504 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

Shinichi had been training under Orochimaru all the way until it was time for him to graduate, and only then was he brought back to Konoha.

Orochimaru's training had always been personalized. For example, Kiyosuke, Sasuke, and the already-deceased Kimimaro—each of them had training regimens tailored specifically for them.

Since Shinichi's physique was inherited from Kiyosuke, Orochimaru only had to modify Kiyosuke's old regimen a bit. The only problem was this kid's innocence. Compared to his father's early maturity and realism, Shinichi was far more naïve and soft-hearted—but that wasn't a real problem. There were plenty of ways to "fix" that.

He spent two years here. Of course, during holidays and festivals, Orochimaru would still send Shinichi home, and Shinichi stayed pretty close with Boruto and the others.

After returning with Kiyosuke, he headed back to the Ninja Academy for the first time.

"I'm back, everyone!"

Wearing clothes similar to Mitsuki's and now a whole head taller than before, Shinichi appeared in front of the class.

"Shinichi?!"

"This guy got so tall!"

"Hey hey, he's almost as tall as Iwabe, the forever-repeater!"

"Hey! Shut it!"

The classroom erupted in chaos. Kakei Sumire smiled.

"That's great. You finally came back."

"I heard your dad sent you to train under his old teacher?" a student asked curiously.

"Yeah. I almost didn't make it back." Thinking of Orochimaru's training, Shinichi felt like that place was literal hell. But Orochimaru had said, "Hell? Kids these days really can't handle anything. Your father's training was three times harsher. I even lowered the intensity for you on purpose. Peaceful eras really do spoil children like this."

Uh… Dad, what kind of monster were you back then?

"Why did Dad train so hard?" he asked.

Orochimaru answered, "Because back then, even a slight mistake could get you killed on missions. Even C-rank missions could be deadly. If he didn't train like that, he'd have died early. Forget your birth—your sister's too. How do you think your mother ever fell for him? Those two fought on the battlefield, competing for both victory and survival. If he didn't have strength, she would've killed him. I don't know what exactly made them fall in love later, but they did get married. The strong have their advantages."

Recalling that conversation, Shinichi realized just how harsh the world his parents grew up in really was.

"It's good you're back. You can take the exam with us. By the way, are you gonna go steal the test answers? They already did."

Nara Shikadai said, "It's not 'stealing.' It's part of the exam. It tests our intel-gathering skills. Didn't you listen to what the teacher was trying to get across, you fool?"

"Nope. But I'm not losing the written test!" Boruto declared confidently.

"I'm not losing the written test either."

Unlike Kiyosuke, Shinichi always got perfect scores on written exams, while Kiyosuke sometimes had to cheat to get through.

"An exam is an exam. Nothing special. Let's finish fast and all become ninja without stress!"

The written test officially began. Everyone settled down and started writing. After they finished, Shino took the papers to grade them.

...

"So, what did you call me for?" Kiyosuke followed Kakashi into the teachers' office, holding a bag of dried fish.

"Boruto got a hundred? This kid's way more talented than Naruto ever was." Kiyosuke scanned the paper and saw that Boruto answered every theoretical question correctly.

Back then, Naruto getting ten or twenty points was already considered normal.

"Maybe he inherited that from his mother," Shino said.

Hinata's written tests weren't quite as good as Sakura's when she was young, but she was usually in the top three of the class.

"Let me see my son's."

Shinichi also had a perfect score. Looked like Orochimaru had drilled theory into him thoroughly.

"These two kids are pretty good, but they're getting cocky."

Earlier, when he walked past the gate, he clearly heard Boruto say,

"Let's all relax and become ninja together!"

Do they think becoming a ninja is easy? Then let's give them a painful lesson.

"Hey hey, you're not planning the bell test again, are you?" Kiyosuke immediately saw through Kakashi's intentions. This guy was definitely up to something.

"Exactly. I'm adding a combat exam. They need to understand how harsh a ninja's life is. This is a special exam for the 'problem-child class.'"

The Academy didn't just have Boruto's class. There were plenty of others. Otherwise, if Konoha relied only on these ten-odd kids, it'd be a joke. Even one year wouldn't be enough.

But Boruto's class really was the "problem-child class." Calling them a group of geniuses wasn't wrong—but they were still problem children.

"So? Interested?"

"How could I not be?"

Kiyosuke laughed, finished his dried fish, and said, "Alright then. Let's give them a graduation exam they'll never forget."

"Mm."

By the afternoon, the kids were gathered at Konoha's training field, noisy as always.

Kiyosuke, Kakashi, Shino, Anko, and Konohamaru stood as the exam proctors. Ever since removing the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Anko had gained weight from eating sweets nonstop. Now she could practically be called "Sweet Potato." Luckily, after learning the Strength of a Hundred Technique from Mei Terumī, she didn't turn into a full auntie—and Kiyosuke didn't turn into a full uncle.

Shino told the kids to tie on white headbands and treat them as their "lives." If the headband was taken, they'd lose qualification. Of course, the proctors wouldn't actually steal from the kids—but scaring them a little was good.

The exam field was the entire forest. Real combat. Time limit: twenty-four hours. Also, Shino, Anko, and Konohamaru each carried a target. If that target was hit and lit up, that meant they were eliminated.

"What? Shino-sensei is the opponent? Easy!" Boruto still wouldn't drop his arrogance. Kiyosuke and Kakashi stepped out and said, "By the way, we're the special proctors for this exam."

"Lord Sixth?! Kiyosuke-sama?!"

Everyone jumped. "Are you kidding?! If Lord Sixth and Kiyosuke-sama are proctors, how are we supposed to fight?!"

Boruto said confidently, "Kakashi-san and Grandpa Kiyosuke already retired. Relax."

"???" Kiyosuke.

"???" Kakashi.

We retired—NOT our strength. Why are kids these days so confident?

"You're all very impressive." Kakashi clapped, then suddenly grew serious. "Problem-child class! The first in the Academy's history! It's exactly because of this that we're your proctors!"