"Please have examinee number 37, Isao Akasaki, and examinee number 38, Uchiha Shisui, enter the examination room."
Upon hearing that his opponent was Shisui, Isao Akasaki stood frozen in place for a moment.
Undoubtedly, Shisui was the opponent that students of the first year class least wanted to encounter.
No doubt about it, Shisui was just too strong.
In the previous exam, Shisui had effortlessly secured the first place in the class and the first place in the grade, crushing everyone in his path. Even Anko, who was in second place in the grade, could only be overwhelmed by him.
The scores in practical exams were determined by performance during the battle. If you were instantly defeated, the supervising sensei wouldn't be able to see your performance, resulting in a lower score.
But since Isao Akasaki had drawn Shisui as his opponent, he could only accept his bad luck and enter the examination room.
After Mutsuki announced the start of the exam, Isao Akasaki paid no attention to anything else. He immediately went through the Three Basic Jutsu, showcasing his proficiency in them.
"This student seems to have a good understanding of the exam scoring rules," nodded Ueda Aya, not finding anything wrong with Isao Akasaki's approach.
Shisui silently watched Isao Akasaki's performance. When he felt it was about enough, he swiftly threw two Shuriken to eliminate the Clones, then rushed forward, delivering two punches to knock Isao Akasaki down.
"The difference in strength between these two is too great," remarked Ueda Aya, unable to discern any significant changes in Shisui's abilities compared to the last time.
Isao Akasaki's strength was far inferior to Shisui's; it was almost impossible to see any notable skills.
After the battle between the thirty-ninth and fortieth students concluded, Ueda Aya completed the first round of scoring. Glancing casually over the forty students, she noticed that none of them had a score below 8 points, an extremely exaggerated average.
"This exam, I reckon, Mutsuki, you'll once again earn praise from Lord Third-sama. If these scores get reported, I might be called in for questioning," Ueda Aya joked.
"Well, then we'll probably be questioned together," Mutsuki glanced at Ueda Aya's scores, which were similar to his.
Even though they were students from his class, excellence was excellence, and Mutsuki didn't feel the need to avoid suspicion by intentionally giving low scores.
As the battles continued, students inevitably faced moments when they had to fight against their friends. Izumo tearfully eliminated Kotetsu, and Anko tearfully eliminated Izumo.
"Hahaha, Kotetsu, your Confusion Jutsu is really not up to par," Izumo, who had defeated his good friend, used a smile to conceal his sadness and comfort his dear brother.
Kotetsu: "..."
He swore to practice every day during the holidays, vowing to defeat Izumo and regain his pride next semester.
"Hahaha, Izumo, Kotetsu, how could you two ninjutsu talents possibly be a match for the genius Anko?" Anko, who had entered the class's practical finals, stood proudly with hands on hips.
The two exchanged glances, deciding that on the day when theoretical scores were announced, they would unleash a strong attack against Anko.
"Examinee Mitarashi Anko and examinee Uchiha Shisui, please enter the examination area." The class practical exam entered its final stage.
Ueda Aya watched this battle attentively. Anko, who ranked second in the previous exam, could be considered the second strongest in the first year after Shisui. This battle should bring out more from Shisui.
Knowing that Shisui was not easy to deal with, Anko directly used the Confusion Jutsu as the battle began.
However, this time she made some changes. She first created seven Shisui Clones to obstruct Shisui, then, amid the confusion, used the Transformation Jutsu to turn herself into Shisui's appearance. Afterward, she created a Clone that looked like her original self.
But Shisui was not as easily fooled as an ordinary student. Despite numerous illusions constantly disrupting his vision, he did not lose sight of the real Anko. With a Body Flicker Jutsu, he swiftly reached Anko's side and defeated her.
"Body Flicker Jutsu, huh? I guess we have to wait until his graduation exam to see more from him," Ueda Aya thought to herself.
The battle between Shisui and Anko was also a one-sided affair, with Shisui showing a bit more.
With Shisui securing the first place in the class practical exam, the class practical exams for the second day came to an end.
As Mutsuki and Ueda Aya were returning to the office together, they encountered Chitani Isamu shouting loudly along the way.
"Why are Might Guy and Uchiha Obito so strong? I just can't figure it out. I haven't seen them being so impressive during classes," Chitani Isamu pondered, expressing his confusion. Even with a day of monitoring Might Guy and Uchiha Obito's performances, he felt that even Hyuga Kamon might struggle against them.
Chitani Isamu found it strange. How did these two well-known figures become so powerful in his hands? Could it be that he was secretly a skilled educator?
However, Chitani Isamu quickly dismissed this idea from his mind. He still had a third-year class to handle, and the overall level of his class was only average.
Chitani Isamu saw Mutsuki and Ueda Aya and shared the situation with them.
"Perhaps they both had been quietly accumulating strength?" Ueda Aya said uncertainly.
"Regardless, having strong students is a good thing, isn't it?" Mutsuki said with a smile.
Chitani Isamu felt that Mutsuki made sense. No matter why they were so formidable this semester, the bonuses from the school were certainly not imaginary.
...
On the third day, the grade-level practical exams began.
The grading sensei for the grade-level practical exams was randomly selected from the monitoring sensei for that grade. Ueda Aya was chosen, but Mutsuki was not.
Nevertheless, since he was a first-year sensei, Mutsuki still went over to observe for a while.
After Ueda Aya completed one round of scoring, she realized that some of the top two from other classes were not as impressive as the Ninjutsu talents in Mutsuki's class.
"The restriction of having only two students per class should be revised. Without this limitation, among the top eight in the grade, at least six would be from the first-year class," Ueda Aya thought to herself.
She felt that such rules were a bit unfair to a class like the first-year class, which was exceptionally outstanding as a whole.
Clearly, they had the strength, yet they were ineligible to participate in the grade-level practical exams.
Mutsuki finished watching the first round and left, heading towards the grade-level practical exam venue for the fourth year.
Shisui securing the first place in the grade was without suspense; he was more concerned about the situation in the fourth year.
Both Might Guy and Obito carried the practice task of achieving the first place.
After two months of rigorous training to enhance their foundation, Mutsuki felt that the rewards for completing the practice tasks would be quite impressive, and he was eagerly anticipating them.
When Mutsuki arrived, the fourth year had just completed the first round and was in the midst of the quarter-finals.
"Examinee number one, Hyuga Kamon, and examinee number four, Might Guy, please enter the examination room."
As the voice of the monitoring sensei echoed, the onlooker students began to quietly discuss.
From the results of the previous exam, this battle was undoubtedly the focal point of this grade-level practical exam, as the combatants were the first and second from the last exam.
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