The Curtain Falls

"Alright."

Watanabe nodded obediently and stuffed the Explosive Tag back into his waist pouch.

Hiruzen Sarutobi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had truly feared that Watanabe, being a reckless fool, would summon tens of thousands of Explosive Tags in one go. If that happened, not only would he and Hyuga Rei be blown to pieces, but all the Konoha higher-ups in the judges' seats would be wiped out in one dramatic blast.

Never assume Watanabe could not produce that many Explosive Tags. Tsunade had taught him so many forbidden ninjutsu already—what else could she not give him?

"Why is it a draw? I was clearly about to win!"

Hyuga Rei protested, pulling her wrist free from Hiruzen's grasp and taking two steps back.

She was deeply dissatisfied. If Hiruzen Sarutobi had not stepped in to stop them, she believed she would definitely have crushed Watanabe. That single Explosive Tag could never have broken through her Rotation.

"You are both outstanding, evenly matched and equal in strength. Ending in a draw is good as well," Hiruzen said gently, trying to soothe her.

"How are we evenly matched?!"

Hyuga Rei's desire to win was especially strong. She had scored far below Watanabe in the Illusion Technique test, and the practical exam was her only chance to catch up. She had to settle who was stronger. "Didn't you see how helpless Watanabe was after I started beating him? Watanabe, say it yourself. Aren't you inferior to me?"

Watanabe fell silent.

He could tell that Hyuga Rei cared deeply about winning and losing. But so did he.

He truly wanted to become Hiruzen's disciple alongside Tsunade. He did not want to miss any opportunity to spend every day with her.

"Actually, you're inferior to me." After a moment of silence, Watanabe told the truth.

Hyuga Rei froze, then laughed in rage and pointed at Watanabe's nose. "Ridiculous! How can you say something like that? Have you no shame at all—"

"Rei."

A stern voice rang out.

Hyuga Tenfu came up behind Rei and said flatly, "That's enough. Get down."

Hyuga Rei was still unwilling to accept it. "I—"

"I told you to get down."

"Hmph!"

Hyuga Rei dared to argue with the Hokage, but she did not have the courage to argue with her father. With an angry snort, she walked off the stage, filled with resentment.

Watanabe was more tactful than she was. Though he also believed he had won, he voiced no objection and quietly left the arena.

After all, Hiruzen was the one choosing disciples. If Watanabe left a bad impression on him, then even if he took first place, Hiruzen might not be willing to accept him.

"Rei, how are you? Are you hurt?"

A young man with the Byakugan had been waiting nearby for quite some time. The moment Hyuga Rei came down, he hurried forward to meet her.

He was Hyuga Tenfu's eldest son, Hyuga Mirai, and the next head of the Hyuga Clan's main family.

"Father was too much!" Hyuga Rei said indignantly. "He was the one who wanted me to become the Hokage's disciple, yet he did not say a single word for me in front of the Hokage. Calling it a draw is a complete joke—"

"You're wrong." Hyuga Mirai interrupted his sister's complaints, his expression somewhat complicated.

"How am I wrong?!" Hyuga Rei was utterly unconvinced.

"Didn't you notice? Watanabe took so many of your palm strikes, yet... he showed no signs of being injured at all."

As Hyuga Mirai spoke, his gaze drifted toward the distance.

Hyuga Rei froze. Following her brother's gaze, she saw that Watanabe was sitting in the resting area without a flushed face or labored breathing, waiting calmly. He showed not the slightest sign of discomfort.

She could not help feeling lost.

Could it be that she really was inferior to him?

"Don't think too much about it for now. You still have another practical match ahead of you. Get yourself back into shape," Hyuga Mirai comforted her.

Hyuga Rei pressed her lips tightly together.

Watanabe had good luck. His opponent in the fourth practical match was a chubby boy named Akimichi Kaiyo. He was nowhere near as strong as Hyuga Rei, and Watanabe easily claimed victory with just two Water Release techniques.

"Orochimaru wins."

The referee's voice in the distance caught Watanabe's attention. He looked over and saw Orochimaru standing calmly on Arena Nine.

Hyuga Rei sat blankly on the ground before Orochimaru, as though questioning her entire life. She had already left the bounds of the arena.

"Orochimaru defeated Hyuga Rei?"

Watanabe was somewhat surprised. He knew Orochimaru was excellent, but he had not expected him to be good enough to defeat Hyuga Rei. Even Watanabe himself could only fight her to a draw.

"Did she use up too much Chakra fighting me, allowing Orochimaru to take advantage of her weakness?"

Watanabe thought that was highly likely. After all, not everyone was as robust and enduring as him, with more than twenty thousand points of Chakra to spend freely.

At that moment, Hyuga Rei caught sight of Watanabe from the corner of her eye and glared at him with deep unwillingness. She got up and rushed out of the Training Ground without looking back.

"What a pity."

The Nara Clan Leader shook his head regretfully.

"If she had not encountered Watanabe first, Rei's strength would have been enough to defeat Orochimaru. Unfortunately, after the third battle, she had almost no Chakra left."

"Nothing to regret. A loss was a loss. Rei simply wasn't strong enough." Hyuga Tenfu's expression remained unchanged.

His daughter's defeat was already a fact. No matter how frustrated he felt, it was useless. At the very least, he had to maintain his composure in public.

"The Tenfu Clan Leader is certainly strict with the younger generation," the Hatake Clan Leader said with a smile.

"Only a family like that can keep producing elite geniuses."

Near evening, the candidates' practical tests finally concluded. Gekko Hayate compiled everyone's graduation results and posted them publicly.

Watanabe's name stood prominently at the very top. Aside from scoring ninety-five on the written exam, he had received perfect scores in both Illusion Technique and practical combat. He fully deserved first place.

"It's settled."

The moment Watanabe saw the rankings, the weight hanging over his heart finally dropped away.

He had already taken first place. If the Third Hokage still refused to accept him as a disciple, then the man was definitely targeting him.

Thanks to defeating Hyuga Rei, Orochimaru ranked second, while Hyuga Rei came in third.

Jiraiya and Hiruzen ranked around the middle-upper range. Their results were neither outstanding nor poor.

"Thank heaven, I passed the graduation exam!"

"From this moment on, I'm an honorable genin!"

"Damn it, if I hadn't lost the first practical match, my score would've been even better..."

The candidates were all thirteen- or fourteen-year-old children, hardly mature in their thinking. They shouted and chatted around the posted score sheet, their voices blending into a noisy mess.

"Quiet, everyone."

Gekko Hayate took out a megaphone to bring the crowd under control.

"Don't forget to come to the academy at noon tomorrow to collect your Ninja Headband. The ninja squads you'll be assigned to after graduation will be determined according to your graduation results..."

Once he finished explaining the follow-up arrangements, this year's graduation exam officially came to a successful close. The candidates were dismissed and headed home.

"Watanabe, come on. Let's go have a farewell meal together."

As they were leaving, Jiraiya came over with Orochimaru and Hiruzen.

In high spirits, Watanabe was uncharacteristically generous as he invited the three of them, "Come to my place. I'll cook for you."

Jiraiya looked surprised. "You can cook?"

Watanabe smiled modestly and didn't tell Jiraiya that he had once won Tsunade over with his cooking.