[Yamamoto Shosuke]

Ichi... Yes, now that Kizumi mentioned it, Shosuke had actually heard of one other person in the same boat as him. Nakahara Ichi was the secretary and assistant to Lady Kanoh, and perhaps the only other person in the world who had developed Mokuton outside of the Senju clan. He had hesitated in the past to follow that up as anything more than a vague rumor but if Kizumi was backing it up... well, maybe there was more to it than just water cooler talk after all.

Still, for now he remained quiet and let her talk, let her wax poetic about how one's power was only what one was capable of developing. There was a cynical part of him that would like to point out that many people in this world didn't even have the ability to generate chakra at all, that no matter how much they trained in taijutsu or bukijutsu they would always remain a liability on the battlefield, but he didn't. There was no point at this juncture unless he had wanted to piss her off for some reason.

"With all due respect, Lady Kizumi," Sho finally said, speaking up. ", I made a friend here - an older guy called Atagi, part of the Uzumaki clan. He has all the chakra in the world, can go for hours upon hours upon hours. But all he can really do is taijutsu. And the exams put him up against that Hotarubi thug from Takigakure, someone functionally immune to taijutsu.

There are certain gaps that will never be able to be crossed, not even with all the effort in the world. Even if they try, a wolf will never grow wings and learn how to fly, just as a raven will never be able to breathe underwater. I understand that you're saying to find my lane and stay in it, become the best me that I can be, but some people simply are better than others. Not every talent is equal - an Uchiha's sharingan will always outclass an Akimichi's ability to get particularly fat."

It felt a little weird, lecturing someone who had far more experience on him that the world wasn't nearly as fair as she was trying to make it look. Some people had advantages others simply never would no matter how hard they work. But maybe she was right, maybe there were things under his own control that he should try and redress...

And maybe she was right about the exams too. Well, as long as he could find a way to grow stronger, maybe they wouldn't matter as much any more. He just needed to get better.

[END THREAD]

440 words | hirana kizumi

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