His words surprised all the students present. Although they had known they would spar once they met, they had not expected the real purpose to be helping one another improve. They had thought their teachers simply wanted them to demonstrate their strength and show off their teaching abilities to their fellow disciples.
Once their surprise passed, they quickly realized this was a good thing. Until now, they had learned ninjutsu from their own teachers, then practiced with their fellow students or teachers. Given the differences in strength, they could gain some experience either way, but they were always facing the same people, with little that was new or unexpected.
Sparring with another teacher's students would be different. These were opponents they knew nothing about, which meant they could gain experience fighting unfamiliar enemies. That would be tremendously helpful for the Joint Chunin Exams. After all, they might not even know the techniques of everyone in their own Shinobi Village, let alone those from other villages.
Hatake Sakumo, Heizo Hattori, Orochimaru, and the others grew excited. They believed they would improve considerably, but not everyone welcomed the idea.
"Ugh, this is even more troublesome than I imagined," said Nara Shikaichi listlessly. He was Torifu Akimichi's student and the next heir to the Nara Clan.
Perhaps because he had made no effort to hide it, Torifu Akimichi heard his remark. Torifu immediately knitted his brows and snapped sternly, "Shikaichi!"
"Sorry, Uncle Torifu," Yamanaka Kanato said hurriedly. He tugged at Nara Shikaichi and whispered, "Shikaichi, what are you saying? Uncle Torifu's fellow disciples are all here."
Indeed, having his student act so unmotivated in front of his fellow disciples was deeply embarrassing. Even though Torifu Akimichi had already told the others about his students, his cheeks still burned.
However, Kazemori Masaki and the