Chapter 5: Feasibility Report on One-Hit-KO-ing a Taijutsu Ninja (Part 2)
This battle, once again, could only be described as a one-shot win.
"Aizawa-sensei…"
"Huh? Oh!"
Prompted by Hagoromo 's reminder, Chūnin instructor Aizawa snapped out of his daze. He rushed into the training ground, quickly examined Might Guy, and finally breathed a sigh of relief—Guy had only lost consciousness and wasn't in any real danger.
Hagoromo had held back with that final blow. He'd never go all out against his comrades.
"Hagoromo, I don't know when you managed to master such a powerful Lightning Release, but I have to warn you—moves like that aren't meant for use against your own allies," Aizawa said seriously after calling over the medical squad.
"I understand, Aizawa-sensei," Hagoromo replied earnestly. This was his first time showcasing his true strength, and in his excitement, he'd gotten a little carried away. Otherwise, Guy wouldn't have been knocked out cold like that.
The medical ninja came over again and carefully carried Might Guy off the field.
"Second round of the graduation exam, first match—winner: Kamishiraishi Hagoromo !" Aizawa declared.
When Hagoromo returned to the group of students, they instinctively made space around him.
He gave an awkward smile. Looks like he had overdone it. Both his opponents had ended up unconscious—and while Kurenai's situation wasn't too bad, Guy's condition was... difficult to look at. The poor guy would need a while to recover.
"Hagoromo, didn't you go way too hard on Guy?!" Obito ran up, true to his reputation as one-half of the "dead-last duo." Even though he'd just been knocked around himself, he wasted no time speaking up for his friend.
"Let's go check on him," Hagoromo said.
Rin was already by Guy's side as the medics treated his injuries.
"Even though it looks bad, it's mostly superficial. A few days of rest and he'll be fine," Rin reported. She had already started receiving formal medical training and could make that call with confidence.
"It's still your fault, Hagoromo . You went way too hard," Obito huffed.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to go that far on the last hit," Hagoromo apologized quickly. He hadn't meant to hurt Guy that badly—he'd just gotten caught up in the moment and wanted to test his full strength.
"But going all-out is how you show your opponent respect, right? If I fought you half-heartedly, Obito, would you be okay with that?" Hagoromo shot back.
"I…"
It made sense. No one wants to be treated like a pushover. Would you rather hear "I only needed 30% of my strength to beat you," or "I gave it my all, and you still stood your ground"?
Obito understood, even if he didn't like it.
"When will Guy wake up?"
"He's fine. Should come to in about an hour," one of the medics replied. "Still, it's rare to see a graduation exam fight end this badly."
Hagoromo looked even more embarrassed.
After round two, only two of the original "group of four" remained: Hagoromo and Rin. Both had made it into the top eight of the class.
Then came round three—and Hagoromo, fresh off his intense bout with Guy, was matched up against Rin.
"Don't forget what you just said—fighting seriously is how you respect your opponent." Rin reminded him with a smirk.
Instant karma. Obito was glaring at him like a hawk. If Hagoromo even looked like he was going to go all out again, the "Dead Last Avenger" would probably throw hands right then and there.
Hagoromo raised his hand decisively. "Instructor Shimokawa, I exhausted all my chakra in the fight with Guy. I forfeit this round."
"You…" Aizawa started to lecture him, but stopped. Come to think of it, Hagoromo had used high-level Lightning Release in the previous fight—at his age, managing chakra nature transformation was rare. Maybe he was out of chakra.
"Understood." Aizawa nodded, then turned to the rest of the class. "Graduation Exam, Round Three: Kamishiraishi Hagoromo forfeits. Winner by default—Nohara Rin!"
The truth?
Hagoromo still had plenty of chakra left. He hadn't even used half of it.
But without a proper benchmark, Hagoromo couldn't tell how his reserves compared to others. Judging by his physical stamina and mental resilience, he figured his chakra levels weren't bad.
In fact, compared to most kids his age, his chakra reserves were excellent—though not on the monstrous level of a Senju or an Uzumaki.
What really set him apart, though, was his precision chakra control. Most ninja wasted a portion of their chakra whenever they used jutsu—but not Hagoromo. Thanks to his control, he could save anywhere from 30% to 60% per technique.
Forget A-rank moves or S-rank talent. This cheat-code brain of his was the real reason Hagoromo could survive in the world of shinobi.
In the fourth and final round, Rin's luck finally ran out. She was defeated.
Just as Hagoromo predicted, the graduation exam had a very high pass rate—so high that even Obito Uchiha made it through. Naturally, Hagoromo passed too.
They were all officially graduates now.
But graduation also meant something else: the real war had begun.
Unlike peacetime, the current wartime graduation system didn't group fresh graduates into brand-new squads. Instead, new genin were added to existing, undermanned units.
Some were assigned solo. Others in pairs. Rarely were full three-man cells formed.
Rin and Obito were placed together, likely to be added to a two-person team.
Hagoromo and Guy, on the other hand, were assigned solo—which meant they'd be supplementing existing three-man teams individually.
Or so Hagoromo thought.
But he was wrong.
Almost all the new graduates were shipped straight to the frontlines.
Almost.
Hagoromo wasn't one of them.
He wasn't assigned to any front-line unit. He didn't head to the battlefield.
Instead, he was stuck right where he was—in the Hidden Leaf Village.