There was a test in the afternoon.
The Chunin instructor announced the rules.
The rules were simple: use shurikens to hit the thirty dummies distributed around the field in the shortest amount of time.
"Next, Uchiha Kiyoshi."
The Chunin teacher called out Kiyoshi's name.
Kiyoshi stepped forward, raised his hand, and threw shurikens at the the dummies.
Speaking of shuriken throwing technique, Kiyoshi was already 88% of the way to acquiring the related trait.
Even without obtaining this Trait, his shuriken throwing skills were much better than before.
The dummies were just black dots to others as they were too far away.
But Kiyoshi could see them clearly, which greatly improved his accuracy.
Thud! Thud! Thud...
After Kiyoshi hit a dummy, he started running forward.
The positions of each dummy were far apart, requiring the students to run and throw at the same time to minimize the time.
Before long, Kiyoshi breathed slightly.
"Nine points!"
The Chunin instructor gave Kiyoshi a nine, the full score being ten.
"Your progress is very fast, Kiyoshi."
Recording the score, the Chunin instructor sighed.
Kakashi was probably the only one more talented than Kiyoshi, right?
What if Kiyoshi had entered Ninja school earlier?
And he also possesses the Sharingan.
After thinking for a while, the Chunin instructor shook his head.
His mind had been in a mess recently because the border has been unstable, and many of his colleagues who had gone on missions had returned injured.
Kiyoshi nodded slightly and returned to his position.
"Kiyoshi, how did you make so much progress in such a short amount of time?"
"Kiyoshi, do you have any secrets?"
It had been a few months since Kiyoshi had come to Ninja school.
His classmates had gotten to know him, and sometimes they would talk to him.
However, Kiyoshi rarely wasted time on these people.
"Just hard work, anyone can improve quickly if they work hard."
Kiyoshi smiled and responded to these people.
The next person in line was Kakashi.
Kakashi threw the shurikens expressionlessly and completed the test in a very short time.
While Kiyoshi was still observing Kakashi's movements, wanting to steal a trick or two, a melodious sounded beside him.
"Kiyoshi, can I talk to you?" Rin spoke.
The purple patterns on both sides of her cheeks were very conspicuous in the sunlight.
Kiyoshi raised his eyes, looked at her calmly, and nodded.
"Kiyoshi, I've known Kakashi for longer but why was Kakashi willing to look for you instead?"
Rin got straight to the point, goping to find the answer from Kiyoshi.
Kiyoshi pondered for a moment and said, "That's because Kakashi needs something to vent his emotions and avoid the various gossips in the village. I don't think you know swordsmanship, right?"
"No."
Rin lowered her head upon hearing this.
Her grades at Ninja school were not bad, and she was in the upper echelon.
The school taught some superficial common things and the most basic medical ninjutsu.
She was very knowledgeable about all these.
Even the instructor in charge of explaining medical ninjutsu at Ninja school had given her an offer.
If she graduates, she can come to him for further study and get more medical ninjutsu.
But swordsmanship... or rather, combat, she is indeed not very good at.
Kiyoshi said, "Moreover, if Kakashi doesn't distract himself like this, he might have problems."
Rin asked, "Problems? What do you mean?"
Rin looked blank, she couldn't understand Kiyoshi's words at all.
"Who knows."
Kiyoshi didn't explain any further. He just turned and left.
Of course, he was talking about psychological problem.
This is the darkness of Konoha.
The so-called Will of Fire sounds great, but if someone abandons a mission to save a companion, they will be blamed by the whole village.
If the higher-ups had praised Sakumo for his behavior of saving his companions and just given some punishment for the mission failure, things would have been fine.
With rewards and punishments, why would Sakumo commit suicide?
But in the development of the matter, no higher up spoke out, and even the companions that Sakumo had saved blamed him.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen was willing to speak out, Kiyoshi didn't think anyone would dare to blame Sakumo.
The Third Hokage has the title of Ninja Professor and the Strongest Hokage.
Of course, these are titles spread by the new generation who have not seen the strength of the First Hokage.
Rin stood there, frowning.
When she turned her head, she found that Kakashi had already completed the test and had merged into the crowd.
What... should she do?
...
In the past few days, Kiyoshi spent his extra time at home practicing, preparing for early graduation.
"You have acquired the Trait: [Three Basic Technique (White)]."
[Three Basic Technique (White)]
[Requirements: Learn Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Substitution Technique.]
[Progress: Completed]
[Effect: Your understanding of the Three Basic Technique is beyond ordinary people, and their effect will be 5% better than ordinary people.]
[Note: Can be upgraded.]
Kiyoshi had finally completely learned the Three Basic Techniques.
Generally, ordinary people need to practice for several years before they can become proficient in the 3 basic techniques.
But Kiyoshi compressed that time into a few months.
Of course, this is the time for civilian ninjas.
The ninjas belonging to major clans with secret techniques or kekkei genkais passed down obviously learn much quicker in comparison.
Even so, Kiyoshi's learning speed can be considered to be one of the fastest in the Uchiha clan.
"Upgrade Trait."
Kiyoshi opened the Trait panel and decided to upgrade the trait as soon as possible.
When he had obtained [Water Walker (White)] and [Tree Climber (White)], two upgrade routes had appeared.
The required condition for the second one which granted a green trait was the [Three Basic Technique (White)] trait.
"You have acquired a new Trait: [Solid Foundation (Green)]."
[Solid Foundation (Green)]
[Requirements: Reach the basic literacy required for a ninja.]
[Progress: Completed]
[Effect: Chakra amount increases by 20% based on the original basis.]
[Note: Can be upgraded.]
"It's like my body is being torn apart."
At this exact moment, Kiyoshi felt a pain.
Severe pain attacked every cell in Kiyoshi's body, from muscles to bones, and even every nerve.
It was as if he was being forcibly stretched by external force, and then being filled from the inside out.
"Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy, which means that I will not only make progress spiritually, but also improve physically."
A thought suddenly flashed in Kiyoshi's mind, and his consciousness quickly recalled some pieces of information about chakra.
One minute, two minutes...
A quarter of an hour later, Kiyoshi's already strong body became even bigger.
Kiyoshi looked down at his hands, which were a little thicker than before.
Taking off his shirt, he noticed that his muscles had become more defined, and his fingers had become more powerful, and seemed to be more elastic and flexible than before.
Kiyoshi stood up straight and moved his neck.
His height seemed to have changed quite a bit.
"I'm getting taller."
Kiyoshi could still feel the pain in all the cells in his body.
But along with it, he felt a sense of power and vigor.