"Would examinee number 37, Akazaki Yu, and examinee number 38, Uchiha Shisui, please enter the examination hall."
Akazaki Yu was momentarily stunned when he heard his opponent was Shisui.
Without a doubt, Shisui was the opponent no student in Class 1-A wanted to face.
There was no other reason—Shisui was simply too strong.
In the last exam, Shisui had crushed the competition to take first place in both class and grade. Even Anko, who was second in their grade, could only be crushed in front of him.
The score for the practical exam was determined by combat performance. If you were instantly defeated, the proctor couldn't see much of your performance, resulting in a lower score.
But since he had drawn Shisui as an opponent, Akazaki Yu could only resign himself to his fate and entered the examination hall.
After Mokgetsu announced the start of the exam, Akazaki Yu didn't hesitate and quickly demonstrated his proficiency with the Three-Body Jutsu.
"This student seems to have a good understanding of the scoring rules," Ueda Aya commented with a nod, not finding anything amiss with Akazaki Yu.
Shisui quietly watched Akazaki Yu's performance, and when he felt it was enough, he threw two shurikens to take out the clones, then rushed forward to knock Akazaki Yu down with two punches.
"The gap in their abilities is too wide," Ueda Aya observed, unable to see any change in Shisui's prowess compared to last time.
The disparity between Akazaki Yu's and Shisui's skills was so great that nothing could be discerned.
After the battle between students number 39 and 40 concluded, Ueda Aya completed the first round of scoring.
With just a quick glance, among the forty students, not a single one had a score below eight, with the average score being exceptionally high.
"This exam might earn you another commendation from the Third Hokage, Mokgetsu. With scores like these, I might be summoned for questioning," Ueda Aya joked.
"Then we'll probably both be called in for questioning," Mokgetsu chuckled, showing Ueda Aya his scores, which were similar to hers.
Despite being his own students, excellence had to be acknowledged, and he wouldn't purposely give them lower scores to avoid favoritism.
As the battles continued, it was inevitable for students to occasionally face off against their friends. Kamizuki Izumo, with tears in his eyes, eliminated Hagane Kotetsu, and Anko, also with tears, eliminated Kamizuki Izumo.
"Hahaha, Kotetsu, your Deception Jutsu is useless!" Izumo laughed to hide his sadness as he consoled his good friend upon defeating him.
Kotetsu: ...
He swore to train rigorously during the break and was determined to defeat Kamizuki Izumo next semester to regain his honor.
"Hahaha, Izumo, Kotetsu, how could you possibly be a match for a genius like me, Anko?" Anko boasted, hands on her hips, as she advanced to the class combat finals.
The two exchanged a glance and decided that on the day the theoretical scores were announced, they would deliver a heavy blow to Anko.
"Would the examinee Mitarashi Anko and examinee Uchiha Shisui please enter the examination arena?" The class combat test had entered its final stage.
Ueda Aya watched the battle intently. Anko had been second place in the last grade exam, and was considered the second most capable in the first grade, right after Shisui. She should be able to push Shisui to reveal more of his skills.
Anko knew Shisui wouldn't be easy to deal with, so she immediately used the Deception Jutsu at the start of the match.
This time, she implemented some changes. She first created seven Shisui clones, using them to distract Shisui while she used Transformation Jutsu to change herself into Shisui's form, then created another clone that looked like herself.
However, Shisui wasn't so easily fooled as the average student. Even with many illusions interfering with his view, he never lost sight of the real Anko. One Instant Body Jutsu later, he was by her side, defeating her.
"Instant Body Jutsu, huh? It seems we might need to place him in fourth grade's practical exams to see more," Ueda Aya thought.
The battle between Shisui and Anko was also one-sided, though Shisui demonstrated a little bit more.
With Shisui securing first place in the class combat, the second day's class practicals concluded.
On their way back to the office together, Mokgetsu and Ueda Aya encountered Iketani Isamu, who was chattering loudly.
"Why are Might Guy and Uchiha Obito so strong?" Iketani Isamu couldn't figure it out. During classes, he never noticed those two being especially skilled.
He'd been assigned to invigilate his class and observed Might Guy and Uchiha Obito's performance all day, concluding that even Hyuga Kamon might not defeat them.
Perplexed, Iketani Isamu wondered why two well-known underachievers were excelling when under his supervision. Could he secretly be a teaching master?
Realizing this was unlikely, as he also taught Class 1-A, which was only average in overall performance, Iketani Isamu quickly dismissed this hypothesis.
When he saw Mokgetsu and Ueda Aya, he shared his puzzlement with them.
"Maybe it's just that they've accumulated a lot and are now showing their full potential?" Ueda Aya speculated unsurely.
"Regardless, isn't it a good thing for students to be strong?" Mokgetsu smiled.
Iketani Isamu found Mokgetsu's words quite sensible. Regardless of why they were so formidable this semester, the bonuses from the school were real.
...
The third day's grade practicals began.
The grade practical scoring teachers were randomly selected proctors for that grade, and Ueda Aya was selected while Mokgetsu was not.
However, being a first-grade teacher, Mokgetsu went to observe for a while anyway.
After Ueda Aya finished her round of scoring, she noticed that some of the top two students sent from other classes weren't as skilled as the few Ninjutsu talents from Mokgetsu's class.
"This rule of two students per class needs revision. If not for that rule, at least six of the top eight in the grade would be from Class 1-A," Ueda Aya thought.
She felt that such a rule was unfair to a class as exceptionally talented as Class 1-A.
Despite their strength, they were denied the opportunity to participate in the grade practical competition.
After watching the first round, Mokgetsu left for the fourth grade's grade practical venue.
There was no doubt that Shisui would take first place in the grade, so he was more interested in how the fourth grade was doing.
Might Guy and Obito were both given a training task that required them to come in first place.
With two months of intensive training as a foundation, Mokgetsu anticipated that the rewards from completing the training task would be quite substantial, and he looked forward to it.
When Mokgetsu arrived, the fourth grade had just completed the first round and was progressing to the round of eight to four.
"Would examinee number one, Hyuga Kamon, and examinee number four, Might Guy, please enter the arena?"
As the proctor's voice rang out, the watching students began to whisper discreetly.
Judging by previous exam results, this match was undoubtedly the focal point of this grade combat test, as the combatants were the first and second place from the last exam.