Time passed~
Naruto's and Sasuke's classes advanced to Year 3. the age of the students this year was 7-9 years old. The school system promoted students automatically but it would cap at 12 years old or Year 7th as the final year
If they failed the test they would not graduate and if they failed the test in Year 7th 3 times consecutively they would immediately lose the right to become a Genin for life because they were deemed unqualified to be a ninja
But not all students need to study until they are 12 to graduate. Many people apply to graduate early and take a special exam
If they pass they immediately become a Genin and may receive an offer to join the ANBU (Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai) Special Assault Force Assassination or simply called the Secret Squad.
This would be a jump bypassing Genin > Chunin > Jonin directly to a Special Squad but the Special Squad is also divided into temporary and permanent members
But not everyone wants to be in the Secret Squad because it's a harsh unit both in training and missions.
Many people prefer to be regular village ninjas accepting general missions rather than secret missions that are not only secret but also particularly difficult. But there are also many people who like the challenge so they aim to join the Secret Squad as well
For the Ninja Academy promising students are eyed by scouts. In Konoha there is not only the Secret Squad but also "Root" which reports directly to Danzo.
And Root is much crueler than the Secret Squad. Initially it destroys their identity and they become a nameless "Root" following Danzo's orders to sustain the great tree Konoha. Even orders like massacring a clan must be followed inevitably
Therefore Sasuke had no interest in joining the Secret Squad or Root whatsoever. Naruto who discussed this matter with Sasuke during dinner on Saturday was the same.
They both aimed to be top ninjas for different goals but on the surface they were the same.
Naruto's goal was to become Hokage so everyone would accept him for who he is not the Nine-Tailed Fox disguise.
As for Sasuke he wanted to restore the Konoha Police Force and destroy "Root" because Danzo was too evil daring to put the blame on his brother Itachi
Of course talking in the house is risky to be overheard by the Secret Squad secretly assigned to protect them.
So this conversation was written on a whiteboard with the windows and curtains closed covering everything as best as possible so that the secret would not leak to outsiders that a Ninja Academy student only 7 years old had such a good understanding of the village's ninja organizations.
And they left the house to continue their Taijutsu training at the school's training ground which was open even on holidays. Today Choji Shikamaru and Ino came to practice too
"H-Hello Sasuke-kun" Ino spoke shyly while twisting her hair while watching Choji and Shikamaru compete in Shuriken throwing at the target seeing who could throw closer to the red spot and get more points from 10 Shuriken each. When Ino turned to greet them Choji and Shikamaru also stopped and turned to greet them
"Good afternoon Teacher Sasuke / Sasuke" Choji called him 'Teacher' with a slightly teasing tone while Shikamaru spoke calmly. When Naruto heard Choji's teasing greeting he shouted back
"Speak louder and clearer my student. Good afternoon Teacher Sasuke!" Of course Naruto's provocation resulted in a slight knock on the head from the hand of the person called 'Teacher' causing Choji and Shikamaru to burst out laughing. Ino also let out a small laugh before maintaining her cool and beautiful girl demeanor
Then the 5 of them competed in Shuriken throwing using real-weight Kunai 10 pieces each. The result was naturally Sasuke scoring a perfect 100 points
followed by Shikamaru with 94 points Ino 90 points and Choji and Naruto scoring the same at 89 points which is not bad for a Genin but is much higher than the standard for Ninja Academy students
After warming up with real-weight Kunai throwing the next was wooden Shuriken throwing practice throwing at each other in the air which is training for Year 4th and up but Sasuke saw that practicing now or later wouldn't be much different so it's better to start early. Sasuke activated his Sharingan because he had to deal with Naruto and Choji simultaneously.
As for Ino she trained with Shikamaru because they were closely matched in skill. Ino seemed slightly displeased but when she realized they would train in rounds with the Ino-Shikamaru pair training first and Sasuke Naruto and Choji watching the fight and after 5 minutes Sasuke would point out their strengths and weaknesses Ino was very happy
After 2 rounds of practicing wooden Shuriken clash it was time for Taijutsu training.
He decided to take on 4 against 1 out of self-confidence and a desire to train himself. The condition was only to use Chakra channeled around the body no other jutsu were allowed. And he defeated the 4 of them by throwing them out of the ring in a short time.
Then they switched to taking turns 1 against 3 with Sasuke watching from outside and no one performed as well as Sasuke. Naruto was overwhelmed by the famous Konoha teamwork Ino-Shika-Cho until he was the only one who lost in the group practice and was ordered by Sasuke to practice Taijutsu with the dummy while he taught the 3 of them how to channel Chakra while moving and throwing Shuriken