Exam Techniques

"You are without a doubt the worst class I've ever taught!"

Taro Funano slammed his hand down on the lectern.

"At this rate, once you get to the battlefield, you won't be able to do anything. You'll only be cannon fodder!"

As their homeroom teacher, Taro Funano was deeply disappointed in the caliber of this class.

If they had been allowed to graduate at the normal age of twelve, most of the students in his class could still have become excellent Genin.

But now, because the front lines were short on manpower, the Hokage had no choice but to lower the Ninja Academy's graduation age again and again. It had now been lowered to nine.

What could a nine-year-old even do? Even someone like Obito Uchiha could become a Genin—could he really handle it?

Taro Funano felt that he couldn't. He simply didn't have what it took, understand?

"Ahem. Next, roll call!"

Taro Funano cleared his throat. This was his final lesson with these students, and as an outstanding ninja instructor, he had to show them his very best.

"Asuma Sarutobi!"

"Here."

"Kurenai Yūhi!"

"Here..."

"Didn't you eat? Louder!"

"Here!"

"Anko Mitarashi!"

"Here!"

"Good! Much more spirited!"

"Next! Might Guy!"

"Here!"

"Last one, Obito Uchiha!"

Where was he? Why was there no answer?

"Obito Uchiha!"

"Here——!"

Obito Uchiha's shout and running footsteps came from the hallway.

"R-Report, Teacher Funano! Obito Uchiha is present!"

Taro Funano put away the roster and folded his arms as he looked at Obito outside the door.

"Late again?"

"Yeah, on the way here, I..."

"You were helping an old lady cross the street again, weren't you!"

"Huh? How did you know, Teacher?"

"Idiot! How many times have you used that excuse already?!"

"But... I really was helping an old lady cross the street..."

Obito scratched his head, looking somewhat aggrieved.

"Forget it. Take your seat!"

Taro Funano waved a hand, signaling Obito to return to his seat.

"A ninja like you! If you're late during a mission—or even a war—there's only one outcome!

You'll end up isolated, then either captured alive or killed!"

"Kurenai, don't worry! If we really end up on the battlefield, I'll protect you!"

"You smug idiot, Asuma! Who asked for your protection?!"

"Anko! I wasn't talking to you!"

Obito seemed to have a thought when he saw this. He immediately turned around and copied him:

"Rin! Don't worry! If we really end up on the battlefield, I'll protect you too!"

"Mm! Obito, I believe in you!"

Veins bulged on Taro Funano's forehead. Using Ninja Tool Throwing, he accurately hurled two pieces of chalk at Asuma and Obito, the two who had started the commotion.

"Quiet! Now, Asuma and Obito Uchiha! Go stand in the farthest corner of the classroom!"

Asuma turned his head away with the disdain of a delinquent, but still obediently headed toward his throne.

The window seat in the second-to-last row. Obito, meanwhile, foolishly got to his feet, waving to Rin Nohara as he walked.

Taro Funano could do nothing about them. One was the Hokage's second son, while the other was a member of the Uchiha, Konohagakure's foremost noble clan.

Neither of their backgrounds was something a mere Chunin instructor like him could afford to offend.

"Ahem, now that everyone is here, I have an announcement to make!"

"This will be your final class at the Ninja Academy! Tomorrow! You will face the Graduation Exam!"

In an instant, the room erupted into murmurs.

"Kurenai, I heard from my family ages ago that the graduation age has been lowered again this year."

"So, Guy, are you confident about tomorrow's exam?"

"My youth can barely wait to burn!"

"Quiet!"

The students: Buzz buzz buzz...

Smack!

Taro Funano slammed a palm heavily onto the lectern. "QUIET!!!!"

This was experience Taro Funano had accumulated over many years as a teacher.

What should you do when the students below started chattering away?

No problem. Fight magic with magic. As long as you shouted louder than all of them combined, it would definitely work.

The classroom suddenly fell silent. For anyone who had ever attended school, fear of the homeroom teacher was etched into their DNA. When the teacher got angry, it was best not to stand out.

"Listen until I'm finished! What I have here are the results from the previous mock exam. The rankings on this sheet more or less determine your current standings as well..."

"Lastly, come here at nine tomorrow morning to prepare for the Graduation Exam! That is everything I have to say today. Class dismissed!"

Knock knock knock!

Someone knocked on Lord Orochimaru's door.

Kakashi opened it and found that Might Duy, who had once refused to come here no matter what, had actually brought Might Guy along.

"Uncle Duy, have you come because you miss Lord Orochimaru's massage treatment?"

Might Duy's face suddenly turned pale, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.

"Ah, no, no, Kakashi, you misunderstand. It's like this—you and Lord Orochimaru are both the most gifted ninja, so there are some things we'd like to ask your advice about."

"Then come in."

"So... you came to us because you're afraid you won't pass tomorrow's written exam?"

"Well... back then, I somehow passed the Graduation Exam without even knowing how. But when it comes to this theoretical knowledge, other than things related to taijutsu, I really don't understand any of it at all."

"So I can't guide Guy in this area either."

Might Duy looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh, right, this is Guy's mock exam paper!"

Lord Orochimaru took the paper and found that the questions were not particularly difficult. Getting a high score, or even full marks, might indeed have been somewhat challenging, but simply passing was very easy.

Lord Orochimaru was confident that if he started from scratch, one night of studying would guarantee that he would not fail.

Yet Guy had scored one point.

The most outrageous part was that Guy's answers had perfectly avoided every correct answer. His sole point came from a question about the parabola of a thrown Kunai, where he had written, "Solution:"

Even Kakashi could not help but comment after seeing it.

"With a score like this, you must definitely be last in theoretical knowledge!"

"No! Kakashi, you're wrong! I've already improved from last place to second-to-last! This time, Obito is last! He scored one point lower than me!"

"Scoring one point lower than you... that really couldn't have been easy..."

"That's right! Kakashi, we are rivals in actual combat, but in theory, Obito is also a rival evenly matched with me!"

Guy actually gave a thumbs-up with a look of youthful passion on his face.

"Yosh! Guy, it seems the youth training from this period has indeed brought you tremendous progress!

To celebrate your improvement, after tomorrow's exam, let's do another thousand Push-ups!"

Lord Orochimaru knew how to help these hot-blooded idiots who knew nothing about theory improve, and the results would be immediate.

"Guy, just do as I say during tomorrow's exam. You'll definitely improve by a lot!"

"Really, Lord Orochimaru?!"

"Yes. Just pick A for every multiple-choice question. You'll always guess a few correctly."

Kakashi abruptly turned to stare at his foster father. You could do that?

Lord Orochimaru shrugged. Jiraiya had figured out this method in the past and told him about it.

Poor students always had all sorts of strange test-taking tricks.