Chapter 110: Making a Name

"Third Hokage-sama."

"Hokage-sama."

When Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived, Group C had just finished drawing lots, and the students greeted him one after another.

"Everyone, just treat this like usual—I'm just here to observe." Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a kind smile.

"Number one, Anko Mitarashi, and number two, Saken Asakawa, prepare for combat." Muyue's shadow clone began presiding over the test.

The students called by Muyue quickly went to the battlefield and assumed their stances, ready to fight.

Hiruzen Sarutobi swept his gaze around; to avoid interfering with each other, the three group testing sites were spaced a fair distance apart.

"Muyue, you've had a hard time these five weeks, teaching over three hundred students all by yourself." Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

In this situation, one person really wasn't enough—he had to use shadow clones.

As it was, Muyue's main body was right beside him, while his shadow clone was over there conducting the exam.

"It's my duty." Muyue replied with a smile, not saying much.

The Third Hokage smiled and nodded, turning his attention to the battle that had already begun.

Although her opponent, Saken Asakawa, was a fourth-year student and Anko was at a height disadvantage, she didn't back down at all, charging straight in to engage in close combat with him.

Anko's taijutsu was extremely aggressive—the kind where she might get hurt, but she'd make sure the opponent got hurt worse.

Feeling the many onlooking eyes, Saken Asakawa groaned inwardly—he couldn't quite handle Anko's crazy, reckless attacks.

Saken Asakawa used the force of Anko's punch to leap back into a tree, then sprinted up it, flinging a large number of shuriken at Anko in an attempt to kite her.

But Anko didn't get shaken off; having already completed tree-climbing training, she had practiced fighting in the forest, and soon caught up to Saken Asakawa in the trees, engaging in a battle of wits and courage.

The three basic ninjutsu—Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and Substitution Technique—were all used by the two of them.

"Muyue, that Anko Mitarashi is a student in your class, isn't she?" Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly said.

Because Muyue's class had previously achieved outstanding results, he had a slight impression of the top scorers in Muyue's class.

"Yes, she's a student from Class 1-1." Muyue nodded.

"To have this level of chakra control and ninjutsu skill as a first-year student, she's an excellent student." Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his goatee and nodded.

He was very satisfied with Muyue's teaching results; the strength both students displayed was quite good, and this was Group C, which had the most progress lagging.

"Yes, with this kind of strength, even ordinary third-year and fourth-year students probably couldn't reach it." a chunin teacher who had come with Hiruzen Sarutobi remarked.

"Her opponent is not bad either; with a bit more practice, he should be able to reach the graduation level." Hiruzen Sarutobi continued.

The other chunin teachers also nodded in agreement.

One chunin teacher was especially astonished, because Saken Asakawa was a student in his own class.

He remembered that this student had usually been quite ordinary; he hadn't expected such great improvement in just five weeks of special training.

Whether it was that he hadn't studied seriously before, that he had worked too hard these five weeks, or that Muyue really was that good at teaching, he didn't yet know which reason it was.

"Anko Mitarashi wins."

In the end, Saken Asakawa was slightly inferior, and Anko won.

"Number three, Tetsu Hagane, and number four, Goichi Nakamori, prepare for battle." Muyue quickly announced the names of the next combatants.

"Goichi Nakamori—that's my student." Iketani Isamu spoke up.

"Oh, how are his usual combat results?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked curiously.

"Fairly average; his combat score is usually around fifteen points." Iketani Isamu answered honestly.

"But his opponent looks like a first- or second-year student, so it should be fine, right?"

Upon hearing "fifteen points," Hiruzen Sarutobi understood Nakamori's level—according to the ninja academy scoring standards, it was a very average result.

"Not necessarily; that Tetsu Hagane is also a student of Muyue-sensei's, and his combat results are quite excellent." Before Muyue could claim the student, Ueda Aya said so.

While the onlookers below were discussing, the battle began.

Taking advantage of his physical superiority, Goichi Nakamori directly pressed forward quickly and launched a series of fierce attacks.

Although Gang Zitie was at a disadvantage in strength, being short also meant he was agile, and he nimbly dodged Nakamori Goichi's attacks.

For a time, the situation was very close.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Nakamori Goichi should win," one of the chunin instructors speculated.

Although on the surface it seemed that Gang Zitie wasn't being suppressed too much, in fact he was already at a considerable disadvantage. Gang Zitie was younger and lacked an advantage in stamina; if this dragged on, he would eventually be caught off guard.

"This student is not bad either. Though not as good as his classmate, he's still excellent," the Third Hokage said, puffing clouds of smoke from his small pipe.

After all, he was fighting across several grade levels; the Third Hokage thought it was already pretty good to have fought this well.

"Confusion Jutsu!"

Seizing a moment to catch his breath, Gang Zitie directly used his strongest ninjutsu.

To enhance his jutsu, Gang Zitie deliberately went to a women's clothing store for a stroll.

Six older sisters dressed in different cool styles suddenly appeared on the field, surrounding Nakamori Goichi.

"Huh?" Nakamori Goichi's gaze was drawn by some mysterious force.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gang Zitie kicked Nakamori Goichi down, then pressed the kunai in his right hand against Nakamori Goichi's body.

"Gang Zitie wins!"

Nakamori Goichi, snapping out of it, was both bewildered and shocked.

He knew about Gang Zitie's jutsu, but he hadn't expected Gang Zitie to dare use such a jutsu in this kind of situation—the Third Hokage was watching!

Silence.

At that moment, the field was dead quiet; no one made a sound.

Both students and teachers stared at this scene in shock.

"Ahem, ahem."

In the end, it was the Third Hokage's cough that broke the silence.

The Third Hokage, who had been watching intently, choked on his smoke. He wiped away a hint of red beneath his nose at lightning speed and then commented in a serious tone:

"Teacher Muyue's special training is quite well done. Gang Zitie made flexible use of his own strengths, and Nakamori Goichi's performance also had its merits. What score would you give him for this actual combat?"

"Twenty-four," one chunin instructor said first.

The other teachers gave scores one after another, and the scores were roughly the same.

No teacher brought up Gang Zitie; they all tacitly ignored what had just happened, instead praising how well Muyue's summer special training had been and how much the students had improved.

Only occasionally would they sneak a glance in Gang Zitie's direction, thinking to themselves, "What a character."

"Zitie, you're really going to make a name for yourself now," Kamiizuki Izumo said, looking enviously at the victorious Gang Zitie.

To use a jutsu flexibly under the watchful eye of the Third Hokage and defeat a stronger opponent with a weaker one—he wished he was the one standing up there right now.

"Number five, Ishii Yoshio, and number six, Kamiizuki Izumo, prepare."

Hearing his name, Kamiizuki Izumo quickly stepped onto the stage. He was going to make a name for himself too!

I'm not in great shape today. I feel like this chapter didn't capture the right feeling. If you see any issues, just leave a comment in this chapter and I'll fix them. The next few chapters might be a bit late.