Examination

"Students, today's examination is especially important. The Third Hokage will select three students from this class to become his disciples."

"This is a very good opportunity."

"Everyone should strive for it and do your best."

As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom erupted.

This year's Ninja Academy had five classes, each with sixty to seventy students, for a total of more than three hundred students.

In other words—

"So there's basically no chance at all! Hokage-sama will definitely choose the students with the best grades!"

One poor student said dejectedly.

That made sense, to a certain extent.

"Not necessarily. The selection criteria this time are overall quality. Your usual performance counts too."

Ogawa Katsu said.

"Doesn't that mean there's even less hope? Hokage-sama must hate naughty children!"

The boy became even more despairing, his face filled with regret.

"You're right."

Ogawa Katsu said mercilessly.

At once, wails filled the classroom—all from boys.

But honestly, even if they were not naughty, they still had no chance.

The Third Hokage was doing this for Princess Tsunade.

Even Ogawa Katsu could see that much.

Thanks to the Princess, her companions could only be children her own age.

That was why such a good opportunity had fallen into their laps.

Princess Tsunade would definitely take one slot, while another would undoubtedly go to the best student in the entire grade.

Ogawa Katsu glanced at Mimi.

She was that best student in the whole grade, barring any surprises.

In Ogawa's view, compared to Orochimaru from the next class—the genius said to appear only once in several decades—Mimi was better by far.

As for the final slot, it might go to a somewhat less exceptional genius.

But it definitely would not go to children from great clans like the Hyuga, Uchiha, or Kurama.

Ogawa Katsu had grown up in Konoha; he had not spent all those years there for nothing. Since he had been in the same generation as Sarutobi Hiruzen, he considered himself fairly familiar with the man.

To avoid accusations of favoritism, children from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and the Sarutobi Shimura family were even less likely to be chosen.

That left only civilians.

Orochimaru met that condition. He was a civilian.

But Mimi's chances were a little uncertain.

There was another possibility, though. To demonstrate fairness, they might select a civilian child who was not particularly outstanding in any respect, but happened to be pleasing to the eye.

That was why Ogawa believed the civilian children in the class all had a chance.

A chance to leap over the Dragon Gate.

Direct disciple of the Hokage.

Everyone knew that the Hokage's position was passed down through master-disciple relationships.

Without that status, one did not even have a ticket to enter the competition.

By now, the next Fourth Hokage had practically been decided.

Whenever people discussed it, they all thought the same thing.

It could only be the Princess.

"Damn it! Ogawa, why didn't you tell us earlier?! I wasn't prepared at all!"

Hearing that, Ogawa casually flicked out a piece of chalk, striking the target squarely between the brows.

The boy cried out in pain.

Ogawa could not help nodding. His Shuriken Technique had not deteriorated.

"Who told you bastards to spend all your time playing? They informed us today precisely to see your most genuine level!"

"Ahhh! When does the examination start?!"

A boy cried out in agony.

Showing their grades to their parents was painful enough. Now the pain had doubled.

"I already gave you a very merciful warning."

As for this whole exam business, once your grades were shown to your parents, it was best to make them take it seriously.

"If you wasted your own time and youth, then you couldn't blame me for it."

"As for the exam, of course it was now. Immediately!"

Ogawa patted the stack of test papers in front of him.

Wails of despair rose one after another.

"Quiet!"

Maintaining classroom discipline, Ogawa began preparing for the exam.

The first exam was a comprehensive academic test.

When the test paper landed in her hands, Mimi looked it over first.

"I haven't said the exam has started yet. You are not allowed to answer questions in advance! If I catch you, it'll be an immediate zero!"

The questions were very simple.

They covered a wide range of subjects, including language arts, mathematics, physics, geography, history, and more.

They were fairly basic questions. Anyone who had listened attentively in class would have no trouble finishing them.

The tricky part lay in several other questions hidden among them.

"What is a Hokage?"

Mimi narrowed her eyes.

Normally, the answer should have been the leader of a village who protected everyone.

Answers like that revealed the pure and simple nature of children's thoughts.

In short, the central message had to be positive.

"The exam begins!"

After thinking for a moment, Mimi picked up her pen and wrote:

Answer: It's a manga.

She then moved on to the second question.

"What do you think the Will of Fire is like?"

Answer: Don't chicken out. Just do it.

"How do you view your companions?"

Answer: Someone to chat with.

"When faced with a mission you can't complete, what would you do?"

Answer: As long as the green hills remain, there'll always be firewood to burn.

"If you became Hokage, what would you do?"

Answer: Hand out more money.

Mimi happily wrote her way through the paper without pausing in the slightest.

They were all her most honest thoughts.

She quickly finished the test and turned it in immediately. The exam allowed two hours, yet she was done in less than half an hour.

Walking out of the classroom, Mimi still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

She wandered around the training grounds.

The Third Hokage's questions had no real standard to them.

Seeing Mimi leave the classroom, Tsunade refused to be outdone and turned in her paper second. As for how many questions she had gotten wrong, even she had no idea.

Hinata Hitomi came next. She had always excelled at academic subjects, both fast and accurate.

As for Chiri, she took the Third Hokage's questions rather seriously. If it had not been taught in the textbooks, then she could only think it through carefully herself.

There was only one exam that morning. Once the papers were collected, they would be graded immediately and then sent to the Hokage.

There was another exam in the afternoon.

They had nearly three hours of break time in between.

After meeting up with Chiri, Mimi sat in a corner of the training grounds and waited for the school to serve lunch.

Because of the exams, second through sixth-year students had already been given time off. The second-years would take their exam tomorrow.

The graduating sixth-years still had six days left for their final push.

The school seemed especially quiet.

By lunchtime, the test papers had already been delivered to the Third Hokage's desk.

Naturally, the first paper he looked at was Tsunade's.

A perfect, standard, thoroughly positive answer.

The Third Hokage took a gloomy drag from his pipe.

He wasn't blind. He could clearly see what Tsunade was usually like, and she was completely different from the answer.

She wasn't exactly warm, but she was kind enough. Not bullying her classmates was already the greatest kindness she possessed.

She had the common flaws of a Princess—a little prideful, yet still adorable.

It was just that sometimes, the Third Hokage would dream of Tsunade gambling away Konoha, and he would wake with a start.

His back drenched in cold sweat.

He then deliberately pulled out Mimi's test paper and looked at it.

The bright red ninety was a little glaring.

Even Tsunade had scored a hundred. This test had already been extremely easy.

Based on her usual performance, this was impossible.

The Third Hokage didn't think he had misjudged her.

He carefully went through the test paper, and his blood pressure shot up.

The Third Hokage took a deep drag from his pipe.

Good grief. She hadn't gotten a single question written by the teacher wrong, but she hadn't earned a single point on the questions he had written.

There were twenty questions in total, worth half a point each—exactly ten points.

This girl.

She really was consistent inside and out.

Just like her answers, she was impossible to figure out.

Her personality was eccentric and mischievous.

Just look at these answers!

What did she mean by "hand out more money"?

Wasn't the money I handed out enough already?

And what was a manga?!

What exactly was going on in this girl's head?!

The Third Hokage rubbed his brow wearily. After thinking it over, he angrily crossed out the ninety and gave her a zero.

He nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the next test paper.

His blood pressure rose again!

He carefully checked the name...

Hinata Hitomi!