Chapter 66: True Ninja Prodigy

The next day, the practical exam was still conducted at the training ground as before.

After all students completed the lottery, Mu Yue announced that the practical exam officially began.

"Please have examinee number one, Gang Zitie, and examinee number two, Feng Xingsi, enter the exam area."

Gang Zitie knew that as number one he would definitely be the first to take the exam, so he had already warmed up in advance.

"Let me take the lead. Remember to cheer for me." Gang Zitie said goodbye to his two good brothers and walked into the exam arena.

"Zitie, don't lose in the first match." Kamiizuki Izumo gave Gang Zitie a face-saving encouragement.

Feng Xingsi and Gang Zitie entered the arena together. They didn't communicate much, formed opposing seals, and immediately began fighting after Mu Yue shouted start.

Although they were supposed to drive away the taijutsu teacher, they weren't acting in the exam; rather, they demonstrated their specific abilities to let the proctors see the gap between the students' ninjutsu and taijutsu levels.

At the start of the engagement, both used taijutsu to clash and probe each other.

In the first wave of probing attacks, Gang Zitie temporarily suppressed Feng Xingsi with his greater strength.

Then Feng Xingsi started using tactics: first, he used the Substitution Jutsu to confuse Gang Zitie and create distance, then he split into two clones to obscure vision and look for an attacking opportunity.

Feng Xingsi's training in the Three Basic Jutsu was decent, but Gang Zitie played even more tricks.

Gang Zitie first created a chair clone, then later two normal clones.

He used the normal clone to confuse Feng Xingsi, then took the opportunity to dispel the chair clone and create a normal clone, finally using the Transformation Jutsu to turn himself into a chair.

Naturally, Feng Xingsi didn't keep his guard up against a bizarre walking chair, so he was directly caught off guard by Gang Zitie and defeated in one blow.

"Hey, isn't this Gang Zitie, one of the three ninjutsu prodigies that the school has been buzzing about? I didn't expect this Confusion Jutsu to have such a clever use." Ueda Aya praised Gang Zitie's combat intelligence.

"Moreover, his Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu are already very proficient, even better than the students in my class." Ueda Aya exclaimed.

She taught second-year ninjutsu, and even the best ninjutsu student in her class was not as good as this Gang Zitie.

Purely in terms of Clone Jutsu level, Ueda Aya believed that Gang Zitie had already reached the level sufficient to graduate.

It was truly a very standard Clone Jutsu.

Gang Zitie's opponent, Feng Xingsi, also performed quite well, enough to overwhelmingly defeat most of the students in her class.

While praising, Ueda Aya scored Gang Zitie; for the ninjutsu part, she directly gave him a full score of 10.

It would be really unfair not to give a full score to this level of ninjutsu in the first year. As for taijutsu, Ueda Aya only gave 7.1, which was just above passing compared to ninjutsu.

Feng Xingsi's taijutsu went without saying; Ueda Aya only gave 5 points.

Both performed averagely in shuriken throwing, and Ueda Aya also only gave 5 points.

But both had decent hand seal skills: Gang Zitie scored 8, Feng Xingsi 7.5.

Finally, when Ueda Aya calculated the total scores, Gang Zitie's score was as high as 30.1 points.

This score was already a very high score. The grading in the ninja school's practical exam was very strict; generally, exceeding 20 points indicated a good level, and exceeding 30 was considered excellent.

"Zitie usually studies very hard," Mu Yue nodded and said.

Although he didn't know whether Gang Zitie practiced at home, he was sure that Gang Zitie definitely studied a lot at home. When he collected the test papers, he took a glance and knew the score would be high.

"The second exam is about to begin. Examinee number three, Kamiizuki Izumo, and examinee number four, Koizumi Yuki, please prepare to start the exam." Mu Yue shouted after finishing the scoring.

"This time, it's my turn." Kamiizuki Izumo high-fived Gang Zitie as he walked over, laughing.

"Izumo, good luck." Anko raised her little fist to cheer for her good brother.

Kamiizuki Izumo's fighting style was a bit more steady than Gang Zitie's. Instead of disguising himself as a chair like Gang Zitie, he found an opportunity to use the Confusion Jutsu to transform into a three-meter-tall green-faced fanged monster, frightening Koizumi Yuki and decisively winning the match.

"Kamiizuki Izumo, he's also one of those three ninjutsu prodigies, right? Truly talented." Ueda Aya felt that Gang Zitie and Kamiizuki Izumo were indeed talents, in a positive sense.

Kamiizuki Izumo's displayed ninjutsu level was also outstanding, so Ueda Aya also gave him a full score for ninjutsu. His total was 30.5, and his hand seal score was a bit higher than Gang Zitie's.

Ueda Aya initially thought that the first two matches had higher-quality students, but later she realized she was wrong. By the time she scored the fifth match, she hadn't given any student a ninjutsu score below eight.

All students' performance in the Three Basic Jutsu was commendable.

"Examinee number eleven, Mitarashi Anko, and examinee number twelve, Shima Keiji, prepare for the exam."

"You two watch closely. Let me show you what real Confusion Jutsu is." Anko indicated that Gang Zitie's and Kamiizuki Izumo's Confusion Jutsu were no good.

"What's wrong with the chair? As long as it can win, isn't that enough?" Gangzi Tie said unconvinced.

"Can it be more terrifying than my illusion?" Shenyue Chuyun also felt his own direction was the best.

Hongdou didn't respond to the two; actual combat was the best demonstration.

Dao Qisi's taijutsu was inferior to Hongdou's, so he was suppressed by her from the start.

Hongdou, having gained the upper hand, would not let up. She quickly formed hand seals and created seven or eight clones that looked like Dao Qisi, then used the Transformation Jutsu to turn herself into Dao Qisi's appearance.

In an instant, the entire examination hall was filled with Dao Qisi running everywhere, and Hongdou's figure directly disappeared.

"Teacher Mu Yue, this student of yours is truly a talent." Shangtian Cai said, dumbfounded. She had been a teacher for several years and had proctored countless exams, but this was the first time she had seen such a situation.

"Her way of thinking is different from ordinary people." Mu Yue thought for a moment and said.

Dao Qisi looked at the many versions of himself running everywhere, feeling very confused. He was cautious with every one of them, but in the end, he was caught off guard and defeated by Hongdou in one blow.

Hongdou of course received a perfect score of ten for her ninjutsu. Shangtian Cai could even say that Hongdou's ten was only because the full score was ten; Hongdou's ninjutsu level was stronger than Gangzi Tie and Shenyue Chuyun.

In the end, Hongdou scored a high thirty-six points, with perfect scores in everything except taijutsu and shuriken throwing.

Shangtian Cai felt she wasn't proctoring a first-year exam, but rather a third-year and fourth-year exam.

These students' ninjutsu levels were simply too high, beyond her imagination.

She had also proctored the first-year first class last time, and while they were excellent, it wasn't as exaggerated as now.

Back then, she had said that the level of the first-year first class was almost comparable to her second-year class, but now she felt her class wasn't worthy.

"Teacher Mu Yue, your class's ninjutsu level is absolutely incredible. All the teachers in the ninja school should learn from you how to teach ninjutsu." Shangtian Cai praised.

One or two outstanding students might be due to personal talent, but if the entire class has outstanding ninjutsu scores, it must be because the teacher teaches well—there aren't that many geniuses.

"It's all the students' own hard work. I just try my best to teach," Mu Yue said modestly.

With his proficient-level Three Basic Jutsu plus the Teaching skill, not to mention school teachers, even in the entire Konoha, no one could be found who could teach these three ninjutsu better than him.

"Contestant number 38, Uchiha Shisui, prepare for the exam..."

Hearing Shisui's name, Shangtian Cai also perked up. This was the student she was most looking forward to. Last time, he had shown strength comparable to Kakashi at the same age.