Natsuki stood in place and fell into thought.
First was the unlock condition for Ability Two of the Zoro Template. It required taking first place once in practical combat.
School had already started for three months, and they had gone through three monthly exams, but there had never been any real practical combat.
Because most students had not even learned the Substitution Technique. If they fought, it would only turn into rookies pulling each other's hair.
Under normal circumstances, real practical combat would only begin from the year-end exam of first year.
In other words, he had to wait until next February.
Natsuki thought about it and realized this was not a bad thing.
In these three monthly exams, his ranking had been either seventh or eighth, extremely stable.
If he suddenly became first, it would seem extremely unreasonable.
Aside from that, there was another problem.
After defeating Minato and becoming first, he would definitely attract Danzō's attention.
Natsuki's plan was to improve little by little until next February's final exam, then defeat Minato and become first place.
During these eight months, he had enough time to establish himself in Hiruzen's eyes as an outstanding inheritor of the Will of Fire.
But this was still not enough.
Hiruzen and Danzō were close old partners.
In the original work, Danzō sent people to assassinate Hiruzen, yet even after it was exposed, he did not receive any punishment.
What Natsuki was worried about was being forcibly taken to Root.
Would Hiruzen force his way into Root because of him?
Natsuki felt it was unlikely.
Hiruzen had only questioned Root because of Yamato, the Wood Release shinobi.
Other geniuses, such as Aburame Torune, whose strength was above Minato's before he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, were still abandoned.
Natsuki believed he still needed a protective charm.
The broad-minded Tsunade immediately appeared in his mind.
If he hid under her protection, and with Hiruzen's favor added on, he could temporarily make Danzō unable to do anything to him.
If he wanted Tsunade to personally deal with Danzō, then he had to rely on Nonō.
Simply put, he had to let Nonō display her talent as a medical shinobi.
Natsuki quickly formed a rough plan in his heart.
He steadied himself and looked at Ability Three of the Zoro Template.
The unlock condition was mastering one Earth Release ninjutsu.
This requirement was comparatively simple.
Natsuki's parents had left him two Earth Release ninjutsu, so he could learn them directly.
Although his talent was average, these two Earth Release ninjutsu were not very difficult to learn either. One was D-rank, and the other was C-rank.
His target was the D-rank Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique. He would try to learn it before next February.
The unlock condition for Ability Four of the Zoro Template was owning a famous sword.
In Natsuki's view, this requirement was the hardest.
Because there were not many famous swords in the shinobi world to begin with, and basically all of them had owners.
For example, the Seven Ninja Swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kirigakure were all known throughout the shinobi world.
But as someone from Konoha, it was impossible for Natsuki to obtain any one of them.
Taking a step back and narrowing the target to Konoha, the most famous blade was the White Light Chakra Sabre.
It was the blade of Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo. After his death, it was inherited by Kakashi.
Aside from the White Light Chakra Sabre, there were two other swords. One was called Kusanagi Sword, and the other was called the Sword of the Thunder God.
Several Kusanagi Swords had appeared in the original work, but every one of them was related to Orochimaru.
The owner of the Sword of the Thunder God was the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. He had already passed away, and this sword was now kept by Konoha.
Thinking up to this point, Natsuki could not help but frown.
The difficulty of obtaining these three swords was very high.
For the White Light Chakra Sabre and Kusanagi Sword, the greatest possibility of obtaining them was for Natsuki to become the student of Hatake Sakumo or Orochimaru.
As for the Sword of the Thunder God, if he wanted to obtain it, he would have to render a great contribution to Konoha and receive it as a reward.
No, that was not necessarily the case.
Natsuki suddenly thought of the method he had come up with for letting Nonō approach Tsunade. Perhaps he could also use it to obtain the Sword of the Thunder God.
After planning everything, he stretched out both hands.
Projection Magecraft!
Two streams of chakra visible to the naked eye appeared in the air, then rapidly turned into two kunai.
Natsuki held them, and immediately felt a sense of reality, as if he were holding two real kunai.
He thought for a moment, then took out a real kunai and slashed down.
The two kunai shook violently, and the kunai formed by Projection Magecraft immediately showed a faint dent.
As expected, they were inferior to real kunai. They had about seventy percent of the strength, but that was already enough for battle.
He also had Reinforcement Magecraft. After reinforcement, they would become sharper than real kunai.
Natsuki did not continue testing and stood in place to wait.
About three minutes later, the two kunai he had projected trembled slightly, then turned into points of light and disappeared.
Natsuki felt that the duration was a little short, but it was still acceptable.
After all, he could project another one after it disappeared.
Natsuki felt that Zoro was very suited to Projection Magecraft.
Projection Magecraft could project legendary swords.
After he fused with the Two-Sword Style Zoro in the future, he would be able to project the two famous swords, Kanshou and Bakuya.
"Nonō."
Natsuki turned around, walked up to Nonō, and asked, "How is your study of basic medical knowledge going?"
"In another two months, I'll be able to finish learning all of it."
Nonō thought for a moment and said with great confidence.
The timing was just right.
Natsuki had hired Chiwa as a Sensei, and the set period was six months.
If Nonō finished in five months, there would still be one month left.
"Nonō."
Natsuki smiled and said, "To become a medical shinobi, aside from basic medical knowledge, you also need powerful chakra control."
In the original work, Sakura's talent as a medical shinobi was reflected in her chakra control.
The most typical example was tree climbing. She was the first to complete the tree-climbing training, faster than both Sasuke and Naruto.
"Starting today, take some time to practice tree climbing and water walking."
Natsuki explained, "These two methods can effectively train chakra control."
The principles behind tree climbing and water walking were not difficult. The original work had explained them very clearly.
Nonō nodded after hearing this.
What Natsuki said was definitely right. She only needed to do as he said.
Nonō would practice tree climbing and water walking, while he would learn the Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique. The rest was only a matter of time.
At the Ninja Academy, one year was divided into three terms, starting in March and ending in February of the next year.
The first term was from March to mid-July. There were four monthly exams, and summer break lasted until the end of August, with school starting again in early September.
Time quietly passed.
June quickly went by, and July's final exam arrived as scheduled.
There were no changes to the theory exam. As for the practical exam, aside from ninja tool throwing and physical fitness testing, there was also a Substitution Technique exam.
But there was still no real practical combat.
Following his planned approach, Natsuki's ranking rose from seventh to fifth.
His greatest improvement was in the physical fitness test.
After four months of continuous running, his physical fitness ranking had already stabilized in the top five.
The first place in the final exam was still Minato.
(To be continued.)