Graduation Exam

Compared with Chōji Dōtō and Kiba Inuzuka, two cannon fodder characters from the original story who were only mentioned by name, Shikaku Nara was the famous strategist of Konoha.

"Shikaku Nara and Shikamaru Nara really are father and son. Their aversion to trouble is exactly the same," Uchiha Matsuri couldn't help thinking.

Ino Yamanaka stood with his arms folded, his face stern as he watched the students complain. Unlike before, Ino Yamanaka didn't seem to be making any effort to stop them this time. Instead, he watched from the sidelines with an amused, detached air.

Hearing his classmates complain, Minato Namikaze wanted to stand up and comfort them. Just as he was about to rise, however, he heard a boy in the back row speak first. Turning around, he saw that it was Uchiha Matsuri, who hadn't said a single word in class over the past month.

"Actually..." Uchiha Matsuri stood with his arms folded and looked at Ino Yamanaka at the front of the classroom. "The Third Hokage and Teacher Yamanaka have made a lot of sense."

Hearing Uchiha Matsuri express an opinion for once, the entire class immediately fell silent.

"Because of the Second Shinobi World War, most students used to graduate from the Ninja Academy after less than two years. That certainly helped replenish the depleted ranks at the front, but it also left newly graduated ninjas with poor fundamentals. Once they reached the battlefield, they were doomed to become cannon fodder," Uchiha Matsuri analyzed. "Now that the course of study has been extended to three years, we'll actually have a better grasp of the basics."

"Matsuri's right. Just like extending our time in school, the final exam is meant to help us practice our fundamentals," Minato Namikaze added with a smile, his gentle expression unchanged.

"What's that supposed to mean? Those two are always the top students. Of course they don't mind exams!" Kushina Uzumaki couldn't help complaining to herself.

After silently disparaging the two "honor students," everyone stopped complaining.

Time flew by, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those three years, many major changes took place in the Shinobi World. For instance, the Sannin fought Hanzo of the Salamander, who was known as a "demigod." When Hanzo of the Salamander surrendered on behalf of the Land of Rain, the Second Shinobi World War was more or less over.

When news of the war's end reached Konoha, the entire village celebrated for three days and three nights. But when all of Konoha's ninjas returned in triumph, Uchiha Matsuri noticed that Jiraiya wasn't among them.

Uchiha Matsuri had long since grown used to living alone, so he felt neither surprised nor uncomfortable. Thinking about it, Jiraiya must have gone to teach the three orphans from the Land of Rain—Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.

June, Year 33 of Konoha. Uchiha Matsuri was nine years old.

Uchiha Matsuri and his classmates faced their Ninja Academy graduation exam.

It was summer, and the school grounds rang with the sound of cicadas.

On the playground.

Ino Yamanaka stood in the middle of the playground, facing the thirty-three students still left in the class.

After glancing over the students before him, Ino Yamanaka announced loudly, "Today is the day of your graduation exam. I'll spare you the usual sentimental speech and explain the process. The graduation exam has two rounds. You must pass both to graduate."

As he spoke, Ino Yamanaka held up one finger. "First round: I'll test each of your Clone Techniques."

Then Ino Yamanaka held up two fingers and looked at the students before him. "Second round: you'll pair up and spar, using whatever ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or genjutsu you can to try to defeat your opponent. I'll evaluate your abilities, decide whether they meet the graduation requirements, and give you a score and ranking. Only those who meet the requirements will graduate..."

As Ino Yamanaka spoke, Uchiha Matsuri secretly glanced at Minato Namikaze, who was looking back at him. Their eyes met, and both gave an awkward smile.

"If we're paired up, and there's a huge difference in strength between the two of us, neither side will be able to show their full abilities. So our opponents must be people of similar strength," Uchiha Matsuri thought. "That means I'll probably be matched against that guy, Minato Namikaze."

The first round ended quickly. As expected, everyone except a few of the class's worst students passed the Clone Technique test.

"Excellent. Only three people were eliminated in the first round. Now for the second round," Ino Yamanaka said with satisfaction. "First match: Minato Namikaze versus Kushina Uzumaki..."

"Teacher Yamanaka, let me fight Minato," Uchiha Matsuri suddenly interrupted.

Over the past three years, Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze had secretly regarded each other as the opponent they wanted to challenge. And since they'd both thought Ino Yamanaka would put them together, they'd been eagerly preparing to defeat each other in a match. Ino Yamanaka's pairing just now had left Uchiha Matsuri utterly stunned, and even the usually mild-mannered Minato Namikaze couldn't help frowning.

Although Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze had been evenly matched in their regular grades, Ino Yamanaka believed that Minato Namikaze would win without a doubt if they fought. The reason was simple: Ino Yamanaka had seen how hard Minato Namikaze worked.

To improve his strength, Minato Namikaze had constantly asked Ino Yamanaka for help with ninjutsu after class. At first, Ino Yamanaka had been a little annoyed, but later he began teaching Minato Namikaze everything he knew.

So Ino Yamanaka had always believed that, although Uchiha Matsuri had better fundamentals and talent, he hadn't awakened his Sharingan despite being an Uchiha. As a result, Uchiha Matsuri would have a hard time gaining the upper hand against Minato Namikaze.

What Ino Yamanaka could never have imagined, however, was that Uchiha Matsuri had awakened his single-Tomoe Sharingan long ago, after witnessing his "parents" being killed. Since Uchiha Matsuri had kept it so well hidden, almost no one knew about it.

"Um..." Ino Yamanaka turned to Minato Namikaze, seemingly seeking his opinion.

Hearing Uchiha Matsuri ask to fight Minato Namikaze, the students watching began cheering them on.

"If Matsuri wants to fight me, I have no problem with that," Minato Namikaze said with a smile.

"Since Minato agrees, the first match will be Minato Namikaze versus Uchiha Matsuri," Ino Yamanaka announced loudly.

"Matsuri, I look forward to learning from you."

"Minato, I look forward to learning from you."

The two bowed to each other at the same time.

Over the past three years, everyone's abilities had improved tremendously. As the two students who had traded the top spot back and forth, Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze had both worked hard to get stronger.

After learning to extract and control chakra proficiently, Uchiha Matsuri had used his Sharingan's advantage to secretly copy several ninjutsu techniques near the Training Ground in his spare time.