Fujino Daxiong felt as sour as if he had eaten a lemon when he said this.
He had lost count of how many times he'd wished he were the homeroom teacher of Class 1 of the 5th Grade. Unfortunately, he was only their Taijutsu teacher, so he had no chance of being named Outstanding Teacher. The generous year-end bonus could only go to Mizuki, and every year he had to watch him collect it.
But there was nothing he could do about it. Class 1 of the 5th Grade was rock-solid, and Mizuki's teaching was flawless. He simply hadn't given Daxiong an opening.
"Haha, Teacher Daxiong, don't be so modest," Mizuki said, his face blooming into a smile. "That student of yours, Nara Ensu, always fights Neji down to the wire. Maybe this year he'll actually pull off a comeback."
Fujino Daxiong shot him a resentful look.
Nara Ensu might be a talented student from a shinobi clan, but he was still nowhere near Neji's level. If he could win, he would have done it already. Why would it take all these years? Did Daxiong really think he'd see some dark horse claim the championship?
Matsumoto Mie pushed open the door and walked in, catching the tail end of their conversation. "If you ask me, the most impressive one is Naruto from Teacher Qiushui's class. Qiushui and I were proctoring together today, and I saw him knock Uchiha Sasuke out with my own eyes."
The office fell silent for two seconds.
"Teacher Mie, you're not joking, are you?" Fujino Daxiong's eyes widened, disbelief written all over his face. "Wasn't Naruto always the dead-last student? How could he possibly beat Uchiha Sasuke? And shouldn't he have been eliminated by now?"
"Oh, why would I lie?" Matsumoto Mie said earnestly. "I saw