The Fourth Hokage Was an Honest Man

On the way to the Ninja Academy, Makoto Ito happily imagined having Hinata on his left and Ino on his right in the future...

Shedding the Dead Last title and becoming the top student of the grade!

But once he arrived at the academy, Makoto Ito realized he had been overthinking everything.

There was a test today, that much was true!

But it was vastly different from the ninja battles he had imagined. What greeted him was a huge pile of test papers—every kind of test paper imaginable. It was utterly absurd!

Makoto Ito took the papers in stunned silence and realized he could barely understand any of it!

It was like reading a heavenly book with no words!

"I'm seriously numb! What the hell is all this?"

In his previous life, he had taken so many exams he had nearly thrown up blood! He never expected that even after transmigrating into the Naruto World, he would still have to take damn exams!

Especially since he was a ninja. What was a ninja? Wasn't a ninja someone who did everything possible to kill the enemy? Why did he have to take academic subjects too?

Which genius had come up with this kind of exam?

Izuna Uchiha: Damn! Ninjas nowadays had to study academic subjects too? Was this really a Ninja Academy, or some other kind of school?

Madara Uchiha: This is hilarious, Tobirama. Was this the Ninja Academy you founded? They even had to do test papers! This was where Konoha trained its ninjas?

Tobirama Senju: Madara Uchiha, shut up! What the hell did you know? Of course the Ninja Academy had to teach a wide range of knowledge! Ninjas needed well-rounded training in every aspect! That was what made an outstanding ninja!

Madara Uchiha: Yeah, yeah. The "outstanding ninjas" you talked about were the kind this old man could kill by the handful without even trying!

Makoto Ito looked at the test paper on his desk and felt a headache coming on. After all, his predecessor had been a genuine Dead Last, and Makoto himself knew next to nothing about the Ninja World either!

He had arrived full of excitement, fantasizing about becoming the top student of the grade. Instead, he got hit over the head right away. If this went badly, he might end up competing with Naruto Uzumaki for last place again!

The first question on the paper read:

How was Chakra formed within a ninja's body?

At that moment, the big shots in the group chat saw the question as well...

Tobirama Senju: How did a question like this end up on an exam? Even a three-year-old child knew that, didn't they? Wasn't this just common sense?

Madara Uchiha: I'm dying laughing! Tobirama! Was this what you meant by training well-rounded ninjas? Even an idiot probably knew how to answer this question, right?

Makoto Ito: Then do you know the answer, Madara?

Madara Uchiha: What a joke. Of course this old man knew!

Tobirama Senju: Hahahahahaha... Didn't that mean you just admitted you were an idiot? You just said idiots knew the answer to this question!

Madara Uchiha: ???? Then I don't know!

Tobirama Senju: Hahahahaha! Even idiots knew this question, yet you didn't! Didn't that make you worse than an idiot?

Madara Uchiha: Aaaahhh!!!! Tobirama Senju! Shut up!!! Were you trying to show off or something?

Although Tobirama was verbally tearing into Madara Uchiha at that moment, he was still deeply puzzled inside.

After all, this exam question was indeed far too easy! When he had founded the Ninja Academy, questions like this could never have appeared on a test for this grade! Had the academy's curriculum become simpler and simpler after all these years?

Makoto Ito looked at the first question and realized that he actually knew this one!

So he confidently wrote down: Chakra was produced through the combination of physical energy and spiritual energy!

Then came the second question:

After a ninja had exhausted all their Chakra, how long would it take to fully recover it without using a soldier pill?

Makoto Ito went completely blank when he saw that question!

I really don't know this one! Who knew how long it took to recover fully? What was even the point of a question like this?

Makoto Ito: Big shots! Did anyone know how to answer this question?

Madara Uchiha: Wasn't that simple? Half an hour was enough!

Hizashi Hyuga: Damn!

Minato Namikaze: Damn! As expected of a big shot—awesome, awesome! You could fully recover in half an hour?

Hashirama Senju: ???? Half an hour? But why did I only need ten minutes?

Hizashi Hyuga: Holy fucking shit!

Minato Namikaze: As expected of big shots. No comparison, no comparison!!!

Makoto Ito looked at what Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had said and thought it over carefully. Half an hour and ten minutes? Why did that feel wrong somehow?

After all, when he watched anime in his previous life, it seemed some people had to lie down for a long time after exhausting their Chakra before they could recover. Were these two really that monstrous?

Madara Uchiha: It was already very fast. This old man had always taken half an hour!

Hashirama Senju: Yeah, this old man had always taken ten minutes too!

Madara Uchiha: Shut up, Hashirama! You played with Wood Release. Could you be the same as us?

Only after hearing Madara Uchiha say that did Makoto Ito understand why Hizashi Hyuga and Minato Namikaze had called the two of them big shots!

Could those two possibly be compared to normal people? He had nearly been led astray by them!

Makoto Ito: Madara! You didn't seem to be like normal ninjas either, did you? That half hour was your own recovery speed, wasn't it?

Madara Uchiha: Yeah, it was my own recovery speed! How would I know about anyone else's?

Makoto Ito: Then could you just stop talking? The two of you were freaks, one worse than the other. Could you possibly be compared to normal ninjas?

Minato Namikaze: Exactly! These two big shots' recovery speeds were simply terrifying! The correct answer to this question should be at least eight hours!

Makoto Ito: It had to be you, Fourth Hokage! You were the honest one!

Madara Uchiha: Clearly, there was something wrong with the question! Didn't it ask about recovery speed? This old man's recovery speed was half an hour. What was wrong with that?

Makoto Ito: You're amazing. I have nothing to say!

Makoto Ito's head hurt terribly right then. The test paper was packed full, and he had only reached the second question, yet he was already a complete mess. What kind of bizarre questions awaited him next?

Fortunately, there was still an honest Fourth Hokage in the group! Otherwise, if everyone was like Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, he would probably go insane!

After all, neither of them was a normal ninja. Their answers probably would not be normal either!

The Fourth Hokage really was an honest man...