After dinner, Hashirama and Tobirama stayed at home for a while before hurriedly returning to the Hokage building.
At this hour, aside from the ninja on night duty, the Hokage building was already empty.
However, for the Hokage, there was no strict concept of “clocking out.” If there were urgent matters to handle, no matter how late it was, they had to dutifully sit at their desks and work overtime.
Today, what required their urgent attention wasn’t just the usual official duties but also the follow-up matters of the Graduation Exam.
Inside the Hokage’s office, Hashirama sat at his desk, while Tobirama stood nearby with his arms crossed.
“These children lack combat awareness and have shortcomings in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or Genjutsu.
Making them Genin would only harm them.” Looking at the reports compiled by the examiners of the Graduation Exam and combining them with his observations from the day’s matches, Hashirama singled out the evaluation forms of several students.
These students were all from the graduating class, yet even by normal standards, they still didn’t meet the requirements to become Genin.
Although Hashirama was gentle by nature, he wouldn’t be lenient in this situation.
After all, not becoming a ninja didn’t mean they couldn’t survive.
If they truly lacked the talent, they could still shine in other professions.
Konohagakure was currently in a state of rebuilding, and there were actually plenty of job opportunities.
After confirming and approving the results of the graduating class, the two of them reviewed the evaluation forms of those who had participated in the early graduation exam.
The requirements for the early graduation exam were even stricter.
Earlier, they had singled out the files of those who hadn’t passed the exam.
Now, they were selecting the files of those who could pass.
After careful selection, they only managed to pick out fewer than twenty.
Among them were the evaluation forms of Matsuake, Tsukuyomi, and Suke.
Of course, there were also students one or two years ahead of them, who weren’t part of the graduating class but had applied for early graduation this year.
Seeing this, Tobirama frowned and picked up Suke’s file separately.
On the evaluation form, his performance in the earlier matches was recorded as excellent.
However, in his final match—the one against Matsuake—it was noted as extremely poor.
After all, he was instantly defeated, showing no performance during the fight.
With both excellent and extremely poor results, this situation fell into a gray area between passing and failing.
Still, considering Suke’s performance during the day, he placed the evaluation form on the side of those who hadn’t passed.
“This kid from the Uchiha Clan has too obvious a character flaw.
He should take more time to mature,” Tobirama said.
Although he had never liked the Uchiha Clan, he wouldn’t go out of his way to make things difficult for a child.
The reason he did this was that he genuinely believed the other party didn’t meet the graduation requirements.
Even if he was stronger than his peers now, after graduating as a Genin, he wouldn’t be able to stand on his own.
Instead, he would need to form a team to participate in missions.
In Tobirama’s view, this Uchiha kid had no sense of camaraderie and would likely end up dragging his teammates down as a Genin.
“You’re right.
I didn’t consider that carefully enough.” After thinking it over, Hashirama agreed with Tobirama’s opinion.
“Finally, there’s the matter of the instructors.” Tobirama organized the personal files of all the students who had passed the graduation exam and placed them on the table.
Hashirama also opened a drawer and took out another stack of documents.
This was the list of people in the village who were willing to become team-leading Jōnin and mentor the newly graduated Genin this year.
Next, they proceeded to compare the two stacks of documents.
Then, they selected suitable supervising instructors for each Genin based on their individual circumstances.
Compared to the earlier graduation review, this task was truly time-consuming.
Not only did they have to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Jōnin and Genin in areas such as Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but they also had to account for personality compatibility and team synergy.
This was especially true for clans with distinctive Kekkei Genkai or secret techniques.
As both of them valued the growth of Konohagakure’s new generation, they approached this task with great caution.
It was well past midnight by the time the two finished assigning this year’s newly graduated Genin.
“Finally done,” Hashirama sighed in relief.
“With the arrangements you’ve made, Brother, I imagine little Matsuake and the others will be quite surprised tomorrow.” “Hahaha, now that you mention it, I’m curious to see their expressions tomorrow.” …
The next day.
The atmosphere in the Ninja Academy was different from usual.
In the classroom where Matsuake was seated.
Everyone who had learned about yesterday’s exam results occasionally cast complicated glances at Matsuake.
Admiration, reverence, envy, jealousy…
In a seat at the back, Suke looked rather disheveled.
His arm was wrapped in bandages and slung around his neck, with noticeable scratches on his face and arms.
He glared resentfully at Matsuake but seemed afraid of being noticed, hurriedly and awkwardly lowering his head.
But that wasn’t the only thing troubling him.
While his victories in the earlier rounds of the exam hadn’t been widely discussed, the result of his final match—where he was instantly defeated by Matsuake—had spread far and wide.
Now, he could feel the mocking stares of some of the people he had previously looked down upon.
This feeling made him as uncomfortable as being pricked by needles, leaving him restless.
If it weren’t for wanting to know the exam results, he wouldn’t have come here today.
Deep down, he still didn’t believe he would fail to graduate.
Even though his final performance was poor, he thought he had excelled in the earlier matches.
Soon, the teacher walked into the classroom with a smile.
“The results of yesterday’s Graduation Exam have been announced.
Two students from our class have passed.” “Those who didn’t pass the Graduation Exam shouldn’t be discouraged.
This is only the first year; there will be more opportunities in the future.” Wait, two?
Hearing this, a sense of foreboding suddenly crept into Uchiha Suke’s heart.
After scanning the classroom, the teacher smiled and nodded at Matsuake and Tsukuyomi.
“Senju Matsuake and Hyūga Tsukuyomi, congratulations on passing the early graduation exam.” “Your time studying at the Ninja Academy ends here.
We hope you will become pillars of strength in protecting the village in the future.” “Additionally, your supervising instructors are waiting for you on the rooftop.
You may head there now.” Hearing this, Matsuake and Tsukuyomi exchanged surprised glances.
They weren’t surprised about passing the Graduation Exam but about being assigned to the same team.
After a moment, Tsukuyomi felt happy, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
Matsuake also thought this arrangement was good, as it saved him the trouble of adjusting to a new teammate.
However, he was curious about which Jōnin would be their supervising instructor.
Watching the two gather their belongings and leave the classroom, Suke’s heart filled with resentment.
He really wanted to slam the table and shout, demanding to know why he had failed the Graduation Exam.
But for one thing, his right hand was currently wrapped in bandages.
For another, he didn’t truly have the courage to do so.
At most, he could act tough among his peers—if he dared disrespect a teacher, they could teach him a lesson in an instant.
So, all he could do was stare resentfully at the door at the front of the classroom, even to the point where his eyes seemed to faintly redden with anger.