Hiruzen Sarutobi: Little Yu, Do You Want a Wife?

Sure enough.

The options Hiruzen Sarutobi had offered were more or less what Mikami Yu had expected.

In that case...

Mikami Yu was about to speak when he suddenly paused.

Then—

[You achieved outstanding results in the Ninja Academy graduation exam, drawing the attention of an old grandpa. The old grandpa was full of praise for you and was also deeply concerned about your personal relationships. He listed the names of several outstanding girls and asked whether you wanted a girlfriend.]

[High-quality potential targets detected: Phoenix Flower Jutsu, Dragon Fire Technique, Water Formation Wall, Konoha-Style Taijutsu, Konoha-Style Swordsmanship.]

[Please decide which girl you wish to have a fateful Encounter with:]

"...???"

Good lord.

Mikami Yu could only call it good lord.

He had never expected this thick-browed, big-eyed Third Hokage to openly play matchmaker for him!

Kids made multiple-choice decisions. Adults chose them all!

Though that was what he thought, Mikami Yu knew taking them all was unrealistic.

After all, he was still just a child. He needed to act like one. If he appeared too greedy, it might lower Hiruzen Sarutobi's impression of him, and that would be more trouble than it was worth.

So, the best choice right now was to select one Ninjutsu from the techniques Hiruzen Sarutobi had mentioned—one with strong practical value and decent room for growth—and master it thoroughly.

Besides,

Mikami Yu had noticed a blind spot in the Gala System's prompt:

"The list of potential targets has one fewer entry than what Hiruzen Sarutobi just mentioned. In other words..."

"Is the Great Fire Wall Technique a new skin for Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu?"

The Gala System's definition of a [Gift] was rather vague.

So far, Mikami Yu had only given a gift once, and he had accomplished it by accident. He had little idea what kind of "gifts" the other Ninjutsu would accept. He could only guess that techniques with similar names and an inherited or progressive relationship were more likely to be recognized as "skins."

For example, Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu, Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu, and Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame were all "Great Fire"-type techniques developed by the Uchiha Clan. They should be recognizable.

It now seemed that Fire Style: Great Fire Wall belonged to that same sequence.

Phoenix Flower and Dragon Fire Technique, on the other hand, were two separate sequences.

Also, judging from Wild Water Wave's obsession with art, Mikami Yu strongly suspected that the skin she wanted most was Water Dragon Bullet. After all, that one really was cool...

So then...

Should he choose a new skin or a new target?

A new skin would speed up his progress with Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu. It would also turn that move into two techniques, one offensive and one defensive, letting him switch between them as needed.

But a new Ninjutsu meant a new trait and up to four points of physique bonuses. The only problem was that if he had too many irons in the fire at once, he might not be able to make progress with them all...

"...That probably doesn't matter. Judging from the Eight Gates, if I can't make progress with one, I can just leave it on the target list and play with it later when I have time. Leaving it there for now won't reduce its favorability anyway."

"With Substitution Technique, I don't have much need for defensive Ninjutsu..."

"Then I'll choose Phoenix Flower Jutsu. It can make up for my lack of mid- to long-range attacks. Later, I can even try developing it into the B-rank Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson myself. The principle behind that technique shouldn't be too difficult."

Hmm... How would the Gala System count a Ninjutsu he developed himself? As a daughter jointly born by it and the original technique?

With that thought,

Mikami Yu made his decision.

"Phoenix Flower Jutsu? Very well."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "You have just finished your exams, so you must all be tired. Go back and get some proper rest today. On the day of the graduation ceremony, I will personally teach you how to use this technique."

"Thank you, Third Hokage."

Mikami Yu said.

After saying a few more things, Hiruzen Sarutobi left with his hands behind his back. Once he disappeared from everyone's sight, he raised his right hand and dispelled his Shadow Clone Technique, turning into a puff of smoke and vanishing.

—At a time like this, on the eve of war, the Hokage had far too much official business to handle. Naturally, he could not spend an entire afternoon at the Ninja Academy. Sending a shadow clone was already considerate enough, and once it was dispelled, its memories would return to the original body.

On the training field.

Teacher Oki announced that the graduation ceremony would be held in the school's main auditorium two days later. At that time, the school would announce the list of students who had become Genin, as well as their class assignments. Those who graduated successfully would receive Konoha Forehead Protectors personally from the principal of the Ninja Academy.

With that,

the graduation exam came to an end.

No one was in a hurry to leave. Instead, they excitedly chatted on the training field.

Asuma and Kaimon Hyuga walked over and stopped in front of Mikami Yu. Somewhat unwillingly but still seriously, they said, "Congratulations... Yu. Your performance truly deserved first place."

"But we'll keep working hard and challenge you again."

"...Sure. I'll give you time to catch up."

Mikami Yu said with a smile.

After that, Nara Zhenyuan, Genma Shiranui, Ebisu, and the others also came over one after another to say a few words to Mikami Yu.

Once things finally settled down, Nohara Rin came over and suggested, "Today is a joyous day for Yu-kun. How about we all go have some barbecue together tonight to celebrate? Kakashi is here too, so everyone from our class is finally all together."

"?"

What did she mean by a "joyous day"?

Mikami Yu twitched the corner of his mouth, but he had no objection to Rin's suggestion.

Kakashi also agreed after some half-hearted persuasion.

Thus,

the group of around ten people headed grandly to Barbecue Q. They found two tables in a corner and pushed them together into one long table, then ordered dozens of platters of meat and some drinks in one go before digging in.

The good news was that there were no bottomless pits from the Akimichi family among Mikami Yu's class.

The bad news was that everyone had just finished their exams and expended a huge amount of energy. Even Nohara Rin and Yuhi Kurenai, who had relatively small appetites, each ate a full platter of barbecue. As for Asuma and Might Guy, whose appetites were already huge, they swept through the food like a storm, each putting away four or five platters.

When it came time to pay, they split the bill evenly. A few students had not brought any money, so Asuma and Nara Zhenyuan covered them.

After the meal.

Obito casually said, "Say, how about we go play some cards, Rin? Yu and Kakashi too. My house is pretty big, and if we get tired, we can sleep there."

In truth, Obito only wanted to invite Rin.

But having a man and a woman alone in the same room felt a little inappropriate, so he could only grit his teeth and invite Mikami Yu and Kakashi along too.

"Maybe next time, Obito-kun." Nohara Rin politely declined. "It's too late today. Once the graduation ceremony is over, we'll get together properly again."

"...All right, then."