Chunin No.1 skidded backward, his blade dragging along the ground with a long screech.
"Tch!"
The Chunin spat out a mouthful of blood, surprise flickering in his eyes.
He hadn't expected to underestimate this little Uchiha brat so much.
So he's mastered the Body Flicker Technique, huh? No wonder he dared to apply for graduation!
Yanking his sword from the ground, the Chunin stood back up.
With just that brief exchange, this guy had already proven himself worthy of graduating.
There was still plenty of time left. He could still test him a little more.
Licking his lips, Shisui fixed his gaze on the Chunin.
That sudden use of the Body Flicker Technique had caught the opponent off guard. If he used it again, its effect would diminish.
Gripping his sword tightly. It was time to rely on real skill!
Shisui felt a surge of desire—to become even stronger.
"You're quite impressive!"
The Chunin pointed his sword at Shisui, smirking slightly.
"Clang!"
The two clashed once more, trading blows evenly.
Time dragged, but somehow ten minutes had already passed.
"That's enough. End of the match!"
Panting heavily, Shisui faced the proctor as he stepped forward.
This fight truly amazed him. A student from the Ninja Academy actually held their own against a Chunin for such a long time without falling behind—even occasionally overpowering the Chunin.
Granted, the Chunin wasn't giving it his all.
Sliding his sword away and strapping it onto his back, Shisui bowed respectfully to the Chunin.
Then both met halfway and formed the Peace Seal.
"Congratulations on your graduation!"
Without any pretense, the Chunin waved his hand and offered Shisui a slight smile.
This Uchiha kid had quite some talent. Even at this young age, he'd already achieved considerable strength—not someone to be taken lightly.
"Now then, next candidate—Saitama Uchiha!"
The proctor announced.
Shisui glanced over at Saitama with a smile while the latter stepped aside.
Saitama first shook his head helplessly toward Shisui, then stepped forward and nodded toward the other Chunin.
From what Saitama could see, this Chunin was more of a Ninjutsu specialist.
The Chunin gave Saitama a nod, motioning for the match to begin.
"Begin!"
At the proctor's command, both fighters got into position.
Chunin No.2 noticed the Tanto on Saitama's back and naturally pulled out a Kunai from his gear bag.
Planting his foot firmly, Saitama launched forward first—he preferred being the one controlling the pace of battle.
"Swish!"
His first slash missed as the Chunin dodged effortlessly.
The blade sliced through the space where the Chunin's face had been but ended up ineffective.
The Chunin simply sidestepped with ease, completely neutralizing Saitama's attack.
"Clang!"
As soon as Saitama's strike went wide, the Chunin initiated his counterattack.
A Kunai darted straight toward Saitama's face.
Saitama blocked it with his Tanto.
The sharp tip scraped against the blade's side, sending sparks flying and a piercing screech echoing.
"Thud!"
Both fighters exchanged kicks, forcing each other backward simultaneously.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
Exactly the same ninjutsu colliding head-on!
None of the onlookers expected Saitama and the Chunin to be so perfectly synchronized.
The two, retreating at the same time, planted their ninja tools into the ground. The moment their bodies stabilized, they launched their techniques.
"Boom!"
Two fireballs smashed into each other, scattering flames everywhere. The surrounding air seemed to rise in temperature.
Saitama leaped aside, dodging the flying fire, tightened his grip on the tanto, and looked toward the Chunin not far away who had also jumped clear of the flames.
The Chunin furrowed his brow. In that recent technique clash, his Fire Release hadn't gained any advantage at all.
He clearly saw his own Fire Release start to collapse just a moment earlier.
So this is really a student from the Ninja Academy?!
Without dwelling further, the two rushed at each other once more.
Kunai and tanto continuously clashed, sparks flying.
With every clash, Saitama's excitement surged—this kind of battle was pure adrenaline.
He ran his tongue across his lips, his eyes sharpening, giving those under his gaze a chilling sensation.
Of course, that's just a metaphor!
The important part was—Saitama was now serious.
Locking eyes once more with the Chunin, he could also see the seriousness reflected there.
Their figures stirred up clouds of dust along the ground as they crashed together again.
Saitama leaped upward, the tanto in his right hand slashing downward with full force. Under the sunlight, the blade emitted dazzling white flashes.
His eyes narrowed with focus; this strike carried all of Saitama's strength.
"Boom!"
The Chunin had angled a kunai near his shoulder. Though it blocked the attack, he still sank downward from the force of Saitama's blow, his left leg bending slightly as he knelt on one knee.
"Hmph!"
Apparently angered, the Chunin forcefully pushed upward. Saitama was sent recoiling from the impact.
Keeping his eyes locked on the opponent, Saitama braced for a sudden attack.
Neither his strength nor speed gave him a clear edge over the Chunin. His lack of combat experience was obvious—many technical nuances in the fight were handled far less skillfully than by the Chunin before him.
Lifting the tanto again, Saitama knew relying purely on ninjutsu would never allow him to defeat a Chunin.
This time, the Chunin took the initiative first. The kunai in his hand moved like a deadly viper emerging from its den.
For a while, without activating his Sharingan, Saitama was actually pressed entirely on the defensive, barely managing to block the attacks.
"Clang!"
Blocking a kunai aimed at his shoulder, the Chunin stared down coldly into Saitama's eyes.
Saitama suddenly lashed out with a powerful kick aimed straight at the Chunin's groin, the air whistling from the force.
Being short was definitely a drawback—he didn't want to resort to such a cheap move either.
Seeing this sharp kick, the Chunin's expression abruptly changed, instinctively biting his lip.
The Chunin shifted his right leg sideways, using his knee to forcefully intercept Saitama's kick, effectively trapping his opponent's right foot as well.
In an instant, the Chunin defused what had been quite a sly move from Saitama.
With a burst of effort, Saitama used his blade to push against the pressure of the kunai and slashed forward directly at the Chunin.
This slash wasn't meant to injure the opponent, but rather to make the Chunin realize the situation was unfavorable and abandon his pressure on Saitama's right foot.
After this strike, Saitama indeed made the Chunin retreat one step, taking the opportunity to move backward himself.
The Chunin was truly tough to handle. Guess I'm still not strong enough!
Saitama's muscles ached slightly, especially from that last clash which had felt particularly uncomfortable.
How the heck am I supposed to win straight-up?
"Clang!"
Saitama blocked the attack again, retreating one more step.
The tanto kept parrying up and down, and Saitama's offensive rhythm seemed completely disrupted, leaving him only in a defensive position.
"Huh!?"
Suddenly, the Chunin halted his steps, tightly gripping the kunai in his hand.
The few observers also showed confusion—how could the Chunin, who had been attacking fiercely just moments ago, suddenly stop?
"What's going on here?!"
The Chunin looked puzzled. He noticed something abnormal with his body.
A tingling numbness began spreading throughout his entire body, especially in his hands.
Looking suspiciously at Saitama ahead—who was still in a defensive stance—the Chunin could only think of one possibility: some trickery from this brat.
Was it poison or ninjutsu?!
Frowning, he quickly ruled out the possibility of poison.
First, this was an exam; poisons weren't allowed. Second, he hadn't sustained any injuries at all—it was impossible for him to be affected by such a full-body paralyzing toxin.
Fixing his gaze on Saitama's blade, the Chunin seemed to discover the cause.
"Figured it out yet?"
A faint smirk tugged at Saitama's lips as he abandoned his defensive posture, raising his sword diagonally toward the Chunin facing him.
As Saitama held the sword like that under the sunlight, sparks occasionally flickered along the blade.
Sparks glimmered brightly under the sunlight!
"Is that...Chakra Nature Transformation of the lightning attribute?"
The Chunin's eyes widened sharply, and his hand holding the kunai twitched along with his body.
What kind of monster is this!
Saitama didn't have the habit of letting his opponent recover calmly.
Planting his feet firmly, he quickly closed the distance with the Chunin, who was still recovering.
He brought the blade down in a vertical slash.
"Boom!"
With a single strike, he cleaved through a low-hanging branch and kept moving backward without pause.
The Chunin had just used the Substitution Jutsu.
This time, the Chunin had no chance to use any jutsu. Saitama swung repeatedly, forcing the Chunin to retreat step by step.
He lashed out with a kick, and just as the Chunin raised his guard, another slash immediately followed.
The Chunin continued retreating.
"Hehe!"
After forcing the Chunin back this time, Saitama halted instead of pressing the attack.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]
Another ninjutsu was hurled forward. The Chunin barely dodged, looking disheveled. His clothes were scorched from the fire technique.
Saitama still had plenty of chakra remaining.
The lightning-attribute chakra continuously surged along the blade, and he cast ninjutsu techniques without any hesitation.
Seeing his opponent hadn't yet adjusted to the numbing effect of the lightning chakra, Saitama prepared to launch another assault.
"Alright, I give up!"
Seeing Saitama still advancing to deliver a finishing blow, the chunin reluctantly raised his hand to signal the proctor standing nearby.
This kid in front of him was truly out of the ordinary. At such a young age, he had already mastered Nature Transformation of Lightning Release and could channel lightning chakra through the blade in his hand.
Each time he clashed with his opponent, the lightning chakra surged through the blade and into their body, slowly numbing them.
The effect was like boiling a frog in warm water—it worked on the enemy slowly and invisibly.
Normally, opponents wouldn't notice such subtleties, mistaking it for simple vibration shock after blade contact.
But by the time they realized what was happening, it would be too late!
The chunin gazed deeply at Saitama—he himself had just been careless and got played.
Saitama swung his sword and sheathed it.
[Saitama Uchiha, pass!]
The proctor announced the result with evident surprise.
No one present had expected this kind of outcome.
A chunin actually surrendered!
For students like Saitama and Shisui who had studied less than half a year to apply for graduation, the difficulty was much higher than usual.
Earlier, Shisui lasting ten minutes against a chunin and passing the exam had already been excellent.
But no one expected this previously unknown Saitama Uchiha to push a chunin to the point of surrendering.
Remaining calm, Saitama formed the Peace Seal with Chunin No.2 and gave a slight nod.
If the opponent had given his all from the beginning, he probably wouldn't have won—even considering his hidden trump cards.
"It seems another genius has emerged from the Uchiha clan!"
Smiling faintly, the chunin added while shaking his body slightly—the numbness and discomfort hadn't entirely gone away yet.
In this way, Saitama and Shisui completed their respective graduation exams!
After greeting the proctor and discussing when they'd come back to collect their Forehead Protectors, the two left the training ground.
There was no need for them to stay—the proctors still needed to return and report.
...
"They both passed?"
Isakawa wore an expression of disbelief. After all, ten minutes fighting against a chunin!
"Yes!"
The proctor nodded, recounting every detail to Isakawa without concealment.
"In that case, I need to report this to the Hokage immediately. You may leave now."
Isakawa felt the situation warranted reporting to the Hokage, despite how busy the latter always was.
...
"Saitama, how exactly did you do that earlier?"
"You mean paralyzing that chunin?"
"What else could I mean?"
Shisui detected a familiar teasing tone in Saitama's reply.
"That was something I worked on over the New Year—the Lightning Release nature transformation. I haven't completely mastered it yet, so applying it is still somewhat clumsy!"
So saying, Saitama stretched out his right palm for Shisui to see.
Blackened and scorched!
"This is...?!"
Shisui frowned.
"You should talk to other Uchiha clan ninja more about stuff like this, Saitama!"
"Sure thing, I'll do that from now on!"
Naturally, Saitama caught the concern in Shisui's voice.
He originally hadn't planned to use his lightning-natured chakra in actual combat so soon.
But today's battle had been intense. He only had two options—to reveal either his Sharingan or his chakra nature transformation. So Saitama chose the latter.
After all, this simply proved he was exceptionally talented in lightning-natured chakra.
Luckily, the injury on his hand wasn't serious. Rubbing his hands together, he noticed that only the skin had been damaged and would heal within a few days.
Walking side by side with Shisui, Saitama glanced at the distant sun.
Now officially a graduate, he had become a reserve member of the Uchiha Clan Guards.
He hoped his performance during graduation wouldn't draw too much attention from anyone.
It was now Year 45 of Konoha's Era, and the Third Great Ninja War had more or less begun.
The situation was growing increasingly dire—Konoha's current position was far from optimistic.
Situated in the heart of powerful nations, the Land of Fire possessed fertile lands and countless resources. Naturally, Konoha became the envy of many.
The Third Ninja War began with the death of the Third Kazekage.
Sunagakure firmly accused Konoha Village of the act, gathering numerous shinobi along the borders, attempting to take a bite out of Konoha. Considering Sunagakure was located in a desert where resources were scarce, it made sense they wanted to expand.
Other ninja villages also watched greedily. With old tensions simmering beneath the surface, every village was preparing for what was coming.
Perhaps just a single signal would ignite the full-scale war!
Back home, Saitama began analyzing the current state of the Shinobi World based on his own memories.
After dinner, Saitama sat in the courtyard while Ka Po-pu went indoors earlier than him—whether she was actually asleep or not remained unknown.
[Squeak]!
The door quietly opened, and entering was Uchiha Mori, someone he had met not long ago.
Dressed in casual Uchiha attire, he carried no visible weapons.
"I heard you passed your graduation exam today."
Sitting beside Saitama, Uchiha Mori smiled.
"Rest for a few days, then report. Get yourself mentally ready. Shisui knows where to go, so just come together with him when the time's right."
Uchiha looked slightly serious as he glanced at Saitama, his eyes subtly hinting something.
"Understood."
Saitama nodded. This day had been long awaited.
"Hayashi has already spoken with Shisui," Uchiha added.
With that, he didn't stay any longer and immediately left Saitama's house.
His sole purpose today had been to inform Saitama about the reporting details. Since they weren't close and had no shared topics to chat about, he naturally left right after delivering the message.
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