章節 256: Chapter 256 - Graduation Day Debacle: Prelude
March 20.
It was early morning and the Chunin Kirai was home getting ready for his work shift at the Leaf Correctional Facility. 'Today is graduation day. This is it…'
As he put on his Chunin vest, Kirai thought about the plan he and Mizuki came up with and went over everything one more time in his head. 'I made sure there would be minimal guards today. Only 3 others besides me will be stationed and they're all new Chunin recruits. So there won't be much resistance. Once the graduation exam is over Mizuki is going to come over in disguise and I'll have to play the role of the hostage. Force them to release Zefrek.'
Kirai frowned at the thought of releasing that man from prison. 'He's a dangerous criminal with near Jonin level skills… Will he hurt anyone else?... No. Mizuki gave me his word that he will control Zefrek. I trust him… Zefrek will kill that damn monster fox and at that time I'll take him down…'
The prison guard stood still and took in a deep breath of air. 'I'm doing the right thing… aren't I?'
He turned to look at the photo of his deceased wife and child and his hands clenched. His mind replayed the stunt Naruto pulled yesterday on the Hokage Monument and it made him angry. The small shred of hesitation he had in his heart was gone.
"Yes. This is right." He said as if to reassure himself. He took the photo of his family and held it close. "After tonight the village will be safe. I'll make sure of it."
He made his choice and soon Kirai was on his way to the Leaf prison. The guard smiled at his colleagues and went about his day as if everything was normal and waited for Mizuki.
'It will all be over soon.'
—-
In another part of the Leaf village an academy instructor was packing everything valuable he had into a storage scroll. Mizuki had been preparing for this day for quite some time. He had been training his body to be ready for what it was going to endure later today.
The Chunin instructor thought about what he was going to do and the conversation he had with his fiance a few days ago.
Flashback.
"Mizuki. Please stop. This isn't right." A young woman with dark eyes and long black spoke.
"Tsubaki. You don't understand. That brat is a danger to everyone and the Hokage letting that fox brat do whatever he wants. It won't be long before another disaster strikes. Come with me. With Orochimaru we'll be safe and we'll become a lot more powerful." Mizuki said, trying to convince her.
"No Mizuki. I won't come and you shouldn't go either. Orochimaru is not a good man. He only cares about himself. And if the village finds out that you've made contact with him-"
"They won't find out. Unless you tell them… Will you?" Mizuki's tone took a darker edge that scared Tsubaki. She had tears falling down her cheeks and remained silent.
Mizuki looked at the crying woman and his face slightly softened. "Please Tsubaki. We'll have a great future. But it won't be in the Leaf village. Will you come with me?" He asked in a softer tone. He held his hand out for her to take hold but Tsubaki shook her head.
"I love you Mizuki… but I'm not coming with you. I can't leave the village… It's my home. Please don't go. Whatever it is you've planned… Don't do it… We can be happy here…"
He dropped his hand and Mizuki's face turned cold as he looked at his fiance. "I won't be happy. Not as long as that monster is still alive. It seems… This is where we part ways…"
"Mizuki… Don't…" She was about to step forward but Mizuki stopped her.
"Do me this favor Tsubaki. Don't tell anyone about our conversation. Keep it a secret or you'll be in trouble too…"
With those words he vanished from her house.
Flashback End.
"Tch!" Mizuki scoffed to himself as he thought about his fiance. 'She's too weak. If this is her mentality then it's best I leave her here. She'll only hold me back.'
After packing every essentials and valuables, he went into another room. He kneeled and pried opened a few floor boards. It was a secret storage space he created to stash the items he recently acquired. There were several pouches and a few vials. He took another small scroll and quickly stored everything inside it.
'The easiest way to obtain them would have been to raid the Nara Research lab in the mountains but it would have alerted everyone to me. It would have been a risky move. Yes. It was a better choice for me to get these through the black market. It took some time and cost me a lot but this was the safer way. Lord Orochimaru's contact really came through for me.'
Mizuki held the scroll and looked at it with greed. 'This will give me great power. With this I'll be able to overcome anything.'
After making sure everything was ready he left his home and made his way to the academy. He had a polite kind appearance but there was a deep sinister evil lurking underneath that mask.
'Just you wait Naruto. You have no idea what's in store for you today.'
—-
Hokage's Office.
The Third Hokage was behind his desk going through several documents his Anbu had sent. His attention was on one in particular. It was the rough blueprint of a building.
'So this was what Deer got from his contact huh. It was an excellent strategy to shift his investigations from Kabuto to Orochimaru's movements last year. Now he has a spy inside Orochimaru's organization. This is certainly valuable information.'
At that moment there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
At the Hokage's orders the door opened and two ninjas walked in. They bowed and stood straight in front of their leader.
One ninja had spiky short black hair and had his eyes obscured by dark glasses. He was wearing a high collared outfit and was carrying a gourd on his back. He stood still as he looked at the leader of the Leaf village.
The other ninja had long brown hair over which he wore a bandanna styled forehead protector. The most noticeable feature was his pure white eyes.
"You called for us, Lord Hokage?"
"Yes. Iroha Hyuga. Takamo Aburame. I have a mission for you two." Hiruzen said and he gave the two the blueprints of a building. "That is the rough sketch of a building I need you two to locate. It's situated somewhere in the South East part of Fire country."
Iroha looked through the documents and spoke. "Lord Hokage. This is a 5 story building. But if I'm understanding these blueprints right, then this whole building is underground."
Hiruzen nodded. "Yes. The entire structure is subterranean. And there would also be defensive measures put in place. So it won't be easy to find."
"Lord Hokage, who's building is this?" At Takamo's question Hiruzen became silent for a couple seconds and then answered.
"Orochimaru."
The eyes of the two shinobi widened as they heard that name. Hiruzen continued. "I have reason to believe that this is one of Orochimaru's bases of operations. I managed to cultivate a spy in his organization and this is what I got. I understand that this is limited information but you two are quite capable in tracking operations. I need you to find this base."
"If Orochimaru is involved, shouldn't we bring more manpower? If we're going to fight him -"
"No." Hiruzen shook his head to Takamo's request. "This should be a stealth mission. You need to make sure to keep your presence to the absolute minimum. He cannot know that he's being tracked. I have a much larger operation in mind to take him down but for that to be successful I need every information I can get on his current resources."
"Yes sir."
Hiruzen gave the two ninjas a few more documents containing information on his former student. "Memorize the layout and structure of the building. Your mission is to locate it and if possible determine the number of guards and defensive measures that are in place. Based on the intel I received, it's built in the South East region of this country."
"Understood sir. We'll send a report through the secure channel once we have something." Iroha nodded and spoke.
Takamo looked at the papers and slightly narrowed his eyes. "He sure is bold to create a base in Fire country. Especially after everything he did and knowing we're looking for him."
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and nodded. "The best way to go undetected from your enemies is to hide in plain sight near them. I have no doubt that my traitorous student has taken this philosophy to heart."
The kage looked at the two ninjas. "If for any reason you're discovered by or come across my wayward student, retreat."
"Yes sir. We'll be careful." Iroha and Takamo nodded. They knew how powerful and dangerous Orochimaru was and they knew if a battle broke out, the chances of their survival was slim at best.
"Dismissed." At the Hokage's orders the two vanished from the room. He sighed and stood from his chair. He walked to the nearby window and looked at the faces on the mountain.
'It's almost time for the exams to start. The current graduation class is one of the most important ones this village has had in a while. All the future heirs to the major clans are participating… I hope these exams go smoothly.'
The old kage sat back down and took out his crystal ball. Within a few moments the image of Iruka and Mizuki appeared. The images soon shifted to Naruto.
'He's come a long way. Now with his training I'm sure he'll pass the exams. But will he and the other two pass Tenzo's test? I'll have to wait and see for that… Good luck my boy.'
—-
Ninja Academy.
Everyone taking the graduation exam came early and was already seated in class.
"I'm surprised you showed up on time, Naruto." Shikamaru said, looking at the blonde sitting on the other bench.
"Of course I did. I've been waiting for this moment for so long. There's no way I was going to miss it." Naruto said with a big grin.
"I thought you'd want to make some dramatic entrance at the last moment." Kiba said, chuckling.
Naruto sheepishly chuckled hearing that. "I thought about it but Iruka sensei took me to ramen last night so I figured I should give him a break today."
"Um… G-good luck on your exams. N-Naruto." Hinata said in a small voice as she looked at her crush.
"Oh thanks Hinata. I've been training real hard. I'm gonna show who's the best." The blonde boy turned his attention to the person sitting on the opposite side of his bench near the window of the class. "You hear that Sasuke. You're going down. I'll be taking your spot and become number one."
Sasuke looked at Naruto and scoffed. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the calm environment outside.
Naruto had a tick mark as he was ignored. "Why that bastard…" Before he could go near his rival and cause a commotion, Sakura grabbed his collar and shoved him in his seat.
"Sit down Naruto and don't disturb Sasuke." She said as she gave Naruto's head a few Karate chops.
"Aww but Sakura…"
"No buts. Now sit down and be quiet."
"I have to agree with Naruto on one thing. I can't wait to become a ninja too. I'll be able to team up with Daichi on missions. We'll get close. Go on some romantic adventures…" Ino sat in her seat and daydreamed about her future.
"I heard (munch) he's part of some special 2 person squad (munch). You think it would be like that for us?" Choji asked his best friend.
Shikamaru shook his head. "No. He's a special case. I haven't heard of any other teams like that. All the new Genin teams are usually three Genins and one Jonin. That's the format."
Everyone nearby was paying attention to Shikamaru. He continued. "Daichi is leagues ahead of us. The Hokage and teachers know that. It would have only slowed him down or made the team inefficient if he was put with Genins with ordinary talent. I think that's why the Hokage made an exception for him. At least that's what I think."
"Hmm… I wonder if I can convince the old man to make me part of a two person team?" Naruto thought aloud to himself.
"Haven't you been listening, Naruto? Daichi's is one of the best to come out of this academy in a long time. He's a Genius. You on the other hand failed the graduation exam twice. You really think they're going to give you an apprenticeship?" Kiba spoke up
"Hey!" The blonde boy stood up and looked at the Inuzuka indignantly.
"I'm sorry Naruto but it's the fact. It's gonna be the same for all of us. I'm sure even Sasuke will be part of a standard four man Genin team."
Before anyone could say anything else Iruka and Mizuki entered the room. As soon as they got in all the students quieted down. Looking at all the students, Iruka stepped forward and spoke.
"Alright class. This is what all of you have been preparing for since you entered the academy. Do your best. Your graduation exams start now."
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章節 257: Chapter 257 - Rookie 9: Graduation Exam 01
The graduation exam for Naruto and his class has begun. Mizuki sat behind the table in the front while Iruka took several sheets of paper and distributed it among the students. He stood in front of the class and spoke.
"The first part is a written exam. You have 2 hours. You are only allowed to hand in your paper at the end of the exam. So even if you finish early it won't make any difference. Do your best to score as much as you can. Begin."
Most of the students immediately went through the questions on the paper. Shikamaru was one of the few that took their time carefully reading all the questions.
The Nara had a calm face as he sat up and browsed the problems written down on the paper. 'Mom will be mad if I just go about this exam as usual. Guess I need to put some more effort into this. What a drag.'
Nearby Kiba had a grin as he looked at his paper. "Alright Akamaru, wish me luck." "Arf." With encouragement from his partner Kiba began answering the questions.
Sakura quickly looked through all the problems and smiled as she reached the last question. 'These questions are designed to test our knowledge on theory and critical thinking and problem solving. Still this is going to be so easy.'
She was about to start writing when she noticed Naruto sitting right next to her looking pale as he stared at the paper in front of him. She knew he was panicking right now.
Naruto gripped his head with both hands as he looked at the difficult questions. 'Oh man. This is so tough. I really hate this part of the exam. What do I do if I can't answer?'
"Naruto."
As the blonde boy was screaming in his mind he heard his name called in a small soft tone. He turned to the side and saw Sakura giving him a small smile.
"You need to calm down. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths." Sakura said in a small voice as to not attract any attention.
Naruto looked at her smile and he quickly calmed down. He nodded and smiled as he looked at her. "Thanks Sakura."
"You've studied hard for this exam. You can do this. Good luck." Giving her friend a small nod the pink haired girl turned her attention back to the papers in front of her.
Naruto smiled and did as he was told. He closed his eyes and took several slow deep breaths. 'She's right. I got this. Just remember everything I studied. I can do this. I will pass this exam and become a ninja. One day I'm gonna be the Hokage of the village. I can't fail here.'
Opening his eyes Naruto gazed at his exam papers with a renewed determination. He carefully read the questions and began to write down what he knew.
Iruka had been watching the interaction between the two from the corner of his eyes. He inwardly smiled as Naruto confidently began to write the answers.
But it wasn't just Iruka that saw this interaction. Mizuki was also paying attention to Naruto and when he saw Sakura encouraging the boy he became furious. He clenched his fists underneath the table. For a second his face turned furious but he quickly controlled himself. But what Mizuki didn't know is that his split second reaction was caught by Hinata who became even more cautious and wary of the white haired Chunin teacher. She quickly turned her head down and wrote the answers on a paper to avoid any attention from Mizuki.
And so the first part of the Graduation exam had begun.
—-
Two hours had passed and Iruka collected all the paper and handed them to Daikoku Funeno. He was the teacher grading the paper of the graduating students while Iruka and Mizuki continued on with the other tests.
The students were taken out to the field and the weapons accuracy test was next on the exam. Each student had 20 kunai and 20 shuriken. Some of the wooden targets were in the usual round shape but there were also targets that looked like humans with red circles marked on the critical areas. Some targets had red circles at the center and some had green. Two had a black circles painted in the center.
Iruka explained the rules. "You have 40 weapons and 40 targets. You get 1 point if you hit the center of a green target. 0.5 points if you just hit the wooden board with green targets. 0 points if you miss. Then for the red target, if you hit the center you'll get 1.5 points. 1 point if you hit the board and 0 for a miss. The two targets painted black are positioned in your blind spots. Hitting them in the dead center will get you 2 points and hitting the board will get you 1.5 points. Is everyone clear?"
All the students nodded and Iruka continued.
"There will be a timer. Your points will increase based on the time in which you complete this test. A perfect score is 2 points per board. But that will require perfect aim and speed. You need at least 25 points to pass."
Sasuke looked at the field and observed the position of all the targets. 'The targets with green color painted on are in plain view and they're the easiest to get. But the red ones are partially concealed and the two black ones are fully concealed, placed behind a boulder and a tree. The distance is also different and there is a time limit… I see… They also want us to use the correct weapon for the right target huh… Time to cut loose. This test is going to be interesting.'
Shikamaru glanced at some of the members in the class and sighed. 'Sasuke, Naruto, Hibachi, Kiba… They all look really eager to get started…'
He looked at the target course and his eyes narrowed. He brought his hands together as he thought about the test.
'Time is limited and based on the way some of the targets are positioned they expect us to hit it while we're moving fast. Moreover, a few of them are placed at an angle so if we don't throw with the right technique and use the right force we might miss. We also need to make a choice between using shuriken or kunai on the targets. To get the best score we'll have to hit them as we're running, so determining which of the two weapons we should use is also part of the test. If the weapon we throw hits the target but doesn't stick and bounces off, it will count as 0 points… This won't be easy.'
Iruka walked forward and called out the name of the first person to complete the Weapons Accuracy Test. "Sasuke Uchiha. Step forward."
The young Uchiha grabbed the pouch and made sure all the weapons were inside. He quickly got to the starting line and the instant Iruka started the time he rushed from his spot.
Sasuke expertly threw several shurikens and kunai at every target that was in his path and they all hit bullseye. 'This is nothing compared to my fights with Daichi. I've gotten far better with my shuriken skills and my speed has increased thanks to my spars with him.'
Sasuke was moving faster than even Iruka and Mizuki anticipated and they were shocked at the skills that were displayed.
'He truly is a genius. Just like Daichi.' Iruka had a smile as he saw the academy student accurately hitting the last target and reaching the finish line.
The students were also shocked at the sight. After Daichi left they had never seen Sasuke go all out so this was a shock for them.
"Well, there goes my plan to take first spot." Kiba said with wide eyes and slumped shoulders.
"It is a logical outcome. He has been training every chance he gets." Shino said as he looked at the Uchiha.
Choji, who was near them, agreed. "Just like Daichi. Looks like he's going to be the Rookie of the year for sure"
"Wow… That's incredible Sasuke." Sakura said with a big smile as the Uchiha came near. He ignored her and leaned back against the wall as he looked at the instructors recording his hits and grading him.
Naruto standing nearby frowned and clenched his fist. "I'm gonna go even faster and beat you." He was about to walk over to the starting line but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that it was Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru? What are you doing? I'm gonna take the test next."
"Naruto. Don't let Sasuke distract you." The Nara said with a serious tone.
Naruto was confused as he looked at the serious gaze of his friend. "What are you-"
"This is a weapons accuracy test. Not a race. If you run fast trying to beat his time and miss all the shuriken targets, you'll get a zero. Time is a secondary factor. The most important thing is to hit the wooden targets with accuracy. Do you understand?"
Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered Iruka's instructions. He looked at Sasuke who just gave him a condescending smirk. The blonde boy became angry but he closed his eyes and controlled himself. 'Shikamaru is right. I can't make any stupid mistakes and fail. This exam is my last chance.'
Naruto stood back as Iruka and Mizuki were back calling the results. "Sasuke Uchiha. 80 points. A perfect score. Next up, Ino Yamanaka."
"Wish me luck guys." Ino was a little nervous but she psyched herself up and confidently walked to the starting line.
The accuracy test exam continued for about an hour. After all the students completed their run the results were published.
The results of the future Rookies were such…
Sasuke Uchiha. - 80
Ino Yamanaka - 65.5
Naruto Uzumaki - 41
Shikamaru Nara - 62
Sakura Haruno - 63
Hinata Hyuga - 68.5
Kiba Inuzuka - 70.5
Shino Aburame - 66
Choji Akimichi - 61.5
Many others in the class had points ranging from 30 to 55. But Iruka was most surprised by Naruto's performance. 'I thought he would only barely pass. But it seems he's ahead of a few others. Looks like all his training has paid off. I'm glad Naruto.'
The Chunin instructor glanced at the ones with the highest points. 'All of them scored high points with Kiba coming in second. They've all trained hard, otherwise they couldn't have gotten such high points.'
Mizuki kept a smiling, kind face as he collected the weapons from all the students. 'I made the right choice changing my original plans. It looks like this brat will definitely pass the exam.'
The future rookies minus Sasuke were all standing in a group. They were glad to have completed this part of the exam.
"Oh man. I only got 41 points. I thought for sure it would be more." Naruto sulked as he looked at his score.
"Cheer up Naruto. You did better than some of the others in class." Choji said as opened a snack. "Here. Have some chips."
The blonde boy reluctantly took a chip and chowed down.
"I was half expecting you to just pass by the skin of your teeth. But you got 41 points. So cheer up you dolt." Ino said as she and Sakura giggled looking at Sasuke.
"I guess. It was really tough. But I remembered what Daichi taught me during training last month and just went with it." Naruto said offhandedly but Ino's attention was instantly on Naruto.
"Wait, you've been training with Daichi last month?"
"Err… Yeah! He came to me one weekend and asked if I wanted to train with him. We went into the back hills and trained for a while. He taught me a few moves and I trained them."
"How could you not tell me? I mean us. How could you not tell us?" Ino started shaking the boy.
Shikamaru and Kiba had an idea as to what Naruto's answer might be and they silently motioned for Naruto to stop talking before he dug his own grave.
"I guess I kinda forgot. Oops." Naruto sheepishly chuckled and a vein throbbed on Ino's forehead as she saw Naruto's expression.
Shikamaru just groaned in exasperation while Kiba facepalmed at the dumb answer the blonde boy just gave.
Ino had a smile that sent shivers up Naruto's spine. "Why you…" But before she could do anything Sakura and Hinata quickly pulled her away.
"You really don't know when to stop talking, do you Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, letting out a tired sigh.
The boy grinned as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's a gift."
The Nara boy looked at his friend with a deadpan expression. "It really isn't."
As they were talking Iruka stepped in front of everyone and spoke about the next part of their exam.
"Now, we'll begin with your Taijutsu evaluation."
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