9 The Exam (Part 2)

As they walked towards the Ninja Academy, Hiruzen had his old tobacco pipe in his mouth, with Danzo walking on his right side, keeping pace with him.

Initially busy reading documents in his office, Hiruzen was invited by Danzo to go to the Ninja Academy and observe the first-year students' initial test.

Knowing his old friend's intentions, Hiruzen acknowledged the achievement of their clan's descendants and understood his desire to boast a bit.

As they reached the vicinity of the Ninja Academy, the two sneaked into the school without attracting attention, instead, leaping to a large tree outside the schoolyard and hiding their presence among the dense leaves.

Standing on sturdy branches, Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke, casually scanning the surroundings, noticing several auras—parents of students or ninja arranged to protect the younger generation.

"It seems this test has attracted quite a bit of attention." Hiruzen said calmly, turning to his friend beside him.

Danzo remained silent, just nodding slightly, focusing all his attention on the field.

On the field, the physical test had concluded, and the elite class students gathered around Kiyoshi, standing together without speaking, silently recovering their strength.

Among the group, Inabi and Toda stood out; both were holding their arms, panting heavily.

Due to excessive exercise, both had red faces, sweat streaming from their foreheads, pooling at their chins, constantly dripping.

Compared to other students, the two appeared more disheveled, displaying signs of physical exhaustion.

It wasn't that the two lacked physical ability; rather, during the running laps, they continuously accelerated to surpass Kizaru, aiming for the first-place position.

At the start of the physical test, Kizaru, relying on his long legs, surged to the front and quickly distanced himself from the rest.

Inabi and Toda, being impulsive, couldn't bear to watch Kizaru continually maintain his leading position. Consequently, they both accelerated to overtake him.

However, no matter how much they accelerated, Kizaru was always slightly faster, maintaining a half-meter lead.

The two watched Kizaru leading ahead of them, unable to surpass him, feeling both frustrated and anxious.

Frustrated, they gritted their teeth and increased their speed, but to no avail. They could only watch Kizaru's elegant figure while eating their dust.

Experienced runners knew that the most crucial aspect of long-distance running was maintaining a rhythm. Their continuous sprinting disrupted their rhythm, resulting in a wasteful expenditure of energy. In the latter half of the exam, not only did they fail to surpass Kizaru, they couldn't even hold onto the second or third positions, ending up in the middle or lower ranks of the class.

"Dang it!" gasped Inabi, his words disjointed, his face full of dissatisfaction.

"When we fight, I'll definitely defeat that guy!" Inabi said, just a meter away from Toda, equally resentful.

"That guy can only be defeated by me!" Inabi raised his body, looking at Hyuga with a touch of arrogance.

"You? Ridiculous!" Toda responded disdainfully.

"You, do you want..." Inabi started speaking before charging towards Toda.

Their dispute immediately drew the attention of the classmates and the teacher.

"It seems like they're arguing because of you!" Shikaku watched the two confront each other, excitedly commenting.

"That's scary!" Kizaru stood beside Shikaku, hands in his pockets, with a pensive expression.

Shikaku withdrew his gaze, turned to Kizaru beside him, casting a disdainful glance.

"You're terrible with words!" 

"Really sorry!" Kizaru said insincerely.

As Hiruzen and Kizaru conversed, Kiyoshi had already resolved the dispute between Inabi and Toda and began announcing the commencement of the Ninja Tools test.

Under Kiyoshi's guidance, everyone moved to the corner of the field, the usual training ground for throwing ninja tools.

"Everyone, stand behind me. When I call your name, come up and throw the ninja tools. Each person has three chances. The best score counts." Kiyoshi, holding a roster, instructed the students.

Following the instructions, everyone stood behind Kiyoshi, waiting for their names to be called.

"Namikaze Minato!" Kiyoshi called the first name.

Just a month into the school year, with outstanding appearance, an amiable personality, and a warm smile every day, Minato was quite popular in the class. Many classmates cheered for him as he walked to the throwing point, where he pulled out a wooden shuriken provided by the school from his pocket.

In his first throw, he scored 6 rings; 

In his second throw, he scored 7 rings; 

In his third throw, he also scored 7 rings. 

For Minato, who was an orphan without adult guidance and only came into contact with ninja tools after entering school, his performance was already outstanding.

"Minato, well done!" Kiyoshi raised his right hand and thumbs up to Minato.

"Thank you, sensei!" Minato bowed in gratitude to his teacher.

After Minato finished, Kiyoshi continued with the roll call.

In the elite class where Kizaru was, everyone's performance in throwing ninja tools was good, mostly maintaining scores of five or six rings or more.

When Toda stepped up, leveraging the advantage of his visual prowess, he managed to achieve a score of 9 rings three times in a row, causing cheers among the classmates.

"Tch!" Inabi, standing amidst the crowd, watched the proud Toda and uttered a disdainful snort.

"Just nine rings, what was there to be proud of? I, Inabi, will surely score full marks when I go up!"

Inabi quickly got the chance to demonstrate his skills. He was third after Toda.

Under the gaze of his classmates, Inabi confidently stepped forward.

It wasn't unreasonable for Inabi to be so confident; after all, the Inabi clan had turned throwing ninja tools into a form of art.

Inabi didn't disappoint himself; he scored full marks in all three throws, hardly pausing in between.

"Inabi is amazing!"

"The Uchiha clan truly lives up to its reputation!"

"So impressive!"

Inabi's performance evoked continuous praise from his classmates, further boosting his pride.

"Inabi, you're extremely skilled!" Kiyoshi also praised him.

"I'm not that skilled! Hahaha!" Inabi initially intended to be humble but eventually burst into laughter.

After smiling and shaking his head, Kiyoshi continued the roll call.

"Shimura Kizaru!"

Hearing Kiyoshi's call, the venue suddenly quieted down. The "Great Demon King" was about to perform, and everyone was highly anticipating it!

Inabi also stopped laughing, watching Kizaru from the crowd, a self-satisfied smile on his face, and proactively said, "Kizaru, do your best!"

"Okay!" Kizaru smiled in response, passing by Inabi and heading towards the throwing point.

"Sensei, if the venue gets damaged, I don't have to pay for it, right?" Kizaru stood at the throwing point, asking with a grin.

"..." 

Kiyoshi was taken aback by Kizaru's question. After hesitating for a moment, thinking that even if Kizaru exerted his strength to the fullest, he would only break the target with the ninja tool, he continued, "No, Kizaru, just give your best performance!"

"In that case, I won't hold back!"

Kizaru's face bore a somewhat cryptic smile as he pulled out a wooden shuriken from his hip pouch.