Natsuki stood there, lost in thought.
First was the unlock condition for Ability Two of the Zoro template: place first in an actual combat exam.
School had already been in session for three months, and they had gone through three monthly tests, but there had still been no real combat.
That was because most of the students still had not even learned the Substitution Jutsu.
If they fought now, it would just turn into a bunch of rookies yanking each other’s hair.
Under normal circumstances, real combat would not begin until the year-end exam for first-years.
In other words, he would have to wait until next February.
After thinking it over, Natsuki realized that was not actually a bad thing.
In the last three monthly tests, his rank had always been either seventh or eighth—extremely stable.
If he suddenly jumped to first place, it would look far too suspicious.
There was also another problem.
If he beat Minato Namikaze and took first place, he would inevitably attract Shimura Danzo’s attention.
Natsuki’s plan was to improve little by little each time, and then defeat Minato in next February’s final exam to take first place.
With eight months to work with, he had enough time to build up the image of an outstanding inheritor of the Will of Fire in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes.
But even that was not enough.
Hiruzen and Danzo were old partners, close as could be.
In the original story, Danzo even sent people to assassinate Hiruzen, and after it was exposed, he still barely suffered any real punishment.
What Natsuki feared was being forcibly dragged into Root.
Would Hiruzen really storm Root for his sake?
Natsuki found that hard to believe.
The only time Hiruzen had ever forcibly intervened with Root was for Yamato, a Wood Release ninja.
Other geniuses, like Aburame Torune—whose strength was even above Minato before Flying Thunder God—had still been abandoned.
Natsuki felt that he needed one more protection charm.
The first person who came to mind was the generously endowed Tsunade.
If he could hide under her protection, and add Hiruzen’s favor on top of that, then Danzo would at least be temporarily unable to touch him.
If he wanted Tsunade to personally step in against Danzo, then the key would be Yakushi Nono.
Put simply, he needed Yakushi Nono to display her talent as a medical ninja.
A rough plan quickly formed in Natsuki’s mind.
Steadying himself, he looked again at Ability Three of the Zoro template.
Its unlock condition was to master one Earth Release ninjutsu.
That one was actually much easier.
Natsuki’s parents had left him two Earth Release techniques, so he could learn one directly.
His talent might be average, but those two Earth Release jutsu were not especially difficult to learn either—one was D-rank, the other C-rank.
He wanted to learn it before next February if possible.
The unlock condition for Ability Four of the Zoro template was to possess a famous sword.
To Natsuki, that was clearly the hardest requirement.
There simply were not many famous swords in the ninja world to begin with, and almost all of them already had owners.
For example, the seven ninja swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—every single one of them was famous throughout the ninja world.
But as a Konoha shinobi, there was no way Natsuki could ever get one of them.
If he narrowed the target down to Konoha, then the most famous blade was the White Fang Blade.
It belonged to Konoha’s White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, and after his death it would be inherited by Hatake Kakashi.
Aside from the White Fang Blade, there were two other notable swords: the Kusanagi Sword and the Sword of the Thunder God.
Several Kusanagi Swords appeared in the original story, but every one of them was tied to Orochimaru.
As for the Sword of the Thunder God, its owner had been the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
Since he was already dead, the sword was now kept by Konoha.
At that thought, Natsuki could not help frowning.
The difficulty of obtaining any of those three swords was extremely high.
For the White Fang Blade and the Kusanagi Sword, the most likely way to get them would be to become the student of Hatake Sakumo or Orochimaru.
As for the Sword of the Thunder God, the normal way to obtain it would be to render great service to Konoha and receive it as a reward.
No, not necessarily.
Natsuki suddenly thought of the same plan he had come up with for getting Yakushi Nono close to Tsunade.
Maybe that could also be used to get the Sword of the Thunder God.
After sorting out his plans, he raised both hands.
Projection Magecraft!
Visible streams of chakra formed in the air, and in the blink of an eye they turned into two kunai.
Natsuki grabbed them, and they felt completely real in his hands, as though he were holding actual kunai.
After a brief thought, he took out a real kunai and slashed downward.
The two projected kunai shook violently, and faint dents immediately appeared on them.
As expected, they were still inferior to real kunai—probably about seventy percent as durable—but that was already more than enough for combat.
And he still had Reinforcement Magecraft.
Once strengthened, they could become even sharper than real kunai.
Natsuki did not continue testing them.
He simply stood there and waited.
Roughly three minutes later, the two projected kunai trembled slightly, then dissolved into specks of light and vanished.
Natsuki felt the duration was a little short, but still acceptable.
After all, once they disappeared, he could just project new ones.
Natsuki felt that Zoro was a perfect fit for Projection Magecraft.
Once he fused with Two-Sword Style Zoro in the future, he would be able to project the famous twin swords Kanshou and Bakuya.
“Nono.”
Natsuki turned and walked over to Yakushi Nono.
“How are you doing with the basic medical knowledge?”
“Give me two more months, and I’ll finish all of it.”
After thinking for a moment, Yakushi Nono answered with confidence.
The timing was just right.
Natsuki had hired Chiwa for six months.
If Yakushi Nono finished in five, that would still leave them one extra month.
“Nono.”
Smiling, Natsuki said, “If you want to become a medical ninja, then besides basic medical knowledge, you also need excellent chakra control.”
In the original story, Haruno Sakura’s talent as a medical ninja was shown through her chakra control.
The most obvious example was tree climbing—she was the first to complete the exercise, faster than both Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.
“Starting today, make time to practice tree climbing and water walking.”
Natsuki explained, “Those two exercises are very effective for training chakra control.”
The principles behind tree climbing and water walking were not complicated.
The original story had already explained them clearly.
Yakushi Nono nodded.
Anything Natsuki said had to be right.
She just had to follow his lead.
Yakushi Nono would practice tree climbing and water walking, he would learn Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu, and after that the rest was just a matter of time.
At the Ninja Academy, one school year was divided into three terms, starting in March and ending the following February.
The first term ran from March to mid-July, with four monthly exams.
Summer vacation lasted until the end of August, and school resumed in early September.
Time passed quietly.
June soon came to an end, and the final exam in July arrived as scheduled.
The written exam did not change much.
As for the practical exam, in addition to ninja tool throwing and physical fitness, it now included a Substitution Jutsu assessment.
But there was still no real combat.
Following his plan, Natsuki raised his rank from seventh to fifth.
The area where he improved the most was physical fitness.
After four straight months of nonstop running, his ranking in physical fitness had stabilized within the top five.
First place in the final exam still went to Namikaze Minato.