Chapter 27 - The Upcoming Midterm Exam
"I did it!"
It was late May, and the weather was getting hotter.
But Kiba didn't care about the heat—he jumped up and down excitedly.
After nearly a month of group chakra refinement training, he finally became the second person after Naruto to extract enough chakra to reach the level of a Genin.
"What are you yelling about? You're only in second place!"
Naruto rubbed his ears, looking annoyed.
Kiba waved dismissively and snorted.
"Nobuyuki said that your chakra extraction technique is barely at the average level of our class. The only reason you were the first to extract enough chakra is that you simply have more chakra than the rest of us."
"Besides, even though you were the first to extract enough chakra, you failed every subject except Taijutsu."
"Naruto, you should be ashamed!"
Hearing this, Naruto's face turned red with anger, and he raised his fist, ready to fight.
But then he hesitated, recalling his performance in Taijutsu class.
Despite his large chakra reserves giving him an advantage in strength, speed, and endurance, he still struggled to compete with Tsuruma Nobuyuki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Being completely overpowered by Nobuyuki and Sasuke was one thing, but even losing more often than winning against Kiba frustrated him to no end.
However—
"Heh! Doesn't matter, I was still first!"
"Kiba, you're number two!"
"Number two! Number two!"
Naruto grinned and chanted teasingly, making Kiba even more annoyed.
For Kiba, who had always seen himself as one of the most talented in their class, this was unbearable.
In his mind, Tsuruma Nobuyuki was the strongest in their year, followed by Sasuke Uchiha and himself.
Sasuke had been slightly stronger than him before, but lately, Sasuke had been wasting time hanging around girls, while Kiba had been training hard.
He had even surpassed Sasuke now!
So for Naruto, of all people, to extract enough chakra before him—it was unacceptable.
"I've had enough! Today, I'm definitely going to teach you a lesson, Naruto!"
"It just so happens that I can finally use that technique in real combat!"
"Prepare yourself, Naruto!"
Kiba lowered his body into a crouch, forming the Tiger hand seal.
Beast Mimicry Ninjutsu – Four Legs Technique!
Faint blue chakra spread through his limbs, enhancing his body's physical abilities.
Dropping onto all fours, Kiba moved like a real beast and lunged at Naruto.
Naruto instinctively tried to dodge, but before he could react—BAM!—Kiba slammed into him with a headbutt.
"So fast!"
Shikamaru, Shino, and the others watching the fight were stunned.
For the past month, the group had trained together every morning.
Naruto and Kiba had fought countless times, their duels so frequent that their classmates could practically predict the outcome.
Normally, Kiba would rely on his superior Taijutsu skills to dominate early on, while Naruto, with his insane endurance, would keep fighting until class started.
But today—things were different.
With the Four Legs Technique, Kiba's speed and power had skyrocketed.
Naruto, who usually managed to keep up in these sparring matches, had no chance at all.
"So this is the power of Ninjutsu!"
Tsuruma Nobuyuki watched the fight in silence, his mind processing everything.
Kiba had already been decent at Taijutsu before.
Now, with the Four Legs Technique, his physical prowess had nearly reached Level 3.
Even for someone as skilled as Nobuyuki, defeating Kiba with just Taijutsu would now require some effort.
However, Nobuyuki wasn't worried.
A quick glance at his system panel showed that he, too, had improved significantly over the past month.
Taijutsu: Level 3 (213/225 XP)
Only 12 more points until the next level—Chunin-tier Taijutsu.
Sealing Technique - One Thread Lamp Formation: Level 3
Now, he could pre-engrave the seal onto the ground or ninja tools for strategic use.
As his skills leveled up, he had noticed that experience gains were slowing down.
At Level 1, a bit of practice could earn dozens of XP.
At Level 2, a full day of training would only give about 10 XP.
Now, at Level 3, even sparring with Iruka-sensei every morning only gave him 6-7 XP per day.
"At this point, I need stronger opponents to improve."
Nobuyuki thought to himself as he watched Kiba standing over Naruto, boasting proudly.
Kiba rubbed his nose smugly and laughed.
"Nobuyuki, what do you think? Were you impressed by my Ninjutsu?"
"I'm not an idiot like Naruto!"
"Now that my chakra is at the same level as yours, I'll be the strongest in class!"
Hearing this, Nobuyuki snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at Kiba.
With an indifferent expression, he said:
"Oh? Just because you beat Naruto, you think you're the best?"
"Well, Iruka-sensei hasn't arrived yet. Want to test that theory against me?"
Kiba hesitated.
The excitement in his eyes flickered for a moment.
But then he quickly changed his tune.
"Uh… n-no need! One battle at a time!"
"The midterm exams are coming up soon. After I beat Sasuke, I'll challenge you next!"
Midterm exams?
Hearing this, Nobuyuki remained calm.
For him, the Ninja Academy exams weren't difficult.
But for many of his classmates, midterms were a big deal.
The academy followed a three-semester system each year.
April - August → First Semester
September - December → Second Semester
January - March → Final Semester
Of these, the most important tests were:
1. The Midterm Exams (May)
2. The Final Exams (August)
Failing these could seriously impact a student's future.
More importantly, the results were reported to parents.
Every year, countless students went home only to be scolded—or even beaten—by their ninja parents.
After all, in a village full of warriors, most parents had… very hands-on teaching methods.
"Ugh, this is so annoying…"
"Yeah… if I fail, my mom will nag me to death."
"Ha! Nag you? My dad will literally beat me if I don't pass!"
"Sigh… If only I could extract enough chakra like Kiba before the exams."
As the midterms approached, students who hadn't fully refined their chakra started training even harder.
Finally—the day before the exams—
Every student who had been practicing under Tsuruma Nobuyuki's chakra refinement method successfully extracted their chakra…
Except for one.
Poor Yagi.
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