Under the watchful eyes of Lord Third Hokage, several teachers, and many classmates, the Ninjutsu assessment officially began.
Everyone lined up and stepped forward one by one to demonstrate.
Some properly demonstrated whichever of the Three Basic Jutsu they had mastered best.
Some showed off the Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu; fewer people performed the Substitution Jutsu, likely because they hadn't prepared substitution props in advance.
Some performed all of the Three Basic Jutsu in turn, immediately earning the admiring gazes of their classmates.
Some might not have had strong enough psychological fortitude; facing the Third Hokage made them too nervous. When performing the Clone Jutsu, they messed up big time, and only a limp, unidentified creature appeared on the ground.
This caused an outburst of laughter from the students below, and the large multi-purpose classroom was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Even the Hokage-sama held his pipe and chuckled along. When facing the children of the Village, he always maintained an approachable image, making it hard for people to associate him with that powerful expert known as the Professor.
Some might have been affected by the previous student's failure; their minds were a bit scrambled, and the Transformation Jutsu they performed with hand signs was full of holes, looking like a fake at a single glance.
Higashino Shin knew this person; it was his classmate, Iruka Umino.
Higashino Shin didn't know what his previous grades were like, but looking at him today, he was clearly nervous and affected by the environment. The more he wanted to perform well, the more things went wrong. In this situation, he certainly wouldn't be able to graduate.
No wonder he was still playing the fool to get attention in school after the Nine-Tails Attack on Konoha; it's rare that he could still become such an excellent Ninja Academy teacher in the future.
So, just because some people don't have high combat talent doesn't mean they don't have other talents. Iruka is probably that type; because he isn't a Genius himself, he is exceptionally attentive and patient with those students who seem a bit foolish.
Unlike some teachers, such as Daikoku Funano, who only like brilliant seedlings like Itachi and have always looked down on or even felt disgusted by dead-lasts.
When it was Yūgao Uzuki's turn, this girl wasn't the type to be easily intimidated. She walked onto the stage with composure and properly performed the Three Basic Jutsu; it was almost perfect.
She had been training behind Higashino Shin for several years; if she couldn't even do this well, he would have beaten her into a pig's head long ago.
When it was Higashino Shin's turn to take the stage, he first bowed respectfully to the Hokage and the teachers like the other students, then quickly and honestly formed hand signs.
With a soft 'bang,' an identical version of himself appeared by his side, with every detail of his hair and clothing being exactly the same.
At the same time, the original body formed signs and transformed into the likeness of his homeroom teacher, Inoue Kuroiwa. It was equally perfect; one couldn't distinguish the difference by appearance at all.
At that moment, the Clone Higashino Shin raised his hand and threw a shuriken at the original body. The original body, transformed into Teacher Inoue, exploded into a cloud of white smoke, and a blackboard eraser fell from the air. It was caught by the Clone, who then placed it back into the chalk tray.
"Wow! So cool! How... how did he do that? I don't understand it at all, hey!" The students below couldn't understand it, but they were greatly shocked.
Even the assessing teachers looked bewildered; clearly, they hadn't seen through it either.
Inoue Kuroiwa muttered: "How is that possible? The Clone Jutsu only creates an illusion, it's not a Shadow Clone. How could it throw a real shuriken?
The Clone even caught the blackboard eraser. Could it be that the Clone was actually the original body? When did they switch places?"
"Ho ho ho, what a wonderful performance. Shin, I didn't expect the basic Three Basic Jutsu could be used like this. Even I have gained some inspiration."
Lord Third Hokage nodded happily. With his strength and eyesight, he naturally wouldn't be fooled like those Chunin teachers.
He then explained to the assessing teachers: "The moment the Clone raised its hand to make a move, student Higashino Shin had already swapped positions with the original body."
Another assessing teacher said in surprise: "How is that possible? If it were the Body Flicker Technique, we should have been able to notice it."
The Hokage-sama tapped his head with his finger: "It's Genjutsu. The real Clone raising its hand to attack was only to draw everyone's attention. The original body used a simple Genjutsu to deceive your vision, which is why you overlooked the important detail of the swap."
"Is that so? That's truly remarkable. We didn't notice the influence of Genjutsu at all."
The Third Hokage didn't argue further with the assessing teachers and said kindly to Higashino Shin: "Shin, your talent indeed hasn't disappointed me. Not bad, not bad. Alright, you may go down."
"You flatter me, Hokage-sama."
Higashino Shin bowed again and left the stage to make room for the next examinee.
In fact, his little trick was borrowed from his friend Shisui's future fighting style. How did Uchiha Shisui's nickname, 'Shisui of the Body Flicker,' come about?
It was by creating a bunch of ordinary Clones that could only move but had no substantial attacking ability, and then using his superb Body Flicker Technique and Genjutsu to freely swap positions among the Clones.
Every Clone, when attacking you, could potentially become the original body stabbing you at any moment. Without enough eyesight and strength, it's impossible to tell them apart.
The Kirigakure Ninja were especially traumatized by being stabbed, which allowed Shisui to earn a resounding reputation through them.
One must know that at that time, Ao had the Byakugan, but he was still beaten so badly he didn't know which way was up.
So Kakashi was right; a Ninja's battle is summed up in one word: deception.
Even those god-like beings who can't even be called Ninjas will be tricked if they aren't careful.
Uchiha Madara was fooled by Senju Hashirama's Wood Clone.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was even more embarrassing; a Reverse Harem Jutsu left her bewildered on the spot.
---
After the assessment ended, some were happy and some were disappointed.
But Higashino Shin felt that those who failed to graduate didn't need to lose heart; it was actually a good thing. Graduating a bit later meant they could just happen to miss the war.
"Shin, from now on, you are an official Konoha Ninja. I hope you can continue to work hard and grow into a reliable force to protect the Village."
"I will, Hokage-sama."
Taking the Forehead Protector from the Sandaime's hands, Higashino Shin thought about it and, like Yūgao Uzuki, tied it around his forehead.
This thing is just an identity certification; as for its protective effect on a Ninja? It's actually negligible.
But it also has an implicit 'expert' certification function—for example, by carving a horizontal line across it?
Higashino Shin thought about it but didn't dare do something so provocative. He was afraid the Hokage-sama was getting old, and it wouldn't be good if he were driven to some sort of health crisis on the spot out of anger.
In the afternoon, after a brief graduation ceremony, they received their graduation certificates from the Third Hokage's hand, and it was announced that they had officially graduated from the school and become honorable Konoha Genin.
The Ninja Registration Forms, after having photos attached, were kept by the Village and were considered confidential.
They contained the students' basic personal information and ninja registration numbers.
Yūgao Uzuki's ninja registration number was 012161.
Higashino Shin's number was the adjacent 012160.
The graduation certificate didn't have a photo, only a piece of descriptive text. It wasn't considered confidential and was kept by the student.
After all this, the students who successfully graduated immediately returned to their respective classes to wait for team assignments. Next, it would be the business of the Jonin instructors.
Yūgao Uzuki began to worry: "Shin, we should be assigned to the same team, right? Right? I really don't want to team up with anyone else."
"That's not up to us." Although Higashino Shin said that, he felt there was a high probability they would be in one team. On the surface, the Hokage's team assignments were said to be based on balancing strength, but the focus was actually on bonds.
Just then, Inoue Kuroiwa read out: "Team Three: Higashino Shin, Yūgao Uzuki."
"Yay!" The young girl made a victory sign at Higashino Shin, then noticed something was wrong: "Eh? Why are there only two of us? Shouldn't there be three people?"
Higashino Shin scratched his head, having an ominous premonition. He thought secretly: "No way, is some noble clan trying to screw me over? I already helped Shisui awaken his Two-Tomoe, and they're still not satisfied? Do they have to use me as expendable material for a Mangekyo?"
Truly an inherently evil clan. If that's really the case, then there's no need to wait for Uchiha Itachi to grow up; this old man will personally...