Graduation Class Assignments

For many years, Uchiha Aozora had studied the Heavenly Book time and again.

He discovered that whenever he learned certain abilities, the Heavenly Book would improve and optimize them before imparting them to him through a direct infusion of knowledge.

For instance, after he learned the Chakra Refining Technique, Pale Gold ancient characters appeared in the Heavenly Book, granting him "Guidance and Qi Cultivation." Then, after he learned the Transformation Jutsu, gray ancient characters appeared, granting him a new skill: "Henge."

He had originally thought that was the Heavenly Book's full function, with different colors representing different categories or ranks.

It was not until he learned the Substitution Technique that he realized he had been wrong.

After learning the Substitution Technique, the Heavenly Book did not generate new ancient characters. Instead, the gray ancient characters for "Henge" changed, gradually solidifying and deepening from gray into Pale Gold.

When he visualized "Henge" again, he discovered that besides changing his appearance, it could also swap other objects into his place.

So, the ancient characters given by the Heavenly Book represented complete methods and divine abilities. The deeper their color and the stronger their golden radiance, the more complete the methods and divine abilities were.

From this, it was clear that the "True Fire of Samadhi" in the Heavenly Book was relatively complete.

Uchiha Aozora could not wait to focus his mind and visualize it.

Words appeared one after another in Uchiha Aozora's heart, forming paragraphs.

Scenes appeared in Uchiha Aozora's mind, playing out one after another.

After an unknown amount of time, Uchiha Aozora finally opened his eyes, looking somewhat exhausted.

When he went outside, he found that the sun was already close to reaching its zenith.

"No wonder. This contemplation actually took three or four hours."

Although he had spent so much time, Uchiha Aozora felt it had been worthwhile, his face full of smiles.

The "True Fire of Samadhi" in the Heavenly Book was not some powerful flame that could burn the Great Sage until he fled in panic. It was True Fire produced through the cultivation of the Primordial Spirit, Primordial Qi, and Primordial Essence.

Basically, any Taoist who had achieved success in cultivation knew this Daoist Art.

Though this "True Fire of Samadhi" was a common Daoist Art, that did not affect its status in Uchiha Aozora's heart.

That was because while the "True Fire of Samadhi" was not particularly powerful, it could destroy Ghosts and Spirits outwardly and refine the Daoist Body inwardly.

Destroying Ghosts and Spirits outwardly meant burning all things in the world, including incorporeal spirits such as Ghosts and Spirits.

Refining the Daoist Body inwardly meant burning the body to remove impurities within it.

Of course, that was the complete "True Fire of Samadhi." What he could learn now was merely the "Qi Fire" within the "True Fire of Samadhi." Though it was only one-third, Qi Fire also had both internal and external uses. It could refine the body internally and purify one's inner breath.

Since his Dao foundation had already been established and he had no new cultivation method, Uchiha Aozora felt as though he was making no progress, whether in Qi cultivation or Body Tempering.

Now that he had Qi Fire, it could not solve the problem at its root, but at least it gave him a temporary alternative.

After casually taking care of lunch, Uchiha Aozora did not go anywhere for the rest of the day. He stayed home to study the "True Fire of Samadhi" and, incidentally, learned the "Phoenix Sage Fire Technique."

Unfortunately, the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique did almost nothing to perfect the True Fire of Samadhi.

To learn the complete True Fire of Samadhi, Uchiha Aozora guessed he would still need "Spirit Fire" and "Essence Fire."

He did have an idea regarding Spirit Fire. Amaterasu should be the fire of the spirit.

But as for Essence Fire, Uchiha Aozora had no clue at all.

Time slipped away quietly as Uchiha Aozora cultivated, and before he knew it, night had fallen.

Following Konoha's usual routine, the teacher might give them a test tomorrow. To perform a little better, Uchiha Aozora gave up on staying up late to cultivate.

Although Konoha Ninja were currently in desperately short supply and the academy would not easily make graduates return to repeat their studies, it was better to be safe than sorry.

The next day, the sky was clear and bright.

Uchiha Aozora rose early, washed up, changed into fitted clothes, put on his forehead protector, and headed for the Konoha Ninja Academy.

Today was the day of class assignments, so he could not afford to be late.

When Uchiha Aozora arrived at the academy's large tiered classroom, there were still twenty minutes left before the appointed time. However, he found that most of the graduating students had already arrived.

After glancing around, Uchiha Aozora casually found a seat in a corner and lay his head on the desk to sleep. Yesterday's cultivation had left him somewhat drained, so he needed to seize the chance to rest.

Unfortunately, things did not go his way. The moment he closed his eyes, an annoying girl entered the classroom.

She went nowhere else and ran straight to Uchiha Aozora's side, chattering in his ear. "The Uchiha clan's dead last, why did you run away the day before yesterday? Were you scared of Sister Sai?"

Inuzuka Sai's voice was not unpleasant, but she spoke rapidly and incessantly, making people irritated. Combined with the barking of her pet dog, the girl and dog together were no less formidable than a flock of gossipy old women, leaving him completely unable to rest.

Uchiha Aozora somewhat regretted provoking Inuzuka Sai. This Grand Aunt had far too much energy.

Wanting to rest, Uchiha Aozora quickly pressed his palms together and apologized. "Grand Aunt, I was wrong! Go bother someone else and let me sleep for a while!"

"It's good that you know you were wrong. I accept your apology."

Uchiha Aozora was just about to sigh in relief when he realized Inuzuka Sai had no intention of leaving.

Inuzuka Sai had indeed let go of what had happened after Uchiha Aozora apologized, but she could not stand his behavior of sleeping in the classroom. Thus, she lectured him righteously, "Aozora, no matter how you graduated, now that you have, you should live up to the forehead protector on your head. Don't keep sleeping in the classroom."

Uchiha Aozora glanced at Inuzuka Sai, whose mouth would not stop moving, and could not be bothered to argue with her. He could only nod.

Only then was Inuzuka Sai satisfied. She sat beside him and occasionally swept her gaze over him, looking as if to say, "I'm watching you. No sleeping."

Uchiha Aozora's eyes dimmed, and he completely gave up on resting, lamenting inwardly.

What sin did I commit to provoke this Grand Aunt?

Before Uchiha Aozora could remain troubled for long, it was time for the class assignments.

First, a striking middle-aged female ninja walked in.

"Hyūga Yō, Yagyū Ichirō, Kurama Saki, come with me!"

The female ninja's voice was crisp. Once the three whose names had been called stood up, she turned and walked straight outside.

Hyūga Yō and the other two hurriedly followed her.

"That's Jonin Aizawa Konan!"

"I heard her taijutsu is outstanding, and her Water Release is even first-rate!"

"Yeah, they say she's battle-hardened and has even worked as a Private Tutor. Both her combat experience and teaching experience are exceptional. I'm so jealous!"

"Jealousy is twisting my face!"

From the muttering of the background students in the classroom, it was not difficult to tell that this Jonin named Aizawa Konan was extremely powerful.

That was only natural. Hyūga Yō, Kurama Saki, and Yagyū Ichirō all had great potential, so they would certainly be assigned an excellent Jonin Instructor.

It should be known that Hyūga Yō was a genius of the Hyuga Clan. If he had not been injured before graduation last year, he would have graduated long ago.

Although Kurama Saki had not awakened her family's Kekkei Genkai, her talent for genjutsu was the strongest among their class.

Yagyū Ichirō was a little more ordinary, but that was only because he was a Civilian Ninja. If he had a clan inheritance, his performance might not necessarily be weaker than anyone else's.

As Uchiha Aozora analyzed the situation, another ninja entered and led away another group of students.

The three who left were also among the elite of their class, and their Jonin Instructor was not weak either.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Aozora became a little worried about himself.