31 - 31 - The first-year exam

A couple of days before the final exam of the first year at the academy, Izuna was studying for the written part of the exam.

He noticed, when looking at the syllabus for the first time, that the test was much tougher than it would be in his previous world. It's what you would expect on a test for 10 or 11 year olds, not 5, 6, and 7 year olds.

He began to wonder if, by the end of the academy, the exams would actually cause him problems.

The syllabus also mentioned what all would happen on exam day.

For the special class, they did more than just take a written test. They would start with a shuriken throwing competition, then go on to a chakra control exercise, then end the day with a taijutsu tournament.

For the shuriken throwing competition, the teachers would set up, as usual, with an unmoving board with multiple circles on it, and the closer you got to the center circle, the more points you were awarded.

Next would be the leaf concentration competition, which was only to see how long you could keep the leaf from falling. The one who held it for the longest time would get full points, and the others would progressively get fewer points.

Lastly, the taijutsu tournament, which was straightforward: there would be a tournament, and your placement is what rank you would get.

On the day of the test, Izuna took the written exam and was confident that he answered everything right, but he wasn't sure how well everyone else did.

They then went on to the shuriken throwing competition, where the usual standouts performed well, with Izuna, Fugaku, Minato, and all tying for first place. With Hinoka Hyuga and Satoshi Senju coming in 4th and 5th respectively, but he was sure that if the test was harder and the targets were moving, the placements wouldn't have been as simple.

In the leaf exercise, Izuna blew everyone out of the water and was asked to stop after an hour and 30 minutes because everyone else had already failed. With Minato, then Fugaku, followed by Hinoka, then once again, Satoshi.

In the taijutsu competition, Izuna was once again beat out by Hinoka Hyuga with her gentle fist style, with Minato finishing 3rd and Fugaku and Satoshi coming after him.

As the teachers were calculating the final scores, the students waited nervously in the academy training grounds. After calculating the final scores, the teachers came back, led by the Hokage who had watched today's test. Hiruzen then gave a small speech about the Will of Fire and praised everyone for their hard work and the display of their talents.

Once he was done, Hiroto walked forward and displayed the results on the boards. As Izuna expected, he got first, but it was closer than he thought. The top five scores were:

Izuna: Exam tied for 1st, Shurikenjutsu tied for 1st, Chakra Control 1st, Taijutsu 2nd

Minato: Exam tied for 1st, Shurikenjutsu tied for 1st, Chakra Control 2nd, Taijutsu 3rd

Fugaku: Exam tied for 1st, Shurikenjutsu tied for 1st, Chakra Control 3rd, Taijutsu 4th

Hinoka: Exam 4th, Shurikenjutsu 4th, Chakra Control 4th, Taijutsu 1st

Satoshi: Exam 5th, Shurikenjutsu 5th, Chakra Control 5th, Taijutsu 5th

Izuna was happy with his placement, and while he wasn't surprised by Minato's placement, a lot of students and teachers were, especially considering his placements at the beginning of the year; he had made a ton of progress in this one short year.

The rest of the students looked at their placements with frowns on their faces as well.

He was sure that the clan kids would undoubtedly be trained hard by their clans during the vacation.

Hiroto was slightly mad. 'All year, Izuna refused to answer a single question in class and was always seemingly not paying attention, and now he scores a 100 on the written exam.'

Hiroto then stepped forward and said, "Everyone, on the first day, I told you guys that Lord Hokage would come here to watch your performance. However, there is an additional reward for the one who scores the highest in the first-year exams. The best student can ask Lord Hokage for a reward."

The Hokage then stepped forward and said, "Izuna Uchiha, please step forward."

Izuna then stepped forward, surprised he didn't remember this happening in the show, but the academy wasn't really shown in detail.

He then thought, 'What can I ask him to give me that my parents can't give me?'

He thought for a long minute, then came up with a good idea, and finally said, "Could you help me contract a good summon?"

Hiruzen was surprised by the request and wanted to refuse. Just because he was the Hokage didn't mean he could give just anyone access to all the summons in the village, but he then thought, 'This could potentially help smooth things over with the Uchiha clan.'

So, he then said, "I believe I could help you with that. Come by when your vacation starts, and I'll help you pick one out."

Izuna then bowed his head, surprised he got what he actually wanted, and said, "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

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