Naruto: The Teaching System - 259

Chapter 259: Neji About to Graduate Early

"Ah! When is sensei coming back?!" At the training ground, Naruto lay on the grass, complaining loudly.

"Idiot, don't you know how loud you are?" Sasuke turned his head, looking at Naruto with dissatisfaction.

"Oh..." Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto unexpectedly didn't retort but responded calmly.

Shikamaru glanced at Naruto in surprise, then continued picking his ear. This sudden peaceful life indeed made them somewhat unaccustomed to it.

There was no choice. They were already third-year students—no, in a few more months they'd be entering fourth grade. After training with Sawada for so many years, their strength had reached its current limit.

Now, even two training fanatics like Neji and Sasuke had slightly reduced some unnecessary training. Only their physical conditioning continued to be strengthened.

"What's wrong? Why is everyone so dejected?" A voice suddenly appeared nearby, causing Naruto and the others to freeze. They immediately jumped up alertly and looked back.

"Sawada-sensei!" Naruto looked at the figure before him, first freezing, then excitedly rushing over.

"Sensei!" Sasuke and the others also ran forward, gathering around Sawada. After all, their sensei had been away for several months.

"Eh? Wait, Naruto, don't pull my clothes! Chōji, that's a ninja tool pouch, not food!" Several children clung to Sawada's body, all pulling at his clothes.

Only Sasuke and Neji were slightly calmer, standing to the side, but judging from their eyes, there wasn't much difference.

After some playful commotion, Naruto and the others finally quieted down.

"Alright, let's go to the yakiniku restaurant first. Sensei will treat everyone to barbecue!"

"Yeah!" They all jumped up. What they ate didn't matter—being able to eat with Sensei was the important thing.

The group walked proudly through Konoha's streets, with villagers occasionally greeting Sawada. Naruto scratched his head and asked Shikamaru, "Shikamaru, what's going on?" After all, in the past, there were only a few people at most, but now almost every time they met someone, villagers would come over and respectfully address him as "sama."

"Mm, sensei is very strong." Shikamaru clasped his hands behind his head and said calmly. "In this front-line war, sensei achieved great merit. In the village, we often hear things about it. Now it can be said that Sensei is Konoha's hero."

"Wow! So cool!" Naruto's eyes lit up.

Sasuke and Neji exchanged glances. It wasn't that they didn't know—they just often stayed at the training ground and hadn't really gone out to learn about it.

In the yakiniku restaurant, Sawada sat while his disciples constantly brought him grilled meat. He didn't need to do anything the entire time, enjoying himself tremendously.

"Sensei, I've been working hard on training recently." Naruto raised his eyebrows.

Seeing Naruto's expression, Sawada chuckled. How could I not know? Even when I was at the front lines, the system hadn't collapsed. I had indeed received information about Naruto, Sasuke, and the others' growth. From the chakra alone, I accumulated over ten thousand points.

However, since his disciple wanted to show off, Sawada couldn't help but ignore it, so he pretended not to know and asked, "How is your training going?"

"Hehe, I've not only mastered Earth Release but also Water Release, and even understand a bit of Fire Release." Naruto scratched the back of his head. His proud expression made everyone in the private room burst into laughter.

No one refuted him because they'd all witnessed Naruto's training. Seeing such achievements made them even happier.

"Very good. Naruto has grown quite a bit." Sawada patted Naruto's head. Then he looked at his disciples. "You're all very good. Although sensei has been away for a long time, in my view, each of you hasn't relaxed your training."

"Hehe..." Sasuke and the others couldn't help but blush, embarrassedly scratching the backs of their heads.

Seeing this scene, Sawada chuckled. His gaze swept over everyone and paused. He saw Neji open his mouth as if wanting to say something.

"Neji, what's wrong?" Sawada asked with concern, thinking he might have questions about his training.

"Sensei, I want to apply for early graduation." After hearing Sawada's question, Neji remained silent for a long moment before speaking.

The private room suddenly fell quiet. Everyone looked at Neji. Hinata looked at him, her heart filled with worry, because early graduation meant facing what shinobi should experience. Although this would happen sooner or later, she was still very worried.

Sawada looked at Neji. Seeing not a trace of hesitation in his eyes, he nodded. "Alright, sensei will arrange it."

Everyone looked at Sawada.

Sawada chuckled. "Neji has already clarified his path, and his strength isn't weak. His desire to graduate early is likely a well-considered decision." At this moment, Sawada looked around at Naruto and the others, then spoke again. "What the sensei wants to say is, with your strength, you could actually all graduate early. I've always discouraged this because there's still room for improvement."

Hearing this, Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances. After all, in terms of strength, the two of them might be even stronger than Neji. But maturity... Honestly, both had to admit that compared to Neji, they were more like children, doing many things on impulse.

"However, Neji..." Sawada looked at him, his expression very serious. "If you apply for early graduation now, sensei's decision is that you must go to the battlefield."

Hearing this, Neji froze, then nodded without hesitation. This is exactly what I want. A shinobi who has experienced war is a true shinobi. This is also what the sensei told us before about Kakashi and many who experienced the Third Shinobi War. Almost all of them are much stronger than shinobi who graduated and performed missions normally. More importantly, I've already felt the bottleneck. If I continue studying at the Academy, I won't be able to progress.

"Alright, if you're ready tomorrow, come over. Sensei will arrange someone to be your examiner." Sawada clapped his hands, then signaled everyone to continue eating.

Inside the private room, the atmosphere was no longer as lively as before. Even the usually energetic Naruto kept staring at Neji.

Growth. This word has a different meaning in my heart for the first time.