Deidara: This Doesn't Count, Un!

Three days later, in the morning, at the Iwagakure Ninja Academy examination grounds.

The arena was a circular area enclosed by rock, approximately thirty meters in diameter.

Dozens of people sat in the spectator stands, mostly academy teachers and some students who had come to watch.

Jingxin stood behind Ōnoki, his gaze resting calmly on the center of the arena.

Kurotsuchi stood on one side of the arena, her dark brown outfit clinging to her curves. Her eyes were focused, and a hint of a confident arc played on her lips as she waved at Ōnoki and Kintsuchi.

The examiner was a middle-aged Iwagakure Chunin who walked to the center of the arena: "Kurotsuchi, you are already familiar with the rules for the early graduation exam. You must battle a Genin; if you draw or defeat them, you pass. Your opponent is..."

He pointed to the other side of the arena, and a ninja who looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old stepped out.

The battle began.

The Genin launched the first attack. After weaving hand signs, he pressed his hands to the ground, causing several stone spikes to rise from the earth and thrust toward Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi jumped sideways, dodging the stone spikes while weaving hand signs rapidly; her movements were faster and more precise than her opponent's.

"Rock Pillar Technique!"

A thick rock pillar surged from the ground, charging straight at her opponent.

The Genin scrambled to dodge, but Kurotsuchi's assault did not stop.

She wove signs continuously, causing rock pillars to erupt from the ground one after another, forcing her opponent to retreat repeatedly.

The Genin dodged and attempted to weave signs for a counterattack.

But Kurotsuchi was faster. Seeing the gap in her opponent's hand signs, she closed the distance rapidly, encased her right fist and forearm in rock, and smashed it forward.

The Genin was hit squarely and fell to the ground, a kunai held by a small hand pressed against his throat.

The examiner nodded and announced loudly: "Kurotsuchi, you have passed the exam!"

Applause erupted from all around.

Jingxin watched quietly from the stands. Kurotsuchi's strength was indeed impressive; her tactical application was sound, and her movements were fluid.

More importantly, the calmness and judgment she displayed during the battle were beyond the level of an average Genin.

Ōnoki's strict training was certainly effective.

The atmosphere at the scene was lively. Among the watching ninja students, a blond boy suddenly raised his hand: "I want to graduate early too! Yeah! Yeah, yeah!!!"

Everyone's gaze turned in that direction.

A blond youth stood there, looking a year or two older than Kurotsuchi. His long blond hair covered one eye, and the visible eye shimmered with excitement.

Deidara strode into the examination arena, completely indifferent to the gazes of the crowd.

He held a small bag in his hand filled with clay: "I want to graduate early so I can have more time to create art, yeah!"

The examiner frowned and looked toward the spectator stands.

Ōnoki's expression was stern.

He knew this kid's personality all too well.

Deidara was obsessed with the art of explosion. If he were allowed to graduate early and had more free time, he would surely become even more unrestrained.

There was no telling what kind of trouble he would cause by then.

Ōnoki pondered for a moment, then spoke: "Deidara, you may graduate early, but the examiner is already tired and needs to be replaced."

Deidara raised an eyebrow: "Then who will be my examiner?"

Ōnoki's gaze turned to his side: "Kintsuchi, you will be Deidara's examiner."

"Understood." Jingxin stood up and walked from the stands toward the arena.

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

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

Among the geniuses capable of early graduation, was there this one?

Many Iwa-nin were quite curious.

Beside Ōnoki, Kurotsuchi shouted: "Little brother Kintsuchi! Beat him up! Beat him as hard as you can!"

"Hmph!" Deidara looked at Kurotsuchi with disdain: "Troublesome girl, but..."

He sized up Jingxin: "Kintsuchi, is it? You're younger than me, yet you're already a Genin?"

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

Jingxin walked to the center of the arena, stood opposite Deidara, and looked at him calmly.

Deidara rubbed his hands together excitedly, seemingly unaware of what he was about to face.

As the examiner announced the start, Deidara took clay from his bag. His fingers kneaded it nimbly, quickly shaping it into several spiders. He then injected chakra into the clay, and the spiders came to life, crawling over his palms.

"This is my Artistic Explosive Spider! Let me show you, yeah!"

The spiders were thrown toward Jingxin.

Jingxin's calm, black eyes tracked the trajectory of the spiders as he reached into his ninja tool pouch.

Almost in an instant.

Several shuriken were thrown by Jingxin, carving winding, tortuous arcs through the air to strike each clay spider with precision.

Bang, bang, bang!

Small bursts of fire erupted almost simultaneously.

This display drew sounds of surprise from the surrounding Iwagakure ninja.

"That level of throwing skill—he doesn't look like a genin!"

"Where did he come from? I've never seen him, but his strength seems formidable."

Deidara was stunned for a moment: "Could it be that he's a jōnin disguised as a genin, just to keep me from graduating?"

The kid was a bit thick-headed; he hadn't even considered that they were in the middle of a battle.

While Deidara was questioning him, Jingxin had already pressed his ninja blade against the boy's throat: "You lost."

Deidara looked down, then glared at Jingxin: "You snuck up on me!"

Jingxin: "..."

Are you serious, bro?

Isn't being a ninja all about sneak attacks?

The examiner announced: "Deidara, failed the examination."

Deidara was unconvinced: "This one doesn't count! Yeah!"

"I'll apply for the early graduation exam again next month, and I'm requesting you as my examiner. I'll be properly prepared then, so get ready to be defeated by me! Yeah!"

Jingxin did not respond to this, merely signaling toward Ōnoki with his eyes.

"Stiff-necked guy! Yeah!" Deidara scoffed at Jingxin before turning his gaze toward Ōnoki.

Ōnoki pondered for a moment, then nodded.

This suited his intentions perfectly.

Deidara was arguably the most outstanding ninja student of the younger generation, yet he hadn't even forced Jingxin to use his full strength.

He certainly wouldn't win next month, and he would challenge him again.

In this way, having Deidara challenge Jingxin every month would both curb Deidara's arrogance and test Jingxin's growth.

Two birds with one stone.

"Very well," Ōnoki said. "But until you graduate, no more pranks."

Deidara grinned: "No problem! I'll definitely defeat him, yeah!"

One month later, at the same examination grounds.

Deidara stood before Jingxin once again.

Over the past month, he had trained his taijutsu frantically, improved the control techniques for his explosive spiders, and developed new clay shapes.

He believed he would definitely win this time.

But once the battle began, Deidara realized he was wrong.

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

The taijutsu he had been training so hard was worthless in front of Jingxin; the other party seemed to know exactly what he was going to do next.

The dust kicked up by the clay explosions provided cover for Jingxin, who closed in on Deidara and knocked his kunai away with his ninja blade.

And then...

The battle was over.