While Yagyu and Ino were chatting, his mother also returned.
Although it was already quite late.
Because Yagyu's house and Ino's house were next-door neighbors, and both families' parents were already very familiar with each other, Ino naturally stayed for dinner.
Yagyu's house was very quiet.
Especially after his old man passed away, it had become even quieter.
But with the lively Ino coming over during the past two years, the atmosphere had become much more cheerful.
And this was simply a normal day in the Yagyu household over the past three years.
This kind of daily life.
Was actually pretty nice.
…
Seasons passed, winters turned into summers, and in the blink of an eye another three years had gone by.
Time had reached Konoha Year Sixty.
On this day, under the bright and pleasant weather in Konoha, something neither too big nor too small happened again.
Looking into the distance, the Hokage Rock that symbolized Konoha's pride had been covered in all sorts of strange drawings and splashes of paint across the stone faces of the Hokage.
At this moment in the village, Uzumaki Naruto was running quickly while carrying a bucket of paint, while several Genin chased after him from behind.
The already lively village became even more chaotic.
After a long period of commotion.
It ended with Uzumaki Naruto being captured by Iruka and dragged back to the Ninja Academy.
Inside the classroom.
Yagyu looked helplessly at Naruto, who had been brought back by Iruka and was now standing on the podium.
"Idiot."
Resting his head on one hand, Yagyu showed a helpless smile.
"But that guy really has guts."
After several years as classmates, Yagyu had developed decent relationships with most of the students in the class.
That naturally included Uzumaki Naruto, whom everyone else disliked.
Of course.
His relationship with Naruto was only at the level of "pretty good."
It was nowhere near the deep bond between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
Although at this point, the bond between those two unlucky brothers had not yet been openly acknowledged.
As for the growth of the others, there was not much difference compared to what Yagyu remembered.
The only difference was that the first place originally belonging to Uchiha Sasuke had been taken by Yagyu.
From the very beginning, no matter how much effort Sasuke put in.
For six years he had never managed to escape the position of eternal second place.
However, everyone had always accepted Yagyu as the top student.
From the beginning he displayed talent that surpassed everyone else.
Later, after the Third Hokage publicly accepted him as his disciple, he rose even higher.
In the past, people could still roughly see what level Yagyu's strength was at.
But now.
All they saw was an abyss.
Since the second year after entering the academy, the strength Yagyu displayed had always remained the same.
He was always just a little stronger than Uchiha Sasuke.
So no one actually knew how strong Yagyu truly was.
But being stronger than them was completely natural.
Returning to the main topic.
After Naruto was brought back by Iruka, Yagyu knew that the "storyline" he remembered was about to move forward.
And tomorrow was the graduation exam for their class.
The arrival of the graduation exam also meant that the six years of safe growth time Yagyu had planned for himself had come to an end.
"It's finally coming."
Listening to Iruka's request for an additional test, Yagyu looked out the window with complicated thoughts.
"Next will be the moment for me to shine."
For Yagyu, over these six years every goal he had set for himself had been completed.
Without leaving a single regret.
There was no need to mention the talent he had displayed.
As for building his own circle, that also went without saying, simply forming friendships with the clan children in the class was already enough.
Not to mention Yagyu had become the final disciple of the Third Hokage.
That meant Yagyu would inevitably come into contact with many of the Third Hokage's connections, the most obvious being Jiraiya and Tsunade, whose whereabouts were currently unknown.
As for Orochimaru.
That one was uncertain.
Of course.
Those were only external factors.
The real source of Yagyu's confidence in shining brightly came from his own strength.
At the very least.
The goal Yagyu set for himself had already been achieved.
…
After school in the afternoon.
Yagyu walked home together with Ino, along with Nara Shikamaru and the chubby Akimichi Choji.
Among all the classmates, the four of them were the closest.
There was no helping it.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio could not be separated, and since Yagyu was Ino's boyfriend, combined with his powerful strength and his identity as the Third Hokage's disciple, their relationship naturally became very close.
"Sosuke."
While walking home in boredom, Shikamaru suddenly asked.
"Did the Hokage say anything about how he plans to arrange things for you after graduation?"
Among the group.
Yagyu had an innate maturity, while Shikamaru possessed natural genius-level intelligence, so he knew quite a lot about many matters.
But after hearing the question, Yagyu simply shook his head calmly.
"There's no news yet. But it doesn't matter, I believe the old man won't arrange things for me through the normal process, after all I'm very strong."
Hearing Yagyu's answer, Shikamaru nodded in understanding.
He had only thought of the matter suddenly.
"Hmph."
After hearing the conversation between Yagyu and Shikamaru, Ino looked dissatisfied and turned to glare at Shikamaru and Choji, who was busy stuffing his mouth with food.
"Why do I have to form a team with you two? Sosuke, I want to be on the same team as you."
Clearly.
Since childhood the three of them had always played together as members of ninja clans, so they already knew the standard team assignments after graduation, and they knew the three of them would definitely become teammates.
The Ino-Shika-Cho formation could not be separated.
Hearing Ino cling to him like this, Yagyu reached out and rubbed her head.
"Be good. You, Shikamaru, and Choji forming a team is the perfect combination."
Gently rubbing against Yagyu's palm, Ino nodded obediently with a gentle expression.
Meanwhile Shikamaru, who had long since gotten used to this scene, rolled his eyes.
That little leopard Ino.
Only Yagyu could keep her under control.
…
At the Yagyu residence.
As soon as he entered his family's bookstore, Yagyu saw his mother watching the shop.
Six years had passed, and more traces of time had appeared on his mother's face.
"Oh."
Seeing her son return, his mother smiled gently.
"Not going to train today?"
Hearing his mother's question.
Yagyu shook his head casually.
"Not today, I came back to prepare a few things."
His mother showed a puzzled expression.
"What happened?"
With a confident smile and eyes full of anticipation, Yagyu replied.
"Mom, I'm about to graduate. I'm going to become a real shinobi."