Deidara: This One Doesn't Count, Yeah!

Three days later, on a morning at the Iwagakure Ninja School's examination grounds.

The grounds were a circular area enclosed by rocks, about thirty meters in diameter.

Dozens of people sat in the stands, mostly teachers from the school and students who had come to watch.

Jingxin stood behind Ōnoki, his gaze calmly fixed on the center of the grounds.

Kurotsuchi stood to one side of the grounds. Her dark brown clothes hugged her figure, and her focused eyes and confident smile were directed at Ōnoki and Kintsuchi as she waved to them.

The examiner was a middle-aged Iwagakure Chunin. He walked to the center of the grounds. "Kurotsuchi, you already know the rules for the early graduation exam. You need to fight a Genin. You'll pass if you tie with or defeat your opponent. Your opponent is..."

He pointed to the other side of the grounds, where a ninja who looked about fifteen or sixteen stepped out.

The battle began.

The Genin launched the first attack. After forming Hand Seals, he pressed both hands to the ground, and several stone spikes surged up toward Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi leaped sideways, dodging the spikes as she quickly formed Hand Seals. Her movements were faster and more precise than her opponent's.

"Rock Pillar Technique!"

A thick pillar of rock surged up from the ground and shot toward her opponent.

The Genin hurriedly dodged, but Kurotsuchi didn't let up.

She formed Hand Seals in quick succession, and pillars of rock kept rising from the ground, forcing her opponent to retreat again and again.

After dodging, the Genin tried to form Hand Seals and counterattack.

But Kurotsuchi was faster. She spotted the opening as her opponent formed Hand Seals and closed in at once. Rock encased her right fist and forearm, and she swung a punch at him.

The Genin took the blow squarely and fell to the ground. A small hand held a kunai to his neck.

The examiner nodded and announced loudly, "Kurotsuchi, you've passed!"

Applause rang out around them.

Jingxin watched quietly from the stands. Kurotsuchi was indeed quite strong, with sound tactics and fluid movements.

More importantly, the calm and judgment she had shown in battle were beyond the level of an ordinary Genin.

Ōnoki's rigorous training had clearly paid off.

The atmosphere was lively. Among the ninja students watching, a blond kid actually raised his hand. "I want to graduate early too! Yeah! Yeah, yeah!"

Everyone turned to look.

A blond boy stood there. He looked a year or two older than Kurotsuchi, and his long hair covered one eye. Excitement shone in the eye he had left uncovered.

Deidara strode into the examination grounds, completely unfazed by everyone's attention.

He held a small pouch filled with clay. "I want to graduate early so I can have more time to make art, yeah!"

The examiner frowned and looked toward the stands.

Ōnoki's face was serious.

He knew the boy's personality all too well.

Deidara was obsessed with explosive art. If he graduated early and had more free time, he would definitely let himself run even wilder.

Who knew what kind of trouble he would cause then?

Ōnoki thought for a moment, then spoke. "Deidara, you can take the early graduation exam, but the examiner is already tired and needs to be replaced."

Deidara raised an eyebrow. "Then who's going to be my examiner?"

Ōnoki turned to the person beside him. "Kintsuchi, you'll be Deidara's examiner."

"Sure." Jingxin stood up and walked from the stands toward the examination grounds.

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

He was a new face, wearing a Genin Forehead Protector, but his age...

Was there really someone like him among the prodigies who could graduate early?

Many Iwagakure ninjas were curious.

Beside Ōnoki, Kurotsuchi shouted, "Little brother Kintsuchi! Give him a good beating! As hard as you can!"

"Hmph!" Deidara glanced at Kurotsuchi disdainfully. "What a pain. But..."

He sized Jingxin up. "So you're Kintsuchi? You're even younger than me, but you're already a Genin?"

"Yeah, but in the face of my explosive art, everything is fragile!"

Jingxin walked to the center of the grounds and stood opposite Deidara, calmly watching him.

Deidara rubbed his hands together excitedly, seemingly unaware of what was about to happen to him.

At the examiner's signal to begin, Deidara took clay from his pouch. His fingers worked nimbly, quickly shaping several spiders. Then he infused the clay with chakra, bringing the spiders to life. They crawled across his palm.

"These are my Artistic Explosive Spiders! Let me show you what they can do, yeah!"

He tossed the spiders toward Jingxin.

Jingxin's calm, dark eyes followed the spiders' trajectories as he reached into his ninja tool pouch.

Almost in an instant.

Jingxin threw several shuriken. They traced winding arcs through the air, striking every Clay Spider with pinpoint accuracy.

Boom, boom, boom~

Small bursts of flame erupted almost simultaneously.

The Iwagakure ninjas around them let out surprised exclamations at the display.

"His aim's way too good to be a Genin!"

"Where'd he come from? I've never seen him before, but he seems really strong."

Deidara froze for a moment. "Could he be a Jonin disguised as a Genin, just to stop me from graduating?"

The kid was a little clueless. It hadn't even occurred to him that they were in the middle of a fight.

While Deidara was voicing his suspicions, Jingxin had already brought his ninja blade to Deidara's face. "You lose."

Deidara looked down, then glared at Jingxin. "You caught me off guard!"

Jingxin: "..."

Seriously, man?

Weren't ninjas supposed to catch people off guard?

The examiner announced, "Deidara, you haven't passed."

Deidara protested, "This one doesn't count! Yeah!"

"I'll apply for the early graduation exam again next month, and I want you as my chief examiner. I'll be properly prepared next time, so get ready to become my defeated opponent, yeah!"

Jingxin didn't respond. He merely gestured with his eyes toward Ōnoki.

"You're such a stick-in-the-mud! Yeah!" Deidara scoffed at Jingxin, then turned his gaze toward Ōnoki.

Ōnoki considered it for a moment, then nodded.

That was exactly what he wanted.

Deidara was one of the most outstanding ninja students of the younger generation, but he hadn't even made Jingxin use his full strength.

There was no way Deidara would win next month, and then he would challenge him again.

That way, having Deidara challenge Jingxin every month would curb his arrogance while also letting Ōnoki test Jingxin's progress.

Two birds with one stone.

"Fine," Ōnoki said. "But don't play any more pranks before you graduate."

Deidara grinned. "No problem! I'll definitely beat him, yeah!"

A month later, at the same examination grounds.

Deidara stood in front of Jingxin once again.

Over the past month, he had trained Taijutsu like crazy, improved his control of the Explosive Spiders, and developed new clay shapes.

He was sure he would win this time.

But after the battle began, Deidara realized he had been wrong.

His clay was too slow and could be intercepted by ninja tools.

All the Taijutsu he had practiced so hard was nothing in front of Jingxin. It was as though Jingxin knew his every next move.

The dust kicked up by the clay explosions gave Jingxin cover. Once he closed in on Deidara, he knocked the kunai from Deidara's hand with his ninja blade.

And then...

The battle was over.