The next day, most of the students were much more nervous. Although yesterday's exam had been important, it hadn't been the final deciding factor.
Today would be different. If they performed poorly in today's assessment, even excellent results yesterday would be useless. They would still be eliminated.
Ultimately, strength was what mattered in the Shinobi World. No amount of theoretical knowledge could make up for it.
As the saying went, whoever had the biggest fist had the final say!
That made today's assessment crucial for students determined to become shinobi.
That was precisely why they looked so much more nervous than yesterday.
To Yechen, however, their anxiety was unnecessary. In peacetime, the assessment might have been strict, and anyone who failed to meet the standard would have to repeat the year.
But these were different times. No matter how poorly someone performed, they would still be allowed to pass.
What they lacked in strength, they would make up for in numbers.
In the eyes of those at the top, insignificant lives hardly mattered. They were nothing more than tools.
Tools to fulfill their desires!
As for the slogans, ideals, and Will of Fire, Yechen saw them all as ways to keep the common people in line.
"Saito Mu, step forward."
Sugiki Keitai began calling names.
"Teacher."
Saito Mu walked over and responded quietly.
"Begin. You may perform any one of the Three Body Technique's three techniques. Meet the requirements, and you pass."
For this year's Three Body Technique assessment, the teachers wouldn't choose the technique. The students would choose for themselves.
Obviously, the latter approach made passing easier.
For example, someone who had a good grasp of the Clone Technique but was only mediocre at the Transformation Technique and Substitution Technique could choose the Clone Technique to pass the assessment.
If the examiner chose a technique without knowing the student's abilities, the student might fail because of it.
There was no way the teachers didn't understand something so obvious. They were simply turning a blind eye.
Combined with the relaxed standards of yesterday's exam, it wasn't hard to guess that Konoha's front lines were under immense pressure and urgently needed this batch of students.
Yet none of them had truly experienced the brutality of war. Once they reached the battlefield, how many would survive?
That wasn't something the Konoha High Command cared about, and that was the tragedy of their graduating class!
"Uchiha Ye Chen."
Only when Sugiki Keitai called his name did Yechen pull himself out of his thoughts and calmly take his place at the front.
"Begin when you're ready."
The examiner had already received orders from above: every student in this batch had to pass. Besides, Yechen was a member of the Uchiha Clan.
No matter how poorly Yechen performed, the examiner still had to obey the Konoha High Command's orders.
Yechen nodded. To conceal his strength, he unhurriedly formed three hand seals, and a clone appeared on his left.
"Good. You pass."
Sugiki Keitai nodded in satisfaction, recorded Uchiha Ye Chen's result, then said,
"All right, you may return to your seat."
"Yes, teacher."
Yechen answered calmly, then turned and returned to his seat.
"He's so handsome!" Quite a few girls swooned at the sight of Yechen.
Members of the Uchiha Clan were generally good-looking, and Yechen stood out even among them.
His terrible grades had previously overshadowed his looks. Now that Yechen had performed so well, he immediately caught the attention of many girls.
The boys, however, were annoyed. Yechen had only created one clone. What was so impressive about that?
So the students who followed put everything they had into it, as though competing with Yechen. They summoned as many clones as they could. Only by outperforming him could they feel better.
Several hours later, the assessment ended. Unsurprisingly, everyone passed.
They would return to the academy in three days for the team assignment trial, and they all began dreaming once again of the day they would become shinobi.
Yechen, meanwhile, headed home. He wasn't looking forward to the team assignment trial, nor did he harbor many hopes about which teacher he would get. Improving his own strength remained his priority.
Having reached a bottleneck with the Three Body Technique, Yechen focused on Fire Release over the next three days.
As a C-rank offensive ninjutsu, it consumed considerably more energy per use than the Three Body Technique.
Even summoning ten clones at once cost Yechen only three energy points. That was what made the Primordial Chaos Devouring Heaven Technique so formidable: its energy was far more condensed than the chakra others cultivated.
His Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique had now reached level five, meaning Yechen could boost the technique through five tiers.
Each tier cost five energy points. At the fifth tier, he could unleash five times his own power.
His current combat power was 2.2. Five times that power was enough to threaten a Chunin, but only threaten one. It was still well short of the power a Chunin could unleash.
Even so, Yechen was already very satisfied.
All told, he had only cultivated for a little over a month. Reaching Genin level, mastering Fire Release, and becoming capable of harming a Chunin would have been unimaginable before.
Boom!
Yechen spat out a fireball, which rapidly expanded into a blazing sphere five meters across and hurtled toward the calm lake ahead.
Boom! A deafening explosion rang out.
A huge wave erupted from the lake. Mist rose as waves spread outward, one after another.
The scorching heat brought the water at the center of the lake to a boil. Bubbles rapidly rose and burst in succession.
Yechen watched in delight. His days of grueling training hadn't been wasted. His Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique now packed real power, and he finally had a trump card among his offensive techniques.
Three days later, early in the morning.
Yechen stood before the mirror, straightened his clothes, and tied his Konoha Forehead Protector around his right arm.
From the moment he put on the Konoha Forehead Protector, he was a true shinobi: Uchiha Ye Chen, a Genin of Konoha.
He left the Uchiha Clan Compound and headed toward the Ninja Academy. With every step, he seemed to exude a grim, murderous air, perhaps because his mindset had changed.
A little over a month ago, he had still been a pitifully weak ordinary student, the dead last in his class.
Now he was a Genin about to graduate, a shinobi who would soon set foot on the battlefield. The two states of mind were entirely different.
Whether he lived or died would depend entirely on his own fortunes.
Along the way, quite a few female classmates cried out when they saw Yechen wearing his Konoha Forehead Protector. The girls from civilian families, in particular, admired the strong.
Yechen was handsome, too, making it hard for them not to like him.
But Yechen had no interest in such things. First, his current circumstances didn't allow him to entertain other thoughts. Second, he wasn't interested in little girls. After all, he was a transmigrator with an adult's mind.
Choosing a seat in the back row, Yechen rested his elbows on the desk and propped up his head. He looked at the other graduates ahead, some familiar and some unfamiliar, silently wondering who would end up on his team.