Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

The next day.Early morning.

Uchiha Haruki arrived early at the Ninja Academy.

After enduring a long-winded and hollow graduation speech from Hiruzen Sarutobi, he stepped into the examination hall as instructed.

Naturally, a ninja exam couldn't just test the Three Basic Techniques. Subjects like code deciphering, map drawing, and other theoretical knowledge were also part of the assessment.

Therefore, the first few rounds were written tests.

Compared to the Chunin Exams, the written portion of the graduation exam was incredibly easy — mostly basic knowledge every ninja should know.

As long as you had spent a few years at the academy, passing it was no big deal.

Of course, there was always some political fluff included — like "interpret your understanding of the Will of Fire."

Even though it had been over a decade since Haruki last wrote an essay, whether in this life or the previous, writing a flattering piece like this was child's play.

Ding-ling-ling~

Morning passed quickly.

No exams were scheduled for the afternoon, so the students were free to do as they liked.

Haruki, of course, had no intention of wasting time at school. His Chakra Refinement Technique had already reached lv1 (195/200), just shy of leveling up. Naturally, he wanted to capitalize on that.

Back home, Haruki went straight into training.

After more than six hours and two full cycles of chakra refinement, he finally pushed the Chakra Refinement Technique to lv2 (1/500).

Although he had anticipated it, Haruki still couldn't help but get excited when he felt the actual effects of the lv2 technique.

Compared to lv1, lv2 Chakra Refinement doubled the efficiency of tapping into the body's potential.

Now, for every hour of training, he could recover 200 chakra points and increase his chakra cap by four points.

This meant his training efficiency would rise substantially again.

Still, achieving full double efficiency was practically impossible.

Why?

Simple — the human body had limits. Even with an unlimited supply of ration pills, if your body couldn't absorb it, it was pointless.

Not everyone was like Naruto Uzumaki, who could gobble ration pills like candy. These were concentrated food supplies, and too much could cause digestive issues.

Over the past week, Haruki had already started sensing the ceiling of his own body's limits.

If he now trained at full capacity, he could probably push his efficiency to about 1.5 times what it was before.

Still, that didn't mean upgrading Chakra Refinement was useless.

At the very least, it saved him a lot of time.

Now, he didn't have to worry about running out of time when it came to practicing more complex ninjutsu.

The next day.

Just like the first, there was still no testing of the Three Basic Techniques.

Today's assessments were Basic Taijutsu and Ninja Tool Throwing.

Because each student had to be evaluated individually, the process was slower.

It wasn't until late afternoon that it was finally Haruki's turn.

"Uchiha Haruki — Ten out of ten! Full score!"

Whoa~!

A wave of chatter rippled through the crowd.

But in the center of the field, Haruki's expression remained unchanged, maintaining the cold and aloof demeanor he had inherited from his predecessor.

There was nothing to be proud of. With his current Ninja Tool Throwing skill at lv2 (120/500), hitting a ten-meter target was laughably easy.

He had also scored full marks in Basic Taijutsu.

Basically, anyone who reached lv1 (100/200) could get a perfect score. If you had lv0 (80/100), you'd at least pass.

It showed just how lax this year's grading standards were.

That night passed uneventfully.

The third day.

Compared to the previous two days, the students were visibly more nervous.

Although the previous exams were important, they didn't determine everything.

Today was different. If you failed today's exam, it didn't matter how well you did before — you'd still be eliminated.

After all, in the ninja world, strength was what truly mattered.

If you lacked strength, no amount of theory could save you.

As the saying goes: "Might makes right."

If your fists weren't strong enough, no one cared what you had to say.

And for a ninja, ninjutsu was the fist. If you couldn't even learn basic jutsu, what good were you?

Of course, all this only applied to regular people.

The ninja world always had exceptions that defied logic — like Might Guy.

His ninjutsu aptitude was absolute trash, but his taijutsu talent was unrivaled in the entire ninja world.

A freak like that couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.

Still, most people didn't have the kind of qualifications needed to make Konoha break the rules for them.

That's why today's test was so important for any student hoping to walk the ninja path.

And that was why everyone was more nervous than before.

Sitting in the classroom, watching as Sugiki called one student after another to the front to demonstrate the Three Basic Techniques, Haruki felt perfectly calm.

His lv2 Three-Body Techniques gave him absolute confidence.

And besides...

"Yanagi Aoki, are you ready?" Sugiki called.

"Yes, Sensei," she replied softly with a nod.

"Good. Choose one of the Three Basic Techniques and demonstrate it," Sugiki said.

That's right — this year's test didn't require a specific technique. Instead, students could choose any of the Three Techniques to showcase.

Obviously, this approach was much easier — and easier to exploit.

For instance, if someone had only mastered the Transformation Technique and was bad at the other two, they could just choose that and pass.

In previous years, if the teacher had happened to ask for the Clone Technique, they'd fail.

Did Sugiki really not notice this obvious loophole?

Of course not.

He was clearly following instructions from higher-ups.

Combined with yesterday's deliberately relaxed grading standards, it wasn't hard to guess — Konoha was expanding its reserve forces.

As for how many of these students would survive the battlefield... that remained to be seen.

"Uchiha Haruki."

Sugiki's voice came from the front of the class.

Haruki stood up and walked forward unhurriedly.

"You may begin when ready."

As soon as he stood in place, Sugiki gave the signal.

Haruki nodded, raised his hands, and quickly formed seals — performing the Clone Technique.

Two illusionary figures instantly appeared on either side of him.

"Three seconds. Not bad!"

Sugiki nodded in satisfaction, recorded the result, and said, "Alright, you may return to your seat."

"Yes, Sensei," Haruki replied calmly before walking back to his seat.

"Wow! Haruki-kun is amazing!" a girl's voice called out from the crowd.

The classroom quickly buzzed with chatter.

But none of this fazed Haruki.

As soon as he returned to his seat, he began reviewing the Reflection Technique in his mind.

Compared to ninjutsu, genjutsu was generally harder to learn.

Especially this technique — which mimicked the hypnotic powers of the Sharingan. It was extraordinarily complex.

Most genjutsu targeted others, so even if something went wrong, it wasn't a big deal.

But the Reflection Technique was different — most of its effects were directed at the user themselves.

Affecting the opponent's senses was just an added benefit.

Otherwise, its actual effect wouldn't be weaker than a C-rank genjutsu.

Without the proficiency panel, Haruki wouldn't have dared to attempt it so soon.

Now, he was nearly at the entry level.

That's right — after two days of intense training, his Reflection Technique had gone from lv0 (61/100) to lv0 (92/100).

If nothing went wrong, he'd officially master it tonight.

At that point, he'd finally see whether this technique could help awaken the Sharingan.