Graduation

Lessons, revision, hospital rotations, emergency surgery.

In the six months before the entire Shinobi World was plunged into turmoil once more, Yamada Soji had been busier than ever. Then, at last, he reached his Ninja Academy graduation.

Though Yamada Soji had earned an unexpected merit, neither the Third Hokage nor any other village leader had personally received him. Still, a letter of thanks from the Uchiha Clan and a word from the Hokage Office were enough to secure him a permanent position at Konoha Hospital.

From then on, more medical records were opened to Soji;

more advanced Medical Ninjutsu techniques were made available to him;

he was even qualified to attend and speak at the hospital management's regular meetings!

Compared with the nobody he had been a year ago, the boy was now regarded by his teachers and classmates as a Medical Ninjutsu prodigy, thanks to one privilege after another. He was widely admired.

But for Soji himself, praise from within the ivory tower could no longer stir even the slightest ripple...

Compared with his classmates' admiration, what affected him more was learning afterward that the patient rushed in for emergency treatment that day had been Uchiha Sasuke's father in his youth. It had given him a certain sense of having taken part in history.

Thinking back to the operating table that day, if Soji's hand had slipped, the story of Naruto might have ended right then and there!

...Of course, that was an exaggeration born of personal sentiment.

With an otherworlder like him interfering, the course of the ninja world was bound to take a very different path in the future.

So Soji treated the so-called "original plot" as little more than a supplement to his intelligence. He had no intention of following it step by step and tying his own hands.

—To change the face of the world, and to make his own life better, the boy, who had lived two lives, had never hesitated to play the role of an original-story wrecker and completely alter the future that had been set.

By comparison, his classmates graduating alongside him seemed rather naive and immature.

Even though they knew the international situation had been spiraling out of control in recent years, youthful aspirations were hard to suppress...

"Are the team assignments out yet?"

"Not that fast..."

"I wonder who our jōnin leader will be."

"Hope it's a powerful jōnin!"

The ceremony for handing out diplomas and presenting Forehead Protectors had yet to begin, but the crowded Great Hall was already buzzing with chatter.

Rather than prospective war machines, the students before him seemed no different from ordinary elementary schoolers.

After six years of basic ninja training, these twelve-year-old boys and girls had barely met the physical and combat-skill requirements for becoming Genin.

But their minds and values were still as fragile as unfired clay, unstable and easily shaped.

Compared horizontally, Konoha had already invested a considerable amount of effort in ideological education. Still, the so-called "Will of Fire" couldn't be forged overnight.

Soji had no interest in judging whether this legacy of thought was good or bad.

From a practical standpoint, however, it was indeed the simplest and most effective way to break down clan prejudice and mold Konoha into a unified, combat-capable organization of violence.

Unfortunately...

As the clouds of war drew closer, the Ninja Academy had no choice but to shift its educational focus from ideological inheritance to combat skills.

It was easy to foresee that this lack of soft power would cause a series of "difficult problems" once all-out war broke out.

But this was the real world, not a historical simulation game. "Administrative points" available to the leadership at any one time couldn't be conjured out of thin air as quest rewards. Soji could understand the compromises the higher-ups made on education...

And to some extent, this curriculum, which valued "technique" over "the Way," did give gifted children more room to shine.

Students from prominent clans took the lead in the new assessment system thanks to their head start, while talented commoners stood out through their own gifts.

The idea of worshipping strength encouraged healthy competition to some degree. Among the students were also exceptional individuals whose minds had matured early, already laying the groundwork for their future.

Among these gifted children, the chubby Akimichi Todo was undoubtedly the easiest to overlook.

"Yamada, are you done with your work at Konoha Hospital?"

The chubby boy from the Akimichi Clan blinked his small, monolid eyes. Sitting at a moderate distance across from Soji, he turned around and offered him a packet of crackers.

"Yes. Most of today's surgeries were scheduled for the afternoon because of the graduation ceremony."

Soji tilted his head with a smile, casually accepting the snack and the friendly gesture.

"Thanks. I happen to like salty snacks."

"Really? I'm not so picky. As long as it's delicious, I'll eat anything~"

Akimichi Todo patted his round belly, though the fat there didn't wobble the way an ordinary fat person's would.

—The Akimichi Clan's secret techniques consumed a great deal of chakra, and the Multi-Size Technique also placed certain requirements on the user's build. That was why Akimichi clan members had to eat a lot in order to maintain their fighting strength.

Yet ninjas still needed to meet a basic standard of mobility, so the boy's physique was clearly the result of deliberate shaping.

Technically speaking, Akimichi Todo was a powerful, burly combat talent like Baymax, not remotely comparable to an ordinary, flabby fat man.

...Even so, first impressions and the limitations of his secret techniques kept Akimichi Todo relatively far behind the top tier.

Though he was also a prodigy, his classmates thought of him as only a little more impressive than "academic star" types like Yamada Soji.

In that sense, Akimichi Todo and Yamada Soji really were in the same boat.

But one came from a prominent clan, while the other was mature, steady, and far-sighted. Their friendly relationship certainly wasn't based simply on hitting it off.

In fact, forming elite squads out of promising students and managing them as a group had been standard practice since the village was founded. The meaning behind Akimichi Todo's overture to Soji, with whom he usually had little rapport, was obvious.

Though the boy hadn't received any advance warning, he understood perfectly well.

By conventional standards, Yamada Soji, already on staff at Konoha Hospital, shouldn't have been placed in a regular three-man combat squad like an ordinary student.

But given his conflict with Director Chosokabe, this unusual arrangement was hardly surprising.

—Though his profession as a doctor wouldn't change, whether he stayed in the rear to stabilize the situation or was sent to a field hospital to support the battlefield would naturally be up to the old director.

Once the war officially began, the squad Soji joined after graduation would probably be tasked mainly with protecting the village's medical personnel. They wouldn't be sent to the front lines for the most dangerous attrition warfare.

From that perspective, Akimichi Todo and the last, still-unmet teammate would be the ones benefiting from his presence. While they were still young and their abilities undeveloped, they would have a gentler environment in which to grow.

Of course, though he had never experienced war firsthand, Soji understood that nowhere on a battlefield was absolutely safe.

He knew the importance of preparing for danger in times of peace. So, besides the necessary mental preparation, the boy had spent this period making full use of his strengths and further improving his ability to protect himself through Medical Ninjutsu and Accio.

—During this time, Uchiha Fugaku's injuries had given Soji an idea.

Using the connections he had built at the hospital, he asked the logistics department to custom-make a set of "medical tools" for him. With help from his new equipment, he gained a means of killing at short to medium range with fewer limitations than the Filth-Licking Technique!