I'm Fighting Akiyama Shun? Seriously?

A practical exam?

At Kazama Shinya's words, all the students erupted, immediately chattering among themselves.

Before this, whether they were throwing shuriken or practicing taijutsu, they had always trained on targets. At most, they'd practiced on moving targets.

Now they were finally going to have a real fight!

That's right. Almost none of the students were afraid. They were all brimming with excitement.

They had come to the Ninja Academy for exactly this!

"I'm so excited~ Shun, do you think I can win?"

Yuhi Kurenai looked thrilled as she clung to Akiyama Shun's arm and shook it nonstop.

"I don't know who your opponent is, but I believe in you. You've trained so hard, so you're sure to win!"

Akiyama Shun patted Yuhi Kurenai on the head and reassured her.

Then Akiyama Shun noticed someone watching him and turned around.

Sure enough, it was those two again.

Kakashi and Might Guy.

Both of them were looking at Akiyama Shun with intense fighting spirit!

When Akiyama Shun glanced over, Might Guy was still staring intently at him.

But Kakashi seemed to remember what had happened that morning. He hastily looked away in embarrassment, stared up at the sky, and pretended nothing had happened.

"All right! Everyone, come draw lots here. The students who draw number one will form a pair and fight each other, and so on!"

"If anyone wants to use ninja tools but didn't bring any, you can take some from the rack."

After Kazama Shinya finished speaking, he stepped aside to let the students draw their lots.

Once they had drawn, the students wore all sorts of expressions. Some were happy, others worried.

Those who drew someone clearly weaker than themselves were naturally delighted. Those who drew a strong opponent worried about their results—and even about getting beaten up.

"Shun, I drew number five!"

"Number five? Right, that's Ebisu."

As he spoke, Akiyama Shun deliberately pointed Yuhi Kurenai out to him.

Yuhi Kurenai followed his finger and saw a kid wearing black clothes and sunglasses.

She remembered him. His grades were pretty good, but he was definitely not as good as her.

"Don't worry. You'll definitely beat him! I believe in you!"

"Mm!"

Yuhi Kurenai nodded happily, then asked, "Shun, what number did you draw?"

"Eleven."

As soon as Akiyama Shun told her his number, several students nearby who had been listening carefully glanced at their own slips.

Then they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Not eleven!

Thank goodness!

They didn't have to fight Akiyama Shun!

After Akiyama Shun announced his number, word quickly spread that he had drawn number eleven.

Many people anxiously checked their own slips. Once they confirmed their opponent wasn't Shun, they all smiled.

Might Guy glanced at his number.

Number eight. His opponent was a chubby kid!

"Damn it!"

He really wanted to fight Akiyama Shun!

Kakashi also checked his number. Number ten.

Number ten was...

Kakashi looked at Shiranui Genma, who looked back at him. They met eyes, politely nodded, then looked away at the same time.

Though Shiranui Genma was a decent opponent, he still wasn't good enough!

Akiyama Shun!!!

"Rin, check your number! I drew number six. I hope we don't end up fighting each other!"

After finding out who his opponent was, Obito immediately went over to check on Rin.

"Oh, all right."

Rin opened her slip. The number on it was...

Eleven.

"What! Rin, how did you get number eleven? That guy Akiyama Shun got eleven too!"

"Huh?"

At Obito's cry, Nohara Rin was stunned.

"I'm fighting Akiyama Shun? Seriously?"

Several students nearby heard Obito's shout and looked at Nohara Rin with pity.

A student who was miles ahead of everyone else, against an ordinary little girl—the outcome was obvious.

They couldn't even imagine how quickly the fight would be over!

"Rin, how about we switch slips? I'll fight Akiyama Shun for you!"

After thinking it over briefly, Obito gritted his teeth and handed his number to Nohara Rin.

"Huh? Can we really switch? And won't you get hurt, Obito?"

Looking at Obito's determined expression, Nohara Rin didn't trade numbers with him. Instead, she looked concerned.

"Nohara Rin, want to switch?"

Just then, Kakashi came over to Nohara Rin and held out his slip.

"Kakashi! Why did you come over? Damn it! I'll protect Rin!"

Obito's noisy protests didn't bother Kakashi. He simply looked quietly at Nohara Rin.

"Th-then, all right."

Nohara Rin hesitated for a moment, then swapped slips with Kakashi.

"Rin! Why did you switch with him instead of me? I could beat Akiyama Shun too! Kakashi's always been outmatched by Akiyama Shun. He definitely can't win!"

Seeing Kakashi made Obito so jealous he could hardly stand it.

"It's not that I doubt you can beat Akiyama Shun. I'm just worried you might get hurt protecting me. Kakashi is different. He simply wants to fight Akiyama Shun, and I want to grant his wish."

Obito had been jealous a moment ago, but after hearing Nohara Rin's reassurance, he changed completely. Blushing bright red, he bashfully scratched his head.

"Oh... all right..."

So she was worried about me...

As for Kakashi, after taking the slip, he went and stood off to the side with his eyes closed, preparing for his upcoming fight with Akiyama Shun.

"Damn it, Kakashi! How could you do it like that?"

Might Guy had watched the whole thing. He looked enviously at the number in Kakashi's hand.

"You just didn't think of it."

Since the two of them often spied on Akiyama Shun together, their relationship had improved quite a bit lately.

They weren't as close as they would be later as the Konoha Twin Stars, but they could be considered ordinary friends.

Akiyama Shun had no idea any of that was going on.

He simply closed his eyes and rested, quietly waiting for Kazama Shinya to call his number.

Soon, the first match began.

It was between two ordinary classmates. Akiyama Shun glanced at them and lost interest.

He didn't open his eyes again until the fifth match, when Yuhi Kurenai faced Ebisu.

Just as he'd expected, Ebisu wasn't very skilled to begin with.

And because of her connection to him, Yuhi Kurenai had trained even harder. Facing Ebisu was a piece of cake.

The fight was over in less than a minute.

Yuhi Kurenai was the winner, of course. She wasn't hurt at all; Ebisu hadn't even managed to touch her.

She'd toyed with him the whole time!

"Yay! I won!"

After winning, Yuhi Kurenai happily jumped in place.

Akiyama Shun gave her a thumbs-up.

After Yuhi Kurenai's match came number six...

As the students were called up to fight one after another, it was soon Akiyama Shun's turn.

"Next!"

"Number eleven!"