Taijutsu test

On Tuesday morning, Kiyoshi arrived at the classroom and noticed something was off.

More than half his classmates were missing. Their bags were still at their desks, but they were gone. He glanced out the window and saw several rows of students already standing on the field.

Keeping his face blank, he put down his bag and went outside.

Students from three classes stood in lines on the field, grouped by class. The joint first-year Taijutsu test was held once a month, and today was the day. Iruka stood in front of Class One. Beside him were two unfamiliar teachers, both wearing Chunin vests and holding scoring boards.

Kiyoshi joined his class's line and took his place.

Nakajima stood beside him and whispered, "Did you hear? All three classes are being scored together today."

"Yeah."

"Aren't you nervous?"

"No."

Nakajima glanced at him and said nothing.

Kiyoshi stood expressionless.

Iruka clapped his hands to quiet everyone down. "Today is the first joint Taijutsu test for the first years. There are three sections: basic movements, sparring, and a freestyle demonstration. Your scoring teachers are Teacher Yamanaka and Teacher Kobayashi over there."

Quiet murmurs rose from the crowd.

"Chunin are overseeing the test..."

"We're doomed."

"My legs feel a little weak."

Kiyoshi said nothing, his face unreadable.

The first section was basic movements.

Each class took its turn. Straight punches, kicks, and forward breakfall rolls. It was easy to tell at a glance whether the movements were correct. When Class One's turn came, Kiyoshi stood in line and followed the commands.

Straight punch. Kick. Forward breakfall roll.

His movements were clean, without anything unnecessary. Teacher Yamanaka glanced at him and made a few notes on his scoring board. Teacher Kobayashi looked over too. He wrote nothing, but watched for two extra seconds.

Kiyoshi finished the movements, settled into his finishing stance, and stood straight.

With the basics over, the second section was sparring.

They drew lots to determine their opponents. Kiyoshi drew a boy named Ishikawa, who was half a head taller than him and ranked above average in their class at Taijutsu.

Ishikawa's expression turned a little awkward when he saw that his opponent was Kiyoshi. He had heard about what happened to Nakajima and knew this stone-faced boy was no pushover. But with three classes watching, he couldn't simply concede.

The two stood facing each other in the sparring area.

Ishikawa attacked first, throwing a punch.

Kiyoshi turned sideways, dodged, caught his wrist, and pulled with his momentum. Ishikawa lost his balance and stumbled two steps forward.

A Joint Lock.

Shisui had taught him that.

Beside the name of the person who had taught him these moves, there was another small entry in Kiyoshi's mental ledger: this man wouldn't live past next spring. Shisui himself didn't know. He had also failed to show up for several days after saying, "I'll come again at this time tomorrow." According to the people at the Training Hall, he had taken an assignment elsewhere and wouldn't be back anytime soon. Kiyoshi wasn't pushing. He would keep it on the books for now.

Kiyoshi let go, stepped back, and watched him.

Ishikawa froze for a moment, gritted his teeth, and charged again.

Kiyoshi sidestepped once more. This time, instead of using a Joint Lock, he swept Ishikawa's legs straight out from under him.

Ishikawa lay on the ground, stunned for two seconds, then climbed up and brushed off the dust. "...I'm done."

"Okay."

Kiyoshi returned to the line.

Students from the other classes were watching him. Someone whispered, "Who's that Uchiha? He's pretty good."

"He took him down in two moves. That's the third one today, right?"

"Second. The last guy lasted three moves."

"Still brutal."

Kiyoshi remained expressionless, as though he hadn't heard.

Someone in Class Two's line beside them craned their head to look at him, then ducked back.

"Kiyoshi. The stone-faced guy from Class One."

"What was that move he used? I didn't get a good look."

"Looked like a Joint Technique."

Teacher Yamanaka made a few more notes on his scoring board, then looked up at Kiyoshi with a faint smile. Teacher Kobayashi said nothing, but also wrote a few words on his board.

Iruka stood nearby with a complicated expression. A student from his class had been taken down by Kiyoshi, but those two moves really had been beautifully executed. He couldn't quite scold him or praise him.

Kiyoshi stood there without a change in expression, as if nothing had happened.

The third section was the freestyle demonstration.

Students could volunteer to demonstrate the Taijutsu they were best at. Most stayed where they were. Only a few went up to perform a fist technique routine or a series of breakfalls, with wildly varying levels of skill.

Teacher Yamanaka checked the roster, then glanced at Kiyoshi. "The Uchiha from Class One. Would you like to come up and show us something?"

Kiyoshi nodded and stepped onto the field.

He stood in the center and was silent for two seconds.

His left foot angled outward half a step, and his right hand swung behind him.

Then he stopped.

His face blank, he brought his foot back, lowered his right hand, returned to a normal stance, and performed a fist technique routine.

It wasn't the full Jiahao Fist Technique triggered by the Instinct Soldier Pill, and it lacked those bizarre opening poses. But he had retained the exaggerated arm swings and the downward press of the finishing stance. After practicing it a few times, he could control parts of it now. The movements looked like some strange school of Taijutsu, rather than a fit of madness.

Someone in line whispered, "Was he about to strike some weird pose just now?"

"Looked like it, but he stopped himself."

"Too bad."

...What exactly are you disappointed about?

The field fell silent for a second.

Then someone whispered, "...What fist technique is that?"

"Never seen it."

"The movements are so weird."

"But it looks... pretty powerful?"

Teacher Yamanaka narrowed his eyes as he watched the downward press of Kiyoshi's finishing stance, then made a few more notes.

Someone nearby whispered, "He put so much force into that finish."

"Like he was pressing something down."

"Pressing down on air?"

Someone couldn't hold back a laugh, then hastily stifled it.

Teacher Kobayashi hadn't written anything the whole time. Only after Kiyoshi finished did he speak. "What kind of Taijutsu is that?"

Kiyoshi's face stayed blank. "Something I practiced on my own."

"On your own?"

"Yeah."

Teacher Kobayashi studied him for a few seconds. "Interesting."

Kiyoshi returned to the line.

Nakajima whispered beside him, "What the hell was that routine?"

"Exercise aerobics."

"...You think I believe that?"

"Believe what you want."

Nakajima shut up.

The test ended, and the three classes were dismissed. Kiyoshi headed back to the classroom. Several people turned to look at him along the way.

He kept walking, his face expressionless.

[System notification: Face value +480. Outstanding performance in the joint first-year Taijutsu test. Increased attention from Chunin teachers ×2, students from all three classes watching, and high praise for Joint Lock application + Taijutsu demonstration. Equipment multiplier of 1.2 applied. Total: Face value 1600.]

[System notification: Awkwardness value +20. Publicly demonstrated a simplified Jiahao Fist Technique. Finishing stance described as "like pressing down on air." Almost failed to resist performing the full opening pose. Total: Awkwardness value 903.]

Kiyoshi returned to the classroom and sat down.

1600. Enough.

He sat looking out the window, his face as blank as ever.

There was a long, thin scratch on the windowpane. He didn't know when it had appeared. He stared at it for two seconds, briefly wondering what had made it. Maybe someone's Kunai or a key, though it could have been something else.

He didn't dwell on it.

Tomorrow. Find somewhere with no one around and draw.

He lowered his gaze to his fingers. He had gripped too tightly during the Joint Lock, leaving his knuckles a little pale. He relaxed his hand and flexed it, watching the blood flow back into his fingertips.

Outside, people were still putting away the testing mats on the field. Teacher Yamanaka and Teacher Kobayashi stood nearby talking. As they spoke, they glanced toward the classroom building.

Kiyoshi didn't notice, or perhaps he did and simply didn't show it. He stood, pushed his chair under the desk, and left the classroom.

In the hallway, someone spotted him and whispered, "That's him. The one who took that guy down in sparring."

"The stone-faced one?"

"Yeah, him."

Kiyoshi walked past them without stopping, his expression unchanged.

He left the classroom building and headed toward the school gate. The sunlight on his face was a little dazzling. He squinted briefly, then returned to his usual blank expression.

Wonder what I'll get from tomorrow's draw.

A skill slot. A chakra refinement acceleration card. A ninjutsu scroll.

Any one of those would be worth it.

He walked out of the school gate and turned onto the road home. The roadside leaves were a little yellower than last week. A few had fallen to the ground and tumbled in the wind.

He stepped on a fallen leaf. It crunched and broke into pieces.

He kept walking without looking back.

In the shade of a tree diagonally across from the school gate, a figure leaned against the trunk, motionless, watching him walk away.

A few seconds later, the figure turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Kiyoshi knew nothing about it. He turned into the alley leading to his home, opened the door, set his bag beside the entryway, and changed his shoes. His expression never changed.

Tomorrow.