Returning to the Ninja Academy, the Realm of Peak Great Perfection!

Returning to the Ninja Academy, the Realm of Peak Great Perfection!

Perhaps I really needed some time to break away from basic training and ordinary ninja combat, to try building my own fighting style.

Lin Ke sat up. He felt no discomfort at all. The ice created by Horus caused no harm to its user; he could even spray it from his mouth to freeze wounds, which was incredibly useful. Freezing himself at the end was also a protective measure.

If he had enough stamina, he could even choose to freeze himself together with enemies who approached him, then attack through Horus.

Thinking back on it, if he had known he could summon Horus, he had plenty of ways to fight. Even if he could not defeat Hatake Kakashi, he would not have suffered such a miserable defeat.

With such unusual ninjutsu, he was destined to walk a different path from ordinary ninja. His studies at the Ninja Academy had influenced him too deeply. He had actually tried to use conventional ninja combat methods to compete against an elite jonin who had fought countless battles and survived a war.

That was nothing but asking for trouble.

Combat rhythm was important.

If he wanted to be an ordinary genin, then naturally he would have to follow the combat methods and training experience ninja had accumulated over the years. But he possessed unusual ninjutsu alongside utterly average chakra reserves and physical abilities, so his fighting style was bound to be different.

Wasn't fighting all about using one's strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses?

Once Lin Ke thought it through, he felt much more at ease. Failure had been expected. Discovering the flaws in his own character, understanding what real combat was, and breaking free from the trap of conventional ninja thinking were his greatest gains.

It was far better to discover problems during an exercise than to suffer losses in real combat before figuring them out.

"Yo~ You're awake?" Hatake Kakashi appeared in the doorway at some point, holding Make-Out Paradise in one hand, his tone as lazy as ever.

"Did I pass my test?" Lin Ke asked, still holding onto a sliver of hope. He had tried to seize the bells at the end, after all. What if he could graduate this year?

Hatake Kakashi closed his book with a finger marking the page, a faint smile in his voice. "All three of you failed."

"I got a bell," Lin Ke said.

Hatake Kakashi looked at the tiny eight-year-old. The smile in his exposed eye deepened. "No. This test assessed your teamwork and ability to carry out missions. Getting the bells was not the most important criterion."

Konoha was indeed a rather unusual presence among ninja. The doctrine that missions were everything and ninja were merely tools had been increasingly weakened in Konoha, even gradually collapsing.

From the Konoha White Fang, who had been criticized into suicide for abandoning a mission in the early days, to Mizuki, who had lost his path to promotion merely for being suspected of killing a comrade.

By the time Tsunade became Hokage, she could even forcefully oppose the instructions of the advisors and elders, allowing the Jinchuriki to run all over the world.

There was no need to mention Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto afterward.

It was precisely because of such a lenient environment that Lin Ke was willing to reveal his differences. If this had been Kirigakure or Sunagakure, he would probably have hidden his abilities until he defected.

No matter how dark Danzo was, Konoha had always been the ninja village that treated its own people best.

Besides, Danzo had already lost his power after the Uchiha Clan Massacre Incident. Until the Third Hokage's death, he probably would not have any room to stir up trouble.

Moreover, the ability he had revealed was not all that outstanding. Konoha could still accommodate him. Among all the Stands he had tried to summon before, Horus was not particularly powerful or overpowered.

"Fine. Looks like I'll be going back to the Ninja Academy to study again?" Lin Ke's expression revealed nothing, though his tone carried a trace of disappointment.

He got down from the hospital bed. Other than mild muscle soreness from excessive physical exhaustion, there was nothing wrong with his body.

"Can I go home now?" he asked.

Horus's freezing effect did not harm the body, and it could even freeze wounds, but clothes and ninja tools were not part of the "body."

Another huge expense, Lin Ke thought, his heart bleeding. Clothes were not expensive, but ninja tools really hurt—they were so expensive. Fortunately, worried that battle might cause damage, he had not brought his wallet. Otherwise...

Still, it was good that he had not graduated directly. If he had graduated and become a genin, he would no longer be considered a student or a child, and the subsidies for orphans and Ninja Academy students would be canceled immediately. That would have been truly painful. Genin could barely save any money at all.

"Your body is very healthy. You can leave the hospital anytime." Hatake Kakashi put Make-Out Paradise into his Waist Pouch, lowered his head slightly to look at Lin Ke in his undersized hospital gown, and said with a smile, "Then, to celebrate your going back to repeat your studies, how about I treat you to a meal?" ...Hokage Building, Hokage Office.

"...That concludes the entire investigation into Lin Ke, a student of the Ninja Academy."

After Hatake Kakashi calmly reported everything he had objectively observed and subjectively felt, he stood quietly in place and waited.

There was nothing suspicious. His growth had shown no problems whatsoever, his background was clean, and the Kekkei Genkai he had revealed was worth cultivating, though not to the extent that the elders and advisors needed to intervene.

Konoha could accommodate geniuses. It even took in orphans of unknown origin. At the very least, it was not some deranged organization that would attack its own people.

There were certainly a few people pulling tricks in the shadows. After all, a big forest contained all kinds of birds. But doing so openly was out of the question.

"Whew~"

The Third Hokage, wearing a conical hat, took a deep draw from his pipe and exhaled smoke. His expression did not change in the slightest as he said, "You've worked hard, Kakashi."

"Then I'll take my leave, Third Hokage." Hatake Kakashi naturally excused himself. There was nothing else for him to do, and he vanished with a Body Flicker.

The Third Hokage looked at Lin Ke's file on the desk for a long while before tapping out his pipe and saying, "Raise the target's attention level."

The Anbu in the shadows heard the order and recorded it.

Raising the attention level was not a bad thing. It had little to do with surveillance and was more about providing protection. Konoha was so vast; whether it was some dark corner or spies, dealing with an eight-year-old child was easy enough, be it through a surprise kidnapping or temptation.

Back when Lin Ke had first enrolled, the Anbu had already been providing him with a certain degree of protection. The reason Mizuki had been unable to continue their "chance encounters" was because of the Anbu's attention. Raising the attention level now merely meant he was deemed to need greater protection.

There was no other meaning behind it.

The Third Hokage would not target some little brat. There were plenty of ninja with unusual techniques or Kekkei Genkai, and eight years old was not considered young during wartime.

After deciding on the protection measures, he closed Lin Ke's file, turned to the more important documents below it, and continued handling official business.