Wok Shadow Ninja

Chapter 47 Graduation

Ino didn't make a sound. She wouldn't tell anyone that she had developed a condition called "headache at the sight of Uchiha"!

Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara just thinking about them was distressing. These guys were troublesome one after another, and their abilities were bug-like. The Second Hokage's hostility toward them wasn't without reason.

She strongly suspected that Uchiha Sasuke had already awakened his Sharingan.

Sasuke's proficiency in genjutsu was far inferior to his brother's, but just by relying on the Sharingan's abilities of observation, hypnosis, and replication, his strength could improve significantly.

If he were to replicate a few taijutsu techniques, Ino really wouldn't be able to defeat him if they got into close combat.

Ino muttered Shikamaru's catchphrase: "What a hassle."

Shikamaru pretended not to hear and continued to sleep with his head down.

Sasuke's return didn't cause much of a stir. The pressure of the graduation exam weighed heavily on everyone's minds. Originally, the kids from ninja clans didn't care much about school grades, but Ino had been pushing herself too hard, forcing them to buckle down and study and train.

Their sudden surge in effort, in turn, made Ino feel immense pressure.

Training in water-style ninjutsu, hand seals, earth-style chakra nature transformation, shuriken throwing, and clan secret techniques, on top of schoolwork.

Her strict father, Inoichi Yamanaka, had made it very clear that he expected her to rank first in her grade. This wasn't a hope but a demand.

Ino and her two shadow clones went all out in their studies. In the final few days, even her earth-style chakra nature transformation training was put on hold as she focused solely on her books.

She was proficient in shuriken throwing and the three basic jutsu, but so were the kids from ninja clans. The only way to stand out was in the theoretical exams. Shino, Shikamaru, and Hinata all had good grades, but hers were better.

In the manga, passing the exams seemed easy, but in reality, many students couldn't pass and failed to graduate. Ino's stats were Nin 8, Tai 3, Gen 3, Int 6, Str 2, Spd 5, Sta 6, and Seal 5, while many students had stats like 1, 1, 2, 2. They were playful and lacked talent. For them, achieving a perfect score in shuriken throwing was like climbing to the heavens, and the same went for the three basic jutsu.

Naruto, who was proficient in transformation and substitution jutsu but struggled with clone jutsu, was actually a good student. Calling him dead last was a bit unfair he was the dead last of the elite class, not the dead last among the weak students.

To be fair, Naruto's transformation jutsu was genuinely impressive. He must have practiced it a lot.

For Ino, the theoretical exam, physical exam, kunai throwing exam, and the most critical ninjutsu exam were all a breeze. She passed with perfect scores.

Sasuke, Hinata, and the others mostly struggled a bit in the theoretical part.

Ino passed the graduation exam with perfect scores and then joined Shikamaru and the others to watch Naruto's exam.

This year, the exam didn't test transformation or substitution jutsu but clone jutsu.

The requirement was to successfully create two clones. The future Seventh Hokage, who would later dominate the battlefield with his multiple shadow clones, now couldn't control the massive amount of chakra within him. Under the strange gazes of everyone, he produced a bizarre, misshapen thing.

"Fail!" Iruka shouted angrily.

The exam ended smoothly, and everyone graduated.

The Third Hokage personally came to the ninja school to encourage the graduates, urging them to follow the Will of Fire, and so on. For those who didn't graduate, he set new requirements, urging them to work hard and catch up in the future, not to lose heart.

As the top of her grade, Ino also spoke on behalf of all the graduates, saying, "Today I am proud of the Konoha Ninja School, and tomorrow the Konoha Ninja School will be proud of me." The Third Hokage nodded repeatedly.

Naruto, utterly dejected, went off to the side to sulk, while Ino and the others lined up to receive the forehead protectors that symbolized their official status as ninjas.

It had to be said that the genin of Konoha were all so lax that it was almost ridiculous. They wore all sorts of clothes, and their forehead protectors were worn in every possible way. It was a mess, looking like a bunch of ragtag misfits.

In Sunagakure, Temari and Kankuro also wore their clothes haphazardly, but at least they wore their forehead protectors properly. Konoha was just chaos.

Ino often felt that she was too orderly, making her stand out from the group.

To avoid being ostracized by her peers, she wore her forehead protector as a belt, simply hanging it around her waist.

After receiving their forehead protectors, they took photos and completed the registration of their ninja information.

Once the entire process was done, Ino was officially a graduate.

She picked up the ninja registration card issued to her and looked at it. Her ninja ID number was 012604, and her rank was genin.

This meant that Ino was the 12,604th ninja to graduate from the Konoha Ninja School. She stuffed the card into her waist pouch. In theory, there would be two more occasions to use this card: when she passed the chunin exam to become a chunin, and when she received a recommendation from a ninja clan to be promoted to jonin after deliberation by the village higher-ups. However, most ninjas never made it that far. The next time this card would likely be used for registration would be at their funeral.

Ino and Shikamaru, after getting their forehead protectors, prepared to head home. At the corner of the school building, they ran into the white-haired teacher, Mizuki.

Shikamaru and Choji acted as if they didn't see him, their faces blank as they continued walking.

Ino hesitated for a moment. Although they had just graduated, it felt inappropriate to pretend not to know their teacher just five minutes after graduation.

Knowing that this guy wasn't a good person, she still greeted him: "Hello, Mizuki-sensei."

Mizuki seemed no different from usual, maintaining his teacherly demeanor.

"Ah, Ino-san. I heard you ranked first in your grade. That's amazing. I doubt even last year's Hyuga Neji could compare to you."

What's this guy getting at? Is he trying to...?

As for the Scroll of Seals, it wasn't that Ino had no interest, but she knew full well that she couldn't get anywhere near it under the Third Hokage's strict surveillance.

She didn't want to get involved, so her tone cooled a bit.

"It's all thanks to the teachers' guidance. I can't compare to Neji-senpai. Goodbye, sensei."

She gave a slight nod and prepared to leave.

Mizuki, while maintaining a gentle exterior, was inwardly cursing. What's so great about her? I, a chunin, am talking to them, and these kids from ninja clans are acting all high and mighty.

Without changing his expression, Mizuki said, "Since today is such a happy occasion, how about this? Tonight, I and your teacher, Tsubaki, will treat everyone to a gathering. Let's go eat"

Before he could finish, Choji, who had walked ahead about twenty meters and was almost out of the school gate, instantly "flew" back. His eyes were blazing: "A treat? Mizuki-sensei! What are we eating? Is it barbecue?!"

Damn it! You pretended not to know me earlier, but now that I mention a treat, you're all over it? Mizuki's expression stiffened, and he forced a dry smile as he nodded.

Choji was overjoyed. He shouted, "Mizuki-sensei is treating us! Shikamaru, Ino, let's all go eat barbecue tonight, okay?"

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