Graduation Exam

"Kakashi, Feiyu, you finally came out!"

As Uchiha Feiyu stepped out of the Anbu headquarters, he looked in surprise at Uchiha Obito and Might Guy standing by the entrance and asked curiously,

"What are you two doing waiting here? Kakashi and I are fine. The Anbu only locked us up for two days."

"Feiyu, did you forget?! Today is the day of our Graduation Exam!"

Uchiha Obito shouted, while Might Guy grabbed Uchiha Feiyu without another word and sprinted toward the school without looking back.

"We're about to be late, hurry up! It'll be terrible if the teachers mark us unqualified!"

Uchiha Feiyu's eyes lit up.

"What happens if you're unqualified? Do you get sent back to the Ninja Academy to repeat your studies?"

"You'll be assigned under an ordinary Chunin. If war breaks out, people like that are the first wave of cannon fodder!"

Kakashi followed beside Uchiha Feiyu and spoke in a gloomy voice.

Fuck! What kind of terrifying organization was this?!

Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes, then flashed forward and accelerated, running far faster than Might Guy and Uchiha Obito.

Usually, it would not have mattered. With Hatake Sakumo's soul inside him, even without a particularly good teacher, Uchiha Feiyu could slowly cultivate and at least reach the level Kakashi had when he first appeared.

But there was going to be a war now! If he got some ordinary Chunin as his squad leader, would that not be courting death?

Konoha might have won the Third Shinobi World War, but nearly all of Konoha's ordinary cannon-fodder ninja had died!

Just think of the time Kakashi, Obito, and the others had been carrying out missions, when the Yellow Flash used the Flying Thunder God to support the ninja forces. By then, only a handful of ninja remained on the main battlefield. If Konoha had been so short on manpower during such a crucial battle, one could imagine just how brutal the fighting had been.

With no desire to become cannon fodder on the battlefield, Uchiha Feiyu dragged Uchiha Obito and Might Guy all the way back to the Ninja Academy, arriving just in time for the Graduation Exam.

The Ninja Academy's current Graduation Exam was very simple—students fought one another. The stronger ones earned higher scores and rankings, which meant better squad leaders and more resources in the future.

The weaker ones could only form a squad under an ordinary Chunin and go off to serve as cannon fodder.

What? You asked what happened if someone failed? Sorry, this was a time when cannon fodder was needed. There was no such thing as failing the Ninja Academy's exams!

Even if you did not show up for the exam, the Ninja Academy would still pass you in the end, forcibly issue you a Genin forehead protector, and drag you off to missions as cannon fodder!

"So you're here, Uchiha Feiyu! Don't think being a few years older means you'll definitely have the advantage. This time, I'll definitely defeat you!"

The moment Uchiha Feiyu arrived at the school examination grounds, before he had even steadied himself, someone immediately challenged him. Uchiha Feiyu blinked and turned his head, only to see Sarutobi Asuma looking at him with fighting spirit blazing on his face.

Because he was five years older, Uchiha Feiyu had always been "beating up little kids" at the Ninja Academy, yet no one had ever called him a genius. Coupled with his own personality, he was instead looked down upon even more.

Still, no matter how much they looked down on him, Uchiha Feiyu's fists hurt when they landed. Ordinary ninja students really did not dare gossip about him to his face. Only Sarutobi Asuma dared throw a few barbs at him.

Of course, that was not because Sarutobi Asuma's father was the Hokage—when Ninja Academy students fought, as long as Asuma was not beaten to death or crippled, even if he ended up bruised and bloody with a split head, Sarutobi Hiruzen would not interfere. The Third Hokage certainly possessed that little bit of magnanimity.

The main reason was that Sarutobi Asuma really was not weak. Even though Uchiha Feiyu was five years older, Asuma still had some ability to fight back during their sparring matches.

That made Asuma feel that his strength was not much worse than Uchiha Feiyu's, and that his potential far exceeded Feiyu's. Naturally, he spent every day itching to knock down this older "dead last."

"Oh, it's Asuma... Then do your best!"

Uchiha Feiyu waved dismissively, not taking it seriously. His Sharingan had now reached Two-Tomoe, and he had learned Hatake Sakumo's White Fang Sword Style. His overall strength was comparable to that of a Special Jonin. If he called Hatake Sakumo out to fight in his place, he could even trade a few moves with a Kage-level opponent.

With that kind of strength, even Asuma at his peak in Shippuden probably could not beat him, much less the eight-year-old child he was now.

It could be said that after obtaining Hatake Sakumo's soul, the gap between Uchiha Feiyu and ordinary ninja had already widened. Even in all of Konoha's history, he could now be considered a genius.

Well, aside from those Uchiha lunatics who awakened the Mangekyo at a young age, an ordinary person's talent could at most reach Kakashi's level. And at Uchiha Feiyu's age, Kakashi had only just become a Jonin.

"What do you mean, 'do your best'?! Are you brushing me off again?!"

Asuma glared angrily, but Uchiha Feiyu's exam had already begun. He waved at Asuma before walking straight onto the Training Ground.

There was not much to say about the battles that followed. Uchiha Feiyu had already stood head and shoulders above the other children, and after gaining the White Fang Sword Style, his strength had improved by leaps and bounds. Without even activating his Sharingan or using his short blade, he easily beat all those child opponents to the ground.

After cutting through the children like vegetables, Uchiha Feiyu advanced all the way to the semifinals, where his opponent was Kurenai, who was still a little girl.

On the other side, Asuma had beaten Shiranui Genma and faced Might Guy, who had just defeated Uchiha Obito. Though Obito and Guy were both called dead last, they were not truly dead last. At least in actual combat, both Obito and Guy ranked near the top of their class.

Guy was simply obsessed with youth and lacked talent in ninjutsu, while Obito seemed scatterbrained and was late every day, which was why they were called dead last.

But in the graduation assessment, both displayed their true strength. Even without the Eight Gates and the Sharingan, they were above average.

Afterward, Asuma performed steadily and eliminated Guy, who could not open the Eight Gates. As for Uchiha Feiyu, he also defeated Kurenai with ease.

Kurenai's talent lay in Genjutsu. However, against Uchiha Feiyu, who had awakened the Sharingan and strengthened his Mental Strength through the spirit-subduing method of Spirit Summons and Subjugation, techniques like Demonic Illusion: Fox Mind Reading, Demonic Illusion: Haze Clone, and Hell Viewing Technique were utterly useless.