Meeting Shizune

"Substitution Technique!"

"Poof..."

As the smoke cleared, Uchiha Yue had already vanished from where he stood. In his place was a wooden post with a Kunai embedded in it.

After Uchiha Yue had flawlessly used the Substitution Technique to dodge Sarutobi Shinsuke's Kunai, a flicker of admiration appeared in the Ninja Academy instructor's eyes.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

"As expected of a genius from the Uchiha Clan, Yue! You've passed your exam!"

Applause rang out. Sarutobi Shinsuke walked over to Uchiha Yue, clapping as he went, then gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder. "I could tell two months ago that you'd pass the practical exam. I never thought you'd put it off for a full two months, Yue! But now you've passed all three exams—the basics, the drills, and the practical—and set a record at the Ninja Academy. Yue, what are you planning to do next? Are you going to take the graduation exam and become a Genin?"

At Sarutobi Shinsuke's question, Uchiha Yue shook his head. "I'm going to keep training at the Ninja Academy for a while and build up my skills before taking the Genin exam." As he spoke, Uchiha Yue suddenly looked up at Sarutobi Shinsuke. "By the way, Shinsuke-sensei, is Hatake Kakashi planning to become a Genin?"

"No. He's thinking the same way you are. You really are geniuses of the Ninja Academy!"

Sarutobi Shinsuke shook his head too. "I think you and Kakashi are both right. Spending more time building up your skills at the Ninja Academy will help you grow stronger later. Unfortunately, those brats don't understand how important it is to build up their strength. They all keep clamoring to become Genin as soon as possible. Having to give them exams every day is such a pain!"

Looking at Uchiha Yue, Sarutobi Shinsuke sighed again. "If only everyone were as easy to deal with as you and Kakashi, I could finally relax!"

Uchiha Yue paid no attention to Sarutobi Shinsuke's complaints. He was only calculating when Hatake Kakashi would become a Genin and planning his own training schedule.

Time flew by. Two months had passed since Uchiha Yue had tested his chakra nature.

For those two months, Uchiha Yue had continued his daily training routine. But now his progress had hit a bottleneck, and he needed to build up his skills before he could keep improving quickly. Take his shurikenjutsu, for example. Two months ago, Uchiha Yue had plateaued at throwing six Kunai at once. Even now, he could only throw six Kunai and hit the bull's-eye in the blind spot. He still couldn't control seven Kunai at once.

Taijutsu, Hand Seals, and ninjutsu weren't his focus at this stage, so his progress in those areas was even slower than with his weapons training. The only thing that comforted Uchiha Yue was his chakra training. After all, improving one's chakra came down to steady accumulation, not so-called talent.

His Rasengan training had also hit a bottleneck during those two months.

For two whole months, Uchiha Yue had focused all his energy on mastering the Rasengan so he could win his bet with Tsunade.

By now, Uchiha Yue had completed the first three stages of Rasengan training. A month earlier, he'd learned to use chakra to burst a water-filled balloon. But maintaining the Rasengan was still difficult. Controlling all that chakra with one hand was no easy feat.

Still, Uchiha Yue was confident he could win his bet with Tsunade.

Although he couldn't yet control the chakra for the Rasengan with one hand, he could manage it with both. But the point of training in the Rasengan was to improve his chakra control, and using both hands was a shortcut. Uchiha Yue wasn't as easily satisfied as Uzumaki Naruto; when he trained, he naturally strived for perfection.

So Uchiha Yue had set himself the goal of using the Rasengan with one hand.

If possible, he hoped to use the Rasengan with just one finger!

All in all, Uchiha Yue had made plenty of progress over the past two months. At the very least, his strength had been steadily improving.

And today, two months later, Uchiha Yue had finally completed the Ninja Academy's three exams. All that remained was the graduation exam before he could become a Genin. Hatake Kakashi had always been his goal, so when he learned that Kakashi was about to become a Genin, Uchiha Yue decided he wouldn't keep training comfortably at the Ninja Academy alongside Uchiha Obito, Rin, and the others.

Only by truly becoming a ninja could he understand what being a ninja really meant.

Without experiencing real battles, Uchiha Yue felt he would never become strong, no matter how long he studied at the Ninja Academy.

The reason Uchiha Yue wanted to graduate alongside Hatake Kakashi was that he still saw Kakashi as his goal.

Over the past two months, Uchiha Yue had fought Hatake Kakashi more than ten times. Each time, he'd struggled against Kakashi. Of course, Kakashi was in much the same position. Their abilities were evenly matched, and all of their ten-plus fights had ended in draws.

Perhaps Hatake Kakashi wanted to become a Genin as soon as possible because Uchiha Yue was chasing after him!

The Ninja Academy exams were over, and Uchiha Yue had passed them, making him a student on the verge of graduation. He was now treated differently from ordinary students. Ordinary students had to attend the Ninja Academy every day, but students like Uchiha Yue and Hatake Kakashi, who were about to take the graduation exam, could train at home.

That was why Uchiha Yue had taken the Ninja Academy exams in the first place: to become a student on the verge of graduation.

After all, that would give him more time to train, wouldn't it?

After the exam, Uchiha Yue watched Sarutobi Shinsuke ramble on and wished he could sew the man's mouth shut. The Ninja Academy instructor was good in every way except that he talked a little too much. Every time Uchiha Yue saw him, he felt like beating him up. Hatake Kakashi probably felt the same way whenever he saw Sarutobi Shinsuke.

But while Sarutobi Shinsuke was rambling on to Uchiha Yue about the Ninja Academy, Uchiha Yue noticed the door open. A slender figure stepped inside. The newcomer was quite pretty, with long black hair. She looked like a girl.

Sarutobi Shinsuke seemed to notice the black-haired girl too. He stopped his endless speech, turned around, and said, "So it's Shizune! Aren't you always by Lady Tsunade's side? What brings you here?"

"Shizune?"

At Sarutobi Shinsuke's words, Uchiha Yue's eyes flickered. Then his gaze fell on Shizune once more.

"So... she's Shizune?"