The Prophet and the Chuunibyou

The seven days of preparation passed in the blink of an eye. Today was the day the Combat Assessment began.

As usual, Hoshi packed up his Wooden Sword and Dagger before heading to the Ninja Academy amid Rie's reminders.

The moment he entered the classroom, he could clearly feel that the atmosphere was completely different from usual.

For some reason, the students had fallen into a tense yet fervent mood. Those with poor grades wore miserable expressions as they complained about their pressure to the people around them, hoping for at least a little comfort.

The students with no fear of elimination were also discussing who would take first place, who would be eliminated, and what kind of opponents they should look for.

Of course, not everyone looked so nervous. Those little brats from the Uchiha Clan still had that same air of "the heavens come first, the earth comes second, and I come third."

Uchiha Iwa even made a provocative gesture at Hoshi as soon as he entered.

Hoshi truly did not want to pay too much attention to this professionally tacky guy. He always made Hoshi imagine some painfully awkward scenes.

But Hoshi's disregard made Uchiha Iwa burn with rage. He slammed a hand on the desk and stood up, pointing at Hoshi in front of the entire class as he said, "Today, Sakumo won't be able to protect you. Let's see if you can still act so calm once we're on the field."

Hoshi sighed inwardly. Why had he been singled out by such a tacky teenager? Since you were being this aggressive, you couldn't blame him for showing off.

With that thought, Hoshi turned to look at Uchiha Iwa and said calmly, "Your next line is: 'I'm going to expose you as a fraud in front of everyone.'"

The moment Hoshi finished speaking, Uchiha Iwa said, "I'm going to expose you as a fraud in front of everyone."

The classroom immediately erupted again. Everyone had already been drawn in by the actions of the two, but seeing Uchiha Iwa actually say exactly what Hoshi had predicted made them immensely curious.

How had Hoshi done that? The moment Uchiha Iwa spoke, his expression changed. How did that bastard know what he wanted to say?

Looking at Uchiha Iwa's dumbfounded expression, Hoshi continued, "How did you bastard know what I wanted to say?"

"How did you bastard..." The instant Uchiha Iwa spoke, he realized his words were exactly the same as Hoshi's. He hurriedly covered his mouth, his face turning purple with pent-up frustration.

That feeling of being seen through was utterly unbearable. Uchiha Iwa did not even dare speak anymore, afraid that the moment he opened his mouth, Hoshi would know what he intended to say again.

The feeling of having his own showing-off interrupted by himself frustrated him so much he could practically explode. But he was afraid that continuing would turn him into a joke, so he could only sullenly sit back down and shut his mouth, wearing an expression as though he had swallowed a fly.

Inwardly, he cursed that once the assessment started, he would make that bastard die horribly.

Seeing Uchiha Iwa's mentality crumble, Hoshi laughed to himself. Joseph Joestar's move was truly excellent for messing with someone's head. A technique that interrupted the other person's showing-off while letting you show off at the same time was simply too practical.

The students whispered among themselves about how Hoshi had known what Uchiha Iwa was going to say next. The girls stared at Hoshi with sparkling eyes.

He was handsome, kind, and so capable. If they missed a boy like that, where would they ever find another one in the future?

As for the boys, a powerful urge to become his disciples rose within them. Coach, I want to learn this utterly satisfying art of showing off too.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others nearby also gathered around curiously, asking Hoshi how he had done it. In response, Hoshi merely said indifferently, "It isn't that I have some special ability. He's just too easy to read."

If Hoshi could replace his Sword Heart System with the Show-off System next door, this move would have been a perfect kill. He would have earned at least a hundred experience points. Unfortunately, that was impossible.

Just as the students were all discussing Hoshi's miraculous counterattack against Uchiha Iwa, Teacher Mitsui strolled slowly into the classroom. When he pushed open the door, he suddenly found that the scene before him was rather different from what he had imagined.

He had expected the students to be scared stiff, waiting for him, their excellent teacher, to serve them a heartwarming bowl of inspirational soup.

Instead, he walked in to find them chatting animatedly, all talking about Hoshi and Uchiha Iwa.

What was wrong with kids these days? Did they not care about their own situation at all? Teacher Mitsui wore the expression of a man with a thousand questions.

"Ahem. Students, come with me to the training grounds now. Our Combat Assessment is about to begin."

Since the students did not need his inspirational speech, Teacher Mitsui simply took them down to begin the matches.

Once all the students had arrived at the training grounds, the Combat Assessment officially began.

This kind of combat assessment naturally would not be as complicated as the Chunin Exam. In truth, this assessment was similar to the placement test at the beginning of the school year, with the teacher's judgment being the main factor.

Based on their previous learning performance, Teacher Mitsui had already formed a rough ranking for the students in the class. What remained was to add or deduct points according to their performance in combat.

If two opponents of similar strength fought, the winner gained points and the loser lost points. In addition, weaker students earned points for actively challenging stronger ones, while stronger students lost points for maliciously picking on weaker students. That was roughly how it worked.

The match order followed the student numbers assigned when the classes had been divided at the start of the school year, so Uchiha Iwa was the very first one up.

When Uchiha Iwa heard the teacher call him, he did not part the crowd. Instead, he sprinted in the opposite direction. Just as everyone wondered what he was doing—

Uchiha Iwa took two running steps and charged up a large tree. After running two steps up it, he forcefully kicked off, flipping forward through the air and vaulting over several students watching him before landing steadily in the center of the field.

For a moment, everyone was dumbstruck. The students were shocked that Uchiha Iwa could perform such a difficult move, while Teacher Mitsui and Hoshi were thoroughly stunned by his ridiculousness.

It was just an entrance. Was that really necessary? And what was with that expression like he wanted to conquer heaven, earth, and the air?

Weren't you embarrassed?

Hoshi smacked his forehead amid the crowd, feeling that this kid was beyond saving. If eighth-grader syndrome was an illness, then this kid was unquestionably terminal.

After struggling to hold it in for a while, Mitsui finally suppressed his urge to burst out laughing. He covered the lower half of his face with the scorecard and forced himself to speak calmly.

"Um, Iwa, have you decided on your opponent? The teacher needs to remind you that if you deliberately choose weak opponents, points will be deducted."

Uchiha Iwa withdrew from his landing pose and put on an expression that said, "I'm too noble for you," before speaking.

"Teacher, I choose Hayate Hoshi. You may deduct my points."

The Combat Assessment from half a month later in the previous chapter has been changed to next week. Half a month felt a little too long, but it does not affect the reading overall.