It was only on rare occasions that Uzumaki Naruto found himself soaking in his own sweat. Finding out he was on his last bowl of cup noodles was one. Getting scolded by Iruka-sensei after getting busted for his pranks was another. Opening his wallet to find a few measly ryos scattered within the empty space was also something that often caused him panic attacks.

Of course, none of those he dreaded as much as the challenge that he faced right now—the academy graduation exam.

He gulped nervously as all those seated in front of him were called up by Iruka-sensei and his committee of proctors.

Once up there, each student was given a deck of blank cards and told to focus their chakra into it. If successful, images would surface upon the cards within seconds, spurred on by the state of their holder's spirit.

It almost seemed like a most miraculous process. But experience told Naruto that it was anything but that.

Today was his third time taking the exam, with his previous two times yielding less than pleasant results.

He just hoped that this time, he would be able to conjure images onto his cards like the others who went before him.

From his peripherals, he could hear his crush, Haruno Sakura, celebrate with her friends over her recent achievements.

"Sakura, your cards are all so cute!"

"I wish I would be able to get cute stuffed animals like you when I go up and take my test too!"

As expected from someone as physically beautiful as Sakura, it seemed that the reflection of her spirit was quite beautiful as well.

If only she would be willing to show him a bit of the same kindness that made her popular with their classmates…

Naruto sighed pitifully into his palms. He just hoped his cards would be so exotically handsome that it would make him popular with the girls.

Speaking of being popular with girls…

The blonde's eyes drifted to his most hated rival.

Uchiha Sasuke….

That bastard seemed to have passed his test with flying colors. By the look of the smug, self-assuring smile on his face, it seemed that he had gotten something good as well.

There was no way he would allow himself to lose to a prick like that. A feeling of determination welled up his chest.

When Iruka-sensei called his name, he stomped to the front with a confident swagger. He passed by the table where all the hitai-ate laid, and renewed his resolve. This time for sure… he would pass the test.

"Naruto…" Iruka spoke as he handed him a deck of cards hesitantly. "I hope this time you will be able to produce an acceptable result."

"Hmph…" The blonde student thumbed his nose confidently and snatched the deck of cards away with just as much spunk. "I will, just you watch!"

He clasped the layer of cards tightly between his palms and poured all of his chakra into it. His focus was so tight that the deck of cards exploded into hundreds of ripped ribbons.

The feeling of dread that crept through his body felt all too familiar as he stared numbly at the mess that he made. As the last noodle of paper fell at his feet, he glanced up feebly at his instructor.

The man stared down upon him with disappointment burned onto his steely face. "I'm afraid I will have to fail you again, Naruto."

It felt like his whole world went dark at that moment.

After school, he once again sat on the swing of loneliness. Slowly and melancholically, he rocked himself back and forth as everyone celebrated with their parents.

Of course, once again, he was left with nothing. Nothing to celebrate. No one to comfort him.

It seemed that the entire world was against him.

Why did he have to be the only one who could never graduate?

Why did he have to be the one to be hated by the girl that he liked?

Why did he have to be the one without parents?

Perhaps it was these pent up frustrations that made him more vulnerable to Mizuki-sensei's words later.

Apparently there was a secret way to graduate from the academy. All he needed to do was to prove his worth by stealing something…

He broke into the scroll's holding place in the dead of the night and sequestered it away in a forest by Konoha. Once he found a good resting spot, he opened up the scroll, and was surprised by the deck of blank cards that emerged in front of him in a puff of white smoke.

Curious, he picked up the deck of cards and fingered through it. From the feel alone, he could tell that these were of a higher quality than the ones given to them at the academy.

His mind flashed back to the deck of cards that ripped into pieces when he tried to pour his chakra into them earlier.

Perhaps with this set, he could…

With some time to spare, and Mizuki-sensei nowhere in sight, Naruto began to inspect the content of the scroll.

Everything seemed to have turned into a nightmare fast.

Mizuki turned out to be mentally insane.

While, he on the other hand turned out to be the host of the demon fox that made Iruka-sensei an orphan. But it seemed that Iruka-sensei didn't hold it against him.

All he knew for certain was that he couldn't hand the scroll over to Mizuki-sensei.

He held onto the scroll as if he was holding onto his life and prepared to run away like how Iruka-sensei instructed him to. The blonde boy dashed across the forest, with no specific destination in mind, looking to just get out of this crazy scenario.

But when he saw Iruka-sensei kneeling on the ground，wounded by the monster summoned by Mizuki, he knew he had to go back.

He launched himself back into the clearing where Iruka and Mizuki stood, a duel disk manifesting in his left arm.

"I activate Invocation!"