"Sasuke Uchiha." On the field, Hagoromo called out Sasuke's name.
"Sasuke! So cool!"
Sasuke! I love you!
Sasuke, with his hands in his pockets, walked to the open space amidst cheers and faced Hagoromo and the other teachers.
"Tch, arrogant Sasuke," Naruto muttered, arms crossed, clearly displeased.
"That's right, Sasuke is such an arrogance." Kiba Inuzuka, standing to the side, also glanced at Sasuke with displeasure.
Why do all the girls in his class treat him so differently?
"Sasuke, let's begin the ninja tool throwing." Hagoromo nodded and said to Sasuke.
"Yes!" Sasuke responded, then pulled out several Shuriken and hurled them at the wooden stake.
Thump--thump--
Three Shurikens were deeply embedded in the bullseye of a wooden stake more than 20 meters away.
Iruka and the other teacher looked at Sasuke in surprise upon seeing this, given his age.
Achieving the goal while simultaneously throwing a ninja tool with perfect force is indeed very difficult.
"Sasuke Uchiha, 8 points in ninja tool throwing." Hagoromo said as he picked up the score sheet in his hand and wrote it down.
"Hagoromo, don't be so strict. Sasuke Uchiha, 10 in ninja tool throwing."
Iruka, standing to the side, gave Sasuke a perfect score, and then spoke to Hagoromo beside him.
"Indeed, Sasuke Uchiha's ninja tool throwing is quite impressive," another teacher remarked.
Hagoromo Yi chuckled lightly, offering no explanation.
After all, as Sasuke's teacher, he was able to observe the problems with Sasuke's throwing technique.
Sasuke glanced at the Shuriken on the bullseye, thinking he should go back and ask his brother for a lesson.
"Next, Naruto Uzumaki." Hagoromo continued calling out the name of the next student to be assessed.
"Throwing isn't my strong suit, so I'll just try to maintain my usual training results."
As Naruto pondered this, he stepped forward to greet Hagoromo and the other two teachers, then turned to look at the target not far away.
Naruto Kunai pulled out several kunai and quickly threw them at the target.
Thump--
A series of slamming sounds echoed as Iruka glanced at the Kunai on the target, then looked at Naruto with a hint of surprise.
"This child isn't bad either."
"Naruto Uzumaki, seven points in ninja tool throwing." Hagoromo was the first to announce the score.
Nine points.
Nine points.
Iruka, along with another teacher, reported the same score again.
Naruto, pleased with his good result, returned to his position and, looking at Sasuke, said magnanimously, "Sasuke, I concede defeat this round."
Sasuke's lips twitched. Among the group of people training together...
Naruto's throwing has never been very good.
But getting Naruto to admit defeat in this kind of competition is not what he wants.
"Naruto, you're already amazing."
Naruto had just stood still when he heard a voice beside him that was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
Turning her head, she saw Hinata standing next to Ino with a blush on her face.
"Hey, Hinata! Good luck on your exam later!"
"Yes, Naruto-kun." Hinata felt all eyes turn to her as Naruto spoke so loudly.
I feel like I'm about to faint.
Ino was standing nearby, secretly smiled as she witnessed this scene.
This melon is really sweet, but Naruto's blockhead is hopeless.
--
In class, Hagoromo held everyone's report cards.
"Great job! Our class got the highest score in the entire first grade this time."
As Hagoromo spoke, she handed out the printed list of grade reports in order.
"That's fantastic! I came in first place!"
Naruto jumped up the moment he saw the report card.
The students in the class all turned their heads to look, after all, they also had report cards in their hands.
Naruto's achievement of getting first place was beyond everyone's expectations.
"Naruto, why don't you take a good look?"
Shikamaru, standing to the side, asked Naruto helplessly.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Naruto, who had been happy, looked at Shikamaru with a completely bewildered expression.
"You and Sasuke are both number one, it's just that Sasuke's name is below yours."
Shikamaru held up the report card and pointed to Sasuke's name on it.
"In terms of total score, you're all the same, so..." Shikamaru shrugged.
"Teacher! Why are there two first place winners?"
After taking a closer look, Naruto saw that Sasuke's score was indeed the same as his own.
He asked, looking at Hagoromo on the podium.
"Naruto, although you scored much higher Sasuke in actual combat, you performed very poorly in the practical assessment."
So, your overall scores are actually about the same.
Hagoromo spoke slowly and deliberately.
This is also something that Hagoromo finds frustrating, even though he's already frequently assigning Naruto tasks.
But it seems like this kid can never overcome his limitations; he only ever passes the basics of his studies.
Otherwise, Naruto might not even have made it into the top three.
"Alright, everyone did well this time, but we can't let our guard down. Next time, for the final exam, who will get a lower score than this time?"
"I think this student really needs to repeat a year, or perhaps be rewarded with a big project gift package."
As Hagoromo spoke with a light laugh, the students on the steps felt a chill run down their spines.
Repeating a grade!
If this happened to them, they'd be laughed to death!
Absolutely not!
Naruto's face turned pale. If he failed the next subject, wouldn't that mean he might have to repeat the year?
--
During evening training, Naruto stayed by Hagoromo's side the whole time.
"Teacher! I've learned the Rasengan. What other spells can I learn now?"
Upon hearing this, Hagoromo looked at Naruto and said:
What would you like to learn?
Hagoromo wanted to take a look at Naruto from the side to see if he was aware of his weaknesses.
"Yes, we have the Rasengan for offense, and Shadow Clone can also provide tactical disruption."
Naruto rubbed his chin, carefully considering his methods.
"That's it!" Naruto, seemingly having just realized something, as he punched his fist in the palm of his hand.
"Teacher, I want to learn Sasuke's Body Flicker Technique!"
"Not bad, you know your own weaknesses." Hagoromo nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this.
Currently, Naruto does indeed have a weakness in terms of speed.
Perhaps removing the weight would speed things up.
However, Hagoromo did not intend to let Naruto release the debuff.
After all, these extra burdens don't actually provide Naruto with much of an advantage right now.
If Naruto could achieve the same level of daily carrying capacity as Rock Lee in the original manga, then by that time, he would be significantly stronger both physically and in terms of speed.
Absolute crushing defeat.
It's just unclear whether Naruto can learn his father Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God; we'll have to try it out later.
"Then I'll teach you the Body Flicker Technique," Hagoromo nodded and said.