Naruto: All My Targets Are Ninjutsu.

Let's not talk about the former.

Although Orochimaru is wicked, strictly speaking, he's quite good to his students. Whether it's Mitarashi Anko... cough, I misspoke, it's Anko, or Kabuto and Sasuke, he teaches them all diligently and is truly generous with good things. Although he likes to place cursed seals on people, it's fine if he doesn't use them indiscriminately; in fact, they can even help with weight loss.

But these two, one busy traveling the world and the other engrossed in biological research, are equally rare to see.

Therefore,

Yu Mikami then turned his attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He planned to demonstrate enough "talent" in this graduation exam, along with his essays on the "Will of Fire," to make Hiruzen Sarutobi appreciate his talent and then personally arrange a path for him, finding a reliable Jonin to be his teacher.

However, there is a potential risk in doing this: it could attract the attention of a certain unnamed 5.5th generation Kage. Kakashi is a prime example of this.

Therefore, we need to think ahead about possible scenarios and prepare contingency plans.

"I'm stuffed."

Inside Ichiraku Ramen.

Mikami Yu put down his rice bowl.

Rin Nohara and Obito, who were standing next to them, also wiped their mouths at the same time.

Next, Rin Nohara went to the Konoha Library to look up information, Obito returned to the Uchiha clan's territory to train, and Yu Mikami went to the training ground on the west side of the village to start his daily routine of cleaning up the nooks and crannies.

Since reaching maximum affinity with the Transformation Technique, Mikami Yu has reduced the time he spends training this technique. He only greets her each day, practices for a symbolic ten minutes or so, and then focuses his main energy on other ninjutsu.

The highest priority skills are the clone technique, the substitution technique, and the healing technique.

Secondly, there are turbulent water waves.

—In this graduation exam, Asuma is the most likely candidate to compete with Mikami Yu for first place. Since his opponent's chakra nature is fire and wind, Mikami Yu decides to focus on training water release techniques to counter his fire release.

Of course,

More importantly, "Water Chaos Wave" requires 16 points of affinity to advance to the next level, while Great Fireball requires 21 points. Both are C-rank ninjutsu, so their difficulty should be similar. From a cost-effectiveness perspective, it's naturally better to prioritize the former, which is more likely to advance in a short time.

As for the "Eight Gates Formation"...

Yu Mikami is a little intimidated by this thing.

Every day when we meet, the first thing we do is run a hundred laps around Konoha Village. After that, we rest for three to five minutes, and then we start another twenty-kilometer off-road race. Who can stand that?

Only a training maniac like Might Guy, who trains like crazy as long as he doesn't die, could handle it.

Yu Mikami had considered using the Transformation Technique to transform himself into Might Guy first, and then practicing the Eight Gates. However, maintaining the Transformation Technique itself consumes chakra, and starting intense training under these circumstances would be like adding extra burden to himself, which would be counterproductive.

Therefore,

He could only try to avoid her for now, preferring to improve his physical condition before making a move.

By the way,

In the Gaggle System, the difficulty of conquering different ninjutsu varies. The earliest "Transformation Jutsu" only took a little over a month to raise the favorability from 10 to 100; however, the "Great Fireball Jutsu," which entered the conquest list on the same day, only has a favorability of around 50 now.

Although Yuka Mikami spent different amounts of time on these two techniques, it's clear that the Transformation Technique increased her favorability faster.

The "Eight Gates Formation" is even more obvious.

As an A-level forbidden technique and a "superior target" recognized by the corner system, this thing's favorability is extremely difficult to increase, often requiring several rounds of [dialogue] and [practice] to increase by 1 point.

But it's understandable.

Judging from the transformation technique, a maxed-out favorability rating likely means he can open all eight gates. So, it would be a bit unreasonable if he could perfectly master a ninjutsu that even training fanatics like Might and Might spend one or two decades to fully learn.

Fortunately, the favorability rating won't be negatively affected.

So going a little slower isn't a big problem.

Chapter 35: The Ninja Academy Opens, and Kurenai's Bento Box

Yu Mikami had considered another way of playing.

That is to replace dialogue and practice with the method of giving gifts.

but……

The reason why "Water Clone" can be given to the Clone Technique is because the two are from the same lineage; but "Eight Gates"... should we give "Physical Animation" instead? Or should we go to Might Guy and ask for a few of the Might family's heirloom green bodysuits to see if this "beautiful girl" will like them?

Speaking of which, the material of that green outfit is actually quite good. Even with Matt and his son training like that every day, it hasn't worn out much. It's also absorbent. Even if you can't give it away, you can use it as a rag at home...

"It's almost lunchtime..."

"knock off!"

As the sun began to set, Mikami stretched and leisurely went home for dinner.

at this time.

In several other places in Konoha Village.

Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata Hyuga, Asuma Sarutobi... most of this year's ninja students are preparing for their upcoming graduation season, working hard from dawn till dusk every day to train in various basic ninjutsu and taijutsu.

Unlike Yu Mikami, they all usually have an elder family member as their sparring partner, either their father or their older brother.

Even a white-haired boy who had just returned from outside the village and was being ostracized by his teammates washed his face and began to quietly practice his family's traditional swordsmanship in his own yard...

……

Two or three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Winter break has come to an end before we even realized it.

In late January, Konoha was blanketed in a heavy snowfall.

When the snow stopped, many children ran out excitedly to build snowmen and have snowball fights in the streets and alleys, filling the air with laughter; adults also put on their brand-new winter clothes, their faces showing their anticipation for the new year.

However, most of the ninjas wearing dark green vests, moving high and low on the rooftops, had serious expressions. More and more of them were wounded and wrapped in bandages, and words like "casualties," "supplies," and "war" began to circulate in the wind.

Some astute individuals have already sensed the shift in the wind.

However, because Konoha has not yet officially entered a state of war preparedness, and the last war has only just ended, leaving behind too many painful memories, most people do not dare to say anything in public. They are just being more cautious in secret, preparing for the possible new war.

The prices of explosive tags and kunai in the ninja tool shop have quietly increased, while orders for soldier pills have surged daily.

but,

These situations are currently unrelated to the students of the Ninja Academy.

As the new semester begins, students who have been away for a winter break return to the classroom one after another. Acquaintances gather in twos and threes to chat about what has happened during this time.

Just as Mikami Yu sat down, he saw a man with cataracts walk over and stand next to him.

"Mikami-kun, it's been a long time."

Hinata Homon, with a serious expression, said, "This winter break, I had my older brother Hizashi from the clan help me with special training. I'm a completely different person now. I'll definitely win this graduation exam, just like I did last time!"

"……Oh."

Yuko Mikami said, "Just do your best, why are you telling me this?"

However, all the kids at the Ninja Academy are like that. Might Guy and Obito always talk about challenging Kakashi. They said it to Kakashi's face when he was still alive, and they say it behind his back now that he's gone.

So, Mikami Yu nodded politely: "I look forward to your performance."

Alright, go have some fun.

Hyuga Himon turned and walked away.

After a while,

Kurenai Yuhi arrived at the classroom and placed a homemade bento box on Mikami Yu's desk as she passed by his seat: "Um, Mikami-kun, I don't know if you've eaten breakfast yet, so I brought an extra one with me. If you don't mind, consider it a thank you gift from a while ago."

"...Huh?"

Ebisu, who was not far away, pricked up his ears, wanting to hear some gossip.

Wait, what does that mean? Wasn't it only Asuma who could eat the breakfast that Kurenai Yuhi sent?

Could it be that……

"Thanks, I was a little hungry."

Mikami Yu smiled and thanked him.

His appetite has indeed increased.

After all, he had to practice every day during this period, repeatedly expending his chakra. Although chakra and stamina are not entirely equivalent, he was bound to get hungry easily, so Mikami Yu usually carried bread and chocolate in his pocket. It would be nice to have a snack occasionally.

Nohara Rin glanced in this direction, and only looked away after Yuhi Kurenai left, without saying anything.

The school bell rang.

Oki-sensei and Obito Uchiha entered the classroom one after the other.

Mr. Oki originally wanted to scold him, but considering it was the first day of the new semester and Obito wasn't too late, he waved his hand and let him in.

"Ahem, hello everyone. I hope you all had a good winter break?"

"But from now on, we need to get serious, because the graduation exams are just around the corner..."

The graduation exam at the Ninja Academy is a major undertaking.

It involves many disciplines.

The academic subjects alone include Chinese, mathematics, geography, and information translation, with a difficulty level roughly equivalent to the middle school entrance examination in modern society.

Although Konoha did not place much emphasis on education at this time and did not have high requirements for the students' academic level, they still had to know some basic things. Otherwise, if they went out to carry out missions, they would not be able to make battle plans or write mission reports, which would be a waste.

Therefore,

Take advantage of the week or so of free time after school starts.

Teachers like Oki and Himura led everyone in reviewing and preparing for the exam every day. Every morning they would read books and memorize questions, and in the afternoon they would go out for training, sparring and wrestling. The schedule was quite tight.

During this process, quite a few students displayed a completely different demeanor than before the winter break, eliciting quiet gasps from the surrounding children.

Wow, Nara-kun has improved so much!

"Is Hyuga Hido cheating? He's so powerful!"

"I feel... it's still not as good as Asuma."

"Hong's physical skills have improved a lot. She's like a completely different person from last semester."

"By the way, I ran into Kakashi on the street yesterday! I heard he came back from a mission, and he's still as handsome as ever, but his aura is even more aloof. He's so charming!"

Really? Really?

The moment the topic of Kakashi came up, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Obito and Might Guy both jumped up and asked the girl who had spoken for details.

Only Mikami Yu sat cross-legged with his eyes closed to the side, recovering his chakra while quietly playing with the Gakkaki in his mind.

Chapter 36: Advanced Substitution Technique, Graduation Exam Begins!

Because of the start of the school year, Mikami Yu can no longer spend seven or eight hours a day training like he did during vacation. However, he still tries to increase the favorability of several ninjas by interacting with them in his spare time.

Incidentally, I also discussed the "transformation template" with the Transformation Technique.

Amidst this intense atmosphere of exam preparation,

Yu Mikami was the first to raise the "Healing Technique" favorability rating to the next stage:

【Healing Spell (Affection: 50/100 (Intimacy))】

(Having received stage rewards twice: Constitution +2, Trait: Healing Mark: Wounds you heal will leave a subtle "healing mark". The mark will continue to repair the surrounding tissue for two weeks after the treatment ends, promoting its return to its original state before the injury.)

There hasn't been much change, except that the time to heal the wound has been reduced by a quarter.

In addition, according to the results of Yu Mikami's tests on small animals, there is a hidden limitation to the "healing brand" that has not been explicitly stated: the size of the wound must be within a certain range. Wounds of the level of limb amputation, blindness, or being cut in half at the waist cannot be fully healed.

It is, after all, a C-rank ninjutsu.

The kind of thing that can regenerate severed limbs is something that even the "Hundred Healings Technique" can't do; it requires Hashirama cells.

then,

The second advanced technique is the Substitution Jutsu!

As the second of the Three Body Techniques to reach maximum favorability, its characteristics indeed changed after advancement, and the description is quite impressive—

【Substitute Technique (Affection: 100/100 (Heart to Heart))】