Year-End Exams, the Strongest Brain

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was March of Konoha Year 55.

Before they knew it, the first-year curriculum was about to end.

Once April arrived, the first-years would advance to second year.

But before the vacation began, the first-years still had to take a major exam.

This exam would also select the most outstanding Top Student to represent the entire grade.

March 18th.

At six in the morning, Ryusuke had already woken from his dreams and begun exercising in his family's yard.

After finishing his daily morning training, Ryusuke took a shower and started making breakfast.

After breakfast and a full glass of milk, Ryusuke formed hand seals with both hands and created two Shadow Clones, having them begin their usual work.

Ryusuke's main body then headed to the Ninja Academy.

The daytime portion was a written exam; they only needed to answer questions.

The important assessment would be in the afternoon.

Calling it important was a bit of an exaggeration. It merely had one more Survival Exercise than the usual quizzes.

Even describing it as a Survival Exercise was somewhat excessive. In reality, it was just a game of hide-and-seek.

The sixth-year graduation exam only tested one randomly selected technique from the Three Body Technique.

First-years mainly studied cultural subjects. Children who did not come from ninja families did not even have training scrolls for the Three Body Technique yet.

Their afternoon practical classes were either Shuriken Throwing or Taijutsu sparring. They had not even begun Kunai Melee Combat.

These classes were meant to help them build up spiritual energy and physical energy, laying a solid foundation.

Over the past year, the school had taught them only one technique: the... Invisibility Technique.

The Invisibility Technique and Body Flicker Technique seemed quite advanced, but they were actually even more basic than the Three Body Technique.

When Naruto first appeared in the original story, he used the Leaf Body Flicker Technique and Invisibility Technique to toy with the ninja trying to capture him.

The reason these two techniques seemed advanced was that many people had developed all sorts of tricks with them.

Ryusuke felt that, barring any surprises, the afternoon's Survival Exercise would test their mastery of the Invisibility Technique.

"Yo... Ryusuke, morning!"

"Good morning, Ryusuke-kun."

"Ryusuke-kun, do you want to go play with us after the exams?"

"Ryusuke, can you toss me a note during the test later? Please! If I fail, my mom will definitely beat me to death!"

"..."

When he arrived at the classroom, many of his male and female classmates greeted Ryusuke.

Ryusuke responded to them with a smile. Sometimes, he even stopped to chat with them for a few moments, showing plenty of patience.

Unlike the aloof Sasuke and Naruto, who had no one to play with, Ryusuke had built himself the persona of someone warm and kind to everyone.

After all, only he knew how many talented people would emerge from this classroom.

There were two future saviors and Hokage among them. The others would either become clan heads or the leaders of some Konoha department.

Who knew whether those little nobodies never mentioned in the story, aside from these rookie powerhouses, might also become influential figures in the future?

So before his golden finger awakened, Ryusuke had taken advantage of his status as a genius to leave a good impression on all his classmates.

Even now, after fusing with Asura's chakra and becoming the undisputed No. 1 in the class, Ryusuke had not ruined that persona.

One more friend meant one less enemy.

That was the art of dealing with people!

After chatting with his classmates, Ryusuke finally arrived at his seat.

Just as he sat down, a small hand patted his shoulder from behind.

Ino, who sat behind Ryusuke, smiled and said, "Ryusuke, do your best on the exam later. You have to win the title of Top Student."

"I'll do my best." Ryusuke nodded with a smile.

"Ryusuke, does your family have some kind of Kekkei Genkai that you secretly awakened?"

At that moment, a voice sounded beside Ryusuke.

Nara Shikamaru, who was lying on his desk with a pair of sleepy, dead-fish eyes, said faintly, "Ever since you defeated Naruto a few months ago, you've seemed like a completely different person."

"You're so smart. Why don't you guess?" Ryusuke teased.

"Ha..."

Nara Shikamaru yawned, sat upright, and stretched. "Anyway, something must have changed about you."

Ino said irritably, "Everyone has a few secrets. Why are you being so nosy?"

"Yeah, yeah... I said too much."

Seeing Ino raise her pink fist with an expression that clearly said she would hit him if he kept talking, Nara Shikamaru nodded helplessly.

Yet at the same time, the curiosity in his heart continued to grow by the day.

If it were anyone else, Nara Shikamaru could not be bothered to be curious.

Even though Naruto's identity was special, he had not paid much attention to him.

Only... Ryusuke was an exception.

After observing him for a year, Nara Shikamaru had discovered that his deskmate Ryusuke was practically two different people in the first and second halves of the year.

In Nara Shikamaru's eyes, the Ryusuke of the first half of the year had been far too fake.

That smile which so easily won others' favor looked like natural acting talent to Nara Shikamaru, who possessed the strongest brain and a keen eye for people.

Ryusuke was, like him, a precocious genius, but his sense of purpose was far too strong.

Thus, Nara Shikamaru had not actually held much affection for this deskmate who had deliberately chosen to sit beside him.

But during the latter half of the year, Nara Shikamaru's impression of Ryusuke had undergone an enormous change.

Because over the past half year, Ryusuke had become real.

The overwhelming sense of purpose, along with the gloom between his brows that even a flawless mask-like smile could not conceal, had all vanished.

Still young, Nara Shikamaru could not understand why a person could change so drastically. When talking with his father, he had even asked him about it.

After receiving several possible answers from his father, Nara Shikamaru realized that Ryusuke's change was due to newfound confidence.

And Ryusuke's transformation had begun after he defeated Naruto.

That was precisely why Nara Shikamaru was so curious.

How could defeating someone who came in last place in every quiz, even every pop quiz, possibly make someone confident?

Without question, either something had changed within Ryusuke, or he was hiding some secret.

That change or secret was the key to why he was no longer so driven by purpose, why he no longer needed to constantly act in order to build good relationships with others, and why he was confident he could stand above everyone else.

Perhaps today's major exam would reveal a few clues.

With that thought, Nara Shikamaru suddenly developed a slight interest in this major exam.

Ryusuke had no idea what Nara Shikamaru was thinking.

If he had known, he would surely have sighed. As expected of the future strategist and the "Eighth Hokage."

At only six or seven years old, he could see so much. He was no less impressive than Uchiha Itachi, who had possessed a Hokage's way of thinking at seven.