"Tomorrow's comprehensive exam—don't push too hard. Just barely passing is fine."
Back home, Sakuma Chiaki whispered secretly after dinner.
This was a privilege for the Sakuma clan's Kekkei Genkai users—since their bodies were weak and they hadn't mastered much Genjutsu yet, they weren't strong in overall combat, so they could graduate with lower scores.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Akaba leaned back in his chair, perfectly composed.
In terms of academic performance, Uchiha Ryo could rank second, but when it came to comprehensive combat ability, he might struggle to make top five.
What preparation did he need to deal with kids like that?
But his points were increasing more slowly now, and another issue was that only ninja techniques or abilities that appeared in the manga could be exchanged for points.
"It seems I really have to work harder."
Thinking this to himself, Akaba rested briefly after eating before summoning shadow clones to start drawing again.
Deep into the night, Akaba fell asleep while his shadow clones kept working.
Early the next morning, there was a stack of drawings on his desk.
One page, two pages...
Looking through them one by one, in just one night's work, the story had already reached the part where Naruto and Sasuke shared a kiss.
"My workhorse clone is pretty impressive. It cranked out half of chapter three in just one night."
Akaba felt increasingly grateful that he'd learned Shadow Clone early. If he had drawn this massive workload himself, it would have taken at least three days.
Unfortunately, no new ninjutsu appeared in the second episode, so the exchange list didn't update with anything new.
"Dad, could you help me make more copies of this too?"
Leaving behind the second episode's draft, Akaba headed out to school.
On his way to school, he saw several habitual latecomers who usually arrived late carrying their things and heading toward school unusually early today.
"Hey, Akaba's here early today."
Nara Loe approached slowly, looking drowsy like he hadn't woken up properly yet.
Like Akaba, he was also famously lazy.
However, Loe had an extremely accurate sense of time, always entering the classroom right on schedule since starting school.
"Yeah, it's the comprehensive exam today. I should at least give the teacher a little respect."
Akaba yawned as he spoke.
Though he'd gone to bed early, Akaba still felt groggy when he woke up—probably because his shadow clones had been working nonstop all night.
Well, whatever. If it ends early, at least I can catch a quick nap.
"That makes sense. Let's enter the classroom one second earlier today."
Loe let out a yawn too.
Walking side by side, the two strolled toward school. When they entered the classroom nearly everyone was already there, arriving one after the other just seconds before class started.
"Wow, everyone came really early."
Akaba sat down, unable to help yawning again as soon as his butt touched the chair.
"You're the one who's actually early today. You actually managed to match Loe's speed."
Tsunade sarcastically replied with a glare.
"No kidding, I even finished drawing the second chapter last night. I'll give you both chapters together later."
Already feeling extremely tired at his seat, fortunately their teacher had already arrived.
"Really? That fast?"
Not knowing Akaba used shadow clones to do the work, Tsunade was genuinely surprised.
"Where is it? Where is it?"
Jiraiya immediately turned around excitedly.
Akaba ignored him and sat up straight, maintaining a proper posture.
The next moment,
"Jiraiya, why are you looking away? Am I behind you?!"
Sarutobi Nennosuke bellowed furiously.
Jiraiya immediately turned his head back, too frightened to glance elsewhere again.
Today's Comprehensive Exam was extremely important, and no one dared oppose Sarutobi Nennosuke at such a critical moment.
Right now, the entire hall fell silent.
"Today's exam is the Comprehensive Exam. The venue is the school courtyard. Let me explain the exam rules."
"First rule: No lethal or severely injurious ninjutsu and weapons allowed."
"Second rule—"
Nennosuke continued reading the rules.
In this post-war Ninja Academy, techniques and regulations weren't as lenient as in later generations.
Once all the rules were summarized, one thing became crystal clear: No killing—under any circumstances!
Apart from that, any methods were permitted, including actual kunai and shuriken.
Of course.
Looking at the upcoming match list, Akaba noticed an unspoken rule—the better students usually faced equally strong opponents.
For example, Orochimaru's opponent was another Uchiha, Kawaki. Kawaki didn't perform quite as well academically as Uchiha Ryo, but their scores were close.
Akaba glanced at his own opponent—it was Uchiha Ryo, who had challenged him earlier.
"If it wasn't decided by The Third himself, I wouldn't believe it. Looks like the old man already knows something about me."
Judging purely by apparent strength, it would be hard for Akaba to defeat Uchiha Ryo; after all, the Sakuma clan's taijutsu abilities stemming from Kekkei Genkai had never been a secret.
Sarutobi didn't have the nerve to make such an arrangement—if something happened to Akaba during the fight, the Sakuma clan wouldn't stay silent. Therefore, only The Third could've made this decision.
The Third must want to see my real strength—or better yet, he wants everyone else to witness it!
Akaba mused inwardly.
"Alright, the Comprehensive Test begins now. First match: Orochimaru versus Uchiha Kawaki."
At hearing his name, Orochimaru stood up and walked toward the door.
Uchiha Kawaki also rose, and as he passed Orochimaru, he whispered lowly, "Academic performance doesn't represent real strength. I'll show you the might of the Uchiha."
Indeed, as the saying went, even top scores at the Ninja Academy didn't always translate into battlefield readiness. But unfortunately, Orochimaru earned the genius label not just because of academics.
Unfazed by the taunt, Orochimaru didn't even acknowledge him, coolly striding outside onto the playground.
"Okay, students may now go outside to observe from a distance. Keep your distance."
After both fighters left, Sarutobi announced permission for everyone to step out.
Many students excitedly got up and rushed outside, except Akaba, who remained seated motionlessly, almost ready to fall asleep.
"Aren't you going to watch?"
Tsunade asked, somewhat surprised.
"Why bother watching a battle whose outcome I already know?"
Akaba answered lazily.
She couldn't really argue with that point—
Tsunade nodded in agreement.
Still, she wanted to watch how Kawaki would get defeated, although she was a bit worried about Akaba. "Will you be okay mentally for your match?"
"No problem. I can beat him even while sleeping."
Akaba replied calmly. He was just drowsy, not actually mentally drained.
"Alright, I'll head out first."
Hearing this, Tsunade followed the others toward the door.
The classroom suddenly emptied. Akaba decided to lie down for a quick nap. The matches weren't interesting anyway—someone would call him when it was his turn.
On the playground, the battles raged intensely.
When it came to varieties of ninjutsu, Kawaki definitely couldn't match Orochimaru. The Uchiha clan's formidable heritage wasn't just show, but when it came to understanding and applying ninjutsu and taijutsu, Orochimaru simply left Kawaki in the dust.
After only a few exchanges, Orochimaru used kunai combined with binding ropes to immobilize Kawaki.
"Orochimaru wins."
Upon hearing the news of victory, Orochimaru remained calm. He'd been completely ignored—without even sparing Kawaki a glance, he walked directly off the battlefield.
Kawaki clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost pierced his skin, but it didn't matter—it was a loss, plain and simple.
Although the Ninja Academy's comprehensive test was meant merely as a demonstration, getting bound by a simple restraining technique without even touching his opponent meant he'd probably never dare mention the Uchiha name in front of Orochimaru again.
"Next pair: Tsunade Senju and Sakumo Hatake."
Tsunade and Sakumo each had their own strengths, with complementary fighting styles and nearly identical class rankings.
"Boom!"
The young Tsunade hadn't yet reached the terrifying level she'd later achieve as one of the Sannin, but her potential was already showing. Each punch created thunderous impacts that traveled through the ground all the way to Akaba's ears.
"What a terrifying woman—only a masochist could possibly like someone like her."
Akaba was on the verge of losing his mind. How was anyone supposed to sleep with all this noise?
He'd really admired Tsunade back when he was reading manga, but now that she had become someone right beside him, he felt differently.
Classic case of "the dragon admirer who runs from the real thing."
"Fine, might as well go watch. It's not every day you see Tsunade fight the future White Fang—who knows, maybe this scene never even happened in the comics."
Akaba felt complicated inside.
If you can't beat them, might as well enjoy the show.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!