The 1st-year exam was just like midterms with a minor change. Might Guy boasted about his last win in the betting, which earned him quite a sum last time. He again bet on Ryu, but no one bet against Might Guy this time.
The race began, and as expected, Ryu took the lead, while the civilian ninjas, who had shifted in the rankings, now found themselves in the middle of the class during the race.
Kakashi was the first to notice that kids from civilian backgrounds have shown significant improvement in their skills and abilities. He commented, and Hiruzen explained that Ryu had trained them for the past few months.
Kakashi asked, "Did he have time from his busy schedule?"
Hiruzen replied, "He does not. He was just following his own training plan, and others copied him. He gave them enough pointers to leave them training by themselves. "
Just then a ninja landed near him. She was wearing attire associated with the ANBU. Hiruzen asked, "Is everything okay ?"
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Enjomi Kaori, Ryu's secretary, responded.
Hiruzen asked her, "What's the progress?"
"He had completed one of his engineering projects," Enjomi said.
Kakashi, "That was fast."
Enjomi replied, "A meeting will be held for demonstration. The project will then transition to the mass production phase, after which he will commence work on a new project."
"What new project afterwards?" Hiruzen asked.
She replied, "I don't know the specifics, but he asked me to procure salt in large quantities. He also tasked me with finding a salt-making business on the shores."
"Could be salt will be a raw material for his next project that he will be needing it in large quantities." Kakshi said.
Hiruzen rubbed his chin and said, "Ok, I will have someone else find a salt factory that is on sale. You don't need to do that yourself."
"Yes, Lord Hokage," she replied.
With that, all of them began to watch the exam. Shuriken were being thrown by kids. Since Ryu was leading the race, he had already taken his turn and achieved a high score similar to his previous performance.
Now was the time for the civilians. They did improve in physical aspects, but they did not fare better in shuriken throwing much. Next was chakra measurement, whose score did not count, and duels.
Chakra measurement was performed on all the students, and a report was prepared that compared them with the last results. This time also Ryu showed remarkable improvement in his chakra volume, as did the civilian kids.
The player vs. player was about to start, and unlike last time, no one was eager to challenge Ryu, and Uchiha was not looking for a fight.
Nara joked, "How did you tame the Uchiha?"
"I don't know," Ryu replied, "they have been keeping their distance since I have become friends with Itachi Uchiha."
"Itachi Uchiha, the genius of the Uchiha clan who graduated early six months ago!!" Nara said.
"Man, it's good to have connections in high places. I think he isn't much older than us. He was admitted to the academy at 5 years old and skipped grades multiple times on the recommendation of the academy teachers. They rarely recommend anyone. That's just speaking to how talented he is. "
"He does not approach anyone. How did you become friends with him?" Nara asked.
"Ohh. I beat his ass very hard and wiped the floor with him. That's how we became good friends." Ryu replied.
Nara twitched his eye with his mouth wide open. He said, "That's some way to make friends. I am glad we got to meet through this class."
The instructor announced the 1st battle of the day was Ryu Hamura vs. Hikari Hyuga.
Hikari Hyuga looked at Ryu and thought, "Knew it."
Hikari Hyuga came first in the academy endurance test because she was the best in physical fitness, like all the Hyugas. But she never challenged Ryu. Outside she was very much like others from the Eltre Ninja clans, who always looked down on others, but inside she envied the civilians. They were never subjected to the [Bird Cage Seal], similar to kids from the branch family of the Hyuga Clan.
She was taught by her family to never associate with the civilian, as they are very inconsequential. But one thing Ryu said about all the legendary Sannin Ninjas of Leaf Village changed her perspective. Two of them are from a civilian clan. She heard it when Ryu consoled one of the civilians at the entrance exam. From that day onwards, she always kept her eye on him but never approached him as she was instructed not to.
""Step forward, both contestants!" the instructor commanded.
Both of them then performed the seal of comfort and got ready to fight.
Ryu thought, "A taijutsu battle against Hyuga. Well, it's a good opportunity to gain some experience. I just need to protect my chakra points. But it will not be easy; they don't need to push very hard. All they need is to touch my skin softly and push a bit of chakra to block my chakra network. My advantage is that she is not taught the technique of the main branch, but she still can block my chakra points nonetheless."
"Gentle fist, what a fitting name."
Hikari Hyuga thought, "He is very good at close combat and also with genjutsu. Good thing I am also good at close combat, and his genjutsu is useless to me. So it comes down to who is better at taijutsu."
"All right, begin," said the instructor, and both Ryu and Hikari Hyuga launched themselves at each other.
Ryu tried very hard to not give her the opportunity to block his chakra points. The fight was all kicks and punches. Both of them were matching in the flow of the battle.
Kaito was looking at the fight. He sighed and said, "What a boring fight."
Akira nodded in affirmation.
"Is that boring for you?" Takeshi Yamamoto said, "I can't even see them clearly.".
Ryu had earlier beaten other top prodigies in the class in taijutsu duels, but these prodigies did not have taijutsu as their specialty. but that was clearly not the case with this new opportunity.
Ryu thought, "She is good. but without the technique of the main house, this level of gentle fist is useless against me. I guess Neji was a genius to learn it by himself."
Hikari was not able to get the upper hand against Ryu, but the opposite was also true. Without using his other speciality, he was just physically superior, but her fluid taijutsu was able to deal with his powerful attacks.
After a fierce exchange, the instructor stepped in, announcing a draw between Ryu and Hikari Hyuga, marking the end of their intense confrontation.
Both of them did not complain and just went back to their place. The other battle was anticlimactic, and nothing special happened. The civilian kids Ryu had trained also lost their battle but gave a difficult fight to their opponent, and so they were able to score higher than before.
As the first year concluded, all students were promoted to the next level without any early promotions, resulting in the class composition remaining unchanged without new additions from other year sections.
As the exams were going on, a three-man team was running towards the leaf village.
""The bandits trail points to that way," said Tenma Izumo.
Itachi replied, "We must hurry before they enter the town. It will be difficult to find them."
"Let's hurry then; it's our first real mission without Minazuki-sensei, and I don't want a blemish on my record." said Shinko Inari.
Just then, Itachi's keen eyes caught a glimpse of something unusual. He came to a sudden halt, prompting his teammates to follow suit. As they surveyed the area, their gaze fell upon a chilling sight—multiple lifeless bodies scattered on the ground, with a mysterious figure cloaked in a mask with a single eye hole on the right side.
"Hey! Who are you? Did you kill them?" Shinko Inari asked.
"Oh, those people. Yes, I did kill them. They bothered me. They were inconsequential, so I ended their sad, miserable lives," the masked man said.
"What a surprise. When I went out for fresh air, I did not expect to meet Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy and son of Wicked Eye Fugaku, the Uchiha clan leader."
The masked man's words sent a chill down Itachi's spine as he realised the imminent threat they faced. Shinko Inari gripped his weapon tightly, ready for whatever might come next.
Itachi activated his sharingan when he heard his name from this stranger, who warned his teammates, "Stay sharp; he knows me."
"Ohhh... Sharingan? You achieved this at a very young age. I expect nothing of the son of the leader of the Uchiha Clan," the masked stranger said as he jumped down from the tree and started walking towards the team.
"Seems I must eliminate you; a pity your comrades must share your fate," he declared, ominous intent lacing his words.
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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