"My name is Anko Mitarashi. I like dango, hate having my dango stolen, and my dream is to become a powerful Ninja like Lord Orochimaru."
Anko admired Orochimaru from a young age, and it was only right that she became his disciple. When Orochimaru defected from the village, he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Instead, he erased Anko's memories of himself, allowing her to escape suspicion. Orochimaru was truly quite humane.
"I am Yūgao Uzuki. I like sword techniques, hate being disturbed, and my dream is to join the Anbu."
No problem, your dream came true, but your boyfriend died, and you later joined the hospital.
"Hello everyone, I am Gekkō Hayate. I also like sword techniques, hate those who look down on me, and my dream is to become a great Ninja."
Yūgao Uzuki looked at Gekkō Hayate in surprise, thinking he wasn't bad. How could someone who liked sword techniques be a bad person?
Ling looked at the two making eye contact and couldn't help but inwardly complain that they deserved to be a couple. Although Gekkō Hayate's desire to become a great Ninja did come true, after all, are there any names on the Memorial Stone that aren't great?
"My name is Uchiha Shisui. I like raising crows, hate those who cause war, and my dream is to become Hokage."
Needless to say, the Uchiha with a few screws loose all want to become Hokage, like the Uchiha Laughing Quartet.
Uchiha Madara, because he couldn't become Hokage, defected and killed the First Hokage. Uchiha Obito, because he couldn't become Hokage and couldn't protect the woman he loved, killed the Fourth Hokage.
Uchiha Itachi, because he couldn't become Hokage, killed his entire clan and defected. Uchiha Sasuke, because he couldn't become Hokage, killed the 5.5th Hokage Danzo and almost killed the Seventh Hokage.
Uchiha Shisui, because he couldn't become Hokage, chose to commit suicide. Tch, he's the most useless one.
Soon, it was Uchiha Ling's turn. She didn't want to be special, so she quickly stood up.
"I am Uchiha Ling. I like studying Ninjutsu, hate war, and my dream is for the world to be eternally peaceful."
Ling thought her introduction was bland and ordinary, but it stunned these little brats. Their greatest dream was merely to become Hokage, but they had never considered peace.
It should be known that the new students sitting here had, more or less, been affected by war.
They didn't even believe there would be a chance for peace. Only a few years had passed since the end of the Second Great Shinobi War until the current tense standoff.
In fact, during these few years, there had been constant friction between the various Ninja villages. The Third Shinobi World War could be said to be a continuation of the Second Shinobi World War.
Not long after, all dozens of students in the class had finished their self-introductions.
Most were from Ninja families, with only a handful of commoners.
Teacher Nakamura also didn't waste the afternoon, and still introduced the future curriculum and various arrangements to everyone.
Perhaps due to the impending Great Shinobi War, the Ninja Academy's curriculum had been adjusted, with more emphasis on knowledge of combat and ambushes.
It seems there's no escaping the possibility of being cannon fodder. With Ling's current strength, fighting a Special Jonin is already somewhat difficult. To survive the Third Shinobi World War, she needs not only luck but also a certain level of strength.
It's impossible to make rapid progress in Heavenly Restriction in a short period, but it's still possible with the Ten Shadows Technique.
Currently, Ling has only mastered four Shikigami, and she hasn't experimented with Shikigami fusion yet. The next few powerful Shikigami are enough to turn the tide for Ling in battles against Jonin.
So, she needs to seize the time to tame the Shikigami. Time is, after all, a bit tight.
On the other hand, Orochimaru, with the intelligence about the Third Kazekage he obtained from Ling, found the Hidden Sand Village's spy and had him inform Ebizo that he had information about the Third Kazekage.
He planned to extort a large sum, firstly to make his research funds more abundant, and secondly to throw the Hidden Sand Village into disarray. Although it would be difficult, by cooperating with Konoha's spies in the Hidden Sand Village to spread some rumors, he could also cause chaos in Sunagakure.
School dismissal in the afternoon finally made Ling breathe a sigh of relief. The main reason was that the knowledge taught at the Ninja Academy at this stage was too basic, a complete waste of time.
"Ling, are you planning to use a Shadow Clone for school tomorrow?"
Shisui was, after all, an honest child. He first confirmed with Ling, otherwise, if he was the only one using a Shadow Clone tomorrow, it would be awkward.
"Don't worry, no one will discover that you used a Shadow Clone, unless you court death yourself."
Ling's Shadow Clone was not easily shattered, and there were no Ninja sparring sessions at this stage.
Arriving at the training ground, Ling planned to intensify her training. The body was always the foundation, and she hadn't yet reached the limit of Heavenly Restriction.
However, Ling saw a father and son who were currently training, doing push-ups with great enthusiasm.
However, Uncle Duy and Might Guy's push-ups were a bit different. They were doing two-finger handstand push-ups, and a large amount of sweat dripped from their heads.
Their arms trembled constantly, but there was still extreme soreness, clearly indicating they had been training for a long time and were close to their physical limit.
"Uncle Duy, you're over-exerting yourselves with this kind of training. It's best to buy more secret medicines to replenish what you're losing."
For people without extraordinary physical talent, this kind of exploitative physical training does more harm than good.
"Oh, it's Ling. Thanks for your concern. We both buy the Nara family's tonics; they're very effective."
Might Duy answered Ling's question while doing handstand push-ups, making Ling feel that her own efforts were far inferior to theirs.
"The Nara family?" Ling remembered that the Nara clan operated Deer Mountain, which produced various herbs and deer antlers.
"Yosh! Ling, train with us! This is youth!"
Might Guy did a one-handed handstand push-up while giving a thumbs-up with his other hand, his teeth gleaming white.
"Um, you two are busy. I'm here to test a new Ninjutsu."
Ling wasn't lying. She had finally gotten a grasp on Wind Release nature transformation during this time, which meant Ling could now practice Wind Release Chakra Mode.
If this Ninjutsu was initially mastered, it could greatly enhance Ling's speed and defense, making it incredibly cost-effective.
Arriving in the forest, Ling carefully guided and controlled Chakra to slowly flow out from all the acupoints in her body.
As Ling formed a few more hand seals, the Chakra on her body slowly transformed into intertwining gentle breezes. This was one of the Wind Release nature transformations: Wind Entanglement.
Finally came the most difficult step: making this Wind Release Chakra circulate within the body to minimize waste.
This was too complex. Not only did she have to control the Chakra output, then transform its nature to entangle her body, but she also had to retrieve this Wind Release Chakra from specific acupoints.
After executing it along specific meridian pathways in the body, it would then flow out from other acupoints, while also needing to replenish the Chakra for nature transformation.
Ling failed just by trying to control the Wind Release Chakra's retrieval. Chakra inside the body was easy to control, but outside the body, it was extremely difficult.
However, Ling wasn't discouraged. The difficulty of Wind Release Chakra Mode was no less than an S-rank Ninjutsu; it was normal for it to be hard to master.