in a similar circumstance. Surprisingly enough it was actually more in line with how Jiraiya would have reacted, hotheaded and ill thought out. Orochimaru might have been furious in that situation but he would have remained silent and bid his time until he could destroy whatever was restricting him. –
What followed after that though was plain spiteful however as after the boy stormed off in righteous anger he vanished into the nearby forest and evaded me for four whole days. There was a couple times I believed that I found him during that time but there was nothing in the spots I looked. Taunting or trickery also failed to break the boy out of his stealth which I have to admit was uncomfortably effective. I might not seem like it but I was ALWAYS aware of my surroundings and not even a member of the anbu could hide from me yet the boy evaded me for four entire days. In the end I only found the boy because he allowed it and I was relieved to find he had a sense of humor as he was casually holding a child oriented book on stealth.-
I spent the next few weeks acting normally while carefully watching the boys behavior and other than being introverted and uncomfortably calm about murder for a fresh graduate he was pretty normal. His talent though was mind blowing as I taunted him a few times with demands I knew were unreasonable only to turn around and find that he completed them well beyond any expectation of mine. It was incredible just how fast he picked up a new concept or piece of information and put it into practice.
