Could it really be his disguise?
Then Iruka said, "There will be a small exam today. If you can prove that you haven't wasted these past three years, I'll approve your *leave slip*!"
"Deal!"
P.S. This is the fourth chapter of the day—please support me with likes and recommendations!
Chapter 26: The Pride of the Uzumaki Clan
In the classroom, the students remained unchanged as always.
Shikamaru was still dozing off endlessly, Sasuke maintained his perpetually indifferent attitude, Sakura continued gazing at Sasuke with admiration, while Naruto glared at Sasuke challengingly.
However, one person seemed unusual—Shiki Uzumaki. Some of the girls had even noticed that, unusually, he wasn't burying his head in his arms on the desk for a nap.
Instead, he wore an unusually cold expression, as if burdened by heavy thoughts.
"What's wrong with Shiki today? He almost looks like Sasuke."
"But Shiki wearing such an expression is equally captivating too."
"I prefer when Shiki smiles."
"Hear from Naruto that Shiki might take a long vacation soon."
"Eh! Does that mean we won't see him for a long time?"
"Is that why he seems troubled now?"
Seeing an unusually solemn Shiki, the girls chatted excitedly among themselves.
Hearing all the girls' giggling whispers, Shiki unusually didn't feel embarrassed. In fact, he didn't even have the mental space to react.
He was waiting for Iruka to walk in and make the exam announcement.
Right after that, Shiki would head directly to Konoha Hospital to learn an extremely powerful offensive ninjutsu—one that would become his strongest [Offensive Ninjutsu] at this stage.
If he could master it within the next three months, Shiki felt his chances would significantly improve.
Sure enough, not long later, Iruka walked in, looking serious, and shot a stern glance at Shiki. "Today's lessons are canceled. We'll have an exam instead!"
"Huh?!??"
The majority of the class were shocked upon hearing there was going to be an exam.
Many whispered anxiously, worrying about how they hadn't yet perfected their shuriken techniques or mastered the Clone Jutsu.
Sasuke, as always, remained completely indifferent. And then there was Shikamaru, who was still asleep and hadn't even heard what Iruka just announced.
Choji quickly grabbed Shikamaru and shook him back and forth. "Hey hey, Shikamaru! Don't fall asleep! There's going to be an exam!"
Dizzily shaken awake, Shikamaru hurriedly replied, "Okay okay, I understand. Choji, just let me down already."
But the moment Choji released him, Shikamaru promptly fell asleep again on his own accord.
Shiki couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated at the sight. He thought to himself—his nap skills were no match for Shikamaru's after all.
After all, these kids weren't real ninja—not even close to the lower-grade students from wartime at the Ninja Academy.
After some commotion, Iruka finally led them to the empty space beside the classroom.
"The first test is the Clone Jutsu!" Iruka announced.
Naruto was startled. He hadn't expected to face his weakest jutsu right away.
But then he thought about all his hard work lately—wasn't it all for the purpose of defeating Sasuke? So he loudly cheered himself on, shouting, "Okay! Go Naruto! You can definitely defeat that loser Sasuke!"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto coldly and said, "Dead last."
Then followed a chorus of scolding from the girls led by Sakura and Ino. Yet Naruto still lifted his head defiantly.
"First person, Misato Matsuda!" Iruka called out while looking at his list.
A small girl stepped forward from the crowd and carefully performed hand seals. Finally, she created a clone, seemingly decent enough.
At least her clone had no obvious flaws. It was sufficient for confusing enemies.
Iruka nodded slightly and continued calling names, one after another.
Shiki found it strange—so far Iruka hadn't called his name yet.
But honestly, it didn't bother him either way.
"Uzumaki..."
Upon hearing those two words, Shiki got ready to step forward.
"Naruto!"
Well, got too excited again, Shiki mused self-deprecatingly. But he really wanted to see how Naruto would perform. Actually, Naruto was quite a hardworking kid; it's just that most basic ninjutsu didn't suit him well.
When he heard his name, Naruto eagerly rushed forward. With relatively nimble hands, he formed hand seals, then shouted loudly, "Clone Jutsu!"
Poof!
A puff of smoke passed through.
Shiki looked over.
Naruto stood frozen in his hand seal position, while his lone clone flopped lifelessly on the ground like a crumpled heap.
Shiki thought to himself that 'heap' might be the most appropriate description. Maybe also 'lump.'
Laughter and mockery erupted instantly, especially from the girls who couldn't stop teasing him about his earlier bragging. Only Hinata watched him with deep concern.
Actually, perhaps only himself and Hinata truly understood how hard Naruto worked?
Although Naruto kept begging Iruka to give him another chance afterward, Iruka shook his head firmly. Eventually, Naruto could only walk back dejectedly.
Shiki sighed inwardly—it wasn't really Naruto's fault. This technique simply didn't suit him naturally.
Of course, Shiki also considered another possibility: maybe it was because Naruto's chakra reserves were simply too enormous. When using such a basic technique, he inevitably lacked precise control.
After all, when Naruto first used [Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu], he managed to create a thousand clones—all without drawing upon Nine-Tails' chakra.
Shiki thought Naruto was somewhat miraculous. At such a young age, with both weak spiritual power and physical strength,
he still possessed an incredibly vast amount of chakra. Shiki absolutely wouldn't believe it if someone told him that this had nothing to do with the Uzumaki clan's bloodline.
With a deep sigh, Iruka read out the next name, "Sasuke Uchiha!"
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