Substitution Technique Advancement, Graduation Exams Begin!

Because school had started, Mikami Yu could no longer spend seven or eight hours training every day like he had during vacation. Still, he raised several ninjutsu's favorability by chatting with them whenever he had the chance.

While he was at it, he also discussed "transformation templates" with the Transformation Technique.

Amid this intensely busy atmosphere of exam preparation,

Mikami Yu was the first to raise the Healing Technique's favorability to the next stage:

[Healing Technique (Favorability: 50/100 (Intimate))]

(Phase rewards obtained twice: Constitution +2, Trait · Healing Wound Mark: Wounds treated by you will retain a subtle "Healing Wound Mark." For three weeks after treatment ends, the mark will continuously repair the tissue surrounding the wound until it returns to its original, uninjured state.)

There was not much change, really. The time needed to repair wounds had merely been reduced by a quarter.

Additionally, based on Mikami Yu's tests on small animals, the Healing Wound Mark had an unspoken hidden restriction: wounds had to remain within a certain size. Injuries such as severed limbs, blindness, or being cut in half at the waist could not be fully healed.

After all, it was only a C-rank ninjutsu.

Limb regeneration was something even the Strength of a Hundred Technique supposedly could not achieve. That required Hashirama Cells.

Then,

The second technique to advance was the Substitution Technique!

As the second of the Three Techniques to reach maximum favorability, her trait had indeed changed after advancing, and its description looked quite impressive—

[Substitution Technique (Favorability: 100/100 (Kindred Spirits))]

(Phase rewards obtained four times: Constitution +4, Trait · Simulated Realm Instantaneous: Your Substitution Technique has reached perfection. You may use objects within 80 meters as substitution mediums, swapping them with your body within 0.2 seconds. When the target of the exchange is a living creature with chakra or an excessively large object, additional chakra is required.)

"!"

On the day he unlocked this trait, Mikami Yu ran to the training grounds and conducted several tests.

In the end, all he could say was, "Good lord."

This had really become Miniature Amenotejikara.

Although Simulated Realm Instantaneous had not increased the range by much compared to Seal-less Instantaneous, the objects it could swap had changed from substitution mediums he needed to carry himself into any object within an eighty-meter radius. Rocks, clumps of dirt, wooden stakes...

Even fish in a river and birds in the sky could be pulled over directly, as long as he focused.

Within eighty meters, this was practically a conceptual god called "Substitution"!

Of course, it had flaws.

First, its chakra consumption had increased, especially when pulling living creatures, which consumed several times more chakra than normal.

Second, the range was a little small.

But the Substitution Technique had always required little chakra and had a short cooldown. After eighty meters came another eighty meters. Unless he encountered a large-scale ninjutsu like Deidara's "Patrick Star," or an extremely fast ninja like Namikaze Minato, he would have a chance to escape most dangerous situations.

Taking ten thousand steps back, if he really encountered people like that...

Forget eighty meters—even eight hundred meters would not save him.

Considering that Simulated Realm Instantaneous differed a little too much from a conventional Substitution Technique, Mikami Yu planned to keep it hidden for now. For the time being, he would only use the version that required a medium.

This special effect had to be saved for a critical moment.

He had originally wanted to raise both the Clone Technique and Water Release: Water Shockwave to the next stage in one go.

But the graduation exams arrived first.

The written exams came first.

This was Mikami Yu's comfort zone, and he handled it with ease.

One thing worth mentioning was the essay prompt concerning the Will of Fire.

Suppressing his embarrassment, Mikami Yu wrote a lengthy, flowery little essay. In as childlike a tone as possible, he explained the central ideas that "the Hokage's kindness can never be repaid" and "Konoha is my home; protecting it depends on everyone."

Judging by Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression whenever he came to the Ninja Academy to give a speech, this essay should keep him smiling for quite some time. If he got into a good mood and assigned Mikami Yu to the Hokage's office specifically to write things like this, that would not be a bad outcome either.

After the two-day written exams ended,

It was time for the practical portion.

Kunai and shuriken throwing, the Three Techniques, a five-kilometer obstacle run, identifying wild ingredients...

These basic individual tests were certainly unavoidable.

And the most important part, naturally, was practical combat under a PVP system.

The Ninja Academy's graduation policy at this time was stricter than it would be in Naruto's era. Merely testing the Three Techniques was definitely not enough; there generally had to be a major combat event. The formats ranged from one-on-one PKs to three-person team battles and wilderness survival training... They rotated through them, and almost never repeated from year to year.

Therefore, Mikami Yu did not know exactly how this year's exam would be conducted.

However, some students with connections at the school began showing off their abilities at this time, trying to find out the format of the practical exam while whispering in the classroom:

"Did you hear? This exam might use a free-for-all format!"

"A free-for-all? What does that mean?"

"Hey, it means a giant brawl. Didn't they already test three-person team battles last year? Logically speaking, they should change the direction of the assessment this year."

"There is no rule saying they have to change it. Don't one-on-one PKs often get used for several years in a row? I think this may be a smokescreen the teachers planted to test our intelligence-gathering abilities. The real exam actually started right now..."

Over here,

Nohara Rin also heard the discussion. She nudged Mikami Yu and whispered, "Yu, what do you think? About the assessment rules?"

"...We'll win."

Mikami Yu smiled.

"?"

Naturally, Nohara Rin did not understand the Sukuna Continent meme. She merely tilted her head in confusion.

Mikami Yu added, "It doesn't matter. We'll find out when the time comes."

He had already made sufficient preparations. No matter what format the assessment took, he was confident of securing second place at worst and fighting for first, so there was no need to overthink it.

"Rin, why don't you ask me?"

Obito poked his head out from the back row.

"...I think that with your adaptability, Obito, you won't be affected by these external conditions."

Nohara Rin said.

Well... the truth was that even if Obito paid attention to the assessment rules, it would be useless. He had always performed steadily when it came to being dead last. Even if his actual strength was seventy points, he could only bring out thirty. Passing the exam smoothly would already be a cause for celebration.

The time reached ten in the morning.

Mikami Yu and the others followed Teacher Oki out of the classroom and onto the playground.

A large area had already been cleared here, and ninjutsu had been used to set up obstacles such as earthen slopes, artificial hills, elevated platforms, and puddles. It looked quite convincing, as though they were simulating an actual battlefield.

At this moment,

A familiar head of white hair entered everyone's sight.

"...Huh, Kakashi?!"