The Final Major Exam, Raising Master

March 18th, the day of the annual major exam had arrived once again.

At the same time, it was also the final major exam for Ryusuke and his class.

In April, they would advance to sixth grade.

By March next year, the major exam would be their graduation assessment.

As usual, Ryusuke got up early that day.

He first completed his morning training in the yard, then showered and ate breakfast.

After drinking a full glass of fresh milk, he headed straight for the Ninja Academy.

"Ryusuke, good morning!"

As Ryusuke walked toward the academy, a familiar girl's voice suddenly rang out beside him.

Then he felt a weight on his back, and the impact knocked him slightly forward.

A blonde girl had ambushed Ryusuke from behind and leaped straight onto his back.

"Good morning, Ino."

Smiling as he replied, Ryusuke skillfully pried apart the hands around his neck, set Ino down, and continued walking beside her.

Along the way, the handsome boy and beautiful girl drew plenty of attention.

Nearly four years had passed, and eleven-year-old Ryusuke and Ino had both changed tremendously.

First was their height. At the beginning, Ryusuke had been roughly the same height as Sasuke Uchiha and the others.

But after merging with Asura's chakra, Ryusuke's growth had practically gone into overdrive.

After all, unlike the undernourished Naruto, Ryusuke had the inheritance left by his parents and annual pension payments, more than enough to ensure he grew up healthily.

His growth was much like Naruto's after traveling with Jiraiya for training and improving his nutrition—he had gone straight from a little runt to a tall kid.

Ryusuke was now 1.63 meters tall.

That height in fifth grade was nothing remarkable in Ryusuke's previous life, nor was it anything special in Kumogakure, which prized Nintaijutsu, but among Konoha's current generation, he stood head and shoulders above the rest.

After all, even when Sasuke Uchiha graduated, he had only been a little over 1.5 meters tall.

Ryusuke would definitely keep growing. By next year, he might be over 1.65 meters, perhaps even a little above 1.7 meters.

By then, it would be hard to find anyone in the new generation who was even 1.55 meters tall.

Standing beside Ryusuke, they would surely suffer quite a blow.

His height of 1.63 meters had also caused Ryusuke to lose his childishness quickly.

His fully developed features gave his face sharp, distinct contours and exceptional handsomeness.

His silver hair, cut just long enough to cover his ears, his crystal-clear ruby-like eyes, and his mature way of thinking made his gaze incomparably deep. His entire being radiated a charm that made girls blush and their hearts race.

Along the way, countless young girls who had only just begun to understand romance shot murderous looks at Ino, who stood beside Ryusuke.

They wished they could take her place!

Ino had also changed greatly over the past few years.

Having likewise shed her childishness, she had grown to around 1.45 meters tall. Her long blonde hair was constantly styled in different ways.

Sometimes it was tied into the same high ponytail as in the original story, sometimes it hung long and straight, and sometimes it was even styled into twin tails.

That was because Ryusuke had once said that Ino gave off different vibes with different hairstyles.

So over the past few years, Ino had become exceptionally skilled at managing her hair.

Whether it was long straight hair, a high ponytail, twin tails, or even braids, she could style them all quickly.

"Good morning, Ryusuke."

"Ryusuke-kun, good luck on the exam!"

"..."

After arriving at the Ninja Academy, Ryusuke was greeted by classmates all along the way.

Some were from his own class, while others were from different classes.

Unlike the aloof Sasuke Uchiha and Hyuga Neji, Ryusuke was extremely popular at the Ninja Academy.

If not for his silver hair, Minato Namikaze's nickname of the Little Sun might have been given to Ryusuke instead.

Ryusuke did not ignore their enthusiasm. As always, he responded patiently.

As he had said before, this was part of his persona.

In the past, it had been to leave an impression on the heirs of the major ninja clans. Now, it was for Sarutobi Hiruzen to see.

He was the Top Student who surpassed the heirs of every major ninja clan, and his personality was similar to Minato Namikaze's. Even if Sarutobi Hiruzen did not value him, he would never allow Shimura Danzō to take Ryusuke away.

This mask was Ryusuke's form of self-protection.

When he reached the classroom, Ryusuke found that Sakura and Hinata had already arrived.

Seeing Ino enter with Ryusuke, Sakura leaned close to her ear and teased, "No wonder when I went to your house, your mom said you'd already left. But you weren't at school either. So you went to wait for Ryusuke again, Ino."

"Cough, cough... It was a coincidence. Just a coincidence," Ino protested with a light cough.

Sakura merely rolled her eyes at her.

"Good morning, Ryusuke-kun."

Hinata, meanwhile, still greeted Ryusuke with an honorific.

"Good morning, Hinata." Ryusuke smiled and raised a hand in reply.

Like Ino, Hinata and Sakura had also changed tremendously over the past few years.

Of the three, Hinata had changed the most.

Unlike her short hair in the original story, Hinata had learned that Ryusuke liked girls with long hair, so she had secretly begun growing hers out, just like Sakura and Ino.

With her long straight hair, black mesh undershirt, and white windbreaker, Hinata was practically a miniature version of her Shippuden self from the original story.

More importantly, in the original story's early years, Hinata had not even been 1.5 meters tall.

But now, as a fifth grader, Hinata had already surpassed 1.5 meters and reached 1.52 meters.

Among the three girls, Hinata was also the tallest.

Naturally, this change had been brought about by Ryusuke.

Ryusuke knew very well that Hinata had the trait of being a huge eater. That was a talent essential to the strong.

Being able to eat was a blessing—the best description of that trait.

So whenever they trained in the wilderness, Ryusuke often took Hinata, Ino, and Sakura, who had already learned the Body Flicker Technique, out hunting and made barbecue for them.

During that time, Ryusuke deliberately pointed out Hinata's hidden trait.

When Hinata heard Ryusuke call her a huge eater, she instantly turned red with embarrassment and nearly fainted on the spot.

However, after Ryusuke praised and envied this talent of hers, Hinata—who had always feared that Ryusuke, Ino, and the others would say she ate too much, and had thus constantly restrained her appetite—immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

After Ryusuke talked her through it, Hinata stopped restraining how much she ate.

The spiritual energy brought by the Byakugan and the physical energy brought by her huge appetite not only made Hinata exceed the expected height, but also gave her an above-average amount of chakra.

If Hinata had not remained as shy and low-key as ever, she would definitely have made Sasuke Uchiha, who regarded only Ryusuke as his rival, feel pressure from someone in the same year.

As for Sakura, she still wore her pink hair long and straight. She wore a red cheongsam on top, paired with long pants in various colors below, and outwardly looked the same as in the original story.

But inwardly, she had changed just as much.

First of all, because Ryusuke had saved her, Sakura had not awakened a second personality. She was still gentle in nature, and her bearing had already gained a touch of the married-woman vibe she had in Boruto.

With Ryusuke's help, her talent for Chakra Control had also been well developed.

If Sakura was still assigned to the same team as Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha after graduating next year, she would surely give them quite a shock.

Thinking about how all these changes in the girls were his doing filled Ryusuke with a sense of accomplishment.

If he had been transported to the Pokémon World, Ryusuke felt certain that he would have become a Raising Master.