On Monday, after Tobirama finished his morning routine, he quickly sent his Shadow Clone off, saying:
“Go to school now, or you’ll be late.”
“Heh, you think you can fool me into going to the exam while you slack off? I know today’s the final exam,” the Shadow Clone sneered.
Since it was a Shadow Clone, it instantly guessed what the original Tobirama was thinking.
“Anyway, you usually go to school, so I’ll leave the theoretical exam to you,” Tobirama stated plainly, having given up on tricking the clone.
“It’s going to be painful for both of us if I go to the exam, but if you go, only one of us will suffer,” the Shadow Clone argued reasonably.
Tobirama was momentarily convinced, realising the logic in the argument.
After a gloomy breakfast, he reluctantly dispelled the Shadow Clone and headed to school for the exam.
On his way, he encountered several first-year juniors, including Sai, Shino, and Anko, whom he vaguely remembered from the summer training camp.
“Good morning, Tobirama-senpai,” Sai, Shino, and Anko greeted him.
“Good morning to you all,” Tobirama replied with a smile.
“You don’t seem too happy today. Is something wrong?” Shino asked.
“Could it be because of the exam today?” Sai guessed.
“Something like that, I’m not very good at theoretical exams,” Tobirama admitted.
“Oh, you’re not good at theory either? I’m the same,” Anko said, feeling a sense of camaraderie.
“Those theoretical questions are so hard to memorize; being bad at them is perfectly normal,” Tobirama remarked, seeing a reflection of himself in Anko and feeling a bit of affection.
“We actually…” Sai and Shino tried to join in.
“Tobirama-senpai, don’t be fooled by these two; their theoretical scores are excellent. They got full marks last time, and nearly full marks the time before,” Anko revealed bluntly.
“Full marks? Can you even achieve that?” Tobirama was astonished. Wasn’t the human limit supposed to be around sixty points?
“No, we just reviewed a lot,” Sai admitted. Shino, on the other hand, was the real genius.
“Those two are too much, always making fun of my poor theoretical scores,” Anko said, hands on her hips, pouting.
“How much do you usually score, Tobirama-senpai? Should be above eighty, right?” Anko asked. With only seventy-eight points, she felt Tobirama would be better than her.
“Well, what about you? What do you usually score?” Tobirama asked, feeling uneasy about the so-called “academic comradeship.”
“Don’t laugh when I tell you, but my scores are really poor and are declining. I got eighty the first time and seventy-eight last time,” Anko sighed.
Tobirama was taken aback. Among the students in his class, Anko was already one of the lower scorers, and he couldn’t believe his scores were lower.
“I think I see a familiar face ahead; we’ll talk later,” Tobirama said, quickly moving ahead to avoid embarrassment.
“Akai, wait for me.” Tobirama found the lower scores from his juniors quite unnerving. The thought of his initial scores was almost too painful to bear.
“Another morning full of youthful energy,” Might Guy chirped, giving Tobirama a thumbs up.
“Akai, are you confident about the exam today?” Tobirama asked, seeing Might Guy’s enthusiasm.
“Yeah, it’s the exam,” Might Guy’s thumb suddenly drooped, and his smile faded.
Seeing Might Guy like this, Tobirama felt relieved and smiled with satisfaction. The juniors’ enthusiasm seemed abnormal.
……
On the first day of theoretical exams, although Mokutsuki did not supervise, he wandered around the examination rooms a few times. On the second day, Mokutsuki went to the exam room of Class 4-2, where Hinata and the others were.
Mokutsuki was primarily there to observe Hinata’s performance in the practical exam.
Among Mokutsuki’s disciples, Hinata had the weakest ability, falling significantly behind Might Guy and Tobirama. Even some students in the class could outmatch her.
Now that Mokutsuki had taught Hinata his brute strength techniques and reinforced her physical skills, he hoped she would perform better and not lose to anyone other than Might Guy and Tobirama.
Hinata became Mokutsuki’s disciple during the summer training camp and had been training under him for about five months.
“Mokutsuki-sensei,” Aya greeted him, the proctor for Class 4-2.
“Director Mokutsuki,” another proctor greeted Mokutsuki, adding his title as they were less familiar.
Mokutsuki smiled and nodded, “I came to check on the students I’m responsible for during the break.”
“So you’re one of the instructors for the internship program,” Aya asked curiously.
This was not a secret among the teachers and was widely known.
“Yes,” Mokutsuki nodded.
“Which students are you responsible for? It should be Might Guy and Tobirama, right?” Aya guessed.
Given Mokutsuki’s strong teaching ability, Aya assumed the most outstanding students would be assigned to him.
“From Class 4-2, it’s these two,” Mokutsuki confirmed.
“Examinee number one is Hinata and examinee number two is Uchiha Itachi,” the proctor announced.
As the exam began, Aya picked up the scoring sheet and prepared to grade carefully.
“Hinata’s luck isn’t great today. If she hadn’t faced Itachi, she might have been in the top four,” Class 4-2 students whispered.
Since the summer training, Hinata has been performing well in her class. Besides Might Guy and Tobirama, only Uchiha Itachi seemed likely to beat her.
“After all, Itachi was in Group A from the start of the training, while Hinata only recently advanced to Group A,” they reasoned.
Most students were more confident in Itachi, believing he was more substantial than many students from the same year who had participated in practical training. Given that only two students per class could qualify, Might Guy and Tobirama’s strength made the competition more challenging.
“Hinata, try not to go too hard; don’t knock him out in one punch,” Tobirama said dramatically.
He didn’t believe Itachi could beat Hinata.
“Don’t exaggerate, Tobirama-senpai,” Hinata said, feeling that her image might be skewed in his mind.
“Hehe,” Tobirama chuckled, gave her a thumbs-up, and said, “Hinata, do your best!”
Hinata smiled gently and walked to the combat area to prepare for the fight.
Itachi quickly entered the arena and assumed his stance. However, he doesn’t take the battle seriously and is more focused on thinking about the gap between himself, Might Guy, and Tobirama.
“I wonder how Tobirama trains. It feels like the harder I try, the further behind I am,” Itachi thought, recalling their previous battle.
“Begin!” The proctor announced that both competitors had assumed their positions.
As soon as the proctor’s words were out, Hinata vanished from Itachi’s view with a whoosh and reappeared at his side.
“Such fast Body Flicker Technique!” Itachi’s pupils narrowed in surprise.
But what amazed Itachi even more was Hinata’s physical prowess.
Taken off guard, Itachi could only raise his arm to block Hinata’s seemingly delicate punch.
Boom!!
With a tremendous sound, Hinata’s punch sent Itachi flying, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Feeling the intense pain in his arm, Itachi was dumbfounded, staring at Hinata’s slender arm with a look of disbelief.
If he had fought Might Guy, Itachi wouldn’t have been surprised. But losing to Hinata was unexpected, as she had always been mediocre in combat, someone even Itachi didn’t bother to remember.
From being at the top of the class to being cleanly defeated by Hinata, Itachi’s confidence was shattered.
Itachi tried to perform hand signs to release a jutsu, but his injured arm slowed him down. Soon, Hinata was upon him again, forcing Itachi into a desperate close-quarters struggle.
But in his weakened state, Itachi was no match for Hinata, who easily defeated him with just a few more blows.
The watching students were silent, and even Tobirama felt a cold sweat on his forehead as he watched Itachi being knocked around.
“Hinata wins!” The proctor announced after scoring the match.
“Teacher, please take me to the infirmary,” Itachi requested, feeling he might not make it.
“Continue with the proctoring. I’ll take him to the infirmary,” Mokutsuki said with a smile.
He had come mainly to observe Hinata’s performance and would return for the second round later.
Mokutsuki carried Itachi on his back and took him to the ninja school’s infirmary for treatment.
“Thank you, Mokutsuki-sensei,” Itachi said gratefully as he began to recover.
“It’s nothing. It’s what a teacher should do,” Mokutsuki replied gently.
“Mokutsuki-sensei, am I just not talented?” Itachi asked suddenly.
Itachi felt down after being eliminated in the first round by Hinata. Though he knew there was an element of being careless at the start, he realised he would have lost.
Even if he had been severe.
“Everyone has their strengths. It’s normal to feel down after losing,” Mokutsuki comforted him.
He hadn’t been able to intervene in the competition, but he knew that Itachi’s losses were also an opportunity for him to improve. While being a genius could sometimes hinder progress, realising this through defeat might accelerate his growth.
“Itachi, focus on your strengths and improve your weaknesses,” Mokutsuki advised.
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