Chapter 19: Graduating early?

The third day of the exam was much faster, as only two people came from each class, and there were only eight classes in each grade at the Ninja Academy.

Today was the same as the second day; non-examinees could choose not to attend.

However, many students came to watch the exam today, wanting to see who would be the top student in Fourth Grade.

“Am I seeing things? Isn’t that Uchiha Obito? Why is he standing with the examinees?” someone asked, puzzled.

“You weren’t paying attention to Class 2’s news yesterday, were you?” his companion asked.

“No, yesterday I had bad luck and ran into the strongest person in our class in the first round. After losing, I just went home.”

“Then that’s normal. Uchiha Obito has become very strong now; he even defeated Uchiha Tekka from their class.”

The students observing discussed the contestants from each class with relish.

Sometimes, they would even argue about who was stronger.

At this point, even those who had previously complained about Obito and Might Guy would try their best to defend Obito and Might Guy, as they were their class representatives.

“This time, the top student in the grade will probably only be Shisui,” Muzuki thought after watching the first round, feeling that Obito and Might Guy were likely in trouble.

Hyuga Homura’s Gentle Fist was well-practiced, and with the advantage of the Byakugan, Might Guy would find it very difficult to win, let alone Obito.

Muzuki could only say that Hyuga Clan Ninja still had a significant advantage in the early stages; the Byakugan was not as difficult to awaken as the Sharingan, and their inherited Gentle Fist was also an excellent Taijutsu.

The time they had trained with him was still too short; now, their strengths were not strong enough, and they still had many weaknesses.

As time passed, they entered the final two rounds of battles: Obito against Hyuga Homura, and Might Guy against a Ninja from Class 3, Fourth Grade.

As Muzuki expected, in front of Hyuga Homura, Obito was beaten so badly by Gentle Fist that he didn’t even get to use a single Ninjutsu.

In the final match, Might Guy performed much better than Obito, but his moves were still completely seen through by Hyuga Homura’s Byakugan, and he still couldn’t escape the fate of losing.

Obito, who lost the match, was a bit dejected. He had wanted to compete for first place but didn’t even make it into the top two.

Muzuki happened to walk by and comforted him, saying, “Don’t always dwell on your failures. You should think about how much you’ve improved since last time and strive for the next time.”

At Muzuki’s words, Obito’s mood instantly brightened, because last time, in the Third Grade final exam, his class ranking was only twentieth, but this time he almost made it into the top two in the entire grade.

Calculating it this way, his progress was immense, and first place was just around the corner!

Then Muzuki walked over to Might Guy’s side. To his surprise, Might Guy also looked a bit dejected.

Muzuki had originally thought that with Might Guy’s will, a single win or loss wouldn’t matter to him. After thinking about it more carefully, Muzuki found the reason.

It might be because he had given him the Taijutsu training manual yesterday, causing Might Guy to feel burdened by Muzuki’s expectations.

“Failure always runs through life. This is life; don’t let one failure defeat you,” Muzuki comforted him.

Might Guy’s body trembled. When it came to failure, he certainly had a lot to say.

From the initial entrance exam where he almost couldn’t become a Ninja, to challenging Kakashi and being defeated in one move, to being last in every course and being called a dead last…

Although he was only eight years old now, Might Guy had already experienced too many failures.

He seemed to have gained some understanding of what his father, Might Duy, meant by “youth never fades.”

“I understand, Muzuki Sensei,” Might Guy’s eyes became even more determined.

What he needed to do was not to dejectedly ponder his gains and losses, but to train hard and win in the next battle, until he became the strongest.

Muzuki nodded with satisfaction, then began to walk past Shisui.

When Muzuki found Shisui, Shisui was surrounded by a group of students, asking him all sorts of questions.

Seeing Muzuki arrive, the students greeted Muzuki one after another.

“Habsheng Sensei, I got second place in the grade, you know. Is there any reward?” Anko walked cheerfully to Muzuki’s side and said.

Muzuki smiled and patted Anko’s little head, then thought for a moment and said, “How about I treat you to dango?”

“Yay! Habsheng Sensei is the best!” Upon hearing there would be dango, Anko immediately became Muzuki’s number one fan.

“Shisui, who got first place in the grade, hasn’t even asked for a reward yet, Anko, you’re too impatient,” Kotetsu Hagane, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but complain.

It wasn’t that he genuinely thought Anko was impatient; he was simply a bit envious of Anko.

He was afraid his friends wouldn’t do well on the exam, but also afraid they’d do too well. And now, Anko belonged to the “did too well” category.

Muzuki chuckled and sent the students away, then walked with Shisui towards the shopping street.

“How do you feel?” Muzuki asked.

Shisui thought for a moment and honestly replied:

“Very ordinary. There wasn’t even anyone who required me to fight with all my strength.”

“That’s normal. After all, with your strength, there aren’t many people in Fourth Grade who are your match, let alone First Grade,” Muzuki praised without reservation.

“Then, Muzuki Sensei, do you think I should graduate early?” Shisui asked, looking into Muzuki’s eyes. Muzuki’s eye color was very special, a sky-like blue.

“Graduate early?”

“Because I heard that some very talented seniors in the past felt they couldn’t learn anything at the Ninja Academy and graduated very quickly,” Shisui replied.

Muzuki shook his head and said, “I don’t recommend you graduate in First Grade. At the very least, wait until Second or Third Grade.”

“Your strength might be outstanding among your peers, but outside of school, your opponents won’t just be your peers, especially now, with a major war possibly breaking out at any time.”

“If you feel that the Ninja Academy curriculum is meaningless, you can use a Shadow Clone to attend school for you, and your main body can practice according to my guidance,” Muzuki suggested.

Although in the original story, Shisui safely survived the Third Shinobi World War and earned the title of Shisui the Body Flicker, the original story didn’t have him, Hayate Mugetsu, and the butterfly effect is hard to predict.

Muzuki still hoped Shisui would stay and develop in the Ninja Academy for a few years. What’s the point of graduating if you can’t even instantly defeat a Chunin?

If it were him, without Jonin-level strength, he wouldn’t feel safe walking on the Konoha main street.

Hearing Muzuki’s suggestion, Shisui’s eyes lit up, and he nodded, feeling that Muzuki’s advice was very good.

Afterward, Muzuki took Shisui to buy a pile of dango and returned to the school. Before afternoon classes, every student in Class 1, Grade 1 received a portion of dango.

Muzuki wouldn’t really give it only to Anko, but since he promised, Muzuki gave Anko an extra portion of dango.

“Habsheng Sensei is the best in the world!” Anko expressed great satisfaction. If there were a few more portions of dango, perhaps Konoha would have a new Habsheng Cult in the future.

The other students also expressed their thanks, and their already high favorability increased even further.

The Ninja Academy was very efficient; two days after the exam, all the results were compiled and announced, which also confirmed Muzuki’s conjecture.