The Graduates

The start of a new school year was always busy. The new kids needed to be tested, evaluated, and assigned to classes.

The students preparing to graduate had to take their exams and attend a graduation ceremony.

This only happened when a class graduated early as a group. Under the normal six-year program, the ceremony would be held at the end of the previous semester, in mid-March. At that time, the other classes would still be on spring break, and the new students hadn't enrolled yet.

So when all these things happened at once, there weren't enough teachers to go around. They even had to officially issue a few D-Rank Missions and find a few Genin teams to help keep order.

Although they were in the middle of a war, nothing could be done halfheartedly. If anything, the ceremony had to be even grander. Only then could the freshly graduated young leaves truly feel a greater sense of duty and ceremony, and be inspired with a fervent Will of Fire.

The April start of the school year belonged to the new students and graduates.

As for students like Higashino Makoto, who were in the Second Year or above and hadn't applied for early graduation, they were temporarily let off the hook. They only had classes for half the day, and even those were just self-study. They could do whatever they wanted.

The classroom was noisy. Some students watched the new students' entrance tests from the hallway, commenting on their energetic juniors.

Others chatted with each other in the classroom, talking about the classmates who had applied for early graduation.

Higashino Makoto sat quietly at his desk, looking out the window.

Between the index and middle fingers of his left hand, he held a leaf. The poor thing was first surrounded by Chakra, twisting like a wild piece of seaweed. But it was resilient, and no matter how much he bent it, it wouldn't break.

Then its color darkened, and it became incredibly hard, like a black stone carved into the shape of a leaf.

Finally, Chakra split the stone-like leaf in two. The halves continued splitting as they fell, until they became a pile of tiny grains that scattered in the wind.

This was the result of Higashino Makoto training his Wind, Water, and Earth Chakra Natures to an extremely high level.

Water's flexibility, Earth's heavy hardness and disintegration, and Wind's cutting power.

As the leaf vanished, Higashino Makoto curled his fingers. From the pile of leaves under his desk, another light leaf floated up and landed precisely between his fingers, repeating the same transformation.

For him, every moment was training. Even when he sat in the classroom like his classmates, seemingly doing nothing, the Nature Transformation of the Chakra in his hands never stopped.

He was more absorbed in training than in idle chatter. His steadily growing Chakra Amount let him keep at it, too. Most people didn't have the means to train like this, even if they wanted to.

After all, he was an adult. He had nothing to talk about with a bunch of kids who liked bragging and checking out handsome boys. He'd done all that himself as a kid in his previous life.

Given a second life, the only thing in this world that could keep him happily occupied was training to become stronger. Becoming a Ninja was just one of the side interests along the way.

Beside him, Uzuki Yugao lowered her head and struggled with the leaf in her hand. For now, she could only split an ordinary leaf twice. She couldn't break it down into a pile of powder like Higashino Makoto could.

Her Chakra Nature was Wind, and it was her only one, just like Naruto's would be in the future.

Gekko Hayate's natural attributes were Wind and Water.

As it happened, they all had Wind. Even Shisui did. His natural attributes were Wind, Fire, and Lightning, and since he was part of the Uchiha Clan, Yin Release had to be counted as well.

Wind was a very common attribute in Sunagakure, but there were plenty of people in Konoha with it, too. For instance, all three of Higashino Makoto's friends did.

Since they all naturally had Wind Release Chakra, Higashino Makoto had no reason to keep his methods to himself. He often shared his training methods and insights with them.

But their progress was nowhere near the same level. Uchiha Shisui was doing a little better, but it would still take a long time for him to reach Higashino Makoto's current level.

That was the pace at which Regular Ninjas trained Nature Transformation.

They couldn't use Naruto's thousand-clone cheat to condense years of training into a few days. Nor did they have Higashino Makoto's daily access to Natural Energy, which transformed his body. All they could do was grind away at it over time.

"Hey, hey, Makoto, isn't there a better way? It's been two years, and I can still only manage this much. When will I be able to do it like you?"

Uzuki Yugao tossed the shredded leaf aside and started her daily complaints again.

"Not for now. I'll tell you when I find a way." As he spoke, Higashino Makoto glanced at the empty seats beside them, then continued, "It's about time. Let's go see how Hayate and the others are doing in the General Classroom."

"Right, right. Let's go welcome them."

The two left the classroom, followed by quite a few classmates who felt the same way.

The General Classroom was a huge tiered lecture hall, usually used for school-wide meetings. It could hold hundreds of people at once.

At the moment, its doors were tightly shut. Graduation exams were being held inside.

The exams weren't difficult. Usually, students were asked to demonstrate any one of the Basic Three Body Techniques. But since it was wartime, the requirements were higher, and they might be tested on all three.

Many students stood in the open space outside the classroom, waiting for the results to see who had successfully graduated early and who would end up as a miserable failure.

After a while, the classroom doors opened, and the students who had taken the exam came out in small groups. Unlike when they had gone in, they now all wore brand-new Konoha Headbands on their foreheads. Some, of course, wore theirs elsewhere.

That was the mark of becoming an official Ninja.

These students were no longer students at the Ninja Academy. They were Ninjas now. Some kept touching their Headbands, looking smug. When they looked at the students watching them, they seemed to have aged several years in an instant, as if they were looking at their juniors.

In reality, they weren't much older than the others.

"Wow, so cool! I want one too!" the students watching them exclaimed enviously.

Those recommended for graduation were basically all good students. Not one of them had failed.

That gave many students their age the mistaken impression that graduating early wasn't all that difficult.

I could do that too.jpg.

"Hayate, Shisui, we're over here!"

Uzuki Yugao called out to them from the crowd.

Like Shisui, Hayate had simply tied his Headband around his forehead. He hadn't yet started wearing a cloth wrap around his entire head like he would in the future.

The two heard her and walked over with smiles. Graduating successfully was certainly something to be happy about.

Higashino Makoto's gaze passed over them and settled on this year's early graduates. Apart from a few, he didn't recognize most of them.

In his class were Uchiha Shisui, Hyuga Tokuma, Aburame Muta, and seven or eight others. Most of the early graduates from the other classes were also from ninja clans, with fewer Commoner Ninjas.

That meant there would be fewer people in their class, but it wasn't a big problem. The classes would be combined later.

From Hayate's year, he spotted only two familiar faces. They seemed to be the future gatekeeper duo, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

So they were in the same year as Gekko Hayate. They didn't seem very close, though. Maybe they weren't in the same class.

There was also a girl following behind Hayate. They seemed quite close, but she was only there to welcome him, not to graduate.

Higashino Makoto asked curiously, "Hayate, is this... your classmate?"

"Yeah, she's my classmate. Her name's Tsubaki."

Hayate then introduced Tsubaki to his friends, and they officially met.

Higashino Makoto looked at the girl. She didn't look familiar; people in real life looked very different from their anime counterparts.

But judging by her name, she seemed to be Mizuki's girlfriend in the future.

Checking the time, Higashino Makoto waved his hand. "It's about time to head out. I'll treat you all to lunch to celebrate your successful graduations, you and Shisui."

Uchiha Shisui and Gekko Hayate smiled. They'd been together for so long that there was nothing to feel awkward about. Even Shisui had long since relaxed, no longer as reserved and formal as he'd been when they first met.

Tsubaki looked a little embarrassed, but Hayate said, "Come along. This guy, Makoto, gets more pocket money than the rest of us and doesn't waste it. He's saved up quite a bit."

Tsubaki blushed and nodded.

Uzuki Yugao put an arm around Gekko Hayate and held up her right pinky finger. "Hey, Hayate, don't tell me this is your... hehehe."

"Ahem, ahem!" Gekko Hayate coughed a few times, then gave Yugao a punch on the head as usual. "You're hopeless. Don't say things like that."

Tsubaki blushed even more, while Shisui and Higashino Makoto grinned like proud aunts.

Suddenly, the open space outside the classroom was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.