Crimson Winds Of Konoha

Xi Hihong also wanted to take the graduation exam, but unfortunately, she was quite playful and rarely took training seriously. She struggled with the Three Body Technique, so passing the graduation exam seemed daunting for her.

"Fenghuo, Obito, Kai, and Asuma all have to take this graduation exam, and I want to take it too," Yuhihong said, looking at Fenghuo with puppy-dog eyes.

What could he do?

Of course, Fenghuo tried to persuade her to wash up and go to bed.

"Hmmm..." Xi Hihong covered her mouth and hummed softly, expressing a mix of childish dissatisfaction.

But her anger flared up and died down quickly, and soon she was pestering Fenghuo with questions until she finally yawned and fell asleep.

The next morning, Fenghuo got up, formed a Shadow Clone, and began practicing the Sealing Technique. He headed toward the newspaper office but didn't go inside. After more than a month of development, the newspaper had finally stabilized and captured the village market. It could now run smoothly even without his constant attention.

"Starting today, I'll also be a good boss who has passed the newspaper office's third round!" Fenghuo joked to himself.

He walked to the Ninja Academy not far from the newspaper office, spotting many students training on the field. Among them was Kai, whose thick, spiky eyebrows made him impossible to miss. Nearby were Obito and Asuma. Scanning the crowd, Fenghuo noticed others like Hyuga Shinmune and Uchiha Rana—students he had some rivalry with. The only person who caught his full attention was Shiranui Genma, a senior ninja known for his stern demeanor.

"Seal the fire!" Obito suddenly jumped up excitedly, his face lighting up as he activated his Sharingan and gave Fenghuo a thumbs-up.

Fenghuo hadn't seen Obito much since moving into Xi Hihong's house.

Kai also gave him a confident thumbs-up, a smile spreading across his face, his white teeth gleaming in the morning sun.

Fenghuo recalled Kai's promise to challenge him again after graduation and shuddered.

Why did Kakashi's blame always fall on him?

Damn it! Fenghuo refused to accept defeat.

Asuma looked downcast. Since Fenghuo moved in with Xi Hihong, Asuma had been reluctant to interact much with him.

Fenghuo thought wryly that it was a good thing the Hokage position wasn't hereditary—otherwise, the "Huo Second Generation" might have bullied him to death in the future.

Outsiders were not allowed inside the graduation exam venue, but many villagers had gathered at the school gate, peering inside. Parents looked nervous, clearly worried for their children taking the exam.

Fenghuo found a spot behind a tree, climbed up, and watched.

Each student's exam was different.

Fenghuo's own graduation exam was to throw shuriken and kunai accurately and endure a three-minute sparring session against a Chunin instructor. Because Fenghuo had caused some trouble during his first exam, he was the only one who passed that year. Since then, the instructors had simplified the test. This year, aside from the Three Body Technique, the exam was a battle between students.

For Kai, Asuma, and Obito, the Three Body Technique was no longer a big problem; the real challenge was the next stage.

Everyone was paired off. Winners would graduate; losers would return for more training. Half the students would graduate.

Kai and Asuma were grouped together, while the unlucky Obito was paired with Shiranui Genma.

Shiranui was already ten years old, half a head taller than Obito, and had a thousand-yard stare that made him seem cool and intimidating.

"Uchiha student, you should admit defeat," Shiranui sneered. He had been in the ninja school for years and his skills were on par with a full-fledged ninja.

"Bastard! Don't underestimate me!" Obito snapped back, activating his Sharingan.

Shiranui was wary but soon realized that Obito's single-tomoe Sharingan wasn't much of an advantage.

Obito felt embarrassed by this truth.

Honestly, the Sharingan was powerful—especially at the Mangekyo level—but a single-tomoe Sharingan wasn't much to brag about.

Obito was defeated in less than three minutes.

Meanwhile, Kai and Asuma fought.

If anyone else had faced Asuma, they might have worried about his identity, but Kai was straightforward—no matter if you were a second- or third-generation ninja, he'd beat you up without hesitation.

"Whirlwind of Leaves!"

"Konoha Tornado Whirlwind!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

A violent storm of wind surrounded Kai's feet and surged toward Asuma.

Asuma barely parried with the Three Body Technique but couldn't hold out long. Kai soon kicked him into the air with a signature move.

"Too bad!" Kai said with mock regret, almost tempted to jump up and grab the shuriken Asuma had dropped.

But Asuma had no power to retaliate and lost, his nose bruised and face swollen.

Kai turned to Fenghuo and gave a thumbs-up.

In the end, among those Fenghuo knew, only Kai and Shiranui Genma passed. Obito and Asuma would have to try again next year.

Seeing the results, Fenghuo immediately dodged, not giving Kai the chance to gloat.

Suddenly, Fenghuo felt a headache.

His Shadow Clone, which had been practicing sealing techniques at home, had run out of chakra and dispersed.

"This is..." Fenghuo's eyes lit up.

After many days of study, his clone had finally started attempting an advanced sealing technique: the Five Elements Seal.

Though the clone failed after several tries due to chakra exhaustion, the experience was invaluable.

Fenghuo hurried home to recover his chakra, then dispatched the clone again to practice the Five Elements Seal together.

Recently, Fenghuo had learned how to seal magic circles and techniques for storing items. The former was straightforward, while the latter was useful but limited. The Five Elements Seal, however, was an advanced technique capable of sealing powerful creatures—even tailed beasts, depending on the user's strength.

The seal required mastery over the five chakra natures, making it impossible to learn without understanding chakra transformation.

Even so, mastering the seal was extremely difficult, and chakra often bottomed out after only a few attempts.

"No wonder only Jonin-level ninja can master it. It drains so much chakra that Chunin can barely learn it," Fenghuo muttered with a wry smile.

Thinking further, he realized the same was true for the Four Symbols Seal and Eight Trigrams Seal.

Looks like sealing techniques could be paused for now; raising chakra levels to Jonin rank was the priority.

He had been busy with the newspaper office for over a month. Except for using the Shadow Clone to study sealing, he hadn't had time to practice illusions, taijutsu, or ninjutsu—and had even put chakra refinement aside.

Now that the newspaper was stable, it was time to focus on training again.

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