After lunch, there was one final class, and then the training block began.
All the students from the entire year were moved into a large, empty courtyard. Seeing them all together, Kusuri estimated that there were at least a hundred students, probably more.
Assuming his math was correct, that meant the academy's graduation rate for that class had to be around five to ten percent.
That was... abysmally low.
Kusuri guessed the idea was to avoid letting potential through the cracks, but it felt kind of excessive to have this many people who were nearly guaranteed to fail if they were not from a clan. At least they had a system to move them to regular schools so they weren't being left out to dry.
"Alright, everybody, in a second, the rest of the teachers will begin handing out a simple training regimen to each of you. If you couldn't guess, its purpose will be to help you learn how to sense your chakra."
Once they were all handed out, they were collectively organized into long rows that reminded Kusuri of a cornfield. There was just enough room between each row for a couple of teachers to walk down, which they did to keep an eye on and occasionally help the children.
Although, considering how vastly they were outnumbered, they could only do so much.
"We will continue this regimen during this period for the next month. Those who finish before the deadline may request to be tested by a teacher, and will then be moved up to the next assignment."
The moment the man was finished, Kusuri, as well as a few others, raised their hands to call a teacher over.
When the teachers saw how many hands were raised so early, they adopted a rather shocked expression.
"Seven!? We only had ONE last year, and that was the Hyūga kid! Then again, I'm not even sure we'll get a full team out of last year's crop." one of them thought to herself.
"You want to be tested I assume?" is what she actually said when she migrated over to Kusuri.
"Yes please," Kusuri answered politely.
Nodding with affirmation the teacher kneeled down and placed her hand on Kusuri's stomach.
She focused her chakra onto his skin and formed it into a star.
If a student could sense their own chakra, the idea was that they should also be able to sense chakra in close proximity to their bodies.
The test was imperfect, but it was hard to test for it without having them use derivative abilities like chakra control.
She asked the shape and Kusuri responded with the correct answer rather matter-of-factly.
"Huh. Alright, come with me I'll get you the regimen for control."
"Actually, I'd like to be tested for that too."
The teacher pivoted to stare Kusuri in the face.
His expression didn't look cocky, or even particularly proud of himself.
He had the same kind of look some would have if they were politely telling a waiter that they had gotten the wrong food. The Hyūga kid had at least had that overly serious expression when he asked, but this was somehow much stranger.
"Are you sure?" she asked, as a genuine question.
"Yes ma'am," Kusuri answered, just as politely as before.
She walked back over to him and placed her hand on his stomach once again, this time trying to sense the flow of his chakra.
Feeling like he understood where this was going, Kusuri began messing around with his chakra, not trying to do anything specific.
The teacher stood up, and muttered, "Damn... Alright, come with me, we'll get you started on physical enhancement."
She grabbed his hand to pull him to his feet and began guiding him back to the school building.
As she did so, Taga and Nori gave dejected looks which Kusuri attempted to ignore.
Kusuri felt bad, but he wasn't going to waste time learning things he could already do.
Besides, he already knew they weren't going to make it to graduation anyway.
----------
Kusuri was brought to a room that reminded him of a school gymnasium and, not five minutes later, was joined by a number of other people.
The first was Sasuke, then Shino, followed by Hinata, Shikamaru, and finally Ino.
Kusuri wasn't massively surprised that he wasn't the only one with a head start, but he hadn't expected there to be so many.
Kusuri's thoughts were interrupted by a large, heavyset man who had walked to the front of the room.
"Ha! We've got quite a few prodigies here this year! You should all be proud of yourselves," he began, "Anyway, the name's Daikoku Funeno, and I'll be teaching you guys the basics until more people make it through the thresholds!"
The man had a jovial personality that oddly reminded Kusuri of Santa Claus.
"The first thing I'll be teaching you is the backbone of every ninja: Physical Enhancement!" the man continued, "It is the most important thing in every ninja's toolkit for a number of reasons. Not only is it the basis for all taijutsu, but it's also what'll allow you to think and act fast when you're in combat situations. Thankfully, this is one of the simplest techniques to learn out of everything you will learn as a ninja. So simple I can explain the entire process right now."
He gave a dramatic pause.
"What I'm going to have you do is channel your chakra evenly throughout your body, and then do a whole lot of exercise. When you do that, small amounts of your chakra will be consumed by your muscles. Over time, you'll eventually be able to get a feel for the process and do it consciously, which will be far more efficient. But for right now, get to exercising!"
After giving the go-ahead, he walked over to a closet and opened it revealing a variety of equipment.
Kusuri was a bit surprised at how simple their instruction was, but he supposed the concept itself was fairly simple in the first place.
He then silently grabbed some of the lightest equipment and made his way over to a corner to train by himself, which he continued until they were told it was time to go home.
It was very boring, but at least he had gotten his blood pumping a bit which was more than he could've said if he had worked with everyone else in the yard.
Then, he made his way home.
----------
He didn't know what he had expected from his first day, but he had certainly expected more excitement than he got.
While the training was certainly interesting, not to mention useful, it wasn't particularly exciting.
He was asked about his day by his grandparents when he got home and he told them what had transpired.
Then, suddenly, he was picked up in a hug from behind.
"Happy first day Ku!" his uncle exclaimed.
Iori, along with Aika and Jun, had made their way into the house immediately after he had.
"Chin up," Kusuri's grandmother said, "I don't care how boring your day was, we're here to celebrate your first day!"
He was sat down, and then a simple party was held, whether Kusuri wanted it or not.
They had sweets, and played some board games, making sure at least a couple of them were simple enough that Jun could join in.
Finally, the day ended, and Kusuri was in higher spirits than when he left the academy.
That didn't mean, however, that he was looking forward to his classes for the next six years.