Konoha, Land of Fire, May, Year 016, Konoha Calendar
Today was Friday, the day when the fifth-year Academy students, including those studying in the S-class, would graduate and become official ninjas of Konoha.
They would receive their graduation certificates, ninja registration IDs, and the leaf forehead protector, which was the symbol of a proud Konoha Shinobi.
From this day on, the bunch of 11 to 13-year-old kids would shed their identity as trainees and dive headfirst into the life of constant missions, killing, infiltration, spy operations, and blood-spilling.
They would begin living a life where a single mistake in a mission could throw them into hell, where they could easily die if they were lucky, and if they were unlucky, they would be tortured by the enemy ninjas inside dark rooms, never to see the light again.
And most of them were aware of that reality.
Yet, none of them backed down.
These newly minted ninjas were thirsty for glory, for recognition, and they were prepared to go to any length to protect their homeland, to be precise, Konoha.
Their minds had been tempered by the shining ideology of the Will of Fire, giving them the necessary spiritual strength and belief to die for their village and uproot all their enemies.
No…it's more like they are under the eternal effect of the most horrifying and will-altering Genjutsu of them all—The Will of Fire.
Seimei mused as he looked at his classmates of Class 1-S, chatting away excitedly.
From Seimei's perspective, it seemed like they couldn't wait to go out, get injured, and perhaps die…well, those who knew, knew.
The Will of Fire and its brainwashing effect were terrifying, indeed.
What? You said he would be taking advantage of this kind of open manipulation and make others do his bidding effortlessly as well, just like the current Hokage, his father?
Oh!!!!!
Never mind then.
The Will of Fire was good. He would do his utmost to brainwash…cough cough…inspire more people, including the upcoming generation, to ensure they stay united and protect Konoha.
Just when his thoughts were becoming more and more outrageous, Sarutobi Yuto's voice suddenly rang beside him.
"Hey Seimei, what are your thoughts about the squad formation?"
Hearing this, Seimei blinked for a moment before asking, "What about it?"
Yuto changed his question. "I mean, how do you think the squads will be formed?"
Nara Shikamo chimed in, "Are you an idiot? Isn't it obvious? Of course, they will consider our strengths and weaknesses to create a squad where the teammates complement each other."
Uchiha Touma added in a bored voice, "At the very least, they should make sure that the difference in combat power among the squad members isn't too much to avoid imbalance."
"Otherwise, it will affect the mission success rate and efficiency. What's more, the team can hardly unleash its full power without risking the weaker member's life. It will be a severe waste of manpower. No way Konoha higher-ups will allow it."
Yuto nodded his head like a chicken pecking its food and said, "I understand."
Ishimori Haneda, who was sitting on Yuto's right side, had a strange expression. He asked in a voice filled with doubt, "Do you?"
Yuto immediately retorted, "Of course, I do. Do you think I am an idiot?"
At this, Shikamo, Haneda, Touma, and Uzumaki Keiko looked at each other several times before affirming in unison, "Yeah!" x4.
Hearing this, Yuto fumed in rage and embarrassment. His face couldn't help but heat up as he protested, "You, you, you…you are talking nonsense."
Seimei and Reina didn't say anything. But their shoulders shook slightly as they suppressed their laughter.
Then, Seimei quickly added, "You don't have to worry about team assignments. We won't be completely separated."
Touma's eyes sharpened, and he asked, "Oh? You know something, Seimei?"
Keiko urged, "Tell us, tell us."
Seimei smiled mysteriously and said, "Let's just say we will at least be teamed up with one of us here."
He leaned back and rested his back against the chair. "We have known each other for so long, and we work better as a team. Our team synergy is quite polished."
"In short, when we work together, our mission completion efficiency increases. It's like producing the effect of 1+1 > 2."
"To dump us into a completely different team and make us work with two completely different and unknown teammates will mean wasting our potential. It will take a lot of effort to produce similar synergy with strangers, even if they are S-class students."
"It will be a complete waste of time, effort, and resources."
Reina looked thoughtful and added, "I see. It means at least two of the seven of us will be in the same squad. But there's still a chance for one of us to be left out and join a different team."
Shikamo thought for a while and felt his brain hurt. "Anyway, let's not waste our time thinking about things that we have no control over. Adaptability is one of the greatest traits of us ninjas. We will just deal with whatever the situation is."
Yuto added, "Yeah, we will know who our squad members are in a few minutes. Let's not waste brain cells."
Haneda quipped, "So, you have brain cells?"
Yuto was so angry that he almost lunged forward. "Bastard!!"
Seimei saw all this and still smiled mysteriously.
He knew his father had already arranged this. He wouldn't let his friends suffer.
His father, Senju Tobirama, wouldn't treat any Konoha ninja unfairly, even if the ninja's surname was Uchiha.
Of course, that was, as long as the ninja's name wasn't Uchiha Madara.
In that case, all hell would break loose.
Seimei stayed silent and discreetly activated his status panel.
Well, not that anyone could see that, anyway.
[Name: Otsutsuki Seimei (Senju Seimei)
Age: 12 Years /7,418 Years
Physique: 30
Spirit: 31
Chakra: 705,703 → 713,006
Bloodline: Otsutsuki Bloodline LV5 (50,009 /100,000) → (50,028 /100,000)
• Sharingan—Three Tomoe LV3 (8,716 /10,000) → (8,772 /10,000)
• Tenseigan LV3 (2,964 /10,000) → (3,190 /10,000)
Affinity: Fire LV6, Water LV7, Earth LV6, Wind LV6, Lightning LV7, Yin LV6, Yang LV6
Skills: Chakra Extraction Technique LV7
Chakra Control LV7
Uchiha-style Shurikenjutsu LV7
Uchiha-style Kenjutsu LV7
Uzumaki Sealing Techniques LV6
Chakra Infusion Training Technique LV3
Potioneering LV5
Non-Elemental Ninjutsu:...
Elemental Ninjutsu:...
Genjutsu:...
Medical Ninjutsu:...
Summoning Beast Contract:...]
Honestly, the status panel's data hadn't changed much.
He had too many ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu techniques to count, so he didn't bother checking them all. He only focused on a particular jutsu's status when he actually practiced it.
His system allowed him to make progress in any ninja techniques swiftly, as long as he could practice them.
Additionally, all the progress he made in a particular jutsu would never decrease.
So, he paid little attention to the jutsu.
Compared to jutsu, the status of his bloodline powers, chakra reserves, elemental affinity, and fundamental skills, such as chakra control, was more important.
Of course, he wouldn't neglect professional skills like fuinjutsu and potioneering, either.
Those two had a very high ceiling and could allow him to develop a lot of new and surprising staff.
For example, the Fuinjutsu Battle Formation and the Chakra Isolation Seals that could turn the tide of any battlefield in his favor were the results of his dedicated study of fuinjutsu, not to mention the Flying Thunder God Technique.
How to say this?
Almost everything progressed as he expected.
Compared to the last few weeks, his chakra increased by more than 7,000 points, which was nothing impressive.
(The 90% of the ninjas whose chakra reserves never exceeded 7,000 points in their entire lives: What is this? Is this human speech? Bastard, if you have so much chakra, then share some with us. You pretender, we really want to stomp you to death. Do you understand our pain?
Otsutsuki Seimei: What can I say? But I am really not a pure human, though, so I can never understand your pain.
Uzumaki Nagato from the original Narutoverse: I can help you understand pain.)
His progress with the Otsutsuki bloodline and Sharingan was also within his expectations.
What truly surprised him was the sudden jump in Tenseigan's proficiency level. But on second thought, it was understandable.
He did use the Tenseigan's ocular technique in the last battle against Echo. Plus, he was always trying to find new ways to utilize his ocular technique—Gravity Domain.
As he was absorbed in his thoughts, the homeroom teacher, Kamishiro Kirito, stepped into the classroom and walked straight to the podium.
Kirito snapped his fingers, causing a loud burst of wind-natured chakra to erupt, successfully drawing the attention of all students.
The classroom fell silent.
Seeing this, Kirito smiled and said, "Alright, you little gremlins, pay attention to me now. After all, I won't be nagging you all after today."
"First of all, congratulations! You have all passed the final test and graduated. Of course, it would have been weirder if you didn't. I didn't spend five years of my life teaching idiots, after all."
"Your ninja registration numbers and IDs have already been generated. And I've got it here. I will distribute them now."
Hearing this, the eyes of the young ninjas immediately lit up.
Kamishiro Kirito also didn't waste any time. He swiftly distributed their graduation certificate and ninja registration IDs.
The students excitedly took their IDs and examined them.
Seimei was no different either.
His ID contained his photo, graduation year, ninja rank, ninja registration number, and a few other details.
Interestingly, the ninja registration ID was made of a special synthetic material that was resistant to fire, water, dust, and tears.
Seimei was quite satisfied with his handsome image on the ID and stashed it away in his storage bracelet's sealing space.
After giving the students a couple of minutes to check their IDs and certificates, Kirito spoke again.
"As you already know and can see in your IDs, your starting ninja rank is Chunin, not Genin like the regular, non-S-class academy graduates next door. It's all thanks to the mandatory missions you have completed from the beginning of your third academic year."
"For this reason, you won't have any formal Jonin instructor. You have already proven that you are capable enough to complete missions on your own without additional supervision."
"You all have become fine ninjas."
Then Kirito smiled, "Of course, it doesn't mean you will act alone. You will form three-person squads with your fellow S-class students."
"Hokage-sama has already decided your squads. And I have the list here."
Kirito grabbed the notebook containing squad information and smiled slyly.
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