Chapter 32: Graduation Exam (2)

For the next test, a few academy teachers brought the kids to a part of the training grounds. On reaching there, the students noticed a long white line drawn on the ground and a bunch of obstacles placed ahead of it. Fujin thought, 'Is this an obstacle race?' However he soon shook his head denying that thought, 'No way, this is too simple.'

All the 64 students were made to stand behind the white line. Genki then appeared and announced, "This will be the next phase of your exam. This is an obstacle race, and you have to run 500 metres straight to the white line that is drawn there."

This announcement excited all the students. They thought, 'Finally an easy exam!' The ones who had taken the graduation exam previously thought, 'Why wasn't this exam there the previous year?'

Fujin was confused by such an easy exam. However, he noticed that there was another man standing behind Genki. And when Genki finished his announcement, he looked at him and nodded.

Kisho looked at the excited kids and chuckled, he thought, 'This should be fun. Sadly the kids don't know that the guy standing there is an experienced Jounin from the Kurama clan. He is Kurama Illumi. In the previous war, hundreds of enemies fell prey to him and his bag of tricks.'

Genki then announced, 'On your mark, Get set, GO!' However, while he was announcing, Kurama Illumi was making some hand signs. And when he heard 'GO', he casted his jutsu, 'Demonic Illusion : Heaven and Earth Reversal'.

As soon as he launched his jutsu, all the 64 students were shaken! It was as if someone grabbed the ground and the sky and reversed them! The gravity felt upside down! Most of the students were incredibly frightened and tightly hugged the ground underneath them.

There were only 4 exceptions. A young girl from the 3rd year, who was from the Uchiha clan. She activated her Sharingan as soon as she felt the changes. 2 students from the 5th year, who were from the Kurama clan and aware of this jutsu. And Fujin, who kept an eye on Illumi and saw him performing the hand signs. He also felt someone trying to influence his nervous system, which let him know that it was a Genjutsu. He was planning to disrupt the Genjutsu, however when he noticed that others were being affected too, he didn't disrupt it so as to not attract any attention. Even though Fujin noticed the Genjutsu, he was extremely impressed at the guy's ability to cast a Genjutsu on 64 students at the same time!

Kurama Illumi, smirked looking at the reactions of all the students. He had used rank B Genjutsu on them. He had used this Genjutsu many times to disrupt his enemies enough for his allies to kill them in the 3rd Great Ninja War. Kisho observed the students attentively. He thought, 'This test will test the willpower of the students. If they don't complete the race, then there's no way I'll pass them.'

While all the students were struggling, Fujin was trying to find his balance. He thought quickly about what this test is about. He quickly figured out that there were 3 possibilities which were, 'Either they are testing our ability to break the Genjutsu, or test our willpower or perhaps our capability to react in an unexpected situation. Either way, this is just a Genjutsu. I should just look downwards and try to move along. If others break the Genjutsu, I'll do so too.'

With those thoughts, he took his first step. Apart from him, only the 2 students from the Kurama clan were moving. Soon a few others took their first step. The girl from the Uchiha clan resisted the Genjutsu, and after 15 seconds, was able to break through it. She then ran the obstacle race with absolute ease.

Fujin sensed someone moving along at a very rapid speed and observed the girl. He was incredibly surprised, 'Sharingan? At this young age?'

He continued his race. After the first few steps, he tried jogging along the race. The other students too slowly managed to get a hang of the conditions and increased their speed. Fujin ranked 4th in the test. In all, only 41 students passed. Of the remaining 23, a few fell unconscious, and many didn't dare to take even a single step! Kisho dismissed them and asked them to leave.

Immediately after the test, the Ninjustu test was started. Kisho's thoughts were, 'The previous Genjutsu would have shaken these kids. So they won't be at their full potential while performing the Ninjustu. Which is how it should be as they won't get normal conditions to perform Ninjustu in a real fight.'

6 Academy teachers observed one student each. To improve the effect of the previous test, Kisho arranged the tests in such a manner that the ones who completed the previous test last, had to attempt the Ninjutsu exam first.

The requirement to pass the Ninjutsu exam was pretty lax. Just the 3 basic Ninjutsu and any one other Ninjutsu. Though the kids in the start struggled a bit, they didn't have any issue in completing the minimum requirements. What surprised Fujin though, is that 16 students displayed Fire Release : One jutsu, and another 7 displayed Fire Release : Two jutsu.

Fujin's thoughts were, 'Land of Fire indeed. Most probably all of them have fire affinity. Also seeing how everyone has practiced it, I guess most of Konoha's jounins with fire affinity can use the most advanced form of this jutsu. Considering that, I guess all the other villages should have their own counters for this jutsu. But since they are still asking the kids to focus on this jutsu, I suppose it still is very useful.'

Apart from it, the majority of the kids displayed the jutsus their clan specialized in. When Fujin's turn came. He performed the 3 basic Ninjutsu. Then performed Wind Clone jutsu and created 8 clones. He then showed his Wind Explosion jutsu and finally displayed Great Breakthrough jutsu. Of course he only displayed one fourth of their power, used hand signs and performed them a bit slowly. While not too outstanding, he still outperformed his classmates.

What surprised Fujin the most is the performance of the Uchiha girl. She announced that she'll first perform Fire Release : Three jutsu. Fujin became very interested when she announced it as he wasn't aware of what this stage of the jutsu could do. Right after she announced it, 2 academy teachers stepped forwards and held a metallic string between their hands. Fujin was a bit puzzled, 'Isn't this the same thing they did for Fire Release : Two jutsu? Just that instead of one teacher, 2 stepped up.' After making the hand signs, she raised both her arms and pointed her index and middle finger out. Heat rays were released from both her fingers from both hands and in a few seconds, they cut both the metallic strings.

Fujin thought, 'That's it? It's the same as Fire Release : Two jutsu. Just that in that, they could release the heat ray through only 1 hand. There's basically no increase in the power of the jutsu, just the quantity. Still very weak for a rank C jutsu. Strange! Does the jutsu suddenly get much stronger in the later stages?'

She continued her test by displaying Fireball jutsu and Fire Dragon jutsu. Her performance was very good. In Fujin's opinion, in terms of Ninjutsu, her performance was only second to a student from the Hatake clan from the 5th year.

After the exam was over, the teachers began tallying the score. Nara Kisho passed this work to his subordinates. His job was over when he decided to pass these 41 students. Kisho then reported to Hiruzen, "Lord Hokage, all these 41 kids have passed my exam. Overall there is 1 from the 3rd year, 9 from the 4th year and 31 from the 5th year. They should make splendid shinobi. Combined with the 94 that passed from the senior most batch, this year's results have been very good for us." Hiruzen nodded and said some kind words to the Nara shinobi.

After tallying the scores, they were displayed for all the students to see. Fujin was still ranked 1st in his class. He was followed by Hana and then Hoka, who's rank increased due to superior performance in the graduation exam.

After that, all the 41 students were gathered before Hiruzen. Hiruzen smiled and began giving another speech on the 'Will of Fire'. Only this time, he was much more passionate, spoke with more fervor and his speech was more intense than any of his earlier speeches! Even Fujin was a bit dumbfounded on how someone can brainwash little kids so openly, with such vigor and be extremely proud about it!

However as the speech ended, Fujin smirked internally thinking, 'Will of Fire, Will of Fire, Will of Fire! Let me now see how much Will of Fire you actually have. Hahahaha'

After the speech, Hiruzen said, "Hatake Rei, Suzuki Fujin, Uchiha Mieko step forward."

All the 3 kids stepped forward and stood in front of Hiruzen. He said, "All three of you have worked very hard and performed splendidly. Speak, what reward would you like for your performance?"

As soon as he said that, Hatake Rei stepped forward. It was seen as rude by many, including Fujin and Mieko. While Fujin didn't mind it, Mieko did pout. However, Rei's next words made everyone understand why he stepped so hurriedly. He said, "Lord Hokage, my mother is very sick and the doctors we visited couldn't cure her. Could you please arrange a good medical ninja to treat her?"

While everyone now understood why he was so restless, it did pop another question in their mind. Fujin's thoughts were, 'Isn't he from the Hatake clan? Sure Sakumo is long dead, but their condition shouldn't be that desperate, should it? Also, shouldn't they have enough money to arrange it anyways? Unless it requires someone like Tsunade to deal with it, then I can understand. But even then, I don't think Hiruzen can call Tsunade back anyways.' Kakashi too was visibly confused.

Only a few teachers and Hiruzen knew the truth. Hiruzen thought, 'Sigh, the Hatake clan has really deteriorated after Sakumo's death. Sadly Kakashi hasn't paid much attention to the clan. This kid suddenly began performing really well this year, and hence I had looked into his background. His father died in the 3rd ninja war, and his mother was only a civilian who wasn't even from the Hatake clan. Therefore she hasn't been paid any attention by the clan. She fell sick half year back, and became the motivation for this lad to work hard. Though I do want Kakashi to lead a squad of genins, this was my main purpose to bring him here today. For him to take reins of the Hatake clan and bring it back to prosperity.'

Hiruzen nodded and said, "I'll arrange the best medics to treat your mother." He then smiled and said, "Keep training hard. Ensure that the Will of Fire in you burns brighter than ever." Hatake excitedly said yes and promised to keep training hard. Kakashi observed the young kid and decided, 'I need to take a proper look at what's going on in the clan.'

Hiruzen secretly paid attention to Kakashi's reaction, and was very satisfied with it. He could see the Hatake clan making a comeback soon.