Konoha Year 31, Final Exam

Stealing Uzumaki Kushina away is no easy task.

A nobody doesn't deserve the favor of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so after earning Uzumaki Kushina's goodwill, he must also display his talent, letting the big shots see his value.

Otherwise, all sorts of "accidents" would conveniently befall Gojo Yoru—at best, merely separating him from Uzumaki Kushina; at worst, making him vanish entirely.

After all, the Nine-Tails is the strongest tailed beast, currently the most powerful strategic weapon in the ninja world. Konoha needed to bind Uzumaki Kushina to the village with the shackles of bonds, and those shackles had to be of sufficient quality.

Namikaze Minato from the original work fit that value!

However, Namikaze Minato only earned Uzumaki Kushina's goodwill after graduation, during the Cloud Ninja incident.

If Gojo Yoru wanted to steal Uzumaki Kushina away during her time at the Ninja Academy, he would need to display his talent during that same period.

So before Uzumaki Kushina enrolled as a "transfer student," Gojo Yoru had to possess a certain level of strength, as well as something that would impress certain people.

Now then, in which year of Konoha did Uzumaki Kushina enter the village?

Gojo Yoru didn't know.

But through information revealed in the anime TV series, combined with his observations from the previous semester, he could roughly deduce it.

First, it was certain that Uzumaki Kushina wouldn't transfer in during her first or second year.

Six- or seven-year-old kids were still too short, with chubby baby faces—completely inconsistent with the impression of a younger Uzumaki Kushina.

Furthermore, if Gojo Yoru remembered correctly, there was a certain guy in the original work who got beaten up by Uzumaki Kushina, then went to find his older brother, who was already a ninja, to get revenge—only to get taken down by Uzumaki Kushina again.

If it happened in the same year, then the possibility of Uzumaki Kushina transferring in during third grade was also very small.

Barring any surprises, it would be after third grade—whether fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, he didn't know.

Before Uzumaki Kushina appeared, Gojo Yoru had at least three more years to grow.

The pen-twirling motion paused slightly. Another flash of inspiration seemed to cross Gojo Yoru's mind, and he couldn't help closing his eyes, lost in thought.

It wasn't until the class bell rang and the teacher walked into the room that Gojo Yoru reopened his eyes and focused on his studies.

In his previous life, the average adult male body contained about thirty-six trillion cells—that is, thirty-six teracells.

But in this world, children with chakra possessed one hundred and thirty teracells.

Thus, the children in this world matured a bit too early—understanding romance at five or six, possibly heading to the battlefield at seven or eight, and even in peacetime, seeing blood by age twelve.

Similarly, the knowledge they learned at this age was also quite absurd.

There was national language and history, medicine and chemistry, code decryption, and so on...

These things had shattered Gojo Yoru's pride in the previous semester and were one of the reasons for his immense pressure.

If it weren't for being a transmigrator and having a decent background, starting to learn the basics of being a ninja at age six would hardly give him any advantage in this world.

So, until he had the power to protect himself, Gojo Yoru dared not relax for a single moment.

Whether in academic or practical combat classes, he didn't want to lose to anyone. He intended to keep winning, always being number one.

Konoha Year 31, March 20th, afternoon.

Thump—

Like the low, muffled sound of a heavy punch hitting a sandbag, it exploded across the training ground of First Grade Class One.

The crowd that had formed a circle suddenly scattered.

A figure flew out from the middle of the circle, landing heavily on the ground, unable to get up.

Seeing this, the Chunin teacher Yuya, standing together with a man in a white coat, immediately announced, "The match is over. The winner is Gojo Yoru."

The medical ninja beside him, acting as the final exam proctor and also responsible for protecting the students' safety, immediately went over to check on that student's body, then performed Medical Ninjutsu to treat him.

Not far away, many of the students still looked completely bewildered.

"Wha... what just happened?"

"Didn't Teacher Yuya just announce the start? How did Yusuke suddenly fly out?"

"It's the Body Flicker! Gojo's Body Flicker is so fast!"

"Yoru-kun got stronger again. Now in first grade, probably only Minato-kun can fight him."

"How the hell is this guy built? Last year he was only half a head taller than us, now he's a whole head taller. Someone who didn't know would think he's a fifth or sixth grader. How are we supposed to beat this guy? It's so unfair!"

"Tall, fast, strong—no wonder even the upperclassmen don't dare mess with him!"

"Can't even see him. From now on, if I get matched with Gojo, I'm just surrendering."

"..."

The murmurs were quiet. Both boys and girls secretly sized up Gojo Yoru, who had his hands in his pockets, with fearful gazes.

A full head taller than them, expressionless, Gojo Yoru at that moment was like an invincible demon king, exuding a dark aura all over.

After forming the Seal of Reconciliation with Yusuke—who had received treatment, caught his breath, but was still trembling slightly from fear—Gojo Yoru didn't even say a word of farewell and left the school without looking back.

Yuya didn't stop him.

If Gojo Yoru had beaten Yusuke and then left without a word, Yuya's heart would have been filled with worry, and he would have considered applying to the Hokage to arrange a psychologist for Gojo Yoru's treatment.

But after Gojo Yoru kicked Yusuke away, not only did he not leave immediately, he stood there waiting for the result, only leaving after completing the Seal of Reconciliation with Yusuke.

In the eyes of his peers, Gojo Yoru was a cold, ruthless demon king.

In the eyes of adults like Yuya, he was just a prickly, awkward little kid who didn't know how to express himself.

Maybe even now, Gojo Yoru was feeling guilty inside for not controlling his strength well enough.

Today was the third-term final exam for first through fifth years, and in a few days would be the sixth-year graduation assessment.

The sixth-year graduation assessment had different test questions every year; passing meant graduation.

The third-term final exam for first through fifth years was also called the Year-End Exam.

Once this exam was over, the results would be posted on the bulletin board at the start of the new school year.

At the same time, based on the comprehensive scores across all three terms, from all classes across the five grades, five top students—one per grade—would be selected as role models for all students.

This role model was also called the—Top Student.

Although the final physical combat exam wasn't over yet, Class One's students already knew who the Top Student was.

Among this year's new students, there were no members of the Uchiha Clan or the Hyuga Clan.

Both of these great houses managed important departments and had the privilege of training their own juniors.

The members sent to the Academy were either ordinary members whose talents even the clan looked down on, or descendants of the clan's higher-ups—essentially "hostages" sent to reassure the Hokage and Konoha's higher-ups.

Only when these descendants of the higher-ups received an education in the Will of Fire would the higher-ups feel at ease.

Of course, these two great houses occasionally sent a few geniuses to the Ninja Academy to assert their presence—first displaying talent and strength, then quickly graduating early, letting their peers feel the gap between themselves and the great houses.

Unfortunately, this year had no such geniuses.

But in Yuya's eyes, whether it was Gojo Yoru or Namikaze Minato, aside from lacking a powerful Kekkei Genkai, their talent was no worse than that of those great clan or major ninja clan members.