Graduation Preparations

Before long, Orochimaru and Lihuo walked out of the Hokage Building.

The two of them, who had been "strict teacher and gifted student" just a moment ago, suddenly became complete strangers.

Lihuo looked at his future "master" and was just about to say something when Orochimaru opened his mouth without a care for appearances.

Bleugh!

With an unpleasant sound, a scroll squirmed up his throat and into his mouth. At last, he took it in his hand, covered in mucus.

"It seems you really have mastered some kind of rapid recovery ability. Otherwise, there's no way yesterday's injuries could have healed so quickly. This is beyond the reach of ordinary Medical Ninjutsu."

Orochimaru spoke with keen interest.

"Teacher Orochimaru, that's not something you need to know." Lihuo pouted, as if displeased by Orochimaru's insistence on digging for answers.

"Come now, don't be so formal." Orochimaru smiled and handed the scroll to Lihuo, his expression turning serious.

"I suspect you didn't hold back at all yesterday, so I drew up a strict training plan based on your true abilities."

"This may sound a little presumptuous, but if you follow this plan closely, you'll definitely benefit greatly."

Suppressing his discomfort, Lihuo took the scroll from Orochimaru and read it carefully.

The more he read, the more impressed he was by Orochimaru's keen eye and unique training methods.

He was certain that if he trained according to this plan, his strength would improve by leaps and bounds!

It had to be said that although Orochimaru was ruthless in his methods, as a teacher, he was just as dedicated as Jiraiya.

During the three years of training in the original story, he not only made Uchiha Sasuke incredibly powerful, but also laid a solid foundation for him in analyzing enemies and devising strategies.

That was also why Lihuo had chosen Orochimaru as his teacher. At present, he couldn't make much further progress at the Ninja Academy.

And if he graduated early and was assigned to a regular three-man squad, he definitely wouldn't improve as much as he would under the personal guidance of one of the Sannin, Orochimaru.

Besides, as Orochimaru had said, last night was the only time Lihuo had ever truly held nothing back.

Therefore, only Orochimaru could make a perfect training plan for him.

"Little Lihuo, graduating early without a hitch is my first test for you. Don't disappoint me."

"Lastly, sign a contract with Ryūchi Cave as soon as possible. That'll make it easier for me to contact you. When I have some free time, I'll call you over to study Natural Energy with me."

Orochimaru smiled, his words carrying an unstated implication. Then he used the Body Flicker Technique and left Lihuo with the Ryūchi Cave contract scroll.

"Tch, who do you think you're looking down on?" Lihuo muttered inwardly, unconcerned.

"Graduating early is such a small matter. How hard could it be?"

"At this stage, I only need to show him a little about Natural Energy, and he'll have years' worth of research to do."

At the thought, Lihuo couldn't help laughing smugly.

"What are you laughing about?"

A familiar voice suddenly came from behind him. It was Kakashi.

"Oh, it's you, Kakashi. What are you doing here?"

"My father received a mission from Lord Hokage and has to leave right away. I came to see him off."

"If Senior Sakumo has to handle it, the mission must be no small matter."

"Yeah, I don't know the details. But why are you here?" Kakashi asked, a little puzzled.

Lihuo told him what had happened, leaving out his three-hundred-round battle with Orochimaru. He only mentioned that he was going to become Orochimaru's student.

"Oh? Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. He's a very powerful ninja."

"Yeah. Want to come with me?"

"No. After I graduate, I plan to keep training in the Hatake Sword Technique."

Kakashi's answer was exactly what Lihuo had expected. After all, Kakashi was focused on swordsmanship, and Orochimaru's path didn't suit him.

"Then how about graduating early with me? There's nothing left to learn at the Ninja Academy, anyway."

Kakashi thought for a moment, then raised his head.

"Then it's settled."

"What about Guy?" Lihuo asked.

"Guy's Taijutsu is strong, but he's a complete mess in every other area."

Kakashi nodded at that.

"True. There's no question about his strength, but in every other respect, he's still far from meeting the graduation requirements."

"Then we'll just have to let him keep working at it for a while."

With that, the two of them laughed and headed to the training ground to share the good news with Guy.

It wasn't that they didn't care about leaving Guy behind.

Rather, the three of them shared the same understanding: everyone had their own path.

Their paths didn't have to be identical, and they didn't need to cling to each other every step of the way. It was enough to know that their friends were out there striving toward their goals too.

They were certain that, with Guy's abilities, he would one day become a ninja who could stand on his own.

As for them, all they needed to do was keep getting stronger!

After hearing the news, Guy trained even harder.

The next day, Kakashi and Lihuo unusually came to school in person instead of using Shadow Clones. After class, they went straight to see their teacher, Oshima.

Looking at the two boys before him, Oshima felt deeply moved.

Ever since he'd left Anbu to become a teacher, he'd come to understand more and more just how frighteningly talented geniuses could be.

While their peers were still studying hard, these true prodigies had already grown into ninjas capable of standing on their own.

"I've already heard that you two are graduating early," Oshima said solemnly.

"What I want to tell you is that your assessments will be even more difficult than those for students graduating on schedule."

"After all, I don't want any of my students dying on a mission because I failed them."

After hearing Oshima out, Lihuo and Kakashi finally began to take the exam seriously.

Oshima then explained the rules of the graduation exam in detail.

Unlike the graduation exam taken by Naruto's generation in the original story, the current exam was exceptionally strict.

First came the test of basic knowledge. It covered everything a graduating student was expected to know. And since there were only two examinees, there would be more proctors than students, making cheating impossible.

Next came the practical test. At this point, Oshima placed particular emphasis on one thing.

"I know you two are very strong. I can tell from your regular training."

"Except for Guy, none of the other students can even touch your Shadow Clones."

"For the practical exam, you'll each fight an examiner, who'll score your performance."

"So whether you're taking an exam or going on a mission in the future, never underestimate your opponent."

The two nodded in agreement. Oshima then reminded them of a few more details before concluding,

"The exam will be held in half a month, at the same time as everyone else's final exams."

"I hope you two geniuses prepare well. Good luck."

After thanking their teacher, the two left the school.

"After hearing Oshima's instructions, I don't think this exam will be easy," Kakashi said.

"Tell me about it. Especially the basic knowledge part. We still have a lot to catch up on."

"You do, not us."

Lihuo: (;￣O￣)

Kakashi: "Oh? Isn't this the kind of knowledge we should've mastered before enrolling?"

Only then did Lihuo understand why Kakashi had become a Chunin at the age of six.

He was such a try-hard!

"Then I'll spend the next half month catching up on my basic knowledge," Lihuo said casually. "I'm not worried about the practical test."

"They can't possibly make us fight a Jonin, can they?"

With that, Lihuo said goodbye to Kakashi, claiming he was going home to study.

After returning home, Lihuo took out the Ryūchi Cave Summoning Scroll Orochimaru had given him.

As for why Lihuo wasn't worried about his basic knowledge? What a joke. The "Basic Knowledge Mastery" reward he'd gotten from patting Ebisu's head was enough to handle most of the questions.

And for the remaining tricky questions, all he had to do was find a few top students in the higher grades tomorrow and pat their heads.

Lihuo: Studying? No way. I'm never studying in this lifetime.

When he opened the Summoning Scroll, Orochimaru's name stood out clearly on it.

Faced with a Summoning Scroll from Ryūchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Lands, Lihuo had no reason to hesitate. He promptly signed his name.

He bit his thumb and pressed his fingerprint beneath his name.

Lihuo felt a faint connection forming between him and some distant place.

But since he didn't know the Summoning Technique, there was no way he could summon a Ninja Snake to play with.

Then Lihuo opened the training plan Orochimaru had drawn up and began practicing exactly as instructed.

Time passed quickly. The next day arrived.

Lihuo came to school in person again. The moment he entered, he activated Simplified Sage Mode, removed his weights, and pushed his speed to the limit.

In the blink of an eye, he'd patted every student and teacher in the school on the head!

As he patted them, he shouted,

"Don't yell at me, I'm Hatake Kakashi!"

"You dare yell at me? I, Uchiha Aotian, will never forgive you!"

"Let me show you the might of Uchiha Obito!"

Apart from a few exceptionally strong teachers who managed to evade him, everyone had their rewards harvested by Lihuo.

Since he wouldn't be staying here much longer, he might as well reap the rewards while he could.

After his hard work "harvesting," Lihuo experienced the joy of being a farmer.

Most of the head-patting rewards were worth between 10,000 and 50,000 yen.

Some teachers and students gave him enhancement rewards like "Encyclopedia of Ninja Knowledge," "Advanced Knowledge Mastery," and "Minor Physical Enhancement."

The gains added up, making his trip around the Ninja Academy a hugely profitable one.

With the pain that accompanied each reward, Lihuo kept getting stronger, suffering and enjoying it at the same time.

"Uchiha Lihuo! What have you done?!" Oshima's furious roar came from far away.

Feeling guilty, Lihuo hurriedly fled, shouting as he ran,

"I'm not Uchiha Lihuo! I'm Might Guy!"

Over the following days, Oshima was busy dealing with the complaint letters piled on his desk, while Lihuo was busy training and consolidating his strength.