Konoha's Hextech Ninja

However, there's no need for Kakashi Hatake to know about this.

"Kakashi, let's practice swordsmanship. Today is a long-awaited father-son duel, let me see how much you've grown!" Sakumo Hatake drew his short sword.

Chapter 10 Eight Thousand Taels Per Month

Bang~!

Bang~!

Bang~!

On the training field, two dark figures clashed repeatedly, producing a series of collision sounds.

However, most people cannot see the two people's movements clearly; they can only see two afterimages flying back and forth.

With the aid of chakra, ninjas far surpass the limits of ordinary people in both strength and speed.

This is why ninjas hold such a special place in the world.

Even a low-ranking ninja could easily take down a large group of burly men wielding weapons and wearing armor.

Compared to their first encounter, Yagami Yoruichi's mastery of Konoha Fluid Techniques, as well as his grasp of timing in battle, has improved by more than one level.

Even when restricted to using only taijutsu, he was able to hold his own against Ikkaku Umino, a veteran Chunin.

However, it was only barely acceptable.

After exchanging blows for over a hundred rounds, Umino Ikkaku finally seized an opportunity, knocking the wooden kunai out of Yagami Yoruichi's hand, grabbing Yagami Yoruichi's arm with one hand, and holding the kunai across Yagami Yoruichi's neck with the other.

"I lost again." Yagami Yoruichi didn't show much emotion.

Three weekends, countless 'sparring' sessions, and Yagami Yoruichi hadn't won a single one, but he was already used to it.

However, through her battle with Ikkaku Umino, Yoruichi Yagami was able to clearly feel her own growth.

"You're already amazing," Umino Ikkaku encouraged. "In terms of taijutsu alone, most Chunin are no match for you. To achieve this level at your age, even the legendary White Fang back then wasn't that great."

"I must thank you for your guidance, senior," Yagami Yoruichi said sincerely.

If it weren't for Ikkaku Umino's meticulous guidance on every detail that Yoruichi Yagami needed to pay attention to during his sparring sessions, and for creating a detailed training plan tailored specifically for Yoruichi, Yoruichi's improvement speed would never have been so fast.

The reward of just over 30,000 taels of silver, with a portion taken by the village, is truly beyond the scope of a hired mission.

"I'm glad this was helpful." Umino Ikkaku smiled and said, "You mentioned before that tomorrow is the monthly exam, right? Let's call it a day, get some rest, and I wish you good luck on your exam."

"This is the mission confirmation form." Yagami Yoruichi took out the mission confirmation form that had already been signed and handed it to Umino Ikkaku. She bowed respectfully and said, "Senpai, thank you very much for your help during this time."

As long as Ikkaku Umino has this mission confirmation letter, he can confirm that the mission is completed and receive the reward that Yoruichi Yagami had stored in the mission hall in advance.

Of course, the village will take a cut, and only the remainder belongs to Umino.

"Although the mission is over, you can come to me for training anytime during my vacation."

Unno Ikkaku accepted the mission confirmation and said with a smile, "Besides Konoha Fluid Technique, I also have some knowledge of shuriken. It's my honor to be able to help a genius."

After spending this time together, Umino Ikkaku had long regarded Yagami Yoruichi as a genius on par with Hatake Sakumo and the Sannin.

The reason he went to such lengths for Yagami Yoruichi was not only because of his own personality, but also because he had the intention of 'investing' in Yagami Yoruichi.

"Ikkaku!" A voice called out from afar, belonging to three ninjas wearing green vests.

"My teammates are here." Umino Ikkaku glanced at them and said to Yagami Yoichi, "We have a mission tomorrow, so we have to leave today. I'll take my leave now. I hope you get a satisfactory result on your exam tomorrow."

"Goodbye, senior." Yagami Yoruichi watched Umino Ichikaku leave.

Of the three ninjas, one was a woman whom Yagami Yoruichi vaguely remembered. She resembled the female ninja in the scene in the original work where Iruka reminisces about the death of his parents, and was very likely Iruka's mother.

Her name seems to be 'Umino Koharu'?

Yagami Yoruichi speculated that she changed her surname to her husband's after marrying Umino Ikkaku.

The culture of the ninja world is very similar to that of the small country of Xiao Ri Zi in my previous life, and some families still retain this tradition.

By this time, the two should have already been married.

Judging by his age, Iruka should have been born within the last two years, right?

(Note: There is a significant inconsistency in Iruka's age listed in the official guidebook. Both the guidebook's age and flashback scenes present two versions: one stating he was born in Konoha year 36, in the same year as Kakashi, Mizuki, and others; and the other stating he was born in Konoha year 41, in the same year as Anko, Hayate Gekko, and others. Considering Iruka hadn't graduated from the Ninja Academy during the Nine-Tails' attack, the latter version is used here. More reasonable versions will be adopted for other inconsistencies in future versions.)

Shaking his head, Yagami Yoruichi didn't think much of it.

After glancing at Kakashi Hatake and Sakumo Hatake practicing their swordsmanship in another corner of the training ground, Yoruichi Yagami packed up her things and left the training ground.

When Yagami Yoruichi returned home and entered the apartment, the building manager stopped her.

"This is from the village." The administrator handed Yagami Yoruichi an envelope: "Your living expenses for next month have arrived."

"Thank you, Uncle." Yagami Yoruichi thanked him earnestly, took the envelope, opened it, and counted out the money inside in front of him.

A total of eight thousand taels.

There was also a bill in the envelope, which was for this month's water, electricity, and gas bills.

The apartments in Konoha Village do not charge any rent for 'hero's orphan' like Yoruichi Yagami, but expenses such as water and electricity still need to be paid.

This month's bill is over five hundred taels, which is no different from usual.

Yagami Yoruichi took out a few bills and handed them to the building manager: "Uncle, this is this month's water and electricity bill."

"No problem with the money, here's the receipt." The administrator counted the money, gave Yagami Yoruichi a receipt, and said with a smile, "You have an exam at the Ninja Academy tomorrow? Good luck!"

The apartment is home to many orphans of ninjas, some of whom have entered ninja academies.

The administrator had been paying close attention to these children for a long time, so he naturally knew something about what was happening at the school.

"Thank you, Uncle." Yagami Yoruichi greeted the administrator with a smile and returned home.

"Another 30,000 taels, but that amount of money can last a long time for daily life. However, to maintain a high-intensity training regimen, the expenses will increase considerably..."

Yagami Yoruichi looked somewhat worried.

After several weeks of testing, it has been found that following the high-intensity training plan developed by Umino Ikkaku, just by supplementing with high-quality protein, will lead to a significant increase in food and drink expenses, costing about two to three thousand taels more each month.

This further exacerbated Yagami Yoruichi's already precarious financial situation.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about these things. I have enough money to last for a while. I'll think about it after the exams." Yagami Yoruichi forced herself not to overthink.

After a simple dinner and preparing tomorrow's lunchbox in advance, I went to bed early.

Chapter 11, the monthly exam, gave the Will of Fire a small shock.

"The theory exam will last three hours. Cheating is strictly prohibited. Any cheating will result in disqualification!"

As he handed out the exam papers, Nobuyuki Imai emphasized the exam rules.

Although they are only in first grade, the world's environment forces all children to mature early and they have a lot to learn.

The theoretical exam for the first monthly test alone covered multiple subjects, including ninja history, chakra knowledge, physics, mathematics, traps, and first aid for external injuries.

Of course, content related to "The Will of Fire" is always indispensable.

Although Yagami Yoichi was completely uninterested in the "Will of Fire" course, he studied the other theoretical courses diligently and had no problem passing the exams.

It took me more than an hour to finish most of the questions on the test paper.

Yagami Yoruichi looked at the last big question, which accounted for a full 30% of the marks.

[Please explain your understanding of 'Naruto' by referring to "The Will of Fire" and the deeds of the Third Hokage.]

After a moment's thought, Yagami Yoruichi picked up her pen and wrote: "The Third Hokage is like the sun, illuminating the entire Hidden Leaf Village. We can never repay the debt of gratitude we owe the Hokage..."

A mere immature 'Will of Fire' can brainwash so many people.

If we directly adopted the rhetoric used by a certain small country next door to flatter their fat leader, wouldn't that turn Hiruzen Sarutobi into an embryo?

This wave is solid!

"This is so disgusting," Yagami Yoruichi muttered to herself. "It's all for the sake of survival and development, to avoid looking pathetic. Once my Divine Emperor gear is complete, I won't eat beef anymore! For now, I'll just play it safe."

Suppressing her unease, Yagami Yoruichi finished writing a piece of 'gold-style writing' and checked the exam paper one last time. After confirming that there were no errors, she handed it in.

But Yoruichi Yagami wasn't the fastest to finish her paper.

The first to hand in his paper was Kakashi Hatake.

He was not only a genius in ninja techniques, but also quite good in theoretical knowledge.

Although it wasn't mentioned much in the original work, being able to graduate from the Ninja Academy after only one year and become a Chunin the second year after graduation, it's impossible for him to have any shortcomings in theoretical knowledge.

After all, a ninja's advancement is never just a test of strength.

The ability to cope with various situations is largely contained within the scope of theoretical knowledge.

Carrying the bento box to the rooftop, I found that Kakashi Hatake had already finished eating and was about to go downstairs.

Kakashi Hatake was slightly taken aback when he saw Yoruichi Yagami, clearly not expecting that Yoruichi, who often slept in class, would hand in her paper early.

"The practical assessment this afternoon," Kakashi Hatake suddenly said as he brushed past Yoruichi Yagami, "I'm planning to challenge you, is that alright?"

"Challenge me?" Yagami Yoruichi was surprised.

He had no idea what Sakumo Hatake had said to Kakashi Hatake, and wondered why Kakashi Hatake considered him an opponent.

However, facing the challenge from her opponent, Yoruichi Yagami, who was determined to be number one, naturally would not back down.

If they were to fight each other and be judged solely on their combat performance, Yagami Yoruichi wouldn't dare say she could definitely outperform Hatake Kakashi.

However, if Kakashi Hatake were to be defeated head-on, the outcome would be quite obvious.

"The practical assessment this afternoon consists of three rounds," Yagami Yoruichi said. "If we don't meet in the first two rounds, let's have a spar in the third round."

“Then it’s settled.” Kakashi Hatake nodded and said, “I look forward to fighting you.”

Before Yoruichi could ask anything more, Kakashi Hatake had already quickly left.

"Strange guy."

Yagami Yoruichi was puzzled, but didn't think much of it. She went to a corner of the rooftop, opened her lunchbox, and started eating.

Eat lunch early so that you can digest your food by the time the afternoon's practical assessment is over, ensuring your body is in the best condition for combat.

This is also a little trick that Ikkaku Umino taught Yoruichi Yagami.

During ninja missions, if you can roughly estimate when the battle will take place, you can adjust your eating schedule to keep yourself in peak condition.