Graduation

Time flies, and it slips away unnoticed. In the blink of an eye, countless yesterdays have passed, and everyone has grown up without realizing it.

Hyuga Matsuba finally completed his studies and graduated. The Susanoo incident was already a thing of the past, five years ago.

Kagami Uchiha had people search countless times, but they couldn't obtain any detailed information about Uchiha Ryo.

Everything made sense. Uchiha Ryo had joined Root, an organization where no ninja's information was kept. It was wiped clean as soon as they entered.

The Uchiha Clan wouldn't have any records of Uchiha Ryo either. There might have been an entry, but it would definitely show him as non-existent.

The matter dragged on, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, to give everyone an explanation, ultimately let the Uchiha Clan take the blame.

Danzō had completely cleared himself of all issues, but Hyuga Matsuba was unaware of this. Even if he heard about it, he wouldn't be surprised.

The ambiguous relationship between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō was a long story. Hiruzen Sarutobi would never blame Danzō.

However, after this incident, Danzō restrained himself considerably and stopped targeting Hyuga Matsuba.

Now, even if Danzō came looking for Hyuga Matsuba, he wouldn't be afraid.

Times had changed. If Danzō came knocking, Hyuga Matsuba would surely make him regret it.

With his current strength, objectively speaking, he could defeat everyone in Konoha. Even Madara Uchiha would have to bow down to him.

This wasn't just confidence; it was outright arrogance. Hyuga Matsuba didn't even regard the Six Paths with fear.

Enough, enough, the boasting time is over. But he could take on an entire village by himself.

He now possessed chakra equivalent to the number of Tailed Beasts, with incredibly powerful techniques. Even Madara Uchiha might not be his match.

After such a long period of training, the speed at which his strength improved was simply astonishing.

In terms of quality and purity of chakra, among the various Tailed Beasts, perhaps only the Nine-Tails was stronger than him. The Gyuki would also lose to Hyuga Matsuba.

As for taijutsu, Hyuga Matsuba was the undisputed master at this point. This was a very objective statement. He could already skillfully use all the techniques of the Tenseigan.

Also, the color of the Tenseigan Chakra Mode generated when Hyuga Matsuba ran his chakra was blue, not green. It was a deeper blue than normal chakra.

This was something to be happy about. Otherwise, if his whole body started glowing green, anyone seeing him from a distance would think he was a green turtle.

Otsutsuki Toneri's Tenseigan Chakra Mode had a color somewhere between blue and green, which was slightly different from Hyuga Matsuba's.

Once he activated Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Hyuga Matsuba would become a formidable figure on par with the Six Paths. So, he could be considered a Six Paths level individual, barely?

Therefore, at this stage, Hyuga Matsuba saw no rivals. He wouldn't fear even the Sage of Six Paths.

There was also a technique called Takama-ga-hara, which, once used, made him immune to any damage. That's why he dared to be so arrogant.

However, Takama-ga-hara wasn't for dodging attacks; it rendered the opponent's attacks ineffective. Even if Otsutsuki Kaguya unleashed her most potent attacks on him, Hyuga Matsuba would emerge unscathed. That's how powerful it was.

As his techniques upgraded, the consumption also increased. With his current amount of chakra, he couldn't maintain this power for long.

Hyuga Matsuba felt invincible, and the loneliness of being invincible.

In reality, if he truly encountered a Six Paths-level opponent, Hyuga Matsuba wouldn't win. While his techniques were top-notch, he still had shortcomings in other areas. For instance, Hyuga Matsuba still couldn't use Ryujin Jakka.

As time went by, Hyuga Matsuba had also drawn a few times, but it seemed all his luck had been used on Ryujin Jakka. The best thing he'd obtained over the years was an Evolution Fluid; anything else was not worth mentioning.

But he was very happy because this Evolution Fluid was very useful. He could give it to Mikoto and help her through a tribulation.

If he were to buy it from the store, it would be priced at 400,000, and he would have to save for a long time to afford it.

His birthday was approaching, and he would get another chance to draw. Perhaps his luck would improve this time.

It wasn't just Hyuga Matsuba who had changed; the two young girls had also made significant progress.

Mikoto's Sharingan had evolved to the Three Tomoe stage, and her strength was at the Jonin level. Kushina was also at that level, and in some aspects, she was even stronger than Mikoto.

Now, these three children were undoubtedly the most powerful children in the world. With such high skill levels, they spent their days idly at school, as what the school taught them was no longer very useful.

The three of them were finally graduating. Today was their final exam, and the true beginning of their path as ninja. If they passed smoothly, they could officially become ninja and realize their dreams.

Students who didn't pass could either repeat the year or choose to give up the ninja profession and do something else.

The three entered the examination hall together, where the teacher was already waiting.

After a brief nod to the teacher, everyone returned to their seats.

The teacher remained silent, his expression grave. No one in the classroom spoke.

All the students gradually arrived. The teacher cleared his throat.

"Time flies so fast. We've known each other for five years. A thousand-mile journey ends with a farewell. I used to call you mischievous little brats, but now, my heart is filled with reluctance to part with you," the teacher said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Hmph, an old man like this, crying and sniveling, where is he going to put his old face?" Nawaki pouted.

"What are you muttering about, you little brat? Which dog's eye saw me crying? You can leave right now," the teacher said, both embarrassed and annoyed.

"Teacher, we love you too, and we will miss you often," Yamanaka Inoichi said, a smile on his lips, speaking the students' true feelings.

The teacher fell silent, and so did everyone else. If one didn't know better, they'd think they were playing statues. The atmosphere was one of complete silence.

"The teacher doesn't want all of you students to pass this exam," Ueno Juri's voice trembled.

Not long ago, two countries had started a war, and surrounding nations had wanted to take advantage of the situation. However, the war had never escalated into a large-scale conflict, as everyone was cautious.

Therefore, graduation wasn't necessarily good news. It was possible that someone would graduate and die on the battlefield for their country.

Even though the teacher hadn't witnessed the brutality of the battlefield, he had experienced one Ninja World War. The situation then was already cruel enough.

That was during his childhood. He had personally watched heroes return, while the village became dilapidated, and many families were broken and lost.

As a teacher, he didn't want these children to understand the cruelty of the world.

"Although I don't want to part with you, how can you treat us like this?" Nawaki said, a little angry.

"Uh, I think I might have spoken a bit too harshly. You all need to do your best in this exam," the teacher said, rubbing his nose.