There's Definitely a Conspiracy!

"Renye-kun, wake up. Don't sleep."

Renye groggily opened his eyes. Motoya Nara was calling out to him in a low voice.

"Mm, is the exam over?"

He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and looked around. There weren't many students left in the classroom.

Motoya Nara nodded and said, "The exam's over. Everyone's gone to eat and prepare for the afternoon Practical Assessment."

"Come on, let's go eat too."

The two of them took their bento boxes to the Training Ground, found a spot, and sat down.

By now, some classmates had already finished eating and started warming up.

Renye opened his bento and began to eat.

"Renye-kun, how'd you do on the exam?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat down with his bento.

"Not bad," Renye said.

"Haha, that's good."

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked a piece of braised pork from Renye's bento and popped it into his mouth. His eyes lit up, and he exclaimed:

"Mm, delicious!"

"No way, let me try."

Motoya Nara also grabbed a piece of braised pork, squinting in satisfaction.

"The flavor's really good!"

"One more piece."

"Same here."

Before long, the whole box of braised pork was finished by the two of them.

Renye didn't react much. Those two often came by to mooch food; he was long used to it.

In the distance, Danzō Shimura looked at the rice ball in his hand, then at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was eating with grease dripping from his mouth.

"Damn it, Hiruzen, how can you be so selfish!"

He didn't even think to bring him some...

It had been a long time since he'd last eaten Renye's bento.

At first, after Hiruzen Sarutobi got food from Renye, he'd come over and share some with him.

But later, Hiruzen never shared with him again.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi ate, he even deliberately avoided him.

He always ate with Renye, while Danzō could only watch from afar.

Actually, it wasn't really Hiruzen's fault. Renye's bento was just too delicious.

He didn't even have enough for himself, so how could he be willing to share with Danzō?

He'd endured the pain of sharing a few times before—that was already the height of benevolence.

Danzō Shimura swallowed subconsciously and snorted coldly:

"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

One day, Hiruzen would regret not sharing good food with him!

In the afternoon, the Practical Assessment began.

Takuma Senju brought the lottery box to the Training Ground.

"Next up is the Practical Assessment. Opponents will be decided by drawing lots."

During the matches, students had to use the skills they'd learned—ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and so on—to demonstrate their combat ability and adaptability.

Takuma Senju would give a comprehensive score based on the student's performance in the ring, including skill usage, combat decisions, reaction speed, and other factors.

It wasn't scored by win or loss.

The drawing ended.

Danzō Shimura looked at the result and his face turned green.

Damn it. His opponent really was Uchiha Renye.

He seriously suspected that Uchiha Renye had bribed the Homeroom Teacher and rigged the draw.

"Hahaha, I've got you now!" Renye's gaze turned icy. "If I don't beat the shit out of you, consider yourself lucky."

Who told this guy to come looking for screen time first thing this morning?

He'd done poorly on the written exam and was in a bad mood anyway—beating up Danzō would be a good way to vent.

Danzō Shimura's face was covered in black lines. He snorted coldly: "It's not decided yet who wins and who loses!"

Although he had lost to Renye before, that didn't mean he would lose now!

During this time, to prepare for the Practical Assessment, he had been training hard every day until late!

Danzō Shimura was confident he could wipe away his past shame in this assessment.

"Oh? Then you'd better win for sure!" Renye said, completely unconcerned.

The veins on Danzō Shimura's forehead bulged, and he wished he could fight Renye right then and there.

Too bad it wasn't their turn yet.

The first match was Hiruzen Sarutobi versus Motoya Nara.

When Motoya Nara saw the draw results, he felt like the sky had fallen.

"Why am I so unlucky?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a slight smile. "Motoya-kun, I'll go easy on you."

Takuma Senju announced, "Begin the fight!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi launched an attack at Motoya Nara.

"Bastard, don't underestimate me—I'm still a genius of the Nara Clan, you know!"

Motoya Nara used the Shadow Binding Technique, trying to control Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But the attack was easily dodged.

"What?" Motoya Nara's heart jolted. Just as he tried to redirect the shadow, Hiruzen Sarutobi was already right in front of him.

"It's over!"

He could only watch helplessly as Hiruzen Sarutobi's attack came at him.

Was this the gap between geniuses?

"Hiruzen Sarutobi wins."

Takuma Senju began scoring both their performances.

"Reppu Uchiha versus Kagami Uchiha."

"Kagami Uchiha, I'll definitely win this time!"

In the last test, Reppu Uchiha had lost to Kagami.

It made him deeply resentful—why should he lose to someone like that?

Since then, he had trained even harder, all to defeat Kagami.

Kagami Uchiha smiled. "Reppu-kun, I won't go easy on you, you know."

"Bastard, you haven't won yet!"

Two minutes later.

"Kagami Uchiha wins!"

Reppu Uchiha lay on the ground, starting to question his life.

How come it felt like Kagami had gotten even stronger?

"Reppu-kun, are you okay?" Kagami Uchiha asked with concern.

Kagami's caring gaze stabbed into his heart like steel needles.

He struggled to his feet. "Kagami Uchiha, next time, I'll definitely beat you!"

"I look forward to that day." Kagami Uchiha kept his smile.

Reppu Uchiha: "..."

"Yuki Hyuga versus Koharu!"

"Yuki Hyuga wins!"

"Rin Uchiha versus Homura Mitokado!"

"Homura Mitokado wins!"

Soon, it was time for Renye and Danzō's fight.

"Danzō, go for it!" Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted loudly.

Hearing this, Danzō's face darkened.

Was Hiruzen trying to embarrass him even more?

"Uchiha Renye, I'll definitely beat you this time!"

"Wanna try?"

Their fight began!

Their fight ended!

"Uchiha Renye wins!"

"Danzō, are you alright?" Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward with concern.

"Get lost, Sarutobi! Don't act all fake with me here!"

Renye: "???"

Why did this scene feel so familiar?

The Practical Assessment ended.

Takuma Senju began ranking everyone based on their theoretical and practical scores.

"First place, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

"Second place, Yuki Hyuga!"

"Third place, Kagami Uchiha!"

"Fourth place, Homura Mitokado!"

"Fifth place, Danzō Shimura!"

"Eleventh place, Motoya Nara."

"Twenty-fifth place, Uchiha Renye."

"You've got to be kidding me?!"

When Renye learned his rank, he felt like the sky had fallen!

After all, there were only thirty people in the class, and his score put him dead last.

"Rigged, this is absolutely rigged!" Renye protested loudly.

In response to Renye's doubts, Takuma Senju pulled out the test paper with a score of 5.

Everyone present saw the result and wore expressions of utter disbelief.

Was this a score a human could even get?

Renye stared at the test paper and sank into deep thought.