At night, Naraku lay in bed with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep, but he was actually accessing the mall through the System's light screen to see if there were any suitable items to buy.
Today, he barely managed to draw with Kakashi, and Naraku was quite satisfied with this result.
However, Kakashi was about to graduate and would become a Jonin in just a few years, so Naraku still needed to cheat a bit to be safe.
Although Sakumo had said he had greaat talent, the System could more easily mold him into a genius among geniuses, allowing him to steadily keep pace with Kakashi.
Once items purchased from the mall were loaded onto him, he would master them as if he had practiced countless times, without needing to spend time training himself.
Moreover, the System was very user-friendly; if there was a Ninjutsu he had already learned and wanted to improve, the mall would appropriately charge Popularity Points as needed to increase his proficiency, making the speed of his strength improvement controllable and preventing him from suddenly becoming too strong and attracting others' attention.
If he wanted to directly raise a learned Ninjutsu to complete mastery, the mall would offer some discounts based on the existing proficiency of the Ninjutsu; the higher the proficiency, the fewer Popularity Points would be spent, unlike purchasing a completely unfamiliar Ninjutsu which had no discount.
Compared to other systems that exploited their hosts, his System was quite conscientious.
Naraku first opened the [Dōjutsu] category, and the item floating at the top was [Unlock Two-Tomoe Sharingan], priced at 20,000 points.
But he didn't need it for now; the timing of unlocking the Sharingan was a good opportunity to gain Popularity Points and shouldn't be wasted casually. He would wait for a suitable time later.
Then he clicked on the [Ninjutsu] category, and a dazzling array of Ninjutsu were densely displayed, making Naraku's eyes blur.
"Filter: only show Lightning Release and Fire Release."
Immediately, the interface became much cleaner and tidier, with Lightning Release and Fire Release Ninjutsu arranged on the left and right sides, and the names and descriptions of each Ninjutsu clearly written.
"Remove Ninjutsu of B-rank and above."
Ninjutsu that were too advanced could not be learned yet; firstly, there was no way to explain where he learned them, and secondly, his Chakra was not sufficient to perform them.
The remaining options were much fewer, and some overlapped with the Ninjutsu Naraku had obtained from the Uchiha Clan and the Ninjutsu Hatake Sakumo had mastered.
This was great; the source problem was solved, and it could save a lot of Popularity Points.
Naraku decisively bought [Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique] and [Lightning Release: Lightning Net], two Ninjutsu he had learned not long ago. Unfortunately, because he hadn't mastered them very well yet, the System didn't give much of a discount, deducting a total of 1800 Popularity Points at a 10% discount from the original price, raising these two Ninjutsu to a "masterful" level, temporarily serving as his trump cards in battle.
Afterward, Naraku browsed the [Chakra] category again, spending 1000 Popularity Points to purchase [Chakra × 1] and [Dōjutsu Power (Pupil Power) × 1]. He immediately felt his Chakra become much more abundant and his Dōjutsu Power in his eyes become sufficient, allowing him to sustain his One-Tomoe for a longer time than before.
He also appropriately improved the Three Basic Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, so he could pass the graduation test with Kakashi at any time.
However, he decided not to increase his proficiency in Kenjutsu for now, to avoid Sakumo and Kakashi feeling that he had mastered it too suddenly.
He checked his Popularity Points balance, which was 6247, but there was nothing urgent he needed right now, so he would save them.
Naraku turned off the light screen and contentedly drifted into a deep sleep... The sun rose as usual, and busy, fulfilling days always passed quickly. In a blink, it was the next month.
During this period, under the witness of Sakumo and Kakashi, Naraku trained diligently and made rapid progress. He not only basically mastered the Hatake Clan's basic Kenjutsu but also made significant advancements in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, and was already ready to prepare for the graduation test with Kakashi.
"Do you have everything?"
Kakashi closed his hip pouch and looked at Naraku, who walked out of the room, casually asking with concern. The latter was neatly dressed, even his hair was tidier than usual, and he seemed to take this exam very seriously.
"Yes, I have everything," Naraku nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Shall we go?"
"Okay."
The two left together and arrived at the school after walking for a short while.
Today was a teacher-student holiday, and the school was empty with few people. The graduation exam was specifically scheduled for today to avoid disturbing other students' normal classes.
"Kakashi, Naraku, over here."
Akira Hoshino, as the homeroom teacher, naturally had to be present. He greeted the two students near the school gate, and the three walked together towards the examination venue.
"The first part is a written exam, covering everything we've learned in class. The second part is throwing and the Three Basic Ninjutsu, which must be perfected to pass. But I believe neither of you will have any problems."
Akira Hoshino reiterated the exam procedure while leading Kakashi and Naraku to the examination room.
"After the first two parts are completed, each of you will have a Chunin Examiner for a one-on-one combat test. If your combat power meets the standard, he will naturally pass you."
"We understand, Hoshino-sensei, thank you."
Naraku felt grateful to his dedicated homeroom teacher. The latter was also very pleased to hear his student's sensible thanks, and thinking that they would rarely see each other again, he felt a bit reluctant.
"I wish you both good luck with your exams. Once you become Ninja, please be careful in everything. The world is vast, and strong individuals are everywhere. You still need time to grow, so never try to be overly brave, understand?"
"Yes, we understand."
Kakashi replied seriously.
"Alright, go."
Hoshino waved his hand, watching Kakashi and Naraku enter the examination room, and let out a sigh of relief.
The first written exam was not difficult. Naraku had a solid foundation, and it was still early in the era, so the questions were far less difficult than those of Team 7's time. He quickly finished and handed in his paper.
The throwing and Three Basic Ninjutsu tests were even easier. The Uchiha bloodline gave Naraku an extraordinary talent for throwing, hitting the bullseye every time. If he hadn't been worried about standing out too much and attracting the attention of the higher-ups, he could have even replicated the Shurikenjutsu Itachi Uchiha had once displayed.
With abundant Chakra, repeatedly performing the Three Basic Ninjutsu also posed no problem, and he naturally achieved excellent scores in the Three Basic Ninjutsu section of the record sheet.
For the final combat test, Naraku slowly walked into the training ground and bowed slightly to the Examiner.
"Hello, I am Naraku Uchiha."
The Examiner was a middle-aged man with short gray hair, wearing a forehead protector neatly. Seeing him approach, he asked in a calm tone, "Are you ready?"
"Yes," Naraku drew his tantō and held it horizontally in front of him, his body tense. "I am ready."
"Then, the exam begins."
The moment the words fell, the Examiner instantly moved at a speed Naraku could barely see, changing positions several times before suddenly attacking. Naraku only had time to parry and immediately fell into a disadvantage.
The Examiner's attack rhythm was very steady, just at the limit Naraku could barely handle, constantly attacking from various angles to test his defensive level, with a hint of satisfaction occasionally flashing in his eyes.
Naraku didn't have time to think too much. After barely dealing with the first few rounds of attacks, he instinctively seized the counterattack gap intentionally left by the Examiner, gripped the hilt of his sword with a backhand, and quickly performed hand signs with both hands.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Net!"
The Lightning Net, quite powerful, fiercely rushed towards the Examiner, who calmly performed hand signs to counter: "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Although Wind Release: Great Breakthrough was only a C-rank Ninjutsu, its attack power was considerable in the Examiner's hands, quickly annihilating Naraku's Lightning Release, and then the remaining kinetic energy continued to attack Naraku.
Naraku dodged, continuing to clash with the Examiner a few more times. Sensing that his remaining Chakra was low and that using more Ninjutsu might result in failing the exam, he instead pulled out several shuriken from his Ninja tool pouch and threw them at the Examiner from extremely tricky angles.
The sharp, piercing sound of the shuriken cutting through the air was dense and jarring. Just as countless sharp blades were about to strike the Examiner, a puff of white smoke rose, then dispersed, leaving behind only a wooden stake riddled with shuriken.
"The exam is over."
The Examiner's voice came from not far away. Naraku turned to look and saw him standing in the shadows at the edge of the training ground, marking on a record board.
"Hmm, the first two exams were perfect scores, and the combat just now was also good. You're more than enough to be a Genin."
He drew a heavy line on the record board, as if signing his name in the corner, then put his things away and pulled out a forehead protector from his personal bag.
"Congratulations, Naraku Uchiha. You have graduated."