The Demonstration Group took no new requests.
Iruka had written those words on the blackboard.
The children saw them as soon as they entered the classroom. Kiyo stood in the doorway and read them three times before asking earnestly, "What's a new request?"
Morita Yu said, "It means you can't apply at the last minute to be a cat."
Kiyo was stunned. "The teachers are already targeting my talent?"
Usually, that would have made the classroom laugh. Today, the laughter died quickly. Mizuki stood by the window with no Gray Booklet in hand, only an ordinary clipboard. Iruka stood beside the lectern, and Mizuno was there too. Three teachers in one room changed the mood at once.
As Naruto sat down, he looked first at the door, then at the window. Che noticed and knew that what they had said in the Academic Affairs Room last night had sunk in.
The consecutive-test rules were written clearly: round one, observation; round two, suggested judgment; round three, short transformation. Only students in the top two brackets of yesterday's test could enter the Demonstration Group, in order. No last-minute recommendations would be accepted.
Mizuki read the blackboard and smiled. "Isn't that a little rigid? Some children weren't at their best yesterday. Today would be the perfect time to show their progress."
His gaze settled on Naruto.
Naruto's fingers twitched, but he did not look up.
Iruka said, "Progress goes in the results. It doesn't change the order."
The Academic Affairs Director had not arrived yet, but Iruka had already left the door open. Anyone passing through the corridor could see the rules on the blackboard—and Mizuki standing by the window. Che understood that this was more than a precaution. It put every last-minute change in plain sight. Mizuki was best at slipping a