Chapter 156: Nohara Rin's Amazing Performance
On Monday morning, after finishing his routine, Obito created a Shadow Clone and said quickly,
"You go to school first. It'll look bad if you're late."
"Heh, still trying to trick me into taking the exam for you? Do you think I don't know today's the final exam?" the Shadow Clone sneered.
As another Obito, he instantly saw through what the main body was thinking.
"Anyway, you're the one who usually goes to school. The theoretical exam is your problem," Obito said, realizing he couldn't deceive himself.
"Going to school is fine, but the exam? Forget it. That's your responsibility," the Shadow Clone declared, arms crossed.
"If I go, both of us suffer. If you go, only one person suffers," the Shadow Clone reasoned logically.
Obito paused. "…That actually makes sense."
With no choice, he dispelled the Shadow Clone and grumbled, "Damn you, Senju Tobirama. This Shadow Clone Technique is completely useless!"
With his plan ruined, Obito had no choice but to eat breakfast and head to school himself.
On the way, he ran into several first-year students he vaguely recognized—kids from Mugetsu's class who'd joined the summer special training.
"Good morning, Obito-senpai!" Kotetsu, Izumo, and Anko greeted him in unison.
"Morning," Obito replied with a small smile.
"Obito-senpai, you don't look too happy. Something wrong?" Izumo asked curiously.
"Don't tell me it's because of today's exam?" Kotetsu guessed immediately.
"You could say that," Obito admitted. "I'm not exactly good at theory."
"Eh? You're bad at theory too?" Anko's eyes lit up instantly, as though she'd just found a kindred spirit.
"Those boring theory questions are impossible to remember! It's totally normal to struggle with them," Obito said, nodding in agreement. He felt a sense of camaraderie—it was like looking into a mirror.
"We actually also—" Kotetsu began, only for Anko to cut him off.
"Don't believe them, Obito-senpai! These two are monsters. Their theory scores are amazing! They got perfect scores on one exam and ninety-eight or ninety-seven on the next!"
"What? Perfect scores?!" Obito was stunned. "People can actually score that high? I thought the human limit was sixty!"
"No, no, we just reviewed a bit more," Kotetsu said modestly, scratching his head. He knew the real genius was Shisui.
"These two are so mean! They always tease me for being bad at theory!" Anko huffed, puffing out her cheeks indignantly.
"Obito-senpai, what's your usual score? It should be above eighty, right?" she asked expectantly.
"…What's your usual score?" Obito countered suspiciously. Something about this "fellow academic failure" felt off.
"Don't laugh, okay? My grades are terrible—and they keep getting worse! My first score was only eighty, and last time it dropped to seventy-eight," Anko confessed with a sigh.
"…"
The sense of connection Obito felt vanished instantly.
Eighty points was considered bad? Reviewing "a bit more" led to perfect scores? He suddenly wondered if the exams were secretly designed for geniuses only.
My first exam was twenty points, Obito thought bitterly. If I ever scored eighty, I'd frame the test paper and hang it on the Hokage Rock.
Spotting a familiar figure up ahead, he quickly changed the subject. "I see someone I know. Let's talk later!"
He jogged forward. "Guy! Wait up!"
He needed to escape before these little monsters shattered his self-esteem any further.
"Another morning full of youth!" Guy greeted him enthusiastically, giving a radiant thumbs-up.
"Guy, are you confident about the exam?" Obito asked, eyeing him warily.
"Oh, right… today's the exam." Guy's thumb drooped instantly, his grin freezing in place.
Seeing Guy deflate, Obito felt comforted. Good. This is how it should be. Those first-years are definitely not normal.
---
On the first day of the theoretical exams, Mugetsu didn't invigilate but stopped by the examination halls several times.
On the second day, he headed specifically to the Class 2, Fourth Grade hall—the class where Obito and Rin were taking their tests.
Mugetsu's main reason was to observe Rin's performance in the practical exam.
Among his disciples, Rin was the weakest in combat. She was far behind Guy and Obito, and even struggled against some classmates. But after learning the Monster Strength Technique and training her Taijutsu, Mugetsu expected her to have improved significantly—at least enough to avoid losing to anyone but those two.
It had already been nearly five months since Rin became his disciple during the summer training.
"Teacher Mugetsu," greeted Ueda Aya, who was assigned as an invigilator for the class.
"Director Mugetsu," another proctor added respectfully, not as familiar with him but aware of his status.
Mugetsu smiled politely. "I'm just here to check on the students I taught during the holiday training."
"Mugetsu, I heard you were selected as one of the intern instructors?" Ueda Aya asked curiously.
"It's true," Mugetsu nodded.
"Which students are you in charge of? Let me guess—Guy and Obito, right?" she said with a knowing grin.
Her assumption made sense. Mugetsu's teaching skill was well-known, and the Academy naturally wanted the best students under his supervision.
"For Class 2, yes. Those two," Mugetsu confirmed with a small smile.
"Examinee Number One, Nohara Rin! Examinee Number Two, Uchiha Tekka! Prepare for the practical exam!" the proctor called out.
The room quieted. Ueda Aya straightened her posture and picked up her grading sheet. The exam had begun.
"Rin's unlucky this time," some classmates whispered among themselves. "If she hadn't been matched with Tekka, she might've made the top four."
Since the last round of special training, Rin's performance had skyrocketed. In the previous exam, aside from Obito and Guy—who were untouchable—only Uchiha Tekka consistently defeated her.
"After all, Tekka was in Group A from the start of special training, while Rin only joined near the end," another student commented.
Most believed Tekka would win again. He had always been considered one of the best among the Fourth Grade students—perhaps even strong enough to compete in the yearly grade-level tournament. But only two students per class could qualify, and with Obito and Guy dominating, Tekka never got the chance.
"Rin, you'd better hold back later. Don't punch that guy to death," Obito said exaggeratedly, crossing his arms.
He didn't believe for a second that Uchiha Tekka could beat Rin.
"It's not as bad as you make it sound, Obito," Rin said softly, though she couldn't help feeling that the image Obito had of her was… slightly off.
"Hehe," Obito chuckled and didn't respond. He simply waved his fist in the air and shouted, "Go, Rin!"
Rin smiled gently and walked to the open arena, forming the confrontation seal as she waited for the match to begin.
Uchiha Tekka soon entered the ring as well, assuming his stance—but unlike Rin, he wasn't taking this match seriously. His mind was elsewhere, preoccupied with frustration.
How big is the gap between me and Obito now? No matter how hard I train, it feels like he keeps getting farther away…
Tekka clenched his fists, recalling their last battle, where he had been thoroughly outclassed. The thought weighed on him heavily.
"Battle start!" the invigilating teacher announced.
The instant the words left his mouth—
Whoosh!
Rin vanished from sight.
Uchiha Tekka's eyes widened as she suddenly appeared beside him, her movement blurring like a flash of light.
That speed—Body Flicker Technique?!
He barely had time to react before Rin's slender fist came crashing toward him. Instinctively, Tekka raised his arm to block.
Bang!!
The sound echoed through the hall. Tekka's eyes went wide as his body was sent flying backward, slamming into the ground with a heavy thud and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Pain shot through his arm like fire. He stared at Rin's delicate-looking arm, utterly confused.
What… was that?
If it had been Might Guy who hit him, he could've accepted it. But Rin? When did her Taijutsu become this powerful?!
Tekka gritted his teeth, trying to form hand signs for a counterattack, but the pain in his arm slowed him down. Before he could finish a single seal—
Rin closed the distance again.
Her movements were swift, fluid, and unrelenting. Tekka was forced into close-quarters combat, but his body was already battered from her first strike. Within seconds, she broke through his guard once more.
Bang!
Tekka was launched backward again, landing hard on the ground.
The room went silent. Even the spectators who had been whispering earlier were frozen in shock.
"…Is Rin's Taijutsu really that strong?" one student muttered, disbelief in his voice.
The answer came in the form of Uchiha Tekka lying sprawled across the arena floor, unable to move.
What they had imagined was completely opposite to reality—not only did Tekka lose, but he hadn't even been able to fight back properly.
"Rin Nohara wins!" the invigilator announced after a brief pause.
A stunned silence followed. Then, from the ground, Tekka groaned weakly, "Teacher… someone… please take me to the infirmary…"
"You continue the invigilation," Mugetsu said calmly, adjusting his glasses with a small smile. "I'll take him there."
He had mainly come to observe Rin's progress. He could return for the second round later.
Mugetsu lifted Tekka onto his back and carried him to the Academy infirmary.
"Thank you, Teacher Mugetsu," Tekka said quietly after being treated, his expression filled with frustration and self-doubt.
"It's nothing," Mugetsu replied gently. "It's my duty as a teacher."
After a pause, Tekka suddenly asked, "Teacher Mugetsu… am I just… talentless?"
His voice trembled slightly.
Being defeated so one-sidedly by Rin had shaken his confidence. He could accept losing to Obito—after all, Obito was a fellow Uchiha, capable of sudden bursts of power. And Might Guy was an anomaly of hard work—losing to him wasn't shameful either.
But Rin? Rin had always been known for her healing ability, not combat. Her Taijutsu used to be completely ordinary. Losing to her so decisively left Tekka reeling.
"Of course not," Mugetsu said calmly. "You were chosen for Group A in the special training. That alone means you were ahead of most students."
He turned slightly, meeting Tekka's downcast eyes. "Don't deny yourself over one failure. Everyone loses sometimes. You've been defeated today—but haven't you defeated others before as well? Believe in yourself, Tekka."
Tekka's eyes widened slightly, and the weight on his shoulders seemed to ease.
That's true… Obito and Guy might be stronger now, but they were behind me for three whole years before this.
"Thank you, Teacher Mugetsu," he said, his voice steadier.
Mugetsu smiled faintly. "Rest well. I still have work to do."
He turned and left the infirmary, heading back toward the training grounds where the exams were still being held.
As he walked, he thought to himself, If motivational speeches had skill levels, I'd probably be at mastery by now.
His words flowed naturally—instinctively even.
---
By the time the first round of matches ended, Mugetsu returned to observe his own class for a while.
The results were as expected—Shisui remained unbeatable at the top. Anko consistently ranked second unless she encountered Shisui early, while Izumo and Kotetsu secured the third tier.
The rest weren't weak; it was just that the top students had already surpassed the usual level for their grade.
"Director Mugetsu, your class's average level is absurdly high," one of the invigilators remarked in amazement. "If we picked a few students at random and placed them in other first-year classes, they'd probably rank in the top four—or even top two."
Every instructor who came to supervise Class 1, Year 1 was shocked by its overall standard. It was normal to have one or two prodigies in a class, but an entire group performing above average? That was unprecedented.
Konoha had no shortage of geniuses—but a class full of them was something else entirely.
Mugetsu gave a modest smile and replied humbly before a thought occurred to him.
What if… I suggested to the Third Hokage that the Grade-Level Practical Exam rules be changed—from two representatives per class to a top sixteen ranked by score across the entire year?
If that happened, twelve of those sixteen would likely be from his class. The entire first round would practically become an internal showdown between his own students.
But then he shook his head slightly.
That would only make the class look impressive—it wouldn't give me any system rewards anyway.
In truth, just comparing the average practical scores already said everything.
During the previous exam, the average combat score of Mugetsu's class had been double that of any other.
When his class's first-round battles were nearly over, Mugetsu returned to the Fourth Grade hall. Rin, as Examinee Number One, was about to start her second-round match.
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