Please Call Me Hinata-Sama

Time flew by.

The most important thing in sixth grade was the graduation exam.

The Ninja Academy's graduation exam was actually extremely simple. Students only needed to demonstrate basic use of ninjutsu to graduate.

That meant testing the Three Jutsu.

Ninja was a profession that pursued efficiency. For subjects like regular academics, ninja theory, taijutsu, shuriken throwing, and so on, the academy had already grasped every student's performance through their usual studies and tests.

Though the Three Jutsu were simple, they were genuine ninjutsu and the sole proof of whether someone had the qualifications to learn ninjutsu.

The Ninja Academy's graduation exam was held three times. The teacher would randomly select one technique from the Three Jutsu, and successfully performing it meant passing the assessment.

Of the three ninjutsu assessments, passing even one was enough to graduate. The final grade was based on the best result.

For the students of the elite class, the graduation exam was a piece of cake.

Take Hinata, for example. She had already passed two assessments, so she could still graduate even if she skipped the last one.

The atmosphere in class was therefore very relaxed. Groups of classmates could be seen chatting animatedly everywhere, discussing how glorious their lives would be after becoming ninjas.

But there was always an exception.

A certain dead-last student who had gotten in through the back door due to his special identity had failed both of the previous assessments.

Hinata did not know whether Iruka was doing it on purpose. Naruto was excellent at the Transformation Jutsu, and his Substitution Technique occasionally succeeded as well, but no matter what, he could never get the hang of the Clone Technique.

Amid the cheerful atmosphere, the pressure around Naruto was the lowest.

Hinata no longer liked sitting in the front row.

After all, Hinata had been a poor student in her previous life, so she had some misunderstandings about academic gods. She had thought academic gods had to sit in the front row.

But in truth, top students needed to sit in the front row. Academic gods always sat in the back.

In class, Choji and Shikamaru were the ones Hinata got along with best. One was pure and kind, while the other was resourceful. They had plenty in common, and there was also someone they could pick on.

Choji lay listlessly across his desk. He was not even eating his favorite potato chips.

How wonderful would it be if he could be assigned to the same team as Shikamaru and Hinata!

But no matter how innocent Choji was, he knew the Ino-Shika-Cho trio could not possibly be split apart.

After the class made a bit of noise, Iruka entered the classroom. Holding the roster, he addressed the students, "Listen up. The graduation exam will test the Clone Technique. When your name is called, go to the classroom next door in order!"

"Oh no! What kind of nonsense is this?!"

Upon hearing the news, Naruto's expression looked as awful as if he had eaten shit.

This was Naruto's last chance, yet the test was the Clone Technique, the one he was worst at.

Hinata secretly glanced at Naruto. According to the plot, tonight was when he would steal the Scroll of Seals, wasn't it?

Hinata wanted to follow along and take a look.

But after thinking it over carefully, she gave up on that suicidal idea.

How could something as important as the Scroll of Seals possibly be stolen by an apprentice ninja who was not even a Genin?

The place where the Hyuga Clan kept its secret documents was packed with traps, protected by all kinds of ninjutsu seals and sensory barriers.

And Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. How could someone with such an important identity not have Anbu protecting him?

Perhaps this was the Third's test for Naruto, a test of how much Naruto acknowledged the village.

And it would conveniently give Naruto a cheat ability, too!

Wasn't the Multiple Shadow Clone perfectly suited for an Uzumaki Clan member with a terrifyingly huge amount of chakra?

Hinata passed the graduation exam with the Shadow Clone Jutsu. She was guaranteed to edge out Sasuke and smoothly take first place in the graduation exam.

For techniques that were not particularly important, Hinata could completely learn them from her family. Hadn't Kakashi learned the Shadow Clone even before entering the academy?

As for Sasuke... after all, no one was guiding his training, so his progress over the past few years had actually been very slow.

By sheer coincidence, Naruto was right after Hinata in the order.

After leaving the examination classroom, Hinata patted Naruto on the shoulder and encouraged him. "Come on. Believe that you can do it!"

Naruto was not without talent. In fact, if the Nine-Tails had not been interfering, Naruto's talent for ninjutsu would definitely not have been inferior to Sasuke's.

Didn't Naruto develop the Rasenshuriken, which even someone as gifted as Minato Namikaze had failed to complete?

"Thank you, Hinata. You're really too kind!"

Naruto's eyes filled with tears.

Hinata's eyes filled with tears as well.

In order to build a good relationship with her future boss in advance, Hinata had sacrificed far too much.

When the exam ended, Naruto was the only one among the twenty-seven students in the class who had failed.

Even though Hinata knew the plot well, she did not know how to comfort Naruto at this moment. She could only choose to avoid him, pretending not to know his results as she left the academy early and went home.

"Congratulations, Miss Hinata... no, I should call you Lady Hinata now! Congratulations, Lady Hinata, on successfully passing the graduation exam!"

That bootlicker Tokuma Hyuga appeared out of nowhere the moment Hinata returned home, and he had even carefully prepared a graduation gift for her.

Having graduated from the Ninja Academy, Hinata had officially become a ninja.

From now on, please call me Hinata-Sama!

Hinata accepted Tokuma Hyuga's gift with a dark expression and replied in an even tone, "Thank you. That was thoughtful of you."

Tokuma Hyuga had begun serving as Hinata's guard when she was very young. He had always worked tirelessly and remained utterly loyal. It could be said that he had watched Hinata grow up.

Yet with his intelligence, he would probably never understand exactly where he had offended Hinata.

There was a line in Nirvana in Fire: "I may hold great power in my hands, but do you know whose power it is? It must belong to the future emperor."

Hinata felt it was necessary to remind Tokuma Hyuga who he truly ought to be loyal to.

Unfortunately, Hinata had something more important to do today.

After returning to her room, Hinata shut the doors and windows. Standing before her full-length mirror, she stared unblinkingly at her reflection.

Mm! It was time to dress up properly.

Because she was still young, Hinata wore her hair short, just like her anime counterpart.

That way, her hair would not interfere with combat, while also making Hinata look even cuter.

A deceptive appearance was one of the compulsory lessons for a ninja.

Hinata rummaged through her wardrobe.

For the top... a short black T-shirt. Black would make her figure look slimmer and more pitiful.

As for the bottom... black hot pants as well, paired with white stockings. Mm... and she would tie another top around her waist as a skirt!

"Very good!"

Hinata admired herself in the mirror for quite some time. Though this outfit might look somewhat outdated in Hinata's previous life, the Ninja World was different.

Hinata felt very good about herself.

As for the forehead protector... she would wear it around her neck, just like in the Original Story.

"Perfect!"