Combat Exam (Seeking Follow-ups)

Seeing Naruto so happy, Hyuga Hinata felt happy as well.

"Hinata is amazing, to think she could rank ahead of so many boys," many girls began to whisper among themselves.

Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno had placed fifteenth and sixteenth respectively; seeing Hinata, another girl, take second place, envy flickered in their eyes.

If they could achieve such a high ranking, it would surely make Uchiha Sasuke look at them in a new light, and they could even run side-by-side with him in the future.

Aburame Shino stood to the side, pushing up his sunglasses.

His original goal had been second place; from a rational perspective, his physical strength and endurance had been precisely calculated, and he should have been stable in the top three, but second place was his expectation.

However, he glanced at Uchiha Sasuke, who was not far away with a grim expression. This was the first time he had surpassed him in a running trial, and even if he hadn't achieved his ideal result, his mood was quite excellent.

Inuzuka Kiba slumped on the ground, panting heavily.

His fifth-place finish wasn't actually bad, but the problem was that Naruto had somehow managed to take first. Recalling the things he had said to Naruto before the run, his face burned with embarrassment.

Not far away, Uchiha Sasuke stood in place, silent, his fists clenched tightly, his expression dark.

He found it hard to accept not taking first place, let alone failing to even make the top three and sliding all the way to fourth. This was the worst ranking he had received since enrolling.

Sasuke's gaze drifted involuntarily toward Qiushui, who was standing nearby chatting with Naruto and Hinata.

Previously, he had thought Qiushui was merely interesting at lecturing, keeping the class from getting sleepy. Even when he saw him perform Fire Style ninjutsu last time, his heart hadn't been greatly shaken; it was just Fire Style, and as a member of the Uchiha Clan, he had seen countless masters of it.

But today was different. The running and Kunai throwing results of Naruto Uzumaki and Hyuga Hinata made him start to feel uncertain.

In just one short month, the progress these two had made was unnervingly fast.

Sasuke's brows furrowed slightly.

Could it really be because of Qiushui?

He thought about it, then shook his head.

What did running and Kunai throwing amount to?

Good physical fitness was merely an accumulation of endurance and technique, and throwing accurately was just something achieved through extra practice. These were not true strength; true strength was combat.

He had simply made a mistake today.

When the live combat trials came over the next two days, that would be the time to truly display his strength.

Training Ground No. 1.

Students from every grade were gathered here, and the originally empty training ground was now bustling with noise.

Because it was a school-wide examination, live combat required space and terrain. The school playground clearly couldn't hold several hundred students, so every end-of-month or final exam was held at the training grounds within the village.

Qiushui stood in front of the Class 1, Year 4 formation, holding a roll sheet and checking the attendance one by one.

"Sakura Haruno."

"Here!"

"Ino Yamanaka."

"Here!"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Here!"

Naruto's voice was exceptionally loud, drawing side-glances from students in nearby classes.

Qiushui continued reading, one name after another, each answered with a "here." After confirming everyone was present, he closed the roll sheet and took out a cardboard box from the side.

The box had a circular hole cut into it and was filled with folded slips of paper.

Matsumoto Mie stood beside him, responsible for assisting with the records.

"Listen up," Qiushui raised his voice so the whole class could hear clearly. "The rules for the combat exam are simple. Come up in the order of the roll sheet to draw a slip. The number you draw determines your opponent: one against two, three against four, and so on. If a class has an odd number of students, one person will be lucky enough to receive a bye and advance directly to the next round."

"Begin the draw."

The students stepped forward one by one, reaching into the box to retrieve their numbers.

After Naruto Uzumaki drew his slip, he glanced at the number in his hand. Instead of returning to his spot, he trotted over to Hinata and asked, "Hinata, I drew number one. What number did you get?"

Hinata had just finished drawing and was looking down at the slip in her hand. Hearing Naruto's voice, she looked up and said softly, "I'm number eleven."

She didn't know if it was because she had been meeting and talking with Naruto frequently lately, but while she still felt nervous speaking to him, she no longer blushed or became too shy to speak as she had before.

"Hinata, do your best! Let's try to get a good ranking in this trial and make Teacher Qiushui happy," Naruto said.

Training with Qiushui for this past month, not only had his physical fitness and theory improved significantly, but he had also mastered the Shadow Clone Technique. Compared to himself a month ago, he felt he was more than just a little bit stronger, and he had been eager for today's combat trials for a long time.

As for Hinata's personality, he had noticed over this time that she was a bit soft and timid, always afraid to let go and give it her all. Using Teacher Qiushui to encourage her should work, right?

Hinata was slightly startled by these words, then she nodded earnestly and said, "Mm, Naruto-kun, you're up first, so you do your best too."

On the other side.

Ino Yamanaka clutched her number three slip and walked over to Sakura Haruno, asking, "Sakura, what number did you draw?"

Sakura looked up at her, didn't answer, and instead asked back, "You tell me what number you drew first?"

Ino shook the slip of paper in her hand, a provocative smirk playing on her lips: "Number four, I hope you don't draw number three. Otherwise, you won't be as lucky as last time; I will definitely beat you."

Sakura Haruno's expression stiffened slightly.

She looked down at the slip of paper in her hand—it was exactly number three.

Sakura Haruno knew her own combat level was indeed a cut below Ino's, and in truth, the fact that they had fought to a draw last time really did involve a stroke of luck.

But she couldn't afford to back down verbally.

She raised her head and glared back without showing any weakness: "Hmph, what do you mean by 'luck'? Don't make excuses just because your own skills aren't up to par."

Ino raised an eyebrow and said nothing more.

For once, Choji Akimichi wasn't eating snacks. He clutched the slip of paper in his hand, walked over to Shikamaru Nara, and said, "Shikamaru, I drew number seven. What number did you get?"

Shikamaru was stunned for a moment, then sighed, held up his own slip of paper, and said, "Number eight."

"What a drag..." Shikamaru muttered. He had originally intended to fight a few good matches this time and strive for a decent ranking, only to run into his good friend in the very first round.

Should he just forfeit directly like he used to?

The thought had barely surfaced before it was interrupted by Choji's voice.

"Shikamaru." Choji looked at him, his eyes carrying a rare sense of seriousness, "Don't you dare forfeit directly like you used to. Even if I won that way, it wouldn't be honorable, and it would be a disservice to the guidance Teacher Qiushui has given us."