The entire field fell silent.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the still somewhat shy Hinata Hyuga.
This...
Was this really Hinata Hyuga, the girl who did not even dare speak loudly?
"That's incredible!"
"Hinata Hyuga, your improvement has been nothing short of phenomenal!"
Teacher Yamada's gaze was filled with undisguised admiration.
"As expected of..."
"The Fifth Hokage-sama's personal disciple!"
Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka stood there with their mouths agape, looking at each other and seeing the same disbelief in one another's eyes.
That girl who had barely any presence in class had silently pulled ahead of every one of them.
"Did you hear that? Did you hear that?!"
Naruto Uzumaki excitedly waved his fists, his face full of proud exhilaration.
"She's my senior sister!"
"Isn't she amazing?!"
He grinned brilliantly, as if he were the one who had earned that result.
Hinata's cheeks turned so red they looked ready to bleed.
Senior sister...
Naruto's... senior sister...
She secretly glanced at the boy cheering for her from the corner of her eye.
Under the sunlight, his golden hair shone even brighter than the sun.
The overwhelming joy welling up in her heart even eclipsed the tension of being watched by the entire class.
She had done it.
She had not let Teacher Yao down.
And even more... she had not let Naruto down.
Finally.
"Next, Naruto Uzumaki!"
Teacher Yamada called out the name.
In an instant, the atmosphere across the training ground turned somewhat strange.
Everyone's gaze shifted in unison toward Naruto Uzumaki at the back of the line.
He was also a disciple taken in by the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Yao.
Yet he had always been the class dead last.
"Hey, it's the dead last's turn."
"He'd be lucky just to hit the target today, right?"
"Haha, I bet