Chapter 20: Smiles Don’t Disappear, They Just Move Away

“Good morning, Izumo.”

Early in the morning, on his way to the Ninja Academy, Kotetsu Hagane greeted Izumo Kamizuki, whom he had met by chance.

“Hmm, good morning,” Izumo Kamizuki replied.

Kotetsu Hagane put his arm around Izumo Kamizuki’s neck, locking him in, then released him and smiled, saying,

“Why do you look so down?”

Izumo Kamizuki sighed and said, “Kotetsu, have you forgotten? Today is the day the results come out.”

“Oh, is that so? Did you not perform well in the exam, Izumo?” Kotetsu Hagane remembered that Muzuki had said the results would be out today.

“Yeah, I feel like my score might be very low.” Izumo Kamizuki looked up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, appearing a bit melancholic.

“It’s alright, I didn’t do well either. I’ll probably be the same as you when the time comes.” Kotetsu Hagane patted Izumo Kamizuki’s shoulder to comfort him.

Then, the two walked together towards the Ninja Academy, and just as they approached, they met Anko.

“Izumo, Kotetsu, good morning!” Anko greeted them cheerfully.

“Good morning, Anko,” the two replied.

“Why do you two look like you’re in a bad mood? Did you have a nightmare last night?” Anko asked curiously.

“No, it’s because today is the day the results come out,” Kotetsu Hagane sighed.

“Neither of us did well on the exam, and we feel our scores will be very low.”

“Hehe, is that so? I feel like I did very well on the exam, maybe my score will be quite high.” Hearing the reason, Anko smiled triumphantly.

“Then I’ll be able to ask Sensei Habsheng for a reward again.” Although she hadn’t seen her score yet, Anko felt it was time to pop the champagne.

After all, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki’s theoretical scores were considered quite good, and she had performed better than them, so it must be a high score for sure.

“I really envy you, Anko. You’re second in the grade for practicals, and you even did well in theory.” Izumo Kamizuki expressed his envy.

Hearing Izumo Kamizuki’s praise, Anko couldn’t help but swell with pride even more, walking with a swagger, like a boss.

Then, the Anko trio also met Shisui and other students from their class as they entered the school.

“How did you do on the exam, Shisui?” Anko asked curiously.

“Just so-so,” Shisui replied calmly.

Anko couldn’t help but look forward to her own score even more. If Shisui only did average, could she be first?

“First place is still unlikely, but maybe top five?” Anko hadn’t lost her mind to pride yet; normally, her exam results were only average.

When they reached the bulletin board, it was already surrounded by a crowd of students, with discussions about scores everywhere.

“The scores for Class One are too high! So many in the seventies and eighties.”

“There’s even a perfect score, and it seems to be the top in practicals too. Truly terrifying.”

“As expected of the class led by Sensei Muzuki…”

“Excuse me, excuse me.” Anko, eager to know her own score, had no time to pay attention to what others were saying. She directly led the charge, pushing through with Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, and found the results for Class Two.

“Eighty points! Yes!” Anko immediately saw her name and the eighty next to it, and cheered excitedly.

But soon, she noticed a problem: why did the ranking seem a bit off?

“Kotetsu, Izumo, have you found your scores?” Anko quickly asked.

“Yes, I found it, ninety-two points,” Kotetsu Hagane nodded and said.

“H-how much?” Anko suspected she had misheard.

“Ninety-two points,” Kotetsu Hagane repeated.

“Konoha expletive!”

Anko slapped Kotetsu Hagane’s shoulder hard, her two brown-grey eyes looking at him in disbelief.

You said you didn’t do well, but you scored ninety-two?

“You call this not doing well?” Anko couldn’t help but ask.

“Luck, luck. I thought I didn’t do well, but it turned out okay,” Kotetsu Hagane said with a chuckle, trying to gloss over it.

“What about you, Izumo? What’s your score?” Kotetsu Hagane asked.

“Ninety-seven,” Izumo Kamizuki replied with a smile.

“H-how much?” Kotetsu Hagane felt he had misheard; that was almost a perfect score.

“Ninety-seven,” Izumo Kamizuki repeated.

This time, Kotetsu Hagane heard clearly. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, while the smile on Izumo Kamizuki’s face grew even wider.

“And here I was comforting you this morning, and you scored so well, almost a perfect score.” Kotetsu Hagane immediately locked his arm around Izumo Kamizuki’s neck and dragged him out.

Anko saw this familiar scene and decisively joined the fray, occasionally sneaking in a punch at Kotetsu Hagane.

These two were too hateful; they scored so well and still deceived her feelings.

…

“After a month of diligent study, disciple Uchiha Shisui achieved a perfect score in the academic assessment, receiving rewards: Chakra +300, Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll.”

“Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll: Elevates any mastered Ninjutsu to proficient level.”

“After a month of diligent study, disciple Uchiha Obito achieved a good score in the academic assessment, receiving rewards: Chakra +150.”

“After a month of diligent study, disciple Might Guy achieved a good score in the academic assessment, receiving rewards: Chakra +150.”

As Muzuki expected, there were indeed rewards for the exam, and they were much richer than the lecturing rewards. He couldn’t generate six hundred Chakra even if he lectured until his throat was sore for three days; a single B-rank evaluation only gave twenty Chakra.

This was also because Obito and Might Guy’s theoretical scores were too poor, and they didn’t get first in practicals, otherwise the rewards would have been even higher.

Muzuki suddenly had an urge to ask the school to hold more exams. The Ninja Academy usually only had two exams per semester.

If there were ten exams in a semester, he would surely soar to the heavens.

This thought only appeared for a moment before Muzuki abandoned it, because he knew that if he did that, he probably wouldn’t be able to farm rewards.

His usual exams in class also counted as exams, but he hadn’t seen the system give him rewards.

Moreover, Muzuki felt that his suggestion would not be accepted by the school. Ten exams in a semester would exhaust not only the students but also the teachers.

Muzuki used the Ninjutsu Proficiency Scroll on Water Severing Wave. Instantly, many memories of training Water Severing Wave and various techniques appeared in his mind.

Although Muzuki had mastered many Ninjutsu now, he believed Water Severing Wave was still the most powerful.

At noon in the office, Muzuki became the center of discussion.

“Sensei Habsheng, how do you teach? The students’ theoretical scores are too outrageous; the average score is dozens of points higher than other classes,” Kimura Sugito couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah, Sensei Muzuki, do you have any small tricks? Although those two in my class barely passed this time, it’s hard to say about next time,” Ikeya Yu followed up.

Might Guy and Obito had truly shocked him this time; not only did they take the top two spots in practicals in their class, but they also passed the theory exam.

Just as Muzuki was about to say something, a teacher entered the office and said to Muzuki,

“Sensei Habsheng, the principal is looking for you.”

It seems the internet cable broke due to overheating, so the update was a bit late, apologies.

Also, thanks to the readers who gave rewards. I’ll list the specific names in the next chapter; this chapter was released too hastily.