In the afternoon, Itachi went to the remote river as usual, planning to practice Fire Release. Suddenly, the originally calm surface of the water became restless and a water dragon was gradually formed.
Itachi quickly used his eyes to search around, and sure enough, he saw the person he wanted to see in a corner of the river.
A white-haired young man wearing a long, grayish-white sleeve and black trousers.
"Kabuto, why are you here? You don't have class today? Is it already a holiday?" Itachi asked as he walked toward Kabuto.
Upon hearing Itachi's voice, Kabuto looked back and stopped his Ninjutsu training. He pointed at the forehead guard tied to his head and said,
"I have already graduated from Academy. I am now officially a Genin."
"That's fast, it only took one year for you to graduate?" Itachi looked at the forehead guard on his head and was slightly stunned, feeling that he had learned a useful knowledge.
"If you have reached the standard of graduation, you can apply for an early graduation. At first, I didn't know, but I heard it from a senpai named Kakashi." Kabuto laughed.
"So that's how it is. Then I will apply for an early graduation as well. Can you apply for an early graduation the moment I enroll? According to you, Academy's lessons are not of much help to us." Itachi asked.
Kabuto was also shocked by Itachi's bold question. He scratched his head and said,
"Is that even possible? I'm not too sure, but there's no need to apply for graduation so quickly. Although Academy's teachers taught nothing but basic things, I can get to know some good friends in Academy. I got to know a friend from the Hyuga Clan. I learned Byakugan's ability. Through her Byakugan, I found a lot of flaws in my Taijutsu.
"Hyuga Clan?"Itachi asked. He felt that he had vaguely heard of this Clan, and sometimes he heard passers-by seemed to be comparing the Hyuga Clan to Uchiha Clan.
"Yes, the Hyuga Clan has Byakugan. It is an eye technique that is as famous as your Uchiha Clan. It would be great if you also awakened Sharingan. I am quite curious about Sharingan's ability. Do you know what ability Sharingan has?" Kabuto curiously asked.
"Sharingan..." Itachi raised his head slightly and thought for a moment. Shisui had once told him about Sharingan's ability. After a brief thinking, he said, "I heard this from a friend of mine who has Sharingan. It seems to be able to enhance his perception, make his Genjutsu stronger, and it also allows its user to copy the Ninjutsu they had seen."
"It sounds very strong, and it can also enhance the user's perception. Does all eye-type Blood Limit provide this ability?" Kabuto said after recalling Byakugan's ability.
He felt that Byakugan's ability was somewhat similar to Sharingan's, which could enhance its user's ability, even though he preferred Byakugan.
Byakugan gave a super-long-range and nearly 360 degrees vision. Byakugan users would be able to anticipate attack from any direction. Even though he was much stronger than Hanayo's, Hanayo could predict his movements. However, Hanayo's body could not keep up with his movement.
Kabuto felt that he'd be drastically stronger if he also had Byakugan!
Although Sharingan looked very strong, not everyone could fully utilize its ability. Only those who could use Genjutsu could exert Sharingan's ability to its fullest.
In addition, its ability to copy Ninjutsu must have a limit to this. Otherwise, Sharingan would've been more famous than Byakugan!
"Maybe." Itachi was obviously not that interested in this topic. He then asked Kabuto, "Are you joining the Special Combat Division?"
"Special Combat Division?Itachi, how did you know that?" Kabuto asked. Nagasawa had only announced it in the Academy so far, so it wasn't public knowledge yet.
"Recently, the elders in the Clan discussed it. It seems that some of Uchiha Shinobi become mentors after receiving training from Nagasawa-san. Because of that, the Clan held a meeting to have their kids joining the Special Combat Division when they graduated. You should join the Special Combat Division, too. With Nagasawa-san's help, you should be trained properly."
Since Nine-Tails' attack, Nagasawa became famous all of a sudden. For a time, his reputation even overshadowed the Hokage's, causing many of Academy's students change their dream from becoming the Hokage to Hokage Assistant.
Itachi had heard of Nagasawa countless times from Kabuto. Eventually, he asked Kabuto, and the conversation was as follows.
"Is that Nagasawa assistant the Brother Nagasawa you usually talk about?"
"Yep."
At that time, Itachi was quite shocked. He originally thought that the Brother Nagasawa that Kabuto mentioned was just a Jonin. He did not expect that Nagasawa was actually a Hokage Assistant, who was so strong that he could defeat the legendary Nine-Tails Fox.
Although Itachi did not know how important a Hokage Assistant was, he knew that it was not just some random position as it had the word "Hokage" in it.
However, it seemed that Itachi wasn't meant to encounter Nagasawa. Although he often trained with Kabuto, he had never seen Nagasawa.
He even visited Kabuto at his house because he wanted to see Nagasawa, but Nagasawa went to the battlefield at that time. In the end, he could not meet the renowned Hokage Assistant.
"Well, Brother Nagasawa did ask me to join the Special Combat Division and train there for two or three years." Kabuto nodded.
At present, he mainly focused on Water Release, Wind Release, and Breathing Styles.
Since the Breathing Style he learned was Water Breathing, and it had a synergy with Water Release, he planned to join the Special Combat Division even without Nagasawa asking.
"I am also planning to join the Special Combat Division after graduating. I wonder if we will have the chance to do a mission together."
Itachi told him his plans for the future. As a precocious child, he clearly already had plans for the future.
"There will be a chance. The Special Combat Division is different from ordinary Shinobi. The mentors are only responsible for teaching Breathing Styles and swordsmanship. When your strength reaches a certain level, they will recommend you to participate in the assessment."
"After passing the assessment, you will earn the right to carry out the mission. You can either find teammates or do the mission alone." Kabuto said with a smile.
Nagasawa told him every the Special Combat Division's mechanism. as he would participate in the assessment of the Special Combat Division like ordinary graduates. However, after he passed the assessment, Nagasawa would personally train him.
After all, Kabuto had spent more time practicing Breathing Styles than the mentors, so Nagasawa felt like Kabuto was better than them in Breathing Styles.
"Is that so? That's really worth looking forward to."
"By the way, I have a friend who gives me a lot of Dango, and I can't finish it all by myself. Do you want some?" Kabuto said as he thought of Hanayo's gift.
When Kabuto got home after the graduation exam, he opened Hanayo's gift and found a total of three servings, with six big and round Dango for each serving.
Since Kabuto had just finished his lunch at that time, he did not eat immediately. Instead, he brought it with him for training and planned to eat it when he was hungry.
Kabuto opened the bag and showed it to Itachi.
Looking at the shiny Dango, Itachi praised, "It looks pretty good, but isn't it a gift for you?"
"It's okay. Hanayo is a person who likes to share. If the Dango she bought can bring happiness to more people, she will be very happy too. Oh, and you also have Izumi. When I have time, I will call Hanayo, then uou can call Izumi and we will have a meal together."