Before Graduation

Over the past five years, Naruto had lived a fulfilling life, following a strict routine. Following the Night of the Massacre of the Uchiha Clan, the Hidden Leaf Village had entered a period of "true" peace. The four other major ninja villages, including the Cloud Ninja and Rock Ninja, had not truly uncovered the reality of that night. Coupled with the lingering reputation of the Hidden Leaf and the fact that the major villages had yet to fully recover from the Third Shinobi World War, the potential outbreak of a Fourth Shinobi World War was forcibly suppressed.

During this rare period of peace, Naruto truly managed to ignore all external affairs.

Every day, he lived a fixed, three-point life.

Ninja Academy—Home—Forest training ground.

Naruto never wasted time on other matters, focusing instead on his own cultivation and constantly supplementing his knowledge to strengthen himself.

Furthermore, over these five years, Naruto could clearly perceive the Anbu who had been monitoring him withdrawing one by one.

Perhaps it was because he was about to graduate from the Ninja Academy and become a true ninja of the Hidden Leaf, or perhaps it was because Naruto's obedient demeanor over the past few years had completely put the Third Hokage at ease.

In short, a year ago, Naruto could no longer feel that constant sense of being watched in his daily life. The moment that feeling of being pricked by needles finally vanished, Naruto almost couldn't help but cheer. After all, only in this way could he slowly implement his plan, rather than having to play the fool all the time!

Everything was going so smoothly.

Now, he just had to wait patiently for graduation and the team assignments to begin the next phase of his plan.

Yet, at this critical juncture, Naruto forgot one vital thing.

That was the Ninja Academy graduation exam!

And it wasn't until the day of the graduation exam arrived.

In the examination classroom.

It was his turn in the sequence.

"Clone Technique!"

"Poof!"

A familiar golden figure.

That steady voice.

Accompanied by a burst of white smoke that seemed quite imposing.

However, in the next second, as the white smoke cleared, the two clones he had hoped for did not appear.

Instead, as always, two lumps of orange, unidentifiable matter lay slumped on the ground. Yes, that's right, just orange, unidentifiable matter. If one had to say, compared to a few years ago, Naruto's Clone Technique had actually improved; at least now one could make out the color and a rough humanoid shape, if one were willing to admit it.

But in this situation, it was a scene that truly made it impossible to laugh.

This was the Ninja Academy examination room.

It was now Konoha Year 60, and Naruto was twelve years old.

Naruto, who had always been in the top five of his class, top three in theoretical knowledge, and occasionally even first, had failed the Clone Technique during his graduation exam once again.

Even Naruto couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth as he looked at the two lumps beside him.

Although this was a predetermined outcome he had long been aware of, seeing that he still couldn't master the Clone Technique after five full years, Naruto didn't know what to say to himself.

Especially when he saw Iruka not far away, struggling intensely to keep the veins on his forehead from popping, Naruto couldn't help but shrink his head back. A sheepish expression appeared on his face as he scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, while Iruka wore an expression of utter despair.

Clearly, this kid learned everything else so quickly.

He had mastered the Substitution Technique and Transformation Technique of the Three Body Technique in just a few days. His other theoretical knowledge and taijutsu training had always been excellent, and his overall grades were at the very top of the class. Three years ago, after being pestered by Naruto, Iruka had even taught him a C-rank Wind Style jutsu, which Naruto had mastered in a very short time. (As for his chakra nature, Naruto had mentioned it casually three years ago, and Iruka had tested him. Because it was Wind, Iruka taught him a C-rank Wind Style jutsu. Although Iruka himself didn't have the Wind affinity, it wasn't that one couldn't use a jutsu if they didn't have the affinity; it was just that the chakra consumption and final power would be fundamentally different. As a veteran Chunin, it wasn't strange for Iruka to know a C-rank Wind Style jutsu or two.)

Yet, when it came to this Clone Technique, no matter what method he used, the kid just couldn't learn it.

This made Iruka wonder if the kid was just fundamentally incompatible with this specific technique. But since the graduation exam essentially required the Clone Technique, he had held onto the hope of letting the kid try it out. Well, the result was as expected.

This wasn't a clone; it was clearly just a lump of...

Cough, cough...

At this moment, Iruka didn't even know what to say.

"Sigh..."

Iruka sighed silently to himself, then straightened his face and looked at Naruto not far away, speaking with a very serious expression.

"Fail!"

Although Iruka wanted to let Naruto graduate, rules were rules. The Ninja Academy's graduation exam was a reasonable arrangement; only those who passed could become Genin, and those who didn't had to go back and study again. In this regard, Iruka was a bit of a stickler.

These softly spoken words caused Naruto's face to collapse.

No way?

If I really can't graduate...

Wouldn't that be a huge joke?

Sent back to the furnace to be remade.

Naruto didn't have the time or the leisure for that.

Of course, although the original story mentioned that the original self seemed to have taken the graduation exam several times, Naruto was very skeptical about the truth of this in his current life. The Ninja Academy exam was an annual scheduled event. While everyone had the right to apply for early graduation, that was generally during the war years, and it depended on whether the Academy approved it. It wasn't as if you could just say you wanted to graduate early and be allowed to take the exam; the Academy had to agree and arrange a separate exam for you. Therefore, the original self taking the graduation exam multiple times in the original story was simply the biggest bug.

Setting aside future matters, Naruto did not want his graduation delayed.

It was already Konoha Year 60; to put it bluntly, this was the beginning of the plot.

Every step from here on out was crucial.

Naruto had no time to waste here.

If he couldn't perform the Clone Technique, so be it; he could always learn other physical clone techniques later!

"Iruka-sensei, um, I think I can..."

However, before Naruto could finish his sentence, Iruka waved his hand and cut him off directly.

"No, Naruto. A fail is a fail. This is a regulation, and more importantly, a system. The reason the Ninja Academy set up an assessment is to evaluate your comprehensive abilities in all aspects. The Three Body Technique is the foundation. If you cannot even master the Three Body Technique, you are not qualified to become a Genin!"

Iruka crossed his hands on the desk and looked at Naruto with a very solemn expression as he said this.