Reborn in Konoha; I Think I’m Cultivating Immortality

Time passed swiftly, and three years went by in the blink of an eye.

This year marked the 33rd year of Konoha. 

In the three years that had passed, the shinobi world seemed largely unchanged.

While each village was developing, the overall transformation remained limited. However, the number of elite shinobi in each village had noticeably increased.

Konoha, on the other hand, was an exception. The changes in Konoha were nothing short of revolutionary.

The entire village had expanded to nearly double its original size, and its population had almost doubled as well.

The current Konoha, just by looking at its main district, already resembled what it would look like during Naruto's graduation year in the 60th year of Konoha, if not more vibrant and prosperous.

Thanks to Hui's meticulous planning, Konoha had become a modernised city in every sense, whether it was its infrastructure or its overall layout.

The village now featured designated zones such as administrative districts, commercial areas, food streets, pedestrian streets, plazas, parks, and even amusement parks. 

The transformation was so drastic that merchants from other parts of the shinobi world couldn't help but call it a "city of the future."

All these changes were credited to Hui's influence.

Yet, these were just the visible changes. Behind the scenes, in areas less observed by the public—such as Konoha's administrative and management systems—there were equally significant transformations.

The framework for Konoha's management system had been fully established, with various departments covering every aspect of the village. Responsibilities were clearly defined, and everyone fulfilled their respective roles.

Konoha was steadily advancing toward the vision Hui had described in the past.

Now, at the age of 23, Hui was observing this year's graduation examination at the Ninja Academy.

Unlike Naruto's era in the original story, where a single successful technique could secure graduation, the requirements during Hui's time were much more comprehensive and stringent.

Graduation now involved evaluations in multiple areas, including ideology, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, cultural knowledge, and each student's individual specialties—such as sealing techniques, sensory skills, combat capabilities, or other unique abilities.

This system was designed to help Konoha understand each student's talents and provide targeted training to develop their strengths.

As a result, the number of students who successfully graduated each year was relatively small. Many failed to graduate and were encouraged to leave the academy.

In this new era, Konoha demanded more professional and exceptional shinobi.

If the academy maintained the original system, where almost anyone could graduate, Konoha would face an oversupply of shinobi.

With limited missions available, these individuals would struggle to even earn enough resources for their own training.

Thus, the graduation threshold for the Ninja Academy was significantly raised. Most students were unable to graduate.

Those who failed had two options:

Withdraw voluntarily.Repeat their studies.

However, students who chose to stay and repeat could not remain in the academy indefinitely. If they failed to graduate within the next two years, they would be forcibly dismissed.

These individuals, while possessing some ninja training, were not officially recognized as Konoha shinobi. They lacked registration numbers and were not authorized to accept missions from the village. Naturally, they also couldn't benefit from Konoha's contribution system.

That said, in Konoha, individuals were free to pursue their training.

If someone could become a powerful ninja without official registration, the village would still provide them with corresponding resources.

Returning to the present, the graduation exam for this year's students had reached its final stage: the combat assessment.

The two remaining contestants were a boy and a girl.

The boy had golden hair and a warm, sunny disposition.

The girl had red hair and an exuberant, lively demeanor.

They were none other than Minato and Kushina.

Today was their graduation exam.

The two of them were undoubtedly the stars of their cohort at the Ninja Academy.

Particularly Minato, who had achieved perfect scores in every prior evaluation, reaching the final showdown in a flawless manner.

"Minato, this time, I'm definitely going to defeat you!" Kushina declared, raising her fists with a determined and spirited look.

Minato smiled in response.

"Let's see what you've got," he replied confidently.

In truth, Minato didn't mind "losing" to Kushina, but his current position didn't allow for that.

Kushina pouted at his words.

Deep down, she already knew the likely outcome of this battle.

After all, in all their previous sparring matches, she had never won against Minato.

But Kushina couldn't help being stubborn.

"The final practical assessment, Minato Namikaze versus Kushina Uzumaki, begins!"

As the examiner's announcement rang out, the crowd erupted into cheers and shouts.

These were the students who had participated in the practical exam and were now enthusiastically cheering for Minato.

Minato's charisma and strength had captivated the students of the academy, making him their idol. His popularity was on par with that of Nawaki, who had already graduated.

Kushina snorted at the cheers and charged directly at Minato.

Having sparred with him numerous times, Kushina had a good understanding of Minato.

Minato was a ninja with virtually no weaknesses.

He excelled in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and kunai-throwing techniques.

While genjutsu wasn't his strong suit, it wasn't a significant weakness either.

This was why many people claimed to see shadows of Hui in Minato.

Of course, it was merely a resemblance.

Hui wasn't just "without weaknesses"; he excelled in all techniques!

In a way, Minato was a toned-down version of Hui at the same age.

The best strategy to counter Minato would be genjutsu.

Unfortunately, Kushina wasn't skilled in genjutsu.

Her specialties lay in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and sealing techniques.

However, her ninjutsu and taijutsu were inferior to Minato's.

To win, Kushina's best chance lay in using her sealing techniques—specifically, a newly learned body-binding seal to restrain Minato.

This technique required her to make physical contact with Minato and apply the seal directly.

Given her limited proficiency, this was no easy task. Unlike Hui, who could instantaneously inscribe seals and immobilize opponents, she needed time.

Seeing Kushina charge toward him, Minato swiftly drew several kunai and threw them in her direction.

Kushina's expression tensed upon recognizing them.

Those were Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai.

Minato's aptitude for space-time techniques was astonishing as he had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique within a year.

Of course, simply learning the technique didn't make it invincible.

The Flying Thunder God required continuous practice to be effective in combat. An unrefined application of the technique was little more than a point-to-point teleportation skill with a lengthy activation time, often less practical than a simple Body Flicker Technique.

Mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique to the point where it could instill fear in opponents demanded exceptional skill.

The kunai flew toward Kushina with a whistling sound.

She quickly dodged, moving rapidly to create distance from the kunai.

From her previous battles with Minato, she knew to avoid being surrounded by his Flying Thunder God kunai.

Minato, observing her actions, remained unfazed.

He could defeat Kushina even without using the Flying Thunder God.

The technique was merely a way to intimidate her.

Just as Kushina was familiar with him, Minato also knew her well.

He could tell from her unusual approach that she was hiding something.

Considering her identity and recent actions, Minato deduced that her trump card was likely a sealing technique from the Uzumaki clan.

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