Chapter 24: Learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu
After seeing the results, Genshu pondered thoughtfully.
"Hmm, this is very similar to last year's rankings. The only difference is that Kaito didn't gain a huge lead in the Leaf Concentration exercise, but rather in the written exam. How much did this child study? The last 20 points are extremely difficult to obtain. As for the others, Senju Teru had the best overall performance. Besides the written exam, he placed in the top three in every other test."
"The Leaf Concentration exercise was still dominated by Kaito. But seeing the performance of the others, I can start Tree Walking training next year. In the shuriken throwing competition, Uchiha Rai stood out remarkably. Similarly, in the taijutsu tournament, Hyuga Hodaka performed exceptionally well. Although that Gravity Seal did help Kaito significantly, he still couldn't defeat Hodaka. I should suggest that Senju Teru's parents also apply a Gravity Seal for him—it would help him greatly."
"In the ninjutsu examination, Senju Teru, Uchiha Rai, and Shimura Shin were all excellent. It's just that Senju Teru had more chakra than the other two. And I'm quite sure they've all mastered additional jutsu beyond the Academy curriculum."
"This class has performed exceptionally well. Even the students ranked 8th through 12th showed strong abilities. The Third Hokage should be very satisfied with their performance."
After finishing his analysis, he announced the results to the class.
Upon seeing the scores, everyone reacted differently.
Since the exam scoring system was designed to highlight outstanding students, those who didn't work hard received very low scores.
A few students still struggled to hit even a stationary target board with shuriken, so they couldn't score much in the remaining three rounds.
There were also some who hadn't even learned a single one of the Academy jutsu.
Moreover, most students hadn't mastered all three basic jutsu. Only 12 students managed to accomplish this.
The written exam was also extremely difficult. The last 20 points were exceptionally hard to earn, and even the preceding 20 points proved very challenging.
Kaito noticed the dejected expressions of the students with poor grades. This made him reflect on how harsh the lives of shinobi children were compared to his previous world.
But even so, these were considered relatively good conditions. At least they didn't have to participate in active warfare.
Among the top students, Uchiha Rai thought dejectedly:
"Why am I still only ranked fifth! However, at least I've shown everyone the excellence of the Uchiha Clan's shuriken techniques. But it's still not enough!"
Hyuga Hana looked very upset, with tears almost welling up in her eyes. She was deeply disappointed about her ranking dropping from second place to fourth.
However, Shimura Shin didn't show any emotion outwardly, but he felt inwardly disappointed at not achieving first place.
Senju Teru sighed as he looked at the results, thinking:
"Last year it was the Leaf Concentration exercise, this time it's the written exam! It's really frustrating not to get first place because of a written test. But at least I'm the best in practical combat skills. Not to mention, the exam didn't even test my Water Release techniques."
Kaito looked at the results with a satisfied expression. His thoughts were:
"Haha, everything went exactly as expected. But what surprised me is that some people scored over 80 points on the written exam. I guess children in this world develop their cognitive abilities faster. My shuriken skills still need more training, but that's fine."
"In taijutsu, I don't think I can surpass Hyuga Hodaka unless he stops training seriously. In ninjutsu, I'm on par with Senju Teru and the others. Oh well, if I wanted to, I could create 8 shadow clones to completely dominate the scores, but there's no need. So everything is progressing smoothly. Next, I should focus on elemental ninjutsu."
However, he frowned slightly, thinking to himself:
"But with the students performing so well in this exam, I'm worried they might make some of us graduate early! I'm glad Genshu hasn't started teaching all the other important techniques yet. I guess his plan is to let everyone master basic ninjutsu and combat skills first, so we can continuously improve over the coming years. But at his teaching pace, I'm still curious whether he intends for us to graduate early or if he plans to teach us more advanced material."
Genshu observed the expressions of all the students and sighed internally.
He noticed that only Kaito showed a genuinely happy expression, Shimura Shin remained as expressionless as ever, and Senju Teru just looked slightly disappointed. Almost everyone else appeared very discouraged.
He sighed quietly.
"I'm glad that the current grading system better rewards talented students. Last year's results made them more competitive, but this year's results might have an adverse effect on morale. I need to speak with everyone individually, comfort them, encourage them, and help them use these exam results as motivation for future improvement."
Then he glanced at the Inuzuka clan children, thinking:
"I should also contact their parents about their training methods."
The exam ceremony concluded with another inspirational speech from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He called Kaito forward and asked him what reward he wanted this time. Kaito stepped forward respectfully and said:
"Hokage-sama, may I learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
Hiruzen was genuinely surprised by this request. He asked curiously:
"Where did you hear about the Shadow Clone Jutsu? Why do you want to learn it?"
Kaito showed an excited expression and explained:
"Hokage-sama, we learned that the Second Hokage founded this Academy, so I became very interested in him and read extensively about his life and accomplishments. After learning more about Lord Tobirama, I was greatly inspired when I discovered that he created the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Having clones that can actually perform real tasks and share information seems incredibly useful for training and missions."
Then he looked at Hiruzen with obvious anticipation.
Hiruzen observed the excitement displayed by the young student before him. Seeing his respectful attitude toward his predecessor, he felt moved.
"Sensei, even though you passed away decades ago, your Will of Fire still inspires Konoha's children!"
Hiruzen had sensed Kaito's chakra level during the taijutsu tournament.
Since Kaito had wanted to request the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he hadn't bothered concealing his true chakra reserves. Hiruzen considered carefully:
"His chakra level is sufficient to create at least one Shadow Clone safely. Alright, I'll grant this request, but I need to warn him about the dangers of this technique."
Hiruzen nodded approvingly and said:
"Very well, I'll prepare the scroll for you. Come to my office tomorrow at noon."
Kaito became visibly more excited when he heard this and quickly bowed in gratitude. But internally, he was quite shocked:
"That's it? Just a few respectful words about Senju Tobirama and he agreed? Should I have asked to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique or something even more advanced?"
He sighed inwardly and reconsidered:
"Then again, the Shadow Clone Jutsu isn't an extremely complex technique. It's only a B-rank jutsu, easily accessible from the Library even for an elite chunin. Moreover, my respect for Tobirama is completely genuine. Unlike Hiruzen's questionable decisions, Tobirama actually accomplished great things for the village."
"Despite knowing the Flying Thunder God Technique, how Tobirama died during the war is still a mystery to me. This way, Hiruzen won't suspect my intentions. The jutsu that Tobirama created are all documented in the historical scrolls about him in the Library. So I don't think there's anything suspicious about my request."
With these thoughts, he returned to stand among his classmates.
Genshu then announced that he would meet with each student individually tomorrow and assigned everyone specific time slots.
He also requested that they bring at least one parent with them to the meeting.
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