That noon.
After another medical training session, Mikami Yu left the classroom with Nohara Rin, Uchiha Obito, and Baicao, an upperclassman several years ahead of them. They saw several stretchers being hurried down the corridor, carrying ninjas wrapped head to toe in bandages, their faces twisted in pain.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant.
"Lately, it seems like more and more wounded have been sent to the hospital, and their injuries are generally quite severe..."
Nohara Rin clenched the strap of her medical bag with her small hand and spoke softly.
"I heard that the friction with the Land of Lightning has escalated. There are also unidentified people stirring up trouble in the Land of Wind to the south, and border outposts have been attacked repeatedly... It may only get worse from here."
Baicao looked worried as well.
Unlike Mikami Yu and Nohara Rin, Baicao was already an official ninja. While receiving training, he also assisted the full-fledged medical ninjas.
With the number of injured patients in the hospital increasing by the day and manpower running short, he, as a newly promoted medical ninja, had begun to grow busy. Sometimes, he did not even have time to attend training classes.
At that moment.
Obito puffed out his chest indignantly and waved a fist. "Hmph! It's just war, what's there to be afraid of? Once I awaken my Sharingan, I'll beat all those bad guys back! I'll show them how formidable Konoha and the Uchiha are!"
"Rin, don't worry. I'll protect you!"
"..."
Nohara Rin opened her mouth but said nothing.
Though Obito's words seemed rather childish to her, he meant well after all, so she could not bring herself to say anything.
Mikami Yu, standing nearby, rolled his eyes. By the time you awaken your Sharingan, the Third Shinobi World War will practically be over.
Taking a step back, even without considering the "old man" behind Obito, the prerequisite for awakening the Sharingan was a teammate's sacrifice. That was inherently at odds with protecting Nohara Rin. Obito's promise was destined to be empty words.
Still...
Obito only needed to think about when he would awaken his eyes.
But Mikami Yu had far more to consider.
As everyone knew, surviving in the Shinobi World required influence, connections, and bloodlines.
Mikami Yu had no bloodline, but he had the Gala System, which could make up for that somewhat.
As for the other two, he had to give them some thought.
Growing stronger through the Gala System took time, but the storm-ridden Shinobi World would not give him that much time to develop peacefully. Before he grew strong enough to stand above all others, he had better find a powerful patron to shield him from the wind and rain.
At this time, the thickest thighs to cling to were undoubtedly the Three Ninja.
Mikami Yu had originally agreed to attend medical training with Nohara Rin partly because he hoped to run into Tsunade and find a way to build a connection with her. Unfortunately, he had been here for so long without even catching a glimpse of her.
Settling for second best, Jiraiya and Orochimaru would do too.
There was no need to say much about the former.
Orochimaru might have been a sinister person, but strictly speaking, he treated his students fairly well. Whether it was Mitarashi Sweet Potato... cough, he misspoke, Anko, or Kabuto and Sasuke, he taught them wholeheartedly and was genuinely willing to give them good things. Though he loved planting Cursed Seals on people, it was fine as long as he did not use them casually. They could even help with weight loss.
But one of those two was busy wandering the world, while the other was immersed in biological research. They were just as hard to encounter.
Therefore,
Mikami Yu could only turn his attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He planned to display enough "talent" during this graduation exam, combine it with those little essays of his about the "Will of Fire," and inspire Hiruzen Sarutobi to cherish his talent. Then Hiruzen could personally arrange his path and assign him a reliable Jonin as a teacher.
However, there was also a potential risk in doing this: he might catch the attention of a certain unnamed 5.5th-generation Pot Kage. Kakashi had been an example before.
So he had to think through the possible situations in advance and prepare contingency plans.
"I'm full."
Inside Ichiraku Ramen.
Mikami Yu set down his bowl.
Nohara Rin and Obito beside him wiped their mouths at the same time.
Next, Nohara Rin went to the Konoha Library to look up information, Obito returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound to train, while Mikami Yu headed to the training ground on the western side of the village and began clearing his daily Gala tasks.
Ever since the favorability for the Transformation Technique had reached its maximum, Mikami Yu had reduced the time he spent training it. Every day, he merely greeted it, practiced symbolically for a dozen or so minutes, then focused most of his energy on several other Ninjutsu.
His highest priorities were the Clone Technique, Substitution Technique, and Healing Technique.
Next came Wild Water Wave.
—In this graduation exam, Asuma was the most likely candidate to compete with Mikami Yu for first place. His chakra affinities were Fire and Wind, so Mikami Yu decided to focus on Water Style in order to counter his Fire Style.
Of course,
The more important reason was that Wild Water Wave needed only 16 more favorability points to advance in rank, while Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu needed 21. Both were C-Rank Ninjutsu, so their conquest difficulty should be about the same. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it was naturally better to prioritize the former, which could potentially rank up sooner.
As for the Eight Gates...
Mikami Yu was a little intimidated by that thing.
Every time they met, it started with running a hundred laps around Konoha. After resting for three to five minutes, it moved on to a twenty-kilometer cross-country run. Who could endure that?
Only a training fanatic like Might Guy, who trained himself to death so long as he did not actually die, could hold up under it.
Mikami Yu had considered first using the Transformation Technique to turn himself into Might Guy, then [Practice] the Eight Gates. But maintaining the Transformation Technique itself consumed chakra. Starting insane training under those conditions was equivalent to adding extra weight to himself, making it more trouble than it was worth.
Therefore,
He could only avoid the Eight Gates for now and try not to seek her out proactively. He planned to raise his physique a little first before trying again.
By the way,
Within the Gala System, different Ninjutsu had different conquest difficulties. The earliest Transformation Technique had taken just over a month to raise from 10 to 100 favorability, but Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu, which had entered the conquest list on the same day, still had only a little over 50 favorability.
Though Mikami Yu had spent different amounts of time on the two techniques, it was clear that the Transformation Technique's favorability increased faster.
The Eight Gates were even more obvious.
As an A-rank forbidden technique and an "exceptional conquest target" recognized by the Gala System, its favorability was absurdly hard to raise. It often took several rounds of [Dialogue] and [Practice] just to gain one point.
Still, it was understandable.
Judging from the Transformation Technique, maxing out favorability likely meant being able to open all Eight Gates. If a Ninjutsu that training maniacs like the Might father and son had needed ten or twenty years to fully master could be perfectly conquered by him in one or two months, that would indeed be a little unreasonable.
Fortunately, favorability would not decrease.
So being slower was not much of a problem.
Before you continue