Graduating Together

The Yamanaka clan—Yamanaka Tohru and Yamanaka Inoichi—discussed the matter of the Healing Talisman. Neither of them was foolish enough to lead a clan, and after hearing the details, Inoichi naturally understood the immense benefits the Healing Talisman could bring to the Yamanaka clan.

Among the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans, the Nara clan was responsible for maintaining the normal operation of Konoha's medical system, so they essentially monopolized the supply of medicinal herbs within the village.

The profits from supplying medicinal herbs to a major ninja village were enormous. In the original story, this was why Shikamaru could casually use Explosive Tags.

This book is first published on Taiwan Novel Network, tw̴k̴a̴n̴.̴c̴o̴m̴, offering a smooth reading experience with no errors or disordered chapters.

The Akimichi clan was said to have contributed their clan's secret medicine to the invention of Ration Pills, and they received dividends from their sales.

Only the Yamanaka clan had no enterprise of their own and no dividends. Most of the clan's expenses were covered by missions undertaken by Yamanaka ninjas.

The Healing Talisman developed by Yamanaka Tohru gave Inoichi a chance to improve the clan's living conditions. Inoichi confirmed the matter repeatedly and had Tohru produce a Healing Talisman on the spot.

A few days later, Yamanaka Inoichi and Yamanaka Tohru were summoned by the Third Hokage.

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage and Jiraiya awaited their arrival.

The Third Hokage had received Jiraiya's report the previous day: Yamanaka Tohru had developed the Healing Talisman that the village had been researching.

The Third Hokage naturally understood the value of the Healing Talisman. If it could be mass-produced, it would have a massive impact on Konoha's upcoming war, greatly increasing the survival rate of Konoha's ninjas.

When Yamanaka Tohru and Yamanaka Inoichi arrived at the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage got straight to the point and asked Tohru, "Tohru, can the Healing Talisman be mass-produced?"

Yamanaka Tohru shook his head. Even if he worked without rest, the number of Healing Talismans he could produce each day was limited.

"How many can you make in a day?" the Third Hokage asked.

"At most thirty a day," Yamanaka Tohru said after some thought.

The Third Hokage nodded. The number Tohru gave was close to Jiraiya's estimate. According to the intelligence Jiraiya had just gathered from the Sand Shinobi, the Sand Village was currently experiencing some unknown internal conflict and wouldn't start a war anytime soon.

With a production rate of thirty talismans a day, Konoha would have a decent stockpile of Healing Talismans before the war began. The Third Hokage was satisfied with this.

"Inoichi, I think you understand the value of the Healing Talisman. This talisman is significant for both the village and the Yamanaka clan. You're the clan head of the Yamanaka—tell me your thoughts," the Third Hokage said after a moment of silence.

"Lord Hokage, the village will help the Yamanaka clan purchase the jade, and the Yamanaka clan will produce and sell the Healing Talismans themselves. For every talisman sold, the clan will give thirty percent of the profits to the village." Inoichi was well aware that control over the talisman's sales had to remain in his hands.

What followed was a back-and-forth negotiation. In the end, it was agreed that Konoha would provide the materials for making the Healing Talismans, and the Yamanaka clan would hand over forty percent of the profits from each talisman sold to the village.

Both sides were satisfied with the outcome, and Yamanaka Tohru's mission was changed from serving as a Medical Ninja at Konoha Hospital to producing Healing Talismans. Notably, this mission was ranked B-rank.

Over the next month or so, Yamanaka Tohru spent his time in the Third Training Ground making Healing Talismans. Uzuki Yugao, under Kakashi's guidance, had finally gotten the basics of swordsmanship down.

Uzuki Yugao's performance couldn't compare to a super genius like Kakashi, but she was still far better than the average person.

During this month of teaching Uzuki Yugao, Kakashi discovered many gaps in his own fundamentals. Hatake Sakumo had pointed these issues out before, but Kakashi hadn't taken them to heart—only now, realizing them himself, did he understand how serious they were. As a result, Kakashi no longer resented teaching Uzuki Yugao as much.

"Kakashi, want to go to the Academy today?" Yamanaka Tohru asked.

"The Academy? Why?" Kakashi glanced at Tohru.

"Rin and Obito are about to graduate. You didn't know?"

Kakashi shook his head. Actually, Yamanaka Tohru hadn't known about the graduation either—he'd only sensed it earlier while making Healing Talismans using Sage Mode.

"Want to go check it out?" Kakashi asked.

"Sure!" Yamanaka Tohru hadn't seen Rin and Obito in a while either.

"Yugao, we're going to the Ninja Academy to watch our classmates' graduation exam. Do you want to come?" Yamanaka Tohru asked her.

"Big Brother Tohru, I'll pass. I need to train hard."

After all this effort, Yamanaka Tohru had finally gotten Uzuki Yugao to call him "big brother." He'd been happy about that for a long time.

Yamanaka Tohru and Kakashi headed to the Ninja Academy together, just in time to catch Yūhi Kurenai taking the stage. For someone like Kurenai, who had family elders to guide her, passing the Genin exam at the Academy was no problem.

After her, Mitarashi Anko, Sarutobi Asuma, and Shiranui Genma all passed smoothly.

"Next, Might Guy!"

Before Guy even stepped up, the students around him were already snickering. Guy's usual performance was the classic dead last of Naruto—dead last in ninjutsu, completely hopeless at genjutsu, with only taijutsu being passable.

In peacetime, the Academy's graduation exam usually focused on the Three Body Techniques, but with war on the horizon, Konoha needed a new batch of Genin—or rather, fresh cannon fodder—for the battlefield.

Guy had only been allowed to stay in the Academy thanks to the Third Hokage's special leniency, and the Academy's principal, because of the Third Hokage's favor toward Guy, had placed him in the elite class.

Unlike the regular class, the elite class consisted of children expected to become Konoha's pillars. Graduates from this class would have Elite Jonin as their instructors.

With war imminent, the Academy's graduation exam subjects were decided by the teachers themselves. Guy's subject was his strongest area—taijutsu—and like everyone else, he passed.

"Next, Uchiha Obito. Uchiha Obito, is he here?"

The examiner's deliberate repetition made the surrounding students laugh even harder. Obito was from the Uchiha clan and also in the elite class, but his grades were only slightly better than Guy's, and he had a habit of being late—the village's universally acknowledged "King of Lateness"!

Obito's exam subject was the Clone Technique, a jutsu the Uchiha clan learned from childhood. Obito passed it easily.

After him, Rin, who was somewhat similar to Sakura in the original story, excelled in chakra control. The Clone Technique was naturally no challenge for her.

Once the last student finished the exam, the entire elite class graduated successfully. Then came a long speech from the Academy teachers, followed by the headband ceremony. From then on, Obito and the others officially became Konoha's Genin.

"Rin, Obito! Over here!" Yamanaka Tohru called out to them.

"Damn Kakashi, smug Yamanaka Tohru. I graduated too!" Obito's personality hadn't changed at all as he shouted at them.

"Kakashi, Tohru, what brings you here?" Rin asked.

"Just bored and wanted to watch your graduation exam," Yamanaka Tohru replied.

The four were chatting idly when the students nearby noticed them.

"Is that Kakashi and Yamanaka Tohru?"

Kakashi and Yamanaka Tohru had been held up by the Ninja Academy as role models for the students—Kakashi was Konoha's youngest Chunin, and Yamanaka Tohru was a Medical Ninja on par with Tsunade.

"Kakashi, Obito, Rin—looks like we're in trouble. I don't want to deal with these students. Since you're graduating today, I'll treat you all to grilled meat. Meet at the barbecue place next to the Third Training Ground." With that, Tohru erupted into Lightning Release Chakra Mode and vanished with a Lightning Body Flicker.

Kakashi followed suit, using the Lightning Body Flicker to escape. Obito and Rin exchanged a glance, then burst through the crowd and ran toward the barbecue place.

A note about the comments section: Last night, some readers said I deleted their comments. I really didn't. Whether the feedback about the author was good or bad, I've never deleted any. I'm also puzzled—I can see the comments in the backend, but they don't show up on the front end. Also, a few readers urged me to update more yesterday. Before writing this book, I only had a rough outline of over 20,000 words; I haven't pre-written a single chapter. I have my own job, and 6,000 words a day is already my limit. The chapter I updated before 7 PM was even written secretly in the office. Please bear with me.