Graduation Exam

"..." Hayate nodded at the words and said nothing more.

"You should mention this to your father when you go back. Being in a well-known, assigned group together is so much better than random grouping, and I'll go back and fight for it in the clan too. The three of us must be assigned together," Yuun said decisively.

Graduating alongside Itachi was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Even though the Ninja Academy was meant for building a foundation, the academy had now compressed the six-year system into a wartime three-year system. While study time was drastically reduced, the focus also shifted heavily toward actual combat. The actual combat capabilities of Yuun, Itachi, and Hana were already universally recognized as the top three. Even students a grade above them were no match for them. In combat class, they basically could only spar against each other, and whoever was left over faced a crushing defeat no matter who they fought against.

According to the instructors' evaluations, Yuun's close-quarters combat was already approaching the level of a Chunin. As long as he wasn't up against those seasoned Chunin, a stalemate for quite some time was more than enough. Hana was slightly worse off, but she was still among the very best of the Genin. As for Itachi, his close-quarters combat still couldn't compare to Yuun and Hana's, but supplemented with ninja tool throwing, ninjutsu, and Genjutsu, he could easily crush Hana, who relied purely on taijutsu.

As time went on, Itachi's progress became faster and faster. A few months ago, Hana could still fight evenly with him, but a few months later, she wasn't worth looking at in front of him. Even for Yuun to personally step in and take down Itachi was not a simple matter. Itachi's progress was not only manifested in his taijutsu, ninjutsu, and Genjutsu; his patience, intelligence, and judgment seemed to be progressing at a galloping speed throughout this year. If it were Yuun from a year ago, he probably wouldn't be Itachi's match either.

Uncertain how Itachi would communicate with his father upon returning, Yuun went straight to Hizashi, who had returned just a few days prior, the moment he stepped foot back in the clan grounds. Hizashi, who had spent over a year on the battlefield, hadn't changed much, though that was normal; after all, he had been on the battlefield before. If there was any change, it had happened back then.

"This matter should be fine," Hizashi nodded after listening to Yuun's account. Ever since Yuun had been willing to hand over the concept of Borrow Force, Return Force to the clan, Hizashi had become much more lenient toward him. "Still, it requires the patriarch's consent. Being in a group with an Uchiha is not without precedent. Even though the family and the Uchiha are rivals, they won't interfere in the affairs of you juniors."

"Thank you, teacher," Yuun earnestly bowed to Hizashi.

"Since I'm about to head out, help me look after Neji Hyuga," Hizashi said, pointing to Neji Hyuga, who was pretending to read a book while actually constantly peeking over their way.

Neji Hyuga was just over a year old, and his mother had passed away only a few months ago. At that time, Yuun had helped handle the funeral. It was mostly the clan helping out, but regardless, someone reliable needed to keep an eye on things. Originally, Hizashi's older brother Hiashi was going to help, but seeing that Yuun was there, he named Yuun to step in.

Hizashi hadn't returned back then, and although the clan had found a nanny for Neji Hyuga, Neji Hyuga was still young, and Yuun frequently came to see him. Over time, Yuun and Neji Hyuga's relationship was also quite good. No matter what age, young children loved to play. The moment Hizashi left, little Neji Hyuga let out a cheer, abandoned his books, and ran over to Yuun to frolic.

To be honest, Yuun wasn't one to look after kids either, but even though he wasn't considered a teenager yet, he was clearly much more reasonable than adults in the eyes of children—at least Yuun didn't pull a stern face all day long.

Hizashi returned shortly and brought good news for Yuun. The clan agreed to let him and Itachi graduate early, and agreed to help him, Hana, and Itachi strive to be assigned to the same group. The extra condition was that he had to become a Chunin before Itachi, thereby proving that the Hyuga Clan could be superior to the Uchiha.

Such a condition posed zero pressure for Yuun. He had already faintly touched the threshold of a breakthrough. As long as he was given some time or a catalyst, his strength would definitely reach a higher level. By then, even if he wasn't at the Chunin rank, it would be close, and Itachi couldn't possibly be faster than him unless he could awaken the Sharingan.

The next day, Itachi came to the school and also brought good news: his father, the current Uchiha patriarch, had agreed to his request. What they needed was a rapidly growing Itachi, and having two comrades whom he could safely entrust his back to couldn't be better. As for Yuun from the Hyuga Clan, he wasn't taken to heart by them; the Uchiha, bearing the name of the strongest, never feared competition.

In the end, only Hana was left, but Yuun wasn't worried. The current head of the Inuzuka clan was Hana's mother, Inuzuka Tsume. Small-to-medium clans like the Inuzuka didn't have many rules. Graduating early and getting assigned with famous geniuses like Yuun and Itachi was worth it. Besides, Yuun didn't think Hana's wildly unrestrained mother could think that far ahead. Frankly speaking, every time he thought of Hana's mother, Yuun's primary impression was that a Saiyan had time-traveled. That personality and appearance were far too similar—could it actually be that Inuzuka Tsume was a descendant of Saiyans who ended up stranded in the Naruto World?

Applying for early graduation wasn't a difficult task either. With Kakashi, a senior who graduated at age five, as a shining precedent, the school was quite welcoming toward applications for early graduation, though the difficulty of the exam would certainly be much harder than normal graduation.

Fortunately, Yuun felt that the three of them were strong enough. In terms of combat power alone, discounting everything else and relying on their three-person coordination, they were probably even qualified to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams from the original plotline. Aside from Gaara's team, Naruto Uzumaki's Team 7 going berserk, and Kabuto Yakushi and Orochimaru's team, the remaining ones could easily be crushed by the three of them. A mere Genin graduation exam truly didn't amount to much.

Soon, the school issued the graduation exam questions for the three of them—each of the three had to independently complete a random C-rank Mission, and the three missions could be distributed among themselves. Escorting a merchant caravan, wiping out a mountain bandit stronghold, and eliminating beasts harming villagers' crops. After some discussion among the three, Hana was responsible for eliminating the beasts, Itachi for escorting the merchant caravan, and Yuun for wiping out the mountain bandit stronghold.

In truth, there wasn't much to discuss. Eliminating beasts was best suited for Hana, whose sense of smell and hearing were acute. After all, no matter how ferocious a beast was, it wouldn't be a ninja's opponent. If worst came to worst, getting close and slapping an Explosive Tag on it would settle everything. The hard part was finding the beasts, and in this aspect, Hana was the most skilled.

As for escorting the merchant caravan and wiping out the mountain bandit stronghold, it didn't really matter who went. It was just that Yuun figured since he was about to graduate and hadn't seen blood yet, it wouldn't be good. Although he felt good about himself and should have no psychological pressure when killing, just in case he dropped the ball at a crucial moment, he had to try it out with such a good opportunity first.

After assigning the missions, the three of them submitted their mission forms to the school together and collected a portion of the mission funds to equip themselves. Yuun and Itachi were fine; the ones they were dealing with were ordinary people, while Hana was facing unknown beasts. In case those beasts had tough hides and thick skin, Hana's teeth and claws truly wouldn't be of any use, so she had no choice but to purchase some high-powered ninja tools. She bought three Explosive Tags, alongside a Fuma Shuriken and a triangular dart, as well as various powders to repel insects and snakes, and some potions for her own consumption.

As for Yuun, he moderately bought some shuriken and steel wire, and considering he would need to destroy the mountain bandit stronghold afterward, he bought a few incendiary bombs. As for Itachi, he also moderately bought some shuriken and didn't add anything else. Truthfully, he could get these ninja tools directly from home; he just bought a few out of hand when he saw Yuun and the others buying them, and the price wasn't high anyway.