They said they'd include the shuriken practice scores in the graduation exam, which was already quite lenient.
After all, everyone got ten chances, and only the highest score counted.
The scoring was similar to target shooting. A fixed target was placed at a distance, with ten rings, and hitting the bullseye earned ten points.
The target was only twenty meters away, incredibly easy for a ninja. Even throwing blindfolded shouldn't be too bad.
But in reality, when they started, the scene left Naruto dumbfounded.
One point, two points, misses, it was a common sight.
Five points was passing, but aside from The Rookie Nine, almost no one passed in the first three rounds.
Oh, wait, Naruto also failed.
It wasn't that he was intentionally holding back, it was because he held grudges!
"Waaah! I'm bleeding! I'm gonna die!"
"He did it on purpose, that guy definitely did it on purpose."
"You bastard, I'm gonna kill you!"
Every time Naruto threw a shuriken, the scene erupted into chaos.
The first time, a background character got pricked in the butt.
The second time, a background character's hair had a strip shaved right down the middle.
The third time, a background character's pants were knocked off, and because he wasn't wearing underwear, everyone saw everything.
Many people suspected he did it on purpose, because the people hit were the ones who had been laughing at Naruto the loudest.
But Naruto had always seemed unreliable in the past, and many times even Iruka, who was standing behind him, had been hurt.
Now, to say he was doing it on purpose, hitting exactly where he aimed? No way!
Anyway, they were suspicious, but no one actually believed it.
Finally, under Iruka's forced suppression, those few background characters could only swallow their losses with tears.
By the fourth round, almost everyone stayed far away, including Iruka.
"Is this really necessary?" Naruto said with an innocent face. "Actually, I was doing it on purpose just now. This time, I'm definitely going to hit the bullseye and get ten points for you all to see!"
"I don't believe it!!"
Almost everyone roared in their hearts, not wanting to be tricked into going back!
Swish!
As it turned out, the shuriken really did hit the target. Although it didn't hit the bullseye, it scored six points, exceeding the passing grade.
"Wahahaha, I really hit it! I told you, as long as I get serious, there's nothing I can't do!" Naruto cheered loudly.
"Liar!"
"Pure luck, this isn't based on skill at all."
"Hey, Iruka-sensei, this can't count, right?"
Everyone knew Naruto's "strength" very well. If this counted, a lot of people wouldn't be happy.
Currently, besides The Rookie Nine, only two other people had passed the passing grade.
Iruka was secretly happy for Naruto, but his face remained calm. "Luck is also a part of strength. Sometimes, luck can play the most crucial role, so this score counts."
"That's not fair!" Many people protested.
Unfortunately, the protests were useless and were directly ignored by Iruka.
"Damn it, even that dead last can pass, so there's no reason why I can't get ten points!"
A nameless extra confidently stepped forward, only to miss the target completely and returned with a mournful face.
In the fifth round, Naruto's score reached a new high, reaching eight points.
Sixth round, another hit. Although it was only five points, it made many of the extras who hadn't passed yet see red.
Seventh round. After everyone had let their guard down, another extra fell victim.
Perhaps Naruto had already gotten enough points and started slacking off. This time, he directly used four shuriken.
Those people were still laughing heartily, mocking Naruto for getting cocky.
As a result, the four shuriken hit four extras steadily:
One had a front tooth knocked out;
One's hair became a bald spot, and he even had a layer of scalp shaved off;
One only had his clothes cut, but two holes were left in front, as if... well, you know, anyway, that person ran away in shame amidst the laughter of others.
The last one was the most ridiculous, directly hit with a Thousand Years of Death. Just thinking about it made him clench his legs.
"I really didn't mean to!" Naruto grinned sheepishly.
Seeing the extras who were hit with the technique giving him murderous looks, as if they were going to team up and take him down, Naruto immediately took off.
Anyway, the ten shuriken had already been thrown, and today's lesson was considered over. Naruto took the opportunity to escape, and Iruka tacitly agreed.
"Heh heh heh, try and fight me. Don't they know my mom's called the Bloody Chili Pepper?"
Walking on the road, Naruto hummed a little tune triumphantly.
Well, teasing these newbies didn't really give him much sense of accomplishment. Naruto just thought the Ninja Academy was quite interesting.
At this moment, his steps suddenly paused, and a strange expression flashed across his face.
"Did… did it work?"
The Shadow Clones left at home were dispelled because one of them had completed the training.
The Flying Thunder God Technique, he could barely use it.
Although it took several seconds to sense the position of the formula, and he needed several more seconds to adjust after the instant teleportation, meaning both the casting time and the recovery time were too long to be effective in actual combat.
But this was only half a day, and such an outcome was already very encouraging.
The information fed back from the Shadow Clones mainly relied on Minato Namikaze's experience.
But who cared? What mattered was the result!
"So next, it's time to execute the second step of the plan!"
Naruto grinned and left a technique formula and a Shadow Clone at home before using the Transformation Technique to leave.
He found a Chunin who was leaving the village to carry out a mission and, in a flash, transformed into a pendant in the Chunin's tool bag. Then, he followed along and snuck out of the village.
Finally, he took advantage of the Chunin's inattention and quietly slipped away.
Thanks to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's help in concealing his aura, the whole process was undetectable.
At this moment, Naruto had successfully slipped out of the village.
He found a relatively secluded place and made a Flying Thunder God mark on a rock — Uzumaki Naruto!
"OK, from now on, I can leave the village whenever I want, and I can start practicing without holding back!"
Excitement flashed in Naruto's eyes.
Doing all of this was to find a place, away from prying eyes, to focus on training.
With the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox as a power source, he could create a large number of Shadow Clones to stack experience.
The training would create too much of a disturbance, which was definitely not possible in the village, so he had held off until now.
"But this is still too close to Konoha. I need to find a more secluded place."
Naruto sensed his surroundings and confirmed he could indeed teleport back home from here, which put him at ease. He continued to head further away.
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