First Graduation

First Graduation

Ten months later, Ninja Academy graduation examination room.

Name: Lin Ke

Ninjutsu? Taijutsu ○ Genjutsu △

Social Compatibility X Initiative ○ Classroom Attitude ○

Remarks: Mature personality, extensive knowledge, astonishing control ability, possesses a special talent for ninjutsu, suspected of having a special Kekkei Genkai. However, he had some difficulty adapting to Genjutsu, was highly unsociable, and possessed the talent to become a genin.

Umino Iruka looked at the file on the desk, then raised his head to look at the child walking in. He could not help saying, "Lin Ke, isn't choosing to graduate a little too hasty?"

Graduating at eight? This was not wartime. It was really too soon.

Lin Ke gave a slight bow without answering.

Umino Iruka shook his head and sighed. "You may begin. The ninjutsu selected for this graduation examination is: Straw Cloak Invisibility Technique."

The Straw Cloak Invisibility Technique involved covering oneself with a piece of cloth and blending into the surroundings, achieving a disguised form of invisibility.

It was a ninjutsu that could be performed without chakra.

It had become part of ninjutsu instruction and the graduation examination because performing the Straw Cloak Invisibility Technique in front of others required the use of ninja tools, a basic grasp of the Body Flicker Technique, and the ability to conceal one's presence.

Bang!

Lin Ke's hand hanging by his Waist Pouch moved slightly, and a smoke bomb exploded on the ground, smoke billowing up.

His use of ninja tools was very smooth.

Umino Iruka nodded. Even among genin, this would have counted as quite a good level.

His gaze swept over the wall at the front of the examination room, and it took him a moment to find the examinee.

His presence concealment was also up to standard. Even though he did not want such a young child to graduate and become a ninja, he still made a professional assessment.

"You've passed, Lin Ke—" Umino Iruka took a deep breath. "Genin."

The chunin beside him nodded as well. The two had similar views on children becoming ninja, but both felt there was nothing wrong with the contents of the file.

At the very least, the child had the talent to become a genin.

Lin Ke put away the cloth covering him, quickly folded it and stored it in his Waist Pouch, then bowed. "Thank you, examiners."

He stepped forward to collect his graduation test results, then left to receive his Forehead Protector, have his photo taken, and register his file.

Click~

The old-fashioned camera flashed, capturing eight-year-old Lin Ke in the photograph—wearing dark gray trousers and a hoodie, his expression calm.

There was still the assessment for a squad instructor...

All the way there, he kept telling himself not to celebrate too early, but when he finally left the Ninja Academy, he could not help breaking into a grin.

Over the past ten months, he had trained diligently, actively attended Ninja Academy classes, and been an exemplary student.

As expected, studying at the Ninja Academy had done little to help him grow stronger.

The ninjutsu taught there were all mutated ninjutsu he had already mastered, while the practical drills were not particularly difficult either. They were just battles between children who had not yet graduated. Even the descendants of ninja clans would not use unique ninjutsu during Ninja Academy combat exercises.

Everyone fought in an ordinary fashion, using taijutsu, fists and kicks, and ninja tools.

In the manga, Uchiha Sasuke had been able to take first place in the entire school during his first semester, before he had learned much ninjutsu at all. That showed just how much the Ninja Academy's combat drills were worth.

Lin Ke's diligence and adult-born self-discipline allowed him to consistently maintain an above-average level in taijutsu and practical drills. He was neither outstanding nor at the bottom.

As for ninjutsu, because the techniques he displayed were all in very unusual states, his evaluations had repeatedly been listed as unknown. Only Genjutsu—

He had absolutely no talent for Genjutsu.

The only D-rank ninjutsu taught at the Ninja Academy was the Body Binding Technique.

Like the Body Flicker Technique, the Body Binding Technique was a type of ninjutsu.

The meaning of Body Flicker was easy to understand: instantly moving one's body to evade an attack. Any technique that achieved this effect could be called the Body Flicker Technique. From simply gathering chakra beneath one's feet to Space-Time Ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God, all could be called Body Flicker Techniques.

Body Binding meant remaining conscious while being unable to move. Any technique that achieved this effect could naturally be called a Body Binding Technique. Ordinary D-rank Body Binding Techniques, the Uchiha-exclusive 'Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique,' and the sage Jiraiya's 'Sage Art: Toad Confrontation Singing' all counted as forms of Body Binding Technique.

Type-based ninjutsu was not limited to ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Dojutsu. What the Ninja Academy taught was the simplest form, a Body Binding Technique categorized as ninjutsu, which used chakra to interfere with the target's ability to move.

This ninjutsu could only be used on people far weaker than oneself. It was not particularly useful, but it could train one's ability to project chakra, laying a foundation for various Release Techniques and other types of ninjutsu later on.

At the same time, the Ninja Academy also covered a Genjutsu-type Body Binding Technique. It was an advanced version of the Ninjutsu: Body Binding Technique, progressing from releasing chakra to affect the body to releasing chakra to affect the opponent's five senses. It was considered the simplest Genjutsu.

Though it was only a small step from the physical body to the five senses, the threshold was extremely high. More than ninety-five percent of Ninja Academy students could not perform it. It was a technique reserved for certain specially gifted people.

Even if they could not perform it, though, learning a little about it was not a problem.

Yet when it came to the Body Binding Technique, after forming the hand seals, Lin Ke could not even release chakra—

That was why his grades in Genjutsu had never been good.

The root cause was utterly bizarre. How could someone with his chakra control be unable even to release chakra? It was simply because after learning it, he had successfully performed the Body Binding Technique in private.

It had successfully turned into the Money Binding Technique.

Once activated, the money on him would automatically fly out and transform into semi-transparent, banknote-colored tadpole-like characters that bound the target. The more money he had, the more tadpole characters there were—

The money was permanently consumed.

"My money..."

Lin Ke's heart ached whenever he thought of the Body Binding Technique. That day, he had brought along his little wallet and suffered a devastating loss. If his home had not still had some emergency funds, he probably would not even have been able to afford food.

Afterward, he had even deliberately "run into" Mizuki several times and mooched a few meals off him for free. Only when the Ninja Academy subsidy and orphan subsidy came through did he survive that difficult period.

So why keep learning the Body Binding Technique? It was not as if he were rich.

Speaking of Mizuki—

That ambitious man wearing the mask of a good person seemed to have realized something after being heavily mooched off several times. He had never again come to "run into" him.

"Whatever. He won't be jumping around for much longer anyway. Next year, or the year after, when Uzumaki Naruto graduates, he should be sacrificed to the plot, right?"

Lin Ke was wary of the man's intentions, but he would not rashly make a move against a chunin in his prime.

Information was important between ninja. Who knew what abilities Mizuki, who had been defeated by the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique in the manga, might possess in a life-and-death battle?

It was good that neither side was interfering with the other for now. It also would not alter the known plot.