Although this round of kunai throwing had yet to begin, everyone already had some idea of what to expect.
Baoguo Shimura excelled in every area. He would score at least 95.
Mitaraishi Anko was also good at kunai throwing. She would probably score around 90.
Only Obito Uchiha had been a complete joke during the previous kunai throwing test.
Two of the kunai Obito threw had flown into other people's targets.
Another had flown straight at Teacher Liangtian's face.
That had frightened Teacher Liangtian so badly that he no longer dared stand beside the targets. He now gave instructions from beside whoever was throwing.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
At Liangtian's command to begin, the throwing started.
Obito, Anko, and Baoguo threw the three kunai in their hands almost simultaneously.
But Obito's eyes turned from black to red, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan flashing briefly in his pupils.
A series of dull thuds rang out. All three students' kunai struck their targets.
Liangtian jogged over to the targets again.
He checked Anko's bull's-eye first. After determining her score, he turned and announced loudly:
"Mitaraishi Anko! 90 points! Very good!"
"Yes!" Anko turned and flashed a gesture at her classmates, her face lit up with a delighted smile.
Liangtian then looked at Baoguo Shimura's target and nodded in satisfaction.
"Next is Baoguo, who ranks first in our year in every assessment!"
"His score is 95! Another very consistent performance!"
Liangtian was quite pleased with Baoguo.
Having such an excellent student in his class had helped him win the bonus for outstanding homeroom teachers several times.
By contrast, a perennial dead-last student like Obito was nothing but an obstacle between him and that bonus.
Obito was also frequently late and always doing bizarre things, so Liangtian disliked him.
He seemed to have already decided that Obito's throwing score would be terrible.
Before he even looked at Obito's target, a trace of disdain had unconsciously crept onto his face.
But when his gaze landed on the bull's-eye Obito had hit, his eyes went wide, his face filled with disbelief.
"What? How is this possible?"
All three kunai were embedded in the red dot at the very center of the target, with almost no space between them.
Such kunai throwing was practically unprecedented. Even Liangtian himself had no confidence that he could achieve that result.
The three kunai were simply too close together.
The red dot at the center of the target was only so big.
Once the first kunai struck the bull's-eye, getting a second one to hit it as well was extremely difficult.
The two kunai would overlap.
The second kunai would strike the back of the first, knocking it out or deflecting it.
Yet Obito had landed three consecutive hits, all right on the red dot.
"O-Obito! A perfect score of 100!"
Seeing the students behind him whispering among themselves and growing impatient, Liangtian had no choice but to announce the score loudly.
"What? How is this possible?" Asuma's eyes widened in the same disbelief Liangtian had shown.
Suspicion covered Mizuki's face as he shouted accusingly, "Teacher Liangtian! You must have looked at the wrong target! That dead-last loser Obito couldn't possibly get full marks! It must have been Baoguo!"
Watching Obito walk slowly toward them from a distance, Rin Nohara's face brightened with joy. "Obito! Did you really do it?"
Most of the other students reacted just like Asuma and Mizuki.
They simply assumed Teacher Liangtian had mixed up the targets, mistaking Baoguo's for Obito's.
A perfect score of 100 in shuriken throwing?
That wasn't something to joke about.
Even Kakashi, the prodigy who had graduated early, had only achieved a personal best of 98 in ninja tool throwing.
The requirements for a perfect score of 100 were incredibly strict.
Although most of the students didn't know exactly what qualified as a perfect score, they were almost certain Obito Uchiha couldn't possibly achieve one.
Obito's image as a bumbling fool was already firmly rooted in everyone's minds.
Only Shizune, who had been watching Obito's expression all along, had begun to suspect something from the confident smile on his lips.
Obito probably really did win... Shizune murmured to herself.
Liangtian wasn't surprised by their reactions. He turned to glance at Obito, a complicated look in his eyes.
"Everyone! I did not look at the wrong target! You can trust your teacher's judgment! Obito really did score 100!"
Although Liangtian was extremely reluctant to believe it, he was still a teacher, and he had to take responsibility for what he said.
An uproar erupted!
Hearing Teacher Liangtian's firm confirmation, the students burst into an uproar.
Their disbelief became even more obvious as they stared at Obito. A faint trace of jealousy even flickered in some students' eyes.
Confusion lingered in Asuma's gaze. "Has Obito really gone from loser to winner? Has he become an even crazier genius than Kakashi?"
Mizuki curled his lip in disdain. "Tch! That guy will always be dead last! Even if he hit the bull's-eye with every throw, it was probably just dumb luck!"
Kurenai Yuhi rolled her eyes at Mizuki. "When someone's better than you, admit it! You're only second from the bottom yourself, Mizuki! What right do you have to criticize anyone?"
Mitaraishi Anko nodded. "I think Obito seems a little different today, too! He's much more confident than he used to be!"
A trace of venom flashed in Mizuki's eyes. Kurenai Yuhi's words had struck a nerve.
So what if I'm second from the bottom? I'm just a kid from an ordinary family.
I'm not like you, all born into major clans, with far better resources and advantages than me. What's there to brag about?
Obito quietly watched his classmates discuss him, a smile on his face.
He simply stood to one side with his arms folded, without saying another word.
The facts would stand up to scrutiny.
With his three tomoe activated, the Sharingan's powers of perception and prediction, and the Uchiha Clan's exclusive shuriken techniques, getting full marks wasn't all that difficult for Obito.
He hadn't spent the two and a half years since transmigrating here doing nothing.
Every day after class, he trained desperately on his own in the woods. Shuriken throwing was one of the things he practiced.
As for why Obito had made a complete fool of himself in every previous assessment?
That was simply because he hadn't wanted to stand out too much or attract too much attention.
After all, Obito knew perfectly well that Konoha's higher-ups were a bunch of scheming old bastards.
If he stood out, they might send the Anbu or Root to watch him, leaving him with no privacy.
Especially over the past few years, as relations between the Uchiha and Konoha had grown increasingly strained.
At such a sensitive time, Obito had even more reason to protect his life and avoid drawing too much attention.
Before you continue