" Alright, everyone, the graduation exam is starting in just a few minutes. Students, please be ready. And finally, all the best! " Iruka said as he looked at the students with emotion in his eyes.
Time sure flies by so fast. He remembered it like yesterday; he began to teach these brats for the first time. And now these brats are almost ready to graduate and start their journey as ninjas.
Just as Iruka was having his moment, he was forcibly dragged away from the dream world by a rather loud laughter,
" Hey, Iruka, come here for a bit, let the kids have this time to relax their nerves. " Jiraiya, with his boisterous laughter, said as he patted Iruka's shoulder.
" Jairya sama I… Okay, I understand. " Iruka was about to say something, but he ultimately agreed to Jiraiya's decision. So both he and Jiraiya walked out of the classroom, leaving the students to relax their tense nerves.
Although he and Jiraiya both have the same rank in the ninja academy, Jiraiya is still one of the three sannins and a kage-level ninja. So chunnins like Iruka have to follow their command.
Of course, this is under the impression that people like Jiraya are using their authority within the limits. Or else, when Tsunade hears about it, they would basically get a free week's rest in the ICU in Konoha hospital.
And sometimes Tsunade doesn't even need to do anything, as someone else would have already made their life more miserable.
And that Batman-like person is none other than Young master Naruto Uzumaki. Tsunade didn't know how, but enduring a week full of Naruto's pranks is far more effective than any disciplinary action.
In Izanami's words, Naruto had perfected the Dao of Pranks to its highest level, achieving nirvana.
Had it not been for Naruto, still not being a ninja yet, the torture department would very much like to offer their sincere invitation to him. And those guys are very much excited these days, knowing the day when they could bring this prodigy to their department.
But unfortunately, these guys would be destined to be disappointed. No matter how much Izanami liked to have fun and cause chaos, she would never allow Naruto to go to that department where one could easily get lost in the darkness.
At least not yet….
And definitely not before they discuss the terms and benefits they would give Naruto. If they can offer something that greatly pleases her, she would, in a week, prepare Naruto to survive in the torture department. Otherwise, she would not easily let the original world trajectory change.
Of course, such reasons could only fool fools like Hashirama. But, nevertheless, this is the excuse Izanami was going for if someone asked.
...
After leaving the classroom, both Jiraiya and Iruka walked towards the classroom next door. This is the room where the students would be subjected to the graduation exam. Just like in the original timeline, this year's graduation exam was to let the students demonstrate the three basic ninjutsu in addition to the other subjects like basic taijutsu, sealing jutsu, and medical jutsu, and simple random questions that test the students' intelligence.
Well, that was the plan until….
"Wait, what? Why the hell did Tsunade cancel the graduation we all decided for this year? " Jiraiya asked in utter shock and a bit of anger as he questioned the messenger ninja who came to relay Tsunade's latest orders.
You know Jiraya and his fellow colleagues spent quite a number of days coming up with this test method and questions. Especially Jiraiya, who had to make sure to create test questions from scratch since this was the first batch that studied sealing jutsu completely. And for this, he spent many all-nighters to come up with these questions that are not too hard but not easy for these graduating students.
Just like in modern days, the graduation question for each batch of students would be changed depending on their aptitudes and the situation in the village. For example, during the last war, Hiruzen sent out many ninja academy students before they could even properly graduate. At that time, the graduation qualification was just to have enough chakra control and barely enough combat capabilities to be cannon fodder for the army.
Although this time, there is no need for new blood in the ninja army, there is still a huge depletion of manpower in the departments that are in Konoha. For example, the sealing department that was in charge of maintaining the barrier and other stuff really needs some new blood.
But even then, Jiraiya couldn't really let just anyone pass his exam. After all, since this is the first batch that he personally taught, every action of theirs would determine his reputation. So Jiraya decided to only let those who understood the core basics pass his test.
Of course, failing Jiraiya's test would not have much impact on the student's graduation. But it would certainly have an impact on them if they ever wanted to join the barrier squad.
This is also the same for the other subjects that were newly introduced, like medical ninjutsu and management. If the students fail these tests, they would be unable to apply for jobs that require this qualification and could only stick to doing missions.
And for many ninjas, this is unacceptable. Especially for gennins and chunins who recognise the reality and bloodshed of this cruel reality of the ninja world. These guys have been clamouring for how to take on jobs that are less risky for their lives.
No ninja is immune to death. Especially for kids like them who had never seen bloodshed at a young age. You could say other ninja villages dislike Konoha for a reason. Konoha protects its cubs too much and is ultimately unable to survive in this cruel world.
You could say Hashirama's and Madara's ideals are beautiful, but they ultimately didn't finish what they started and stopped midway, which led to this situation. Fortunately, such a situation is slowly but surely being mended by the future generations.
…
"So what is Tsunade thinking of doing now? " Jiraiya asked after taking a deep breath to calm himself down. Since Tsunade decided to cancel the exam at the last moment, he didn't think she didn't have any backup plans for this situation.
"Well, you are right, Tsunade decided to have me come in as a chief examiner "Suddenly, a voice sounded, and everyone reflexively turned back to see Izanami walking inside the room.
The teachers who came to be judges for the upcoming graduation exam all bowed as soon as they saw her. They were only simple chunins or, at most, special jonins, so when they saw Izanami, they immediately bowed down to show their respect. They still remembered the huge chaos this girl caused when she first arrived in Konoha. And they definitely didn't want to be the person responsible for the next storm.
But amongst these, there was still one person who didn't bow down like them. This person is none other than Jiraiya, who frowned with a displeased expression as soon as he saw Izanami.
He had never forgotten how he the legendary sage was forced to take on such a pathetic position as a school teacher. Furthermore, due to Tsunade watching, he couldn't even go around Konoha to gather inspiration for his next book.
****
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