"Damn it!"
Uchiha Sasuke struggled to his feet. But losing so much chakra at once had thrown his body into a brief state of weakness. By then, Uzumaki Naruto had already stood up and walked over to him.
"I was just a hair away!"
Frustration flashed across Sasuke's face. But a loss was a loss—there was nothing he could change. At least this spar made one thing clear: the gap between him and Naruto was shrinking.
And the biggest credit for that naturally went to Kitazawa. The Lightning Style: Chidori Stream and Lightning Style: Chidori Senbon he'd taught Sasuke were the keys to this match.
"Sasuke!" Naruto held out a hand, grinning. "That was a thrilling, youth-fueled fight!"
"You won't beat me next time." Sasuke grabbed his wrist and stood.
"You only know after we fight next time!" Naruto flashed a bright smile. "The unknown is youth!"
"…"
Sasuke was speechless. He'd noticed that every time he talked tough, Naruto's "youth" just dissolved it.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto."
After announcing the result, Kitazawa walked up to Sasuke, placed both hands on his forearms, and let pale green medical chakra flow out to cover the injuries caused by the Rasengan.
"So it's Naruto's win after all," Kiba said with a sigh.
"But Sasuke's gotten a lot stronger," Hyūga Neji said gravely. After watching the match, he felt he himself probably couldn't beat Naruto or Sasuke anymore. Once again, he deeply understood that even among geniuses, there are levels.
"Agreed," Tenten nodded. "Naruto only barely edged it."
"Not necessarily 'barely,'" Nara Shikamaru shook his head. "Didn't you notice that Rasengan was a lot smaller just now?"
"So Naruto wasn't short on chakra? No… he has tons. He pulled his punch," Yamanaka Ino said, suddenly understanding.
"Under normal circumstances, the Rasengan hits harder than Chidori," Aburame Shino mused. "Add Samehada on top of that, and Sasuke's loss isn't unjust. There's still a gap between him and Naruto."
"It's fine—the gap between us and them is even bigger," Kiba sighed.
"We're just normal people. You can't compare us to freaks," Tayuya couldn't help but chime in. After three rounds of sparring, she was enlightened: she was a perfectly ordinary kind of 'genius.'
"Looks like you've gotten used to it. Welcome to the Advanced Class," Ino teased.
"Hmph, I'm only here temporarily," Tayuya said, folding her arms and lifting her chin.
"Sakura, why are you so quiet?" Ino suddenly noticed the obvious.
"…"
Haruno Sakura looked utterly crushed.
"Sasuke losing has nothing to do with you," Ino realized, then laughed. This was a difference in hard power—no amount of jinxing would change the result.
"Sakura, I'll teach you a trick," Shikamaru blinked and, with a straight face, talked nonsense. "Next time, don't cheer for Sasuke—cheer for Naruto."
"Eh?" Sakura's eyes widened. It… kind of sounded workable.
"Then here's the problem—if Sakura supports Naruto and Naruto still wins, what then?" Kiba asked, struggling not to laugh.
"…"
Sakura instantly dropped the idea. Reverse-jinxing was still jinxing!
While they chatted, Kitazawa finished treating Sasuke and headed over to Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others.
"Kitazawa-senpai," Iruka Umino quickly produced four score sheets. "These are our scores."
Hiruzen and Maruboshi Kosuke hadn't come just to watch—they also had a job: to serve as judges.
Kitazawa nodded, took the four sheets, and skimmed them. How to put it? Very similar overall. Aside from small differences on a few students, the four of them were consistent on most.
After reading them, he combined their scores and began ranking the Advanced Class.
In under ten minutes, the practical exam rankings were freshly minted.
Holding the list, Kitazawa walked over to the class. Naruto, Kiba, and the others immediately stopped chatting and looked at him, eyes full of anticipation. They'd more or less guessed the order, but guesses were still just guesses until it was announced.
"I'll announce the practical rankings for this monthly exam first," Kitazawa said. He paused, then added, "These are not the final rankings."
"What do you mean, Kitazawa-sensei?" Kiba asked at once. "Are we still going to keep sparring?"
"Kitazawa-sensei already said this practical exam will also include missions," Shikamaru reminded him.
Kiba's heart jumped—he really had forgotten that. Fortunately, Kitazawa didn't press the point, and he dodged a bullet.
"The real practical ranking will be after the missions," Kitazawa continued.
Sasuke's eyes lit up. He still had a chance at first! All he had to do was outperform Naruto during the missions. His theory exam ranking beat Naruto's; only the practical ranking was lower for now. Do the math, and his odds for first overall were pretty good. His spirits lifted.
Neji and the others had similar thoughts. Their odds of first were small, but not zero.
"First place: Uzumaki Naruto," Kitazawa read.
"Alright!" Naruto whooped. "Now that's youth!"
"I must learn from such youth!" Rock Lee suddenly burst into tears and shouted.
"Second place: Kurama Yakumo," Kitazawa quickly cut them off, afraid they'd start bawling and hugging on the spot.
First and second were within everyone's expectations. But after that, the competition was tight—Uchiha Sasuke, Kimimaro, Hyūga Neji, Hyūga Hinata, and Aburame Shino all had a shot.
"Third place: Uchiha Sasuke," Kitazawa announced.
Sasuke let out a breath. Third was still within his tolerance, not far off Naruto. Now it came down to whether he could score high on the missions—on that front, he was confident.
"Fourth place," Kitazawa paused, "Kaguya Kimimaro."
The five instructors—Kitazawa plus Hiruzen and the others—had some disagreements here, mainly for two reasons. One, Kimimaro had lost three in a row. Two, he hadn't faced Neji or Hinata.
After weighing it, Kitazawa still decided to give him fourth. First, these practical rankings weren't final—mission performance still mattered. Second, three straight losses didn't mean he was weak; on the contrary, he was still top-tier in the class. Third, Kitazawa had set him up earlier; giving him fourth was something of a make-good.
"Con—" Tayuya started, then stopped. She'd been about to congratulate Kimimaro for snagging fourth in a class packed with monsters, but then thought better of it. He was proud; he'd been number one back in Otogakure. Getting fourth now was a humiliation. She glanced at him—sure enough, not a hint of joy.
She sighed inwardly. Kimimaro at least made top five… but could she even crack the top ten? She wasn't confident.
"Fifth: Hyūga Hinata. Sixth: Hyūga Neji. Seventh: Aburame Shino," Kitazawa continued.
There had been debate over Shino, too. He'd now mastered the Kamizuru clan's secret arts and contracted the Queen Bee. In theory, he might defeat Hinata or Neji. But they hadn't actually fought. And the Queen Bee counted as an external aid. If Tenten were allowed to use the Shiromari, her placement would look different, too.
"I'm done for!" Kiba clawed at his hair. "Am I not even in the top ten?"
"There are still three spots left. You've got a shot," Inuzuka Hana comforted him.
Tayuya bit her lip. She found herself praying—no matter what, please let it be top ten.
"Eighth: Yamanaka Ino," Kitazawa said with a smile.
Although Ino lost to Sakura, she won her other two matches—thanks to genjutsu. For most shinobi, genjutsu is a headache. And the Advanced Class kids are mostly seven or eight; many don't even know how to dispel it yet. She'd even have a non-zero chance against Kimimaro—small, but there.
"Haha!" Ino planted her fists on her hips, triumphant. "I beat you, Sakura!"
Sakura pulled a face. Sasuke lost to Naruto, and now she'd lost to Ino in the rankings.
"Ninth: Nara Shikamaru," Kitazawa went on, glancing at Ino.
Shikamaru's mouth twitched. He'd tried twice as hard and still only got ninth—felt like effort didn't change much. In truth, he'd gotten a lot stronger. Especially after learning the Konoha Body Flicker, he could circle opponents and leverage his IQ and shadow techniques.
"Tenth: Tayuya," Kitazawa said slowly.
Even though Tayuya went 0–3, she wasn't weak. Against most of the class, her three Doki (rage oni) were a real advantage. Once she learned Demonic Flute: Phantom Sound Chains, she might climb higher. Genjutsu is basically a cheat code early on.
"Yesss!" Tayuya blurted, face lighting up.
Everyone instinctively looked over. Tayuya realized she was overreacting and hurried to explain, "I mean… next monthly exam I'm definitely going higher!"
"I get it," Ino said with a laugh.
Mortifying! Tayuya's cheeks flushed red.
"Eleventh: Tenten. Twelfth: Inuzuka Kiba. Thirteenth: Haruno Sakura," Kitazawa rattled on. "Fourteenth: Akimichi Chōji. Fifteenth: Inuzuka Hana. Sixteenth: Rock Lee."
Aside from the top seven, the next nine were all close in strength—whoever improves next time can jump a place or two.
"How is it the stronger I get, the lower I rank?" Kiba couldn't hold it in.
"Because Kimimaro and Tayuya got added," Hana replied. She herself was calm; top eighteen was already quite good. This class had too many prodigies.
"Next time I'm making top ten!" Kiba clenched his fist.
"What a statement brimming with youth!" Rock Lee said excitedly. "I must train even harder!"
Taijutsu had the early advantage, but as more classmates learned ninjutsu, he was at a disadvantage. He didn't overthink it, though—he just saw more targets to chase.
"Let's work hard together!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up.
Sasuke's eye twitched. Please don't work hard! No—after this exam, I'm going to Kakashi-sensei for Lightning Release training!
"…" Shikamaru face-palmed. A bunch of monsters—talented and hardworking. In the end, it's us 'normal people' who get ground to dust by the grind.
Kimimaro was thoughtful. He more or less understood why he and Tayuya couldn't measure up: not only did the others have Kitazawa's special coaching, they also worked like mad. He suddenly found himself looking forward to the coming special training.
"That's it for the practical rankings," Kitazawa said, then pulled out a second sheet. "Now for the theory rankings."
Sasuke immediately tensed. He was sure to beat Naruto on the written, but could he outscore Kurama Yakumo and Hyūga Hinata?
"First: Nara Shikamaru. Second: Haruno Sakura," Kitazawa paused, then smiled. "Third: Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke's fist tightened and the corner of his mouth lifted. Locked in! As long as he scored high on the missions, he should take first overall.
Neji frowned. With Sasuke at third in theory, Neji's odds at overall first were basically gone. He'd have to aim for the next monthly exam. That one was missions only—maybe he could take first there.
The other students were more relaxed—they'd long since given up on first. Kimimaro actually had a shot, but he'd only been studying a month; he couldn't catch up on theory yet. As for Tayuya, even less so—among the four transfer students, her theory score was the worst.
Naruto, of course, had the biggest shot at overall first—but he knew his theory wouldn't beat Sasuke and the others, so he was focused on the practical. Some problems you just can't solve; intelligence is innate, and you can't change that.
"That concludes the theory rankings. Your final overall placement will be after the missions," Kitazawa clapped his hands. "Take a ten-minute break. I'll announce team assignments after."
With that, he walked over to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Maruboshi Kosuke, and Hatake Kakashi.
"I'll take whoever this time," Hiruzen said after thinking. He couldn't lead Naruto's team every time—that wouldn't be fair. He was an instructor now; he had to be responsible for every student.
"Same here," said Maruboshi Kosuke and Hatake Kakashi in unison. They wanted to take Sakura and Sasuke, but with Hiruzen saying that, they couldn't play favorites.
"Alright then," Kitazawa said. "I'll handle the assignments."
He stood there thinking. Eighteen students; he and Hiruzen would each lead one team, Maruboshi and Kakashi would lead two.
Kitazawa planned to go to Summoning Island in the Land of the Sea. Many contract beasts lived there. The shinobi of the Land of the Sea had discovered the island and tried to develop an "ultimate summoned beast." Their research was crude—basically patchwork chimeras stitched together from powerful beasts. In the end, the ultimate beast went berserk and wiped them out.
He intended to bring Karin and Tenten. Karin was an Uzumaki; with her around, it would be easier to gain Uzumaki Honoka's trust. As for Tenten, maybe he could help her find a new summon. Her Shiromari was strong, but using it against classmates was a bit much. The beasts on Summoning Island weren't on that level, but they were still capable and could serve as support.
He'd thought of bringing Naruto—Naruto had always wanted a summon—but on second thought, if he was going to contract Mount Myōboku later, any other summon would be dead weight. Honestly, with his power he didn't need a summon at all. And in theory, there was already a summon in his belly—the strongest there was: the Nine-Tails, Kurama.
After mulling it over, Kitazawa decided to bring Tayuya as well, because her three Doki were well-suited to fighting big summons. Besides Tayuya, he planned to bring Akimichi Chōji—his Expansion Jutsu also worked well against large beasts.
Why four students on this squad? Because Karin was an extra. She lacked combat ability and wasn't in the top eighteen. When he announced the teams later, he wouldn't mention her name—for the sake of outward fairness.
[Current Mission: In the next practical exam, keep Tayuya out of the top five.]
[Reward: Four Violet Flames Formation.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa glanced at the notice. No need to say more about the Four Violet Flames Formation—it was a very practical barrier.
[Current Mission: In the next practical exam, keep Kaguya Kimimaro out of the top three.]
[Reward: 20% Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse).]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Adding the earlier 30%, Kitazawa now possessed 50% of the Shikotsumyaku. His body, however, showed no obvious changes.
~~~
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