Chapter 21: Entrance Examination

The next morning, a splendid morning glow appeared in the east, the village roofs drifted with wisps of cooking smoke, and the air was filled with a light gauze-like thin mist.

Stepping into the morning mist, Yuzhibo Dongshilang slowly entered the courtyard. In the corner of the courtyard, on the large stone ball built two years ago for cultivating meditation, a beautiful girl sat cross-legged—none other than Yuzhibo Mei Xiang.

Two years of meditation cultivation, although it did not enable him to sense natural energy now, its benefits were obvious. It made his spirit peaceful, stable, and ever more vigorous. The most evident sign was that his control over his own mental energy, physical energy, and chakra had greatly improved.

Half a year earlier, after the new training ground was built, under Yuzhibo Dongshilang's strong recommendation, Yuzhibo Mei Xiang also undertook this cultivation.

Unable to resist Yuzhibo Dongshilang's soft and hard persuasion, after trying for three months, she felt her fine control of chakra and the execution of medical ninjutsu had noticeably improved.

She would spontaneously practice it every day; this cultivation that seemed quite 'strange' to her. After all, this cross-legged sitting that doesn't make one sweat and smell all over—what girl wouldn't like it?

Hmm! The 'true fragrance' law applies everywhere.

Yuzhibo Dongshilang also wasn't worried that anything would happen. Without the toad oil of Myoboku Mountain and its unique environment, wanting to simply sense natural energy and then lose control, turning oneself into a stone statue, is almost impossible.

As for saying that Yuzhibo Mei Xiang is a one-in-a-million genius at cultivating hermit techniques, effortlessly sensing natural energy, I still think it's impossible.

After removing his own burden, Yuzhibo Dongshilang went outside. He leapt onto the roof of the house on the right. A large skylight had been newly opened on the roof. After opening the skylight, a hard wooden stake as thick as an arm and three to four meters long came into view.

The stake was fixed inside the indoor dojo, its top reaching the roof. Limited by the material, it had slight elasticity. This is where Yuzhibo Dongshilang practices his morning meditation.

He still didn't believe that without Master Zhang the butcher, he'd have to eat hairy pigs? Without the inheritance of the three holy lands, he'd surely never achieve Sage Mode? If one year doesn't work, then three years; if three years don't work, then five, ten, twenty years. Someday he will thoroughly research the cultivation method of hermit techniques.

After meditation ended and breakfast was over, at the gate of the Yuzhibo encampment.

"Dongshilang, you really don't want your sister to accompany you to the Ninja Academy?"

"Really not needed, Mei Xiang sister, go busy yourself with your new medicine. The entrance exam is something you can handle in a minute!" While saying this, Yuzhibo Dongshilang waved his hand and, together with the little companions slowly gathering at the clan gate, headed toward the Ninja Academy.

The Ninja Academy is located in the central area of Leaf Village; around it are some official departments of Leaf Village. Five hundred meters to the north lies the residential area and market, and several hundred meters to the east are the Hokage Office and the famous Hokage Rock.

Upon entering through that red gate, the wide square was packed with people—it was the start of the school term, with many parents pulling their children, lecturing them, and the whole square buzzed with noise.

A huge banner hung on the teaching building—Entrance Ceremony.

For such a situation, Yuzhibo Dongshilang, who had studied for sixteen years, was long accustomed to it.

Dongshilang was familiar with this situation; looking at the various signs in the school, he brought a few orphans from the clan, using their height advantage as children, to swiftly weave through the crowd of adults and find the school's administrative office for processing new student information.

After waiting in a long line, facing the two green-vested Chunin handling the enrollment procedures, they gave their names, and one received a medical examination form. Under the other's surprised gaze, he led these little brats toward the school's medical room.

Wanting to become a ninja is not that simple; body, spirit, reaction, will—none can be lacking. Moreover, this is not wartime, and the Ninja Academy does not yet need to train so many cannon fodder.

Leading this group of clan brats, he ignored the strange glances cast along the way. Finding the medical department staff who had come specially today to help, the following steps were quite simple: they queued to test vision, hearing, smell, chakra sensitivity, and so on. After submitting the forms, they returned to the school square and waited quietly.

Time passed; about an hour later, a young ninja holding a list came to the square.

"Next, those whose names I call, go to the school training ground to assemble for the physical fitness test!"

In the training ground stood a black-faced ninja wearing a green vest, his face marked with several scars and looking ferocious, waiting for them.

"Brats! I am the examiner for this physical fitness test. Starting from here, run around the training ground, aiming for sixty laps!"

"How could we possibly run that far?"

"Too many laps—given the size of the training ground, sixty laps amount to at least several dozen kilometers!" For a moment, various complaints rose from the crowd.

"What are you still waiting for? A ninja's first duty is to obey orders and complete the mission. Now, immediately, at once—run!!"

A group of children ran slowly on the training ground in a mighty throng; this is the main content of the entrance examination, testing stamina and perseverance.

Here it is clearly visible that the descendants of ninjas differ from ordinary civilians; a large group of children slowly split into two tiers, and the gap between them tends to widen.

Dongshilang naturally belonged to the fast-running group; having trained his body early on, given his current physical condition, Dongshilang is superior to most children from ninja families.

Not long after, Dongshilang had already reached the leading position; compared to the children desperately chasing behind him, Dongshilang undoubtedly appeared at ease, running being his most basic training, and for ninjas, sprinting while on the move is also normal.

So don't think running is ordinary, only training endurance; in fact, endurance is likewise one of the essential requirements for becoming a ninja.

In this regard, Dongshilang surpasses others by more than a notch.

This performance clearly caught the examiner's eye; the examiner kept nodding at him, and by the time the test ended, Dongshilang remained far ahead, standing out among the crowd like a crane among chickens.

As for hiding his talent, Dongshilang felt it was completely unnecessary. The current relationship between the clan and the village has not yet reached the level after the Nine-Tails rampage.

After the last examinee crossed the finish line, this examination was officially concluded.

All the children who gave up midway were eliminated, while anyone who successfully reached the finish line, even the slowest, passed the exam.