Ninja Examination

The dew on the grass slipped down and fell to the ground, quickly drying beneath the sunlight without leaving a trace.

The dry ground was soon trampled underfoot as several figures raced into the academy.

Uchiha Jin and the other two sighed in relief when they saw that people were still lining up.

"We made it in time."

Up ahead stood a small building, where many students still attending the Ninja Academy were lining up to enter.

After observing the line for a while, Minato Namikaze's expression did not look good.

"A lot of them are younger than us."

The children in line were all brimming with excitement. He could even spot quite a few familiar underclassmen among them.

Some were as young as seven.

No matter how early they started, children this young should not have been allowed to take the ninja examination.

Wasn't this a little too absurd?

What was the village even thinking?!

"And the pass rate is high, too."

Jin mocked from the side.

His gaze swept toward the other end, where quite a few children happily ran out wearing ninja forehead protectors.

There were also plenty of children who emerged empty-handed, dejected and disappointed.

But compared to the successful ones, there were far fewer of the latter.

Even from here, they could hear the children who had passed shouting.

"I became a ninja!"

"Hahaha! Starting today, I'm a great ninja too!"

"Mom, Dad, I'm a grown-up ninja now! Haha!"

The children were all smiles, and the place was lively beyond measure.

Seriously.

Hashirama Senju founded the village so children would not have to go to war. Hiruzen Sarutobi sent children to war for the sake of the village.

The irony was indescribable.

Minato Namikaze's expression grew heavy.

"What are you talking about? The test is about to start." Kushina, completely unaware of anything, looked thrilled.

She could already see the path of a ninja beckoning to her.

"This is the beginning of my path to becoming Hokage."

"I'm definitely going to become the woman who becomes Hokage!"

Well, that dream of yours did come true in the future. Jin could not help glancing at Minato Namikaze.

At this moment, Minato Namikaze was unusually silent.

As the line continued moving forward,

Minato Namikaze entered first. Unlike the others, who only stayed inside briefly, he did not come out for a long time.

"Nothing happened to him, right?" Kushina asked worriedly.

"Relax. This is probably preferential treatment for the top student of the Ninja Academy." Jin shrugged, then seemed to recall something and looked at Kushina with pity.

In his previous life, he had specifically looked into Kushina's information. After all, married women... ahem... it was not like he enjoyed being some Cao thief.

That was not the point. He remembered that unlike Minato Namikaze, whose graduation age was unclear, Kushina had definitely graduated at the age of twelve.

In other words, she had repeated two years and received the same treatment as him.

This examination was probably just a formality.

As a Jinchūriki, there were many things she could not decide for herself.

"You damned Uchiha! What kind of look is that?!"

Kushina sensed the pity in Jin's gaze, and anger flared in her as she raised her fist, ready to hit him.

Jin merely looked at her, clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

That made her even angrier!!

Kushina's red hair began to float wildly.

"Fight me to the death, bastard!!"

Just as Kushina was about to attack, a brown-haired ninja wearing a flak jacket came out and shouted.

"Next!"

Jin gave Kushina a thumbs-down, his face full of mockery.

"Next time for sure."

"Bastard!!!"

Kushina roared.

Jin had already jogged into the ninja examination area. If he did not run now, he would get beaten up.

Though the room looked small from outside, it was surprisingly spacious within. The floor was covered in scorch marks, puddles, and shattered pieces of wood.

There were also two ninjas wearing flak jackets inside. One was a purple-haired female ninja, while the other was Satoru Inoue.

The purple-haired female ninja held a notebook.

"Uchiha Jin?"

"That's me."

The purple-haired female ninja wrote something in her notebook.

Satoru Inoue stepped forward.

"Your test is to last one minute against me."

As he spoke, the smile on his face gradually turned sinister. It was absolutely not because he wanted revenge for Jin treating him like air for three months.

Absolutely not!

Jin raised his head and looked at the tall Satoru Inoue.

He was considering how much strength to use. Some of his abilities had already been exposed.

The main question was whether he should show Satoru Inoue some respect.

After all, he was his teacher.

While he was still thinking, Satoru Inoue had already rushed forward and pulled a kunai from the Ninja Tool Pouch at his lower back.

Jin casually threw out three shuriken.

The shuriken collided in midair with a series of clangs, changing direction as they flew toward Satoru Inoue from three different angles.

Satoru Inoue narrowed his eyes.

Uchiha Throwing Technique.

The next moment,

With a bang, Satoru Inoue transformed into a log, and the shuriken thunked into the wood.

At that moment, Satoru Inoue suddenly appeared behind Jin and kicked at him.

Jin only glanced at him before leaping up at an even faster speed and delivering a spinning flying kick.

Bang.

Satoru Inoue was kicked into the wall and slid down.

"This is the Uchiha trash!?"

He stared at Jin in shock, unable to comprehend that absurd speed and reaction time.

It seemed he had never really understood this student's strength.

Jin curled his lip. His reaction speed could only be considered decent.

Minato Namikaze could now catch kunai and shuriken thrown at him with his bare hands. That was just... ridiculous.

Some people's talent was truly unreasonable.

But in terms of actual strength, Minato Namikaze still could not put any pressure on him.

"Teacher Inoue, is there any chance that..."

"No chance." Satoru Inoue decisively cut him off. One look at Jin's face told him he was not about to say anything nice.

"How could I possibly lose to a student?"

Satoru Inoue was starting to panic.

Suddenly, a loud bang drew both their attention.

The purple-haired female ninja glared fiercely at Satoru Inoue.

Satoru Inoue fell silent. It seemed this woman had also lost to Minato Namikaze earlier.

"Hahaha." The ninja who had guided Jin here could not help laughing.

"Both teachers lost to students, hahaha."

"I haven't lost yet!!"

Satoru Inoue roared, rapidly forming hand seals with both hands, but he had to stop halfway through.

A sharp kunai was pressed against his throat.

The other two stared at the change on the field in shock as well.

"This guy... is he a monster?"

Jin had somehow appeared in front of Satoru Inoue, holding a kunai to his throat.

None of them had noticed when Jin moved.

Satoru Inoue swallowed hard and immediately raised both hands.

If he did not surrender now, his life would end here.

"Teacher Inoue, I passed, right?" Jin smiled slightly.

His official strength was that of a Special Jonin. He was far beyond the Chunin teachers who taught at the academy.

"P-Passed." The ninja at the door pressed the stopwatch in his hand. One minute had already passed.

He had defeated the teacher in under a minute.

This Uchiha Jin was actually stronger than Minato Namikaze.

Was this what they called Uchiha trash?

If Jin was trash, then what were they?

"This is your proof of ninja status." The purple-haired female ninja tossed the forehead protector toward Jin.

Jin caught it with one hand before putting away his kunai.

Satoru Inoue rubbed his neck as he got to his feet, his face full of despair.

He had actually lost to a student.

Was there any justice in this? Any law?

The other party was an Uchiha, so never mind.

But his confidence as a teacher had been shattered!!

Sure enough, Uchiha Jin was his nemesis!

"Your student number will become your ninja number. Remember to have your picture taken tomorrow."

No matter how depressed he felt, he still explained what came next.

"Got it."

Jin tied the forehead protector around his head and waved dismissively.

Only then did he leave through the other side of the examination area. The moment he came out, he spotted Minato Namikaze waiting in the distance.

"I knew you would pass the test." Minato Namikaze smiled with certainty.

After all, when it came to strength, there were very few people their age who could claim to be stronger than Jin.

Even Nawaki, who had died, might not have been able to fight him evenly.

"How could anyone fail a test like this?"

Jin sighed.

He watched groups of students wearing forehead protectors walk outside.

The parents who had been waiting for them saw the forehead protectors in their children's hands. Unlike the delighted children, more than half of the adults' expressions changed drastically, filled with complicated emotions and pain.

Adults understood better what this represented.

Jin simply could not understand how, even so, they still could not foster hatred.

The Will of Fire was terrifying indeed!!

Not even pyramid schemes could brainwash people as effectively as the Will of Fire.

"Uchiha Jin!!" A furious roar suddenly rang out, followed by a red figure darting out from behind him.

"Die!!"

Kushina threw a punch at him. She was going to get revenge for Jin provoking her earlier!

Jin merely tilted his body to dodge the punch, then drove a knee into her stomach.

"It hurts." Kushina lay on the ground with a pained expression.

"You never learn." Jin shook his head.

How many times had she been knocked down by him already?

Kushina truly lost every battle yet kept challenging him again and again. All he could say was that she really was worthy of being the future mother of the airheaded savior.

Come to think of it,

Was he really that hateable?

If Kushina and Minato Namikaze heard that, they would definitely say,

"Absolutely!!"

Jin's gaze suddenly fixed on the forehead protector on Kushina's forehead.

"You... passed?"

"Of course." Kushina adjusted the forehead protector on her brow, wearing the smile of a silly girl.

"Starting today, I'm a ninja too."

"Heh heh."

Jin was utterly speechless as he looked up at the sky.

Under the hues of dusk, flame-like clouds drifted past.

How could the village have let her pass?

"Fate has changed."

"One, two, three, four." Might Duy began doing squats as he circled the mountain.

"If I can't finish before dark, I'll do a thousand push-ups!"

As sweat fell, he continued training around the mountain.

Only through more than a decade of unwavering effort had he reached the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates Formation.

"Uncle Duy is still working so hard." Jin hung upside down from a tree branch, his feet braced against it.

"Yo, young Jin. Long time no see." Might Duy gave him a thumbs-up.

"Indeed. It has been quite a long time."

Jin jumped down from the tree.

"Uncle Duy, fight me with everything you've got."

He was in a terrible mood right now.

"Gladly."