The Third Test!

When Uzumaki Jiuming finished the first two Ninja Academy tests and walked out the gate, Kushina and Minato, who had been sitting nearby chatting, didn't notice him right away.

Instead, Nara Shikaku, who was talking with Sarutobi Kotaro on the other side, spotted his younger brother Shikaichi following Uzumaki Jiuming out of the school gate.

"Shikaichi! Over here!"

Most of the parents waiting outside the school to pick up their children were there for the under-eight group. The older children taking the tests usually went home on their own, so there weren't many parents waiting at the school gates.

Nara Shikaku's call caught everyone's attention. The parents who had been waiting for a while got to their feet and craned their necks, searching the crowd for their children. His shout also alerted Kushina and Minato, who had been chatting animatedly nearby, that school was out.

"Is Jiuming out yet? I wonder how he did on the test. He should be fine, right?"

Kushina sprang to her feet and scrutinized the children coming out of the school. Jiuming's bright red hair was easy to spot, and she found him in the crowd at once.

"Jiuming! Over here!"

Kushina was young, but she had a loud voice. Her call easily drowned out many of the other parents.

"Oh, Nee-chan!"

Jiuming had only just stepped out of the school when he heard Kushina calling. He jogged over to her and greeted her affectionately.

"How did the test go?" Sure enough, like most parents, the first thing Kushina asked her younger brother was how he had done.

"Easy!"

"A test like that was nothing for me!"

While Jiuming bragged to his sister, the other children were reporting to their parents about the tests, too. Before long, quite a few parents turned their attention to Jiuming, who was talking with Kushina. Many of the students' parents were ninja, and once they heard what had happened at the Ninja Academy, they grew curious about Jiuming.

"No wonder he's so strong. Lady Mito trained him herself, and he even managed to take Jiudai down."

"That strength, enough to rival an adult's—it must be Strength of a Hundred."

"I can't believe such a young child has mastered such advanced Chakra control."

"What a terrifying kid!"

By then, Shikaichi had also caught up with his older brother, Nara Shikaku. The moment he saw Shikaku, he told him about Jiuming, his words full of admiration.

Among this group of children, plenty were intimidated by Jiuming after seeing his strength, but many others admired him. People of every age were drawn to the strong.

From Shikaichi's account, Shikaku learned a great deal about Uzumaki Jiuming. In particular, he immediately recognized the Taijutsu Jiuming had used.

In Konoha, the only people who had mastered Strength of a Hundred were the First's wife and his granddaughter, Tsunade. Tsunade, who was active in the village, was famous for her terrifying strength and outstanding Medical Ninjutsu. Even among the Jonin, she was a formidable kunoichi.

Shikaku, already in his teens, obviously knew Tsunade and was familiar with the techniques she used. And because he understood Strength of a Hundred, he knew that having someone teach you the technique wasn't enough to master it.

Although Konoha had a vast collection of secret arts and Ninjutsu, the techniques a ninja at any given rank could learn were limited. For an average Genin, mastering even one B-rank Ninjutsu was considered impressive. The less talented ones could barely manage a C-rank technique.

An average Chunin could master, at most, one or two B-rank techniques, and few mastered more than five. A-rank Ninjutsu was out of the question.

Those who could use B-rank techniques proficiently and even had an A-rank technique as a trump card were generally Jonin, or perhaps Elite Jonin.

A ninja with an S-rank technique could use its power to reach the threshold of Kage Level.

As mentioned earlier, Konoha had a vast collection of Ninjutsu, with a rich variety of techniques in every nature. Yet the number of techniques each ninja could master was limited. The main reason wasn't that the Hokage hoarded techniques and refused to let people learn them. It was simply that ordinary people only had the talent to learn so many.

Not everyone was Minato or Kakashi, able to develop their own techniques. Nor could everyone learn the Rasengan or Chidori in just a few days like Naruto and Sasuke. It all took talent.

Take Shizune, Dan Katō's niece. She had been with Tsunade for years, but had she learned Yin Seal or Strength of a Hundred? It wasn't that Tsunade hadn't taught her. Shizune simply didn't have the talent for them.

In all these years, apart from Tsunade and Mito, Konoha hadn't had another ninja capable of using Strength of a Hundred. It wasn't because Tsunade and Uzumaki Mito had kept it secret; most people simply didn't have the talent.

Shikaichi's conversation with his brother reached Sarutobi Kotaro, who was standing nearby. As the Third Hokage's eldest son, he, too, took an interest in Uzumaki Jiuming. He knew more about Strength of a Hundred than Shikaku did and understood even better how difficult it was to learn.

Sarutobi Kotaro was now on the same team as Kushina and Minato. Before joining the team, he had already known who his teammates would be. His father, the Hokage, had privately told him how the Genin teams would be arranged, and Kotaro had been given a specific mission when he was assigned to Minato and Kushina's team.

"Come on, let's go home!" After asking Jiuming a few questions, Kushina prepared to take him home. Watching her and Minato walk away with Jiuming, Sarutobi Kotaro fell into thought.

Not long after Jiuming and the others left, the other parents gradually departed as well. They had preparations to make for their children. After all, the final test was tomorrow, and many parents planned to give their kids some intensive training.

The sun sank toward the horizon.

At dusk, Kushina held Jiuming's hand and reluctantly said goodbye to Minato outside the Uzumaki Clan residence. Ever since the incident, the precocious Kushina had felt something special for Minato, and after being placed on the same Genin team as him, their relationship seemed to be warming up.

"See you tomorrow, Minato!" At the entrance to the residence, Kushina's cheeks were faintly red as she said goodbye.

"See you tomorrow, Kushina." Minato smiled as he looked at her. Although he said goodbye, Jiuming couldn't see any sign that Minato intended to leave. Kushina was the same. They were already at the front door, but stepping inside seemed like an impossible task.

"I can't take this..." Watching Kushina and Minato, Jiuming felt full despite not having eaten dinner. He pulled free of Kushina's hand and walked into the residence on his own.

He wasn't some idle Genin. He still had plenty to do.

That night, in the study of the Uzumaki residence, Jiuming sat kneeling before a desk. Three specially made blank scrolls lay on it, alongside several bamboo canteens and a large supply of Military Ration Pills. The canteens were new and filled with fresh water.

Jiuming was preparing for the final test, a wilderness survival exercise. He planned to inscribe storage seals on the three small blank scrolls. They were tiny enough to fit easily in a ninja tool pouch.

"A Ninja Academy entrance exam that includes damn wilderness survival—and a whole week of it, at that. I don't believe those kids can make it through."

Jiuming grumbled as he picked up a brush and began drawing the seals on the scrolls. He had originally thought the so-called wilderness survival test would last only a day or two. If that had been the case, he could have followed Bear Grylls's example and simply gone hungry until it was over. But today, he had learned from his teacher that it would last a full week.

That meant Jiuming had to make some preparations. He had never had any wilderness survival experience, and he couldn't last a week by going hungry, so he needed to stock up in advance to avoid getting himself into a bind.

Most of the Ninjutsu Jiuming knew came from the Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu. He was already quite proficient at drawing basic Storage Scroll seals and some explosive seals. Besides that, the only proper Ninjutsu he knew were the basic Three Body Technique and Shadow Clone.

Jiuming had worked hard to learn Shadow Clone so he could use its special properties to speed up his study of Fuinjutsu. As for his other abilities, apart from the Taijutsu he had trained in all along, he had only mastered a few advanced Chakra techniques. Strength of a Hundred and Yin Seal were the results of years of training.

However, he still couldn't make proper use of Yin Seal.

As for the range of his innate Mind's Eye, it was only about fifty meters now. That was already terrifying compared with other children his age, but it still fell short of the Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai.

"With my current abilities and plenty of food stored up, I should be fine."

Before long, Jiuming had finished drawing the seals on all three scrolls. He evenly divided the Military Ration Pills and fresh water among them, formed Hand Seals, and made everything disappear from the desk.

"That should do it." Once everything was ready, Uzumaki Jiuming put the three scrolls into his ninja tool pouch and left the study.

The night passed without incident.