Graduation Exam

Did this even need much thought? Activate it.

As soon as Nanfeng focused on it, an indescribable sensation came from his eye sockets. It was like...

His eyeballs were being squeezed. When the pressure reached a critical point, Nanfeng was nearly driven out of his mind with pain. The next second, his lenses shattered completely.

Before Nanfeng could react, a strange force swiftly reassembled the shattered lenses. The entire change happened in the blink of an eye.

It took a long time for Nanfeng to recover from the inhuman torment. He looked at the spot where he had been lying; it was completely soaked with cold sweat.

"That was a feeling no human could endure. But now that I've awakened the Sharingan, I should be able to master some of the skills that come with it."

Nanfeng thought to himself.

"Sharingan (Modified), activate," Nanfeng said quietly. Almost instantly, he sensed that something about his body had changed.

The surroundings looked much clearer to him. He glanced at his arm, and the direction and strength of his chakra flow stood out plainly in his vision.

He seemed to have all the Sharingan's basic abilities. So this modification... didn't seem to have changed much?

But when Nanfeng watched the flight path of a fly in the air, he noticed the difference.

The Sharingan's ability to predict movement seemed to have been enhanced for him.

Anyone who had read the original story should know that the Sharingan could only predict what someone would do in the next second. But for Nanfeng, it could predict more than two seconds ahead.

Two seconds was an astonishing length of time. Even a one-second difference in battle could completely turn the tables, let alone two.

"Maybe a fly's movements are just easier to predict. I'll need to test it properly in a real fight to know how effective it is. I just hope this Sharingan looks different... If it's the same blood-red Three Tomoe as the Uchiha Clan's, Root might take me away for questioning the moment I use it..."

Worse, they might send him to Orochimaru to be dissected and studied.

Thinking about it made Nanfeng feel as if his life could be in danger from every direction. He found a mirror and carefully examined the changes to his eyes. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Unlike the ordinary tomoe Sharingan, when Nanfeng activated his Sharingan, no distinct tomoe appeared. Only a third of his pupil turned purple. It seemed this was part of the modified Sharingan's evolution.

"It should be at the one-tomoe stage now. A third of my pupil has turned purple. If it turns completely purple, that should mean it's reached the Three Tomoe stage... So what will the Mangekyo's next stage of evolution look like?"

Nanfeng shook his head. The more he thought about these questions, the more confusing they became. And would he have to go through something especially painful to awaken it, just like the Uchiha Clan did in the original story?

"No wonder the Uchiha Clan are all crazy. Nobody normal could put up with an awakening method like this... Then again, are there any normal people in the shinobi world?"

It was a serious question. But as long as nobody discovered his Sharingan, Nanfeng could always come up with some other excuse. If they did find out, he would deal with it then.

Days passed, and the six years Nanfeng spent at the Ninja Academy gradually slipped away as he kept using Shadow Clones.

Over those six years, Nanfeng's relationship with Hinata made great strides. Of course, that only meant the young girl had grown comfortable with some of the more intimate gestures he used to make.

Things like patting her on the head. Nanfeng wouldn't even dare dream of pinning her against a wall.

He was afraid he might scare the girl into fainting. If Hinata really fainted, Hyuga Hiashi would probably take him away for questioning that very night.

Everyone could see how much Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had improved over the past six years. But on Nanfeng's instructions, their performances at the Ninja Academy could only be described as...

Just barely reaching the level of a genius. Naruto was even less remarkable—he had always been the Dead Last. After all, he made a mess of even the most basic Clone Technique every time, so nobody would suspect that the Naruto they knew now had combat abilities on par with a Chunin.

"Big bro, when do you think I'll be able to show everyone what I can really do? The way they look at me always pisses me off, especially that Inuzuka Kiba guy."

In the small grove, at the training ground the three of them used, Naruto irritably kicked a pebble and asked.

Perhaps because he had spent so many years around Nanfeng, Naruto's attitude toward Sakura Haruno had changed too. He was nothing like the lovesick fool who had run straight up to her at the beginning. Even so, their relationship could only be described as mediocre.

The shinobi world was cruel. If you had no talent for training, no matter how nice you were, people would only treat you as an ordinary friend.

"You'll be able to after graduation. You don't want to end up like Sasuke, showing off so much talent and getting pestered all day, do you?" Nanfeng said half-jokingly.

Naruto shook his head. Sasuke's life at school could only be described as miserable. Countless girls pestered him every day, and even Naruto was fed up just watching.

"What about you, then? You've shown some talent too. Why doesn't anyone pester you?" Sasuke asked unhappily. He had been puzzled about this for a long time, and in the end could only conclude that his own charm was greater than Nanfeng's.

"Isn't it because I already have Hinata? No matter how clueless someone is, they wouldn't pester me over something like that. What do you say—want me to set you up with a girlfriend too?" Nanfeng replied with a grin.

"No thanks. I'd rather be alone. Besides, I've got things to deal with later. Women would only slow down my sword-drawing speed."

Sasuke froze for a moment, then hurriedly refused. As if he'd let Nanfeng set him up with someone! He'd be lucky if the guy didn't ruin his life.

"But seriously, time flies. We're graduating already. How are you feeling about tomorrow's graduation exam?" Nanfeng asked after a brief pause.

"I heard the exam's still the Clone Technique. Dead Last, are you going to fail that one again? If you don't graduate, I'll look down on you," Sasuke asked, remembering something after a slight pause.

"Don't say that... I really might not graduate. I'm doomed..." Uzumaki Naruto said, lying on the ground as if his soul had left his body, on the verge of tears.

"Things have a way of working themselves out. Let's call it a day," Nanfeng said.