Ninja Academy Graduation

Time passed slowly. During this period, aside from completing missions, Akiyama Shun would occasionally fill in for Tsunade to help out at the hospital.

The relationships between the major ninja villages were becoming increasingly delicate, with friction growing by the day, leading to a rising number of casualties in the hospital.

"Thank you, Lord Akiyama Shun. You've worked hard today."

Inside the hospital, a young nurse said to Akiyama Shun with gratitude.

Although Akiyama Shun was not yet very old, he frequently came to the hospital to help and had resolved many difficult situations. Even without the status of being Tsunade's student, his standing within the hospital was quite high.

"It's no trouble at all. I don't like seeing our village's ninjas get hurt either. Just call me whenever you need help in the future."

Akiyama Shun waved his hand; he actually quite enjoyed the work at the hospital.

While it was a bit tiring, working in the form of "helping out" yielded significant merit.

After leaving the hospital, Akiyama Shun spotted an acquaintance at the entrance.

"Kakashi? Why are you here?"

Akiyama Shun walked down the stairs and came to Kakashi's side.

"What else could it be? It's because we've graduated from the Ninja Academy and are being assigned to squads, obviously. What else would it be?"

Kakashi looked at Akiyama Shun, puzzled.

"You didn't know? Or were you not assigned to a squad?"

Akiyama Shun shook his head: "No. It's probably because I'm already Lord Tsunade's student, so they didn't assign me to a squad."

After hearing this, Kakashi looked at Akiyama Shun with eyes full of envy.

"I've already been assigned. I came here to ask which squad you were put in, but it seems I've made a wasted trip."

Akiyama Shun smiled: "That's a good thing for you. It's time you learned how to get along with your teammates."

Hearing the word "teammates" gave Kakashi a bit of a headache.

"I heard you've already completed many A-rank missions, but now that I've been assigned to those squads, I'll have to accompany them on D-rank missions for a while. It's such a waste of time for growth. I... never mind, I'm going back to rest. I have to attend the assembly tomorrow."

Kakashi sighed and left. Watching Kakashi's lonely retreating figure, Akiyama Shun chuckled softly and headed toward the home of Yuhi Shinku.

Along the way, Akiyama Shun began to organize all the gains he had accumulated from his card draws during this period.

First, regarding [Artifacts].

[Kusanagi Sword] was already at 24 shards.

[Golden Rope] and [Seven-Star Sword] were at 10 shards each.

Next were the [Summoning Beasts].

The most abundant was [Gamahiro] at 33 shards, followed by [Panda] at 22 shards, and [Shukaku] at 14 shards.

There were also various other summoning fragments.

Having drawn so many cards, Akiyama Shun felt that the drop rate for artifacts and summoning beasts was significantly higher than that of S-rank ninjas.

Among the [Secret Scrolls], [Earth Style: Rock Fall] had already reached level 5.

He had also gained two new Wind Style scrolls, [Wind Style: Vacuum Wave] and [Wind Style: Vacuum Wave], which improved Akiyama Shun's range of attack.

Of course, the most important addition was [Mystical Palm Technique: Life (LV3)], a scroll-based version of the Mystical Palm Technique.

Once this scroll was used, Akiyama Shun would be continuously healed by the Mystical Palm Technique for a period of time.

The effect was terrifying; it was among the strongest of all the secret scrolls, drastically increasing Akiyama Shun's survivability.

Combined with his previous [Forbidden Technique: Yin Healing Wound Destruction], as long as he didn't encounter an existence far beyond his current power level, it would be very difficult for him to die.

Finally, there were the changes regarding ninjas.

[S-rank Ninjas]

The most abundant was [Hozuki Gengetsu (Second Mizukage)] at 30 shards.

[A (Fourth Raikage)] at 28 shards.

[Otsutsuki Toneri (Final Chapter)] at 20 shards.

Akiyama Shun didn't mind which one of these three came out first.

One was the mustache-wearing user of unique Water Style, one was the "duck-neck" user of the Lightning Armor, and the last was a heavyweight—the movie boss who possessed the Tenseigan.

[A-rank Ninjas]

[Gaara] and [Haruno Sakura (Hundred Healings)] were at 24 shards each.

[Namikaze Minato (New Year Limited)] at 20 shards.

[Sarutobi Hiruzen (Teacher of the Sannin)] at 18 shards.

[...]

[B-rank Ninjas]

[Kimimaro] had already been summoned long ago, and Akiyama Shun had been using him for over half a year.

It was just that every time Akiyama Shun used Shikotsumyaku, it was during an assassination, so no one currently knew he possessed it.

The [Kimimaro] card was truly excellent; it brought not only Shikotsumyaku but also a special state called "Cursed Seal Transformation," though Akiyama Shun had yet to use the Cursed Seal Transformation.

He had not yet encountered an enemy strong enough to warrant it.

However, every time Akiyama Shun saw the name [Kimimaro], he would think of the past.

Back then, he hadn't been watching Naruto for very long, but he had been watching someone named "Memamaru" for quite a while.

Every time he had to say the names, he would mix the two up.

Ahem.

Akiyama Shun coughed twice, temporarily pushing those thoughts aside.

Aside from [Kimimaro], he had also pulled another B-rank ninja, [Yuhi Kurenai (Youth)], which slightly compensated for Akiyama Shun's shortcomings in the field of genjutsu.

Not only that, but after pulling [Yuhi Kurenai (Youth)], Akiyama Shun would occasionally set aside time to teach Yuhi Kurenai genjutsu.

He also pulled [Nohara Rin (Special Care)], but since its utility was zero, he didn't need to worry about it.

There were also several other B-rank ninja fragments.

[C-rank Ninjas]

He had collected the entire Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and even had an extra [Senju Tobirama (Youth)].

There were also some that didn't improve his combat power at all, such as [Umino Iruka]. In the mobile game, his skills involved throwing chalk and books, his ultimate was blowing a breath of air, and his only second skill was a barrier formation that was essentially useless; Akiyama Shun couldn't even be bothered to organize those.

"Still... the Ninja World War seems to be getting closer and closer, doesn't it?"

While Akiyama Shun was lost in thought, he had unknowingly walked to the front of Yuhi Shinku's house.

After three knocks, Akiyama Shun pushed the door open and walked inside.

Just as he pushed the door open, he saw Yuhi Kurenai standing at the entrance waiting for him.

At this point, Yuhi Kurenai was already nine years old; she had grown quite a bit taller, and her face had matured compared to when she was younger, making her even prettier—she looked almost exactly like the character portrait of [Yuhi Kurenai (Youth)].

Seeing Akiyama Shun enter, Yuhi Kurenai chuckled twice and said with a mysterious look on her face, "Guess what big news happened today?"

Akiyama Shun pretended to think for a moment: "What is it? Did you learn a new genjutsu?"

"No!"

Yuhi Kurenai jumped up and shouted happily: "We graduated from the Ninja Academy! I can go on missions just like you now!"

After shouting, Yuhi Kurenai hugged Akiyama Shun, clearly overjoyed.

"Have you already done a lot of C-rank missions? Tell me about your experience, hmph hmph~"

"No, you won't be able to use Shun's C-rank experience."

At this moment, Yuhi Shinku suddenly spoke up, putting an end to Yuhi Kurenai's fantasies.

"When you first become a genin, you only do D-rank missions."

"What? Didn't Shun skip D-rank missions? He started right from C-rank missions."

Yuhi Kurenai retorted, her face full of defiance.

"That is because Shun has talent, and his teacher is Lady Tsunade."

Yuhi Shinku shook his head.

"But what if my teacher also wants us to start from C-rank missions?"

"No, that will absolutely not happen."

The expression on Yuhi Shinku's face was extremely firm.

"Because I am your team leader."