Applying for Early Graduation

The next day, Ninja Academy office

Nobi Fan sat behind his desk, sizing up the child before him who was always skipping class. "You want to apply for early graduation?"

"Yes, Teacher Nobi. I believe I am strong enough to graduate from the Ninja Academy."

Feng Xun's loud reply made the other ninja instructors glance over repeatedly.

"Isn't that Nobi's student? Why did he come to Nobi to apply for early graduation?" A newly promoted ninja instructor found it rather strange.

"Fujiwara, you're new, so you don't know. That kid is Nobi's number-one problem student. Not only can he not refine chakra, he has barely attended any classes."

"Seriously? He can't refine chakra, and he still wants to graduate early?" The instructor named Fujiwara stared at the boy in the office in astonishment.

Faced with the whispers around the office, Feng Xun pretended not to hear them and kept his eyes on Nobi Fan.

"Are you serious?" Nobi Fan confirmed again.

"Yes. Please approve my request, Teacher."

Seeing Feng Xun's resolute answer, Nobi Fan frowned deeply, yet he did not look surprised in the slightest. It was as though everything Feng Xun was doing had been within his expectations.

With a long sigh, Nobi Fan continued, "I approve your request. As it happens, someone asked me earlier to give her the right to oversee your assessment."

"Someone?" Feng Xun's expression turned thoughtful, and a bad feeling rose in his heart. "Teacher Nobi, may I ask who that person is?"

Nobi Fan shook his head, looking somewhat uneasy. "She told me not to reveal her name. But don't worry. I don't think she will make things difficult for you."

That only made Feng Xun feel even more unsettled.

In Konoha, someone who acted in secret and was addressed so respectfully could only be Danzo or Orochimaru, the future mad scientist, among the people Feng Xun knew.

Orochimaru had not begun his experiments yet, which meant there was more than an eighty percent chance that it was Danzo.

But I should not have had any dealings with Danzo in this life. From what I knew of him, he should not have targeted an unknown good-for-nothing like me.

Could it have been because I saved Kushina last time and exposed my strength? But even if that were the case, how did he know I would apply for early graduation? Only my brother and I should have known about this.

The more Feng Xun thought about it, the more uneasy he became. Looking at Nobi Fan walking ahead of him, he even wanted to turn around and run away. But he also knew that leaving just like that would only prove that he had something to hide.

Filled with unease, Feng Xun followed Nobi Fan to the training ground.

However, the bandaged man Feng Xun had expected was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a blonde girl stood on the arena platform, looking increasingly impatient.

Danzo isn't here? Feng Xun breathed a sigh of relief, but his face immediately darkened further.

Why was that crazy woman standing there? Could she be my examiner? What kind of joke was this?

Without another thought, Feng Xun turned to leave.

If it had been Danzo, he would have been somewhat wary and considered how to fool his way past him. But Tsunade was another matter entirely. He did not believe that this big-breasted, empty-headed woman would do anything to him. As for crippling him in a fit of rage? That was even more absurd.

Anyone who had watched Naruto knew that unless Tsunade was facing an enemy, the worst she would do to someone from her own village was give them a brutal beating. There would be no harsher punishment than that.

But Feng Xun would rather take a beating than have any further connection with her. Just as he had long decided, unnecessary feelings had no value in his life.

Unfortunately, just as Feng Xun was about to turn and leave, Tsunade, who had already run out of patience in the distance, spotted him from the corner of her eye.

The instant she noticed him, Tsunade rushed in front of Feng Xun, grabbed his ear, and snapped, "Brat, where do you think you're going?!"

Feng Xun slapped away Tsunade's claw. Knowing he would not be getting away anytime soon, he frowned and said coldly, "Where I go is my freedom. As for you, a hero of the village, what brings you to this tiny Ninja Academy?"

"Well, um..." Tsunade's gaze wandered, but she quickly grabbed Nobi Fan, who was pretending to be invisible beside her. "Ask your teacher. I can't be bothered to answer those questions."

Feng Xun did not look at Nobi Fan. Even without asking, he knew exactly what had happened.

It was nothing more than Tsunade throwing her weight around and forcing his teacher to let her become the examiner. If he questioned Nobi Fan, he would only make the man uncomfortable. Feng Xun was not like Tsunade, with a brain full of fat.

"Fine. I no longer care why you are here! Please move aside first. I want to go back to class."

"Go... go... to class?" Tsunade blinked in a slightly dazed manner, confused. "Didn't you come here to apply for early graduation?"

"That was what I planned before, but I regret it now. I'm going back. Goodbye!"

It would be best if we never met again, Feng Xun added inwardly.

With that, Feng Xun went around Tsunade and carefully started walking back.

One step... two steps... three steps...

As Feng Xun walked faster and faster, Tsunade, who had remained where she was, finally snapped out of it. Watching him get farther away, she snorted and crossed the distance in two leaps, dragging Feng Xun back before her once more.

Looking at Feng Xun's bitter expression, Tsunade said amiably, "Brat, do you think it's fun to toy with me?"

"Hehe, how could I? When did I ever toy with Lady Tsunade?" Feng Xun replied with a fake smile, his eyelid twitching.

"Hmph! No matter how sweetly you talk today, I won't let you off. Let's fight. If you can defeat me, I'll give up on taking you as my disciple."

Feng Xun smacked his lips and forced out a stiff smile. "Lady Tsunade, isn't that against the rules? Under normal procedures, my opponent should be a newly promoted chunin. And the requirement should not be to defeat my opponent, but to remain undefeated for half an hour, right?"

(At this point, some people may think Tsunade's intelligence is too low, so let Old Cat explain. In the original story, Tsunade in her youth might not have been this dumb, but she definitely was not especially smart either. Otherwise, her younger brother would not have died for no reason, her boyfriend would not have died, and she would not have left Konoha alone with Shizune. Some might say they were simply too weak and that death in war was normal, but leaving aside Nawaki being inexplicably blown up, Dan's performance after being reanimated showed that he had at least near-Kage-level strength when he was alive, perhaps even greater. And with Tsunade as his partner, plus a bunch of other ninja on the mission, they still ended up with one dead and one injured. During the Second Shinobi World War, before the ninja power system collapsed, there had to be something suspicious about that. I would never believe otherwise.

Besides, who was standing beside Tsunade? The protagonist! The protagonist's eternal law was that he carried the protagonist's halo, which came with all sorts of buffs. One of them was an intelligence-reduction buff: it reduced allies' intelligence by twenty percent and doubled the reduction for enemies.)