"What is wrong with you?!"
"You knew there was going to be a Ninja Tool Exam, yet you forgot to bring your ninja tool pouch!"
Iruka exploded.
He was scolding the class Dead Last—Naruto Uzumaki.
"Hehe—"
The scene drew laughter from the students in class.
They had originally thought the exam would be nerve-racking, but watching Naruto make a fool of himself seemed to ease their tension.
"That Dead Last Naruto is definitely going to fail this Graduation Exam, right?"
While Iruka scolded Naruto, the students had already started chatting idly.
"Seriously, Naruto can't even do the Three Body Technique properly. How is he supposed to graduate?"
"He told me he wants to become Hokage—the Hokage who surpasses every Hokage before him."
"That's hilarious—"
"He'll probably be the only one who can't graduate this year!"
"Haha—"
In an instant, the classroom was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
So...
There was basically no one in the class who believed Naruto when he said, [I'll become Hokage—the Hokage who is stronger than every Hokage before me!]
And these people...
Kitahara Kaede rested her chin on her hand, expressionless.
To her, everyone mocking Naruto right now... was an idiot.
Kitahara Kaede was a transmigrator, but even if she had not been one, she would never have dismissed Naruto.
Naruto was the Dead Last in class.
But Naruto possessed a heart that never gave up... whether he fell into darkness or upheld the Will of Fire, he would become strong.
Not to mention...
Naruto Uzumaki was the saintly male protagonist of the original story, the reincarnation Chakra of Asura, son of the Sage of Six Paths, and... the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, the future Seventh Generation.
That was why these people... had no eye for talent at all.
Did they even know how much benefit there was in earning the favor of the saintly male protagonist early on?
"Naruto!" Iruka was still scolding Naruto.
"Iruka-sensei!"
Kitahara Kaede raised her hand and stood up.
"If it's a ninja tool pouch, I brought an extra one."
"So I can lend it to Naruto."
"Ah..." Naruto, who had been hanging his head while being scolded, instantly looked up. His gaze toward Kitahara Kaede was filled with gratitude.
It was as though he had seen hope.
He wanted to become Hokage and earn everyone's acknowledgment, so the first thing he had to do was... graduate from the Ninja Academy.
If he had to repeat a year because he failed, his dream... would probably be crushed outright.
Besides, Naruto had thought none of the students in class would lend him any ninja tools.
"Since you have a spare, that will be fine," Iruka said.
Naruto finally stopped being scolded.
Then he jogged toward Kitahara Kaede.
Naruto had come to collect the ninja tools from Kitahara Kaede.
Kitahara Kaede looked at Hinata, who sat to her right.
"Hinata, you said you brought two sets of ninja tools, right?"
"Lend me the extra ninja tool pouch."
Hinata: ???
Did that mean... she was going to give the ninja tools she had prepared for Kitahara Kaede to Naruto?
Hinata held the pouch in her fair little hands, seeming somewhat hesitant.
The ninja tools she had prepared were ordinary ninja tools, yet they were not ordinary at all.
Because she had considered that Kitahara Kaede would be using them, she had carefully sharpened and wiped every kunai and shuriken.
It had taken her a long time.
But those had been prepared for Kitahara Kaede... and now...
"Um... okay."
Noticing that Kaede was looking at her, Hinata finally handed over the pouch, then placed both hands over her lower abdomen and fidgeted with her fingers.
Her mood seemed to sink.
Kitahara Kaede placed the ninja tool pouch Hinata handed her on the desk, then gave Naruto the complete ninja tool pouch hanging from her thigh.
"Everything required for the exam is inside."
"Make good use of it."
Feeling the weight of the ninja tool pouch in his hands, Naruto looked at Kitahara Kaede with emotion and patted her shoulder.
"Thanks for saving my life!"
"I won't forget this kindness! If you ever need me, I'll come even if I have to climb a mountain of blades or cross a sea of fire!"
Then he hurriedly ran back to his seat, because Iruka-sensei would definitely lose his temper if he lingered any longer.
Kitahara Kaede took the ninja tool pouch Hinata had specially prepared for her and hung it back on herself.
"Thank you, Hinata," Kitahara Kaede said. "You prepared an extra set for me, so I could do Naruto a favor."
"No, um..." Hinata said. "As long as you like it."
She lightly patted her chest, as though her heart had suddenly become much lighter.
She also felt that her efforts over the past few days had been rewarded.
"However..." Hinata was very curious. "Kitahara Kaede, you really care about Uzumaki, don't you?"
"Yes," Kitahara Kaede said. "Because I exist for him right now. (To suppress him when he goes berserk.)"
"Oh... Eek?! Is Uzumaki really that important?"
Hinata was instantly dealt a huge blow.
"Shikamaru, what have you been staring at?"
Two rows behind Kitahara Kaede and Hinata, Choji gently nudged Shikamaru Nara beside him.
Shikamaru seemed to have been staring at Kitahara Kaede and Hinata the entire time.
"Dating just seems so troublesome. You have to worry about gaining and losing things."
Shikamaru said.
Choji: Oh... huh?
Who in the class was dating whom?
Myriad Realms Chat System! (Please Support with Data)
The Hidden Leaf Village's Graduation Exam was divided into the Written Exam, Ninja Tool Exam, Taijutsu Exam, and Ninjutsu Exam.
The Written Exam was very easy, because the questions had all been drilled to death. Memorization was enough.
The Ninja Tool Exam tested shuriken attacks, range, and so on.
For Taijutsu, students only had to spar with an ordinary Chunin and receive a passing evaluation.
Ninjutsu was even simpler, with one technique randomly selected from the Three Body Technique.
Kitahara Kaede drew the Transformation Jutsu from the Three Body Technique.
She only had to transform into Iruka's appearance to pass the exam.
"Almost identical, though the scar on my face isn't that deep."
"Pass!"
After nitpicking a little, Iruka handed Kitahara Kaede her forehead protector.
Students who had taken and passed the exam could go home immediately, but they still had to return to school at nine o'clock the next morning.
By convention, after graduating, they would directly receive the title of Genin. However, they still lacked practical experience as Genin, so they would need new teachers to lead them.
These new teachers would not be like Iruka, managing more than forty students in a class alone. Instead, one Jonin would personally instruct three students.
However, the specific class assignments still needed to be reported to the Hokage, so they would not learn the exact teams until tomorrow.
After receiving her graduation forehead protector, Kitahara Kaede did not leave right away. She waited for a while at the school gate.
Soon, a black-haired, pale-eyed girl hurried out of the school at a light jog.
It was Hinata, and a flush from exertion colored her face.
Hinata had also passed the Graduation Exam.
The proof was the Hidden Leaf Village forehead protector around her neck.
"Congratulations, congratulations on passing the exam," Hinata said after running out.
"I secretly saw Iruka-sensei's score sheet."
"Kaede, you're amazing. Your Ninja Tool Exam score was only below Sasuke's."
The Sasuke she meant was Sasuke Uchiha, the original story's second male lead—or Uchiha Sasuke. He was also a survivor after the Uchiha clan massacre.
He had always maintained a cold and outstanding image.
Sasuke was the genius and top student of the class.
But that had nothing to do with Kitahara Kaede.
What she cared about was that the amusing iconic scene from the original story, Sasuke and Naruto's first kiss, had not happened yet.
However, Kitahara Kaede also noticed that Hinata's mood seemed to have fallen.
"If... if I hadn't forgotten two shuriken at home, Kitahara Kaede could have gotten a perfect score of ten on the Ninja Tool Exam." Hinata spoke while fidgeting with her fingers. "Kaede is best at throwing shuriken."
She had sharpened every shuriken she prepared for Kitahara Kaede, one by one, but... because she had taken them out to sharpen them, she had forgotten the count.
As a result, Kitahara Kaede had been two shuriken short during the Ninja Tool Exam and could not receive a perfect score.
"Don't worry about it," Kitahara Kaede said. "I didn't really want first place."
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