The Night Before the Test

The notice for the stage assessment came down on an utterly ordinary afternoon.

When Iruka slapped the schedule onto the blackboard, the classroom, which had still been somewhat noisy, fell nearly silent in an instant. The words at the top were written clearly.

Comprehensive Stage Assessment This Month.

The assessment included a written exam, chakra control, taijutsu sparring, ninja tool throwing, and an overall combat evaluation. The total scores would reshuffle the rankings of this year's new students.

This was not some ordinary quiz.

It was a stage ranking that would genuinely draw the attention of both the Academy and certain clans.

"The exams begin in three days." Iruka swept his gaze over the class, his tone as steady as ever. "Everything you've learned recently will be tested. Don't think you can scrape by with last-minute cramming, and don't assume your current ranking can't change."

A low stir immediately spread through the classroom.

Kiba instinctively bared his teeth, seemingly born excited for this kind of direct competition. Ino took notes on the arrangements while secretly glancing toward the few most competitive students in the front rows. As for Sasuke, his expression did not change much, but the faintly colder air around him said everything.

He clearly took this ranking very seriously.

Ling sat by the window, silently reviewing every arrangement.

To him, this test was not merely about competing for a ranking.

It was more like a calibration.

Over this period, he had rapidly caught up on the basic courses through the changes in talent brought by the Divine Pattern Eye and the God Tree Seed. But how stable those improvements truly were, which ones could be openly used in public competition, and which still needed to be kept hidden—all of that needed to be determined through a stage assessment like this.

After school, Kiba was the first to rush to his desk.

"Uchiha, I'll definitely push you down a rank this time."

Ling raised his eyes at him. "Catch up to third place first."

Kiba's face darkened. "Just you wait!"

Ino laughed so hard she slapped the desk. "Can you stop deliberately provoking him every single time?"

"It's just the truth." Ling packed up his books, his tone so flat it sounded as though he were simply stating a fact.

Kiba stormed off in anger. Ino watched his retreating back and laughed for quite a while before resting her chin on her hand and looking back at Ling. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What place do you want?" She blinked. "Don't tell me something like second place would be fine. I don't believe you."

Ling did not answer immediately.

Did he want first place?

Of course he did.

Not because he wanted people crowding around to praise him, nor for the little bit of attention at the Academy. It was because first place represented initiative. As long as he stood high enough, many people would be forced to change their attitudes toward him.

"If I can take it, I'll take it," he finally said.

Ino froze for a moment, then smiled until her eyes curved. "Alright, then I'll watch how you squeeze a certain first-place student out."

As she said that, her gaze very obviously drifted toward Sasuke.

Before leaving, she deliberately bent down and added in a voice only the two of them could hear, "If you really get it, I'll be even happier than you think."

Ling looked up at her.

But Ino smiled as though she had said nothing more, waved cheerfully, and ran out of the classroom first.

By the back door, Hinata had been standing quietly with her books in her arms. She had clearly heard most of their conversation, but unlike Ino, she could not easily walk over so directly. Only after most people had left did she slowly make her way to Ling's desk.

"Um... well..." Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "Good luck... on the exam."

After saying that, as if afraid of disturbing him, she quickly lowered her head and placed a small paper packet on the corner of his desk.

"It's candy." Hinata's ears turned red. "When you're nervous, eating some might help."

Ling looked at the small packet, placed neatly on the desk. He was silent for two breaths before saying, "Thank you."

It was as if those two words lightly touched Hinata. Her eyes brightened slightly, and then she hurried away with her books in her arms.

That evening, when Ling returned to the clan compound, his father was already waiting in the courtyard.

The man clearly knew about the stage assessment as well. The first thing he said was, "Don't disgrace the Uchiha Clan this time."

The same words again.

Ling was nearly numb from hearing them, but he did not argue back. He merely said calmly, "I'll take the place I deserve."

His father looked at him, his expression cold and stern. "The Uchiha Clan never settles for 'the place it deserves.' If you truly want to prove yourself, then prove that you are stronger than anyone your age."

The words sounded almost coercive, yet for the first time, they laid out the standard clearly enough.

Ling stood silently in the courtyard for a moment, then nodded.

That night, instead of pouring all his time into new techniques as usual, he reorganized the methods he could openly use at his current stage.

Basic taijutsu.

Short bursts after compression.

More stable ninja tool infusion.

Basic Fire Release enhancement.

As for the Explosive Shuriken and the more dangerous explosive variations, he would keep them hidden unless necessary.

Moonlight fell onto his palm as he slowly formed a mass of chakra, then compressed it bit by bit.

This time, the chakra did not become chaotic at the slightest touch as it had in the beginning. Instead, it quietly condensed into a deeper blue glow, steady and refined, as though it had been tempered a thousand times.

Ling watched it. He did not feel much nervousness. Instead, he was exceptionally calm.

The stage assessment was only the beginning.

What he truly had to face had never been this ranking board at the Academy.

But precisely because of that, he could not allow himself to fall behind in a place like this.

The night wind outside gradually picked up, making the wind chimes beneath the eaves ring softly.

Ling slowly clenched his hand, completely drawing the condensed chakra back into his body.

Before returning to his room, he thought again of the packet of candy on his desk that day. The thin candy wrapper made a faint rustling sound in his palm. The sweetness was actually very light, yet somehow it eased some of the pre-exam tension that should have been there.

Ino's frankness, Hinata's quietness, and Sasuke's sharp edge were like three entirely different forces pushing him forward at the same time.

Three days later, he would let everyone watching that ranking board understand one thing.

Uchiha Ling had never risen through a single burst of brilliance.

He had walked here step by step, by sheer force.