Two Years Later

Two years later.

With graduation from the Ninja Academy imminent, the students in the class felt a mix of joy and sorrow.

Most students were happy about their upcoming transition into becoming ninjas.

Their five-year stint at the academy was finally coming to an end; they would no longer have to listen to their homeroom teacher's nagging or fear the occasional roll-call criticism.

However, this only applied to those who were not worried about the graduation exam. For those who were, this period was nothing short of a disaster.

The representative figure of this group was Uchiha Obito. Over the past two years, Obito had still not managed to shake off his reputation as a dead-last, ranking alongside Might Guy as the class's two resident underachievers.

Obito was currently fretting over the final exam. Word was that this year's test requirement was the Clone Technique.

Ordinarily, this subject would be simple, but Obito happened to be particularly unskilled at the Clone Technique.

Furthermore, although Obito and Might Guy were both underachievers, their situations were not entirely the same.

Might Guy was a special admission student for taijutsu; his ninjutsu scores had always been at the bottom of the class, whereas Obito's ninjutsu scores were actually the best among all his subjects.

The one thing they had in common was that their grades in academic subjects were both very low.

Initially, one might think Obito had the upper hand since he was good at ninjutsu while the other was good at taijutsu, and both seemed to have bright futures.

But when it came to the graduation exam, the situation was quite different.

Because Might Guy had been at the bottom of the ninjutsu rankings for years, the school had taken his special circumstances into account and granted him an exemption from the ninjutsu portion of the exam.

However, Obito's usual ninjutsu scores were decent—at least at an average level within the class.

Consequently, there was no reason to grant him an exemption.

This drove Obito into a panic, leaving him no choice but to work overtime every day to train.

It had to be said that Obito's last-minute cramming was highly effective.

After all, Obito would train at the training ground even in the pouring rain. By now, his Fireball Technique had caught up to the level Toru had been at two years ago, and while his shuriken skills weren't exactly brilliant, he could at least hit the target.

Only the Clone Technique remained; Obito would struggle for ages before barely managing to produce one. With that level of skill, he felt very insecure about taking the graduation exam.

The reason Obito was so anxious about the final exam was that he had been found by Rin during one of his rainy training sessions, and at the time, he had bragged to her that he would definitely pass.

If he failed, he wouldn't know how to face her.

After pondering this for a long time, Obito suddenly thought of a helper: Uchiha Toru.

That's right, Toru is from my clan; he will definitely help me.

Thus, Obito sought out Uchiha Toru and explained his situation. To his relief, Toru did not refuse.

Inside the training ground, Obito stood stiffly. Toru, standing in front of him, rubbed his chin and paced around him, inspecting him from head to toe. After a long while, he said, "Your strength is better than I imagined."

Toru had scanned Obito's data with his Six Eyes. Although Obito's grades were poor, his actual strength was not.

While his taijutsu couldn't compare to Might Guy or Kakashi, his foundations were solid; he simply lacked technique.

As for ninjutsu, his chakra reserves—the foundation of all ninjutsu—were quite large. Although he didn't know many techniques, he knew enough to handle the graduation exam.

As for genjutsu, while he only possessed a basic grasp, the graduation exam's genjutsu portion was essentially a written test, so there was no need to worry.

Viewed in this light, Obito should be able to pass the exam.

Since Obito himself lacked confidence, Toru could only provide him with some symbolic training.

Obito's foundation was good; the only thing he needed to train was his technique.

Toru told him that his previous training methods were too crude and sloppy, which was his greatest weakness. Their subsequent training would focus specifically on technical refinement.

In terms of taijutsu, Toru personally acted as a sparring partner, passing on his own combat experience with every punch and kick, then letting Obito practice on his own while he provided guidance from the sidelines.

For ninjutsu, they optimized the process of Obito performing the Clone Technique, using the Six Eyes to observe the flow of chakra within Obito's body and providing real-time instructions.

Obito felt that Toru was nothing short of a miracle worker. Even the flow of chakra inside his own body was being directed to move without obstruction. Under Toru's guidance, Obito found performing the Clone Technique much easier.

In truth, Obito's original level for the Clone Technique had already met the passing mark; it was just that his method of execution was too strenuous.

Toru had simply pointed out a better path. Toru himself felt he hadn't really done much—at most, it was a trivial effort.

However, Obito was still extremely grateful to Toru. To show his appreciation, he even treated him to a meal of barbecue.

One had to understand that Obito's parents were long gone and his grandmother had also passed away; his financial situation was far inferior to Toru's, who received support from Fugaku.

Paying for this barbecue cost Obito nearly half a month's living expenses.

Feeling that a single meal wasn't enough, Obito patted his chest and declared that he owed Toru a favor. If Toru ever needed anything in the future, he would go through fire and water without hesitation.

Toru just laughed it off, as he didn't think he would ever need Obito's help.

Still, Toru thought to himself that this Uchiha clansman before him was truly special. Such a lively, cheerful, and straightforward personality was one of a kind within the entire Uchiha clan.

The Uchiha clan had people as calm and collected as himself, as cunning and slick as Uchiha Doka, as silent and dull as Uchiha Tekka, and as mature and statesmanlike as Uchiha Fugaku.

Yet, there was no one as lively and cheerful as Obito. In fact, the word "cheerful" seemed to have nothing to do with the Uchiha clan at all.

With Toru's help, Obito successfully passed the graduation exam.

However, on the day of the graduation ceremony, Obito arrived very late because he had been helping an old lady across the street.

He missed the entire post-graduation team assignment and the forehead protector awarding ceremony. Fortunately, Rin had been waiting outside for him, and in the end, she personally held a graduation ceremony for him.

When Obito asked about the team assignments after graduation, Rin lowered her head, making Obito think they weren't on the same team, and his spirits sank.

Unexpectedly, Rin put her hands on her hips and teased, "Too bad, we're on the same team."

This made Obito instantly ecstatic. When he asked who the other teammate was, however, Rin just gave him a mysterious smile.

By this time, Toru had also graduated. Wearing his Konoha forehead protector, he sat on the rooftop of a building.

The two people beside him were familiar faces: one was Yuhi Kurenai, and the other was Sarutobi Asuma. These three formed a genin squad, designated as Team 8.

Opposite the three of them stood the jonin in charge of Team 8—a man wearing a jonin flak jacket, his black hair tied up like a pineapple, and sporting a goatee.

The man had two scars on his right cheek, giving him a fierce appearance, yet his eyes reflected a sharp and wise demeanor.

After carefully sizing up the three students in front of him, the man spoke: "Let's start with self-introductions. I am your teacher, Nara Shikaku."