On the way to the Ninja Academy, Hiruzen Sarutobi walked with his old pipe clenched in his mouth. Danzo walked beside him on his right.
Hiruzen had been reviewing documents in his office when Danzo showed up and invited him to the Ninja Academy to watch the first exam for the first-year students.
Hiruzen knew what his old friend was thinking. It was only natural to want to show off when someone in your family had a promising descendant.
When they reached the area near the Ninja Academy, they didn't sneak into the school where they might draw attention. Instead, they leaped onto a large tree outside the school grounds and used its dense foliage to hide themselves.
Standing on a sturdy branch, Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke and glanced around. He sensed quite a few people nearby, all parents of students or ninja assigned by their clans to protect the younger generation.
"Looks like this exam has attracted quite a bit of attention," Hiruzen said evenly, turning to his old friend.
Danzo didn't say anything. He merely nodded, his attention fixed on the schoolyard.
The physical fitness test had ended, and the Elite Class students were gathered around Yamakawa Kiyoshi in small groups. They stood silently, recovering their strength.
Uchiha Inabi and Hyuga Toda stood out the most among them. Both were bracing themselves with their hands and panting heavily.
Their faces were flushed from overexertion. Sweat streamed down their foreheads and hair, collected at their chins, and dripped to the ground.
Compared to their classmates, the two looked far more bedraggled, as if they were completely exhausted.
It wasn't that they were out of shape. During the running test, they had kept accelerating and sprinting in an effort to overtake Kizaru and take first place.
As soon as the fitness test began, Kizaru had used his long legs to take the lead, quickly opening up a gap between himself and the rest of the pack.
The impulsive young pair, Uchiha Inabi and Hyuga Toda, naturally weren't willing to watch Kizaru hold onto the lead. So they both sped up and charged after him, trying to pass him.
But no matter how hard they pushed, Kizaru was always just a little faster, maintaining a lead of about half a meter.
They could only watch Kizaru run ahead of them, unable to overtake him, and it left them both frustrated and anxious.
Unwilling to give up, they gritted their teeth and kept speeding up, but it did them no good. All they could do was stare at Kizaru's flashy figure and eat his dust.
Anyone who had run before knew that the key to a long-distance run was maintaining a steady pace. By constantly sprinting, the two had thrown off their rhythm and wasted a great deal of energy. By the second half of the test, they couldn't even hold on to second or third place, let alone overtake Kizaru. In the end, they finished in the lower middle of the class.
"D-damn it!" Uchiha Inabi gasped, barely able to get the words out. His face was full of frustration.
"When we spar, I'm definitely going to beat that guy!" Hyuga Toda said, just a meter away from Uchiha Inabi, equally frustrated.
"Only I can beat that guy!" Uchiha Inabi straightened up and looked at Hyuga Toda, speaking with a self-important air.
"You? Idiot!" Hyuga Toda replied scornfully.
"You little—are you looking for..." As he spoke, Uchiha Inabi charged at Hyuga Toda.
Their quarrel immediately drew the attention of their classmates and teacher.
"Looks like they're arguing over you!" Nara Shikaku said excitedly as he watched the two butt heads.
"How scary!" Kizaru said with a sigh, standing beside Nara Shikaku with his hands in his pockets.
Nara Shikaku tore his gaze away from the pair and turned to look at Kizaru with disdain.
"You really have a nasty way of putting things!"
"Sorry about that," Kizaru said without a hint of sincerity.
While Kizaru and Nara Shikaku were talking, Yamakawa Kiyoshi had already settled the dispute between Uchiha Inabi and Hyuga Toda. He began announcing the start of the ninja tool throwing test.
Yamakawa Kiyoshi led the class to a corner on the right side of the schoolyard, where they usually practiced throwing ninja tools.
"Everyone, line up behind me. When I call your name, step forward and throw. You'll each get three attempts, and your best score will count," Yamakawa Kiyoshi told the students, holding a class register.
The students were fairly well-behaved. They lined up behind Yamakawa Kiyoshi and waited for him to call their names.
"Namikaze Minato!" Yamakawa Kiyoshi called the first name.
Only a month had passed since the school year began, but Namikaze Minato was already popular with the class. He was handsome, kind, and always wore a warm smile. Quite a few students called out encouragement as he stepped up.
At the throwing line, Namikaze Minato looked to the teacher. When Yamakawa Kiyoshi nodded, he took a wooden shuriken issued by the school from his waist pouch.
First throw: 6 points;
Second throw: 7 points;
Third throw: 7 points.
For an orphan who had received no instruction from adults and had only started using ninja tools after enrolling, Namikaze Minato had done exceptionally well.
"Good job, Minato!" Yamakawa Kiyoshi said, raising his right hand and giving him a thumbs-up.
"Thank you, teacher!" Namikaze Minato said, bowing to him.
After Namikaze Minato stepped down, Yamakawa Kiyoshi continued calling names.
Since Kizaru was in the Elite Class, the students were all pretty good at throwing ninja tools. Most scored at least five or six points.
When Hyuga Toda took his turn, his Cataract gave him an advantage, and he scored nine points on all three throws. His classmates cheered.
"Tch!" Uchiha Inabi, standing among the crowd, let out a quiet, scornful snort as he watched Hyuga Toda look so pleased with himself.
What was there to be proud of with a mere nine points? When I, Uchiha Inabi, step up, I'll get a perfect score.
Uchiha Inabi soon got his chance to show what he could do. He was the third student after Hyuga Toda.
With his classmates watching, Uchiha Inabi strode forward, brimming with confidence.
It was no wonder Uchiha Inabi was so confident. The Uchiha Clan had turned ninja tool throwing into an art.
Uchiha Inabi didn't let himself down. He scored a perfect mark with all three throws, barely pausing between them.
"Inabi is amazing!"
"The Uchiha are truly one of Konoha's prestigious clans!"
"That was so cool!"
Uchiha Inabi's performance drew one compliment after another from his classmates, making him even more pleased with himself.
"Inabi, you did very well!" Yamakawa Kiyoshi praised him too.
"I'm not that good! Hahaha!" Uchiha Inabi had meant to be modest, but in the end, he couldn't stop himself from laughing.
Yamakawa Kiyoshi smiled and shook his head before continuing to call names.
"Shimura Kizaru!"
The moment Yamakawa Kiyoshi called his name, the whole area fell silent. The "Great Demon King" was up next, and everyone was eager to see what would happen!
Uchiha Inabi stopped laughing too. As he watched Kizaru walk up from the back of the crowd, he smiled smugly and called out, "Good luck, Kizaru!"
"Sure!" Kizaru replied with a smile. He passed Uchiha Inabi and walked up to the throwing line.
"Teacher, if I damage the range, I won't have to pay for it, right?" Kizaru asked with a grin as he stood at the throwing line.
"..." Yamakawa Kiyoshi was caught off guard by the question. After a moment's hesitation, he figured that even if Kizaru was strong, all he could do with a ninja tool was damage the target. "No, you won't. Just give it your best, Kizaru!"
"Then I won't hold back!"
A smile that was hard to read appeared on Kizaru's face as he took a wooden shuriken from the pouch at his side.