Neji took a deep breath and stepped into the academy. The corridor was packed with laughing, rowdy students. Following the directions Jonin Fujiwara had given him, he headed straight for the teachers' office.
"You're the new transfer student?" Teacher Nakajima, the homeroom instructor, looked up from a pile of documents and adjusted his round glasses. "Neji?"
"Yes, sir." Neji bowed respectfully.
Nakajima was a middle-aged man in his early forties, with a conspicuous scar across his forehead that was said to have been left during the First Ninja World War. He looked Neji up and down, his gaze lingering on Neji's upright figure for a moment.
"Someone recommended by Jonin Fujiwara should have some skill." Nakajima pushed up his glasses. "But the second-year curriculum is already halfway through. You'll need to pass a basic assessment before you can join the class."
Neji had come prepared. "I can take the test at any time."
The assessment was held at the training ground. When Neji saw its contents, he secretly sighed in relief—demonstrations of the Three-Body Jutsu, shuriken throwing, and basic taijutsu. To him, those were laughably easy. But he had to rein in his performance. He needed to pass without standing out too much.
"Transformation Technique!"
After forming hand seals, Neji transformed into Teacher Nakajima. The details were flawless, except he deliberately left a flaw in the glasses frame.
"Not bad." Nakajima nodded. "Next, the Clone Technique."
This time, Neji created only one physical clone and made it appear slightly blurry. During the shuriken-throwing portion, he deliberately let two miss the bullseye. In the final taijutsu spar, he exchanged ten moves with Nakajima before pretending to run out of stamina and conceding defeat.
"Barely passing." Nakajima stamped the assessment form. "Starting today, you'll be assigned to Class 2-A. Remember, our class