Chapter 54: Village Rules Cannot Be Broken

As a dedicated teacher who seeks guidance from Jiraiya, the Third Hokage occasionally faces personal moral dilemmas while patrolling the village.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

He felt a moment of nervousness, then carefully covered the crystal ball, and said, "It's Iruka! Come in!"

Very soon, Iruka walked into the office quickly, greeted the Third Hokage respectfully, and then explained the reason for his visit: "Hokage-sama, I'm here to discuss something regarding one of my students.

"Although it might bend the rules a bit, I feel that if I let this student's talent go to waste, I would be failing as a teacher."

"One of your students..."

The Third Hokage began to ponder. He was considering which student could prompt Iruka to come here specifically. An image naturally appeared in his mind.

Uchiha!

Only this family is so unique.

While the Third Hokage was thinking, Iruka naturally provided the answer: "Sasuke of the Uchiha clan. He has been the top student in his class for the past two years. His skills, such as the Uchiha shuriken technique, make many Chunin feel ashamed.

"The reason I'm here is to request that he be allowed to start learning ninjutsu and advanced chakra training that are typically reserved for the ninja stage."

"Training that is usually reserved for the ninja stage..." The Third Hokage understood what Iruka meant and asked, "So, Iruka, based on your observations, has this child...

"Reached the level to graduate early?"

"If he wishes, I believe he can."

Iruka nodded.

The Third Hokage sighed softly, "He can graduate early. It seems that... this is another child as talented as Itachi!

"If he has the ability to graduate early, what does Sasuke think?"

"The Uchiha clan is indeed synonymous with genius," Iruka affirmed. "But I think it's too early for someone his age to graduate, and Sasuke himself feels the same way.

"As a genius, Sasuke is undoubtedly exceptional. He possesses a humility that is rare. He has no intention of graduating early, although I also believe he should take his time. Unfortunately, doing so means that his extraordinary talent might be underutilized."

"The regular training at the ninja academy can no longer satisfy him?"

The Third Hokage asked again, curious.

The previous topic was temporarily set aside, but it resurfaced because, although Sasuke was the top student, his initial performance was not quite at the level for early graduation.

Especially in peacetime, the difficulty of graduating early is much higher.

Unless recognized by a Chunin teacher, having only Genin-level strength does not qualify one for early graduation.

In this regard, Iruka gave a high degree of affirmation: "Perhaps Sasuke didn't have the motivation to practice further before! Initially, I was confident I could teach him for six years, but when Sasuke approached me this semester, he had already completed all the professional and non-professional courses of the Ninja Academy on his own.

"Seeing that his foundation is truly solid and reliable, I gave him some additional direction. He grasped it immediately. It won't be long before I feel I may have nothing left to teach him."

Iruka was a bit conservative about this matter.

In fact, there isn't much more he can teach now. Furthermore, he only knows part of the information and hasn't successfully practiced those ninjutsu and nature transformations.

Without a special bloodline limit and unique master training, the speed of ordinary people's training over time is not fast.

Iruka is already a benchmark for ordinary people. He became a Chunin at a young age. If he hadn't devoted himself to education, his future would be almost limitless.

However, after seeing Sasuke master what he had been honing for so long in one glance, Iruka realized what a genius looks like.

He was pleased to have the opportunity to teach such a talented student but feared he might hold him back, so he praised Sasuke's talent.

He didn't want it to be wasted.

This made the Third Hokage feel the significance of the name Uchiha more clearly.

Although there was only one Uchiha left in the village, the one who remained seemed to be the most talented.

Although he was able to graduate early one year later than his brother, the Third Hokage thought that if there was a need, this child could start studying hard one year earlier, and could he graduate at the age of seven?

After all, Iruka's description of Sasuke was close to the pinnacle of what a genius could achieve.

No one could imagine going further.

Fortunately, Sasuke, who seemed to have the ability to graduate early, did not seem to really intend to graduate early and still planned to complete the six-year ninja academy step by step.

This was also the reason why Iruka came to request an exception for Sasuke from the Hokage.

If he graduates early and can follow a new teacher, then he can follow the rules and the teacher can teach him new ninjutsu in advance.

The Third Hokage asked about Sasuke's training again and then pointed out the reason why he didn't want to graduate.

He got the answer from Iruka.

Because he thought he was not suitable for the training of a real ninja, and at the same time, Sasuke was the top student in the grade with a very good relationship with his classmates during his time at the ninja academy.

"Sasuke... is really very kind to everyone in the class. Well, although he did some seemingly insignificant things during the actual combat assessment, it turned out that he was really too modest afterward," Iruka said helplessly. "It's just that he really grew up too fast, so it's conservative to say that he looks a little arrogant.

"As a sunny and cheerful genius, Sasuke not only focuses on training but also has a good relationship with his classmates at other times. Perhaps it is for this reason that he wants to complete the six years of the Ninja Academy normally, and I agree with this.

"But in the practice of ninjutsu and chakra, his progress is really too fast. For geniuses, I think we should give some special treatment."

"Indeed." The Third Hokage nodded and said calmly, "As their teacher, how much to teach is up to you.

"When Konoha dances, the fire will also continue. The dancing flames will illuminate the village and bring new hope. It is the village's luck to have such a genius.

"If we have the ability, the village will not give up any genius."

Iruka was very touched by the promise and wanted to ask which Jonin in the village was free to teach Sasuke.

However, it was a pity that the village was in a difficult situation.

For the current village, allocating special teaching resources to Sasuke was something that the village was powerless to do.

This made Iruka a little disappointed.

"Really... there is no way?"

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