Because of the mass influx of medical shinobi, the Shinobi Academy's combat trials were forced to end early, and final grades were calculated based on the last squad battle records.
As a result—
Neither Yakumo's team, nor the squad consisting of Uchiha Shinji, Sasuke, and Neji achieved particularly outstanding results.
For the more ordinary students, this was great news.
At the very least, it meant that the gap between them and the so-called "geniuses" hadn't widened any further.
In any case, with the end of this widely anticipated combat examination, the students at the Shinobi Academy finally welcomed a brief period of relaxation.
Inside the Classroom.
Uchiha Shinji lazily gazed out the window, half-listening to the buzzing chatter of his classmates.
"Hey, did you hear? The volunteers from the other villages who came for the First Hokage's cell transplant surgery... they all died!"
"All of them? Seriously?!"
"Serves them right! They were all coveting our village's 'Wood Release' anyway!"
"Shhh! I'll tell you a secret... Actually, not all of them died. One survived and was sent to the ICU!"
"What?!"
"Is it possible that guy succeeded too, just like Yakumo?"
As Shinji listened, a small smirk crept onto his lips.
Allowing that Hidden Sand volunteer to survive had indeed stirred up a storm of rumors throughout the village. Now even eight- or nine-year-old academy students were chattering about it.
Moreover, beyond Shinji's initial expectations, the entire atmosphere within the village had grown strangely tense.
Neither the Hidden Leaf higher-ups nor the other four great villages made any public statements. Instead, all sides fell into an eerie silence.
Others might not understand why, but Shinji knew very well:
The quieter things seem, the more dangerous they truly are.
It was precisely because the situation had become so grave that no side dared act rashly.
However, this silence obviously wouldn't last long.During his medical shinobi internship, Shinji had clearly noticed an increasing frequency of attempts from various factions to spy on the ICU.
"I didn't expect the effect to be this good,"
Shinji chuckled inwardly.
At first, he merely intended to stir up a little chaos to keep the village's attention occupied, buying time for Karin to fuse her Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Originally, he thought that if one volunteer among the seventeen somehow "survived," it could delay things for a week or two.
But unexpectedly, the survival of the Hidden Sand volunteer had turned him into a perfect bait, forcing not only the Hidden Leaf but also the other villages to enter a game of high-stakes political maneuvering.
Even the Shinobi Academy students were getting caught up in the drama — truly an unexpected bonus for Shinji.
That Afternoon.
The students gathered on the training grounds for free practice.
Shion walked over to Yakumo, who wore a gloomy expression.
"Yakumo, why do you look so upset? Did something happen?"
"It's nothing."
Yakumo shook her head lightly.
Shion lowered her voice:
"Is it about the surgery? Everyone's talking... that someone from the Hidden Sand survived the surgery. Maybe he's like you and got 'Wood Release' too!"
Yakumo hesitated for a moment, then nodded:
"Yeah. Lady Tsunade is really worried about it too."
Shion leaned closer:
"So... did he really succeed?"
This was a highly sensitive topic.
Previously, only Yakumo had succeeded, and the Hidden Leaf had repeatedly emphasized the dangers of the surgery, keeping other villages skeptical. That's why only a few volunteers were even sent.
However, if another success story appeared, then everyone would start to believe that the First Hokage cell transplant surgery had a decent success rate.
At that point, a disaster would unfold.
Yakumo knew clearly that her own success was due to the powerful Yin Release chakra stored within her Koryugan, which neutralized the rampaging Yang Release chakra within the First Hokage's cells.Moreover, she had the combined assistance of Tsunade and their secret leader.
Ordinary people didn't have such favorable conditions.
Thus, the more who attempted the surgery blindly, the more would die.
If by chance another "success" emerged, it would spark a wave of reckless imitation — with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Thinking of this, Yakumo didn't answer Shion's question. She simply turned and left.
Feeling bored, Shion went off to find Shinji and told him about Yakumo's concerns.
Shinji laughed:
"You still have the energy to worry about others? Did you already forget how Sasuke knocked your spiritual tools away in a few moves during the combat trial?"
"So what? I still won in the end!"
Shion said proudly.
Shinji shook his head in helpless amusement.
As for Yakumo's concerns — they were unnecessary.
The Hidden Sand volunteer only appeared to have survived. In truth, his body hadn't fused with the First Hokage's cells at all.
He was merely surviving because Shinji constantly used Jikibi and Wazunagi to extract the violent Yang Release chakra from within him, forcibly keeping him alive.
The moment Shinji withdrew his support, the Hidden Sand volunteer would be dead within a day.
After all, the rarity of a true compatible candidate for First Hokage's cell fusion in the entire shinobi world was astronomically low.
Neither Tsunade's medical ninjutsu nor Shinji's dojutsu could change the fact that without innate compatibility, successful fusion was impossible.
Meanwhile, the Yang Release chakra extracted from the Hidden Sand volunteer had been continuously funneled into Karin, who was still in the midst of fusing her Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Thanks to the loss of energy during extraction via Wazunagi, the chakra's intensity was just right for Karin to absorb.
And just as Shinji had predicted, this pure Yang Release chakra greatly nourished Karin, accelerating her fusion progress.
Now, after three weeks, Karin's fusion had reached nearly 70–80% completion.
In other words, Shinji just needed to maintain the Hidden Sand volunteer's fragile life for another two weeks. Afterward, Karin would complete her fusion in secrecy — without anyone suspecting a thing.
While Shinji pondered this, several Hidden Leaf jōnin quietly gathered atop a large tree near the Shinobi Academy.
Leading them was none other than Kakashi Hatake.
He pointed toward the group of students on the training field and asked his comrades:
"Anyone catch your eye among these kids?"
The jōnin exchanged glances, then began quietly discussing:
"That girl must be Kurama Yakumo, right?"
"That boy from the Hyuga Branch Family — his taijutsu is impressive."
"Is that white-haired one... Kimimaro?"
"Over there, that must be Uchiha Sasuke."
"Hmm, that kid seems quite interesting too."
As he listened to the murmurs of his peers, Kakashi's gaze landed firmly on Uchiha Shinji.
There was no doubt about it—
This gathering was Kakashi's attempt to find a jōnin willing to take Uchiha Shinji as their personal disciple.