Shinra woke up a bit earlier than usual today and this time it wasn't for training, "Exams.. I have always hated such times, though this time at least I don't have to cram everything last minute."
He looked at his dark blue tracksuit hung at the back of the door, 'I really should buy a couple more clothes to wear all that training made it worn out.'
He made his way to the academy and was the first to arrive from his class, 'That's a first, I am usually the last one to arrive.' He placed his head on the desk and took a nap until others arrived.
The class slowly began to fill in, all of the kids were visibly tense and trying very hard to cram what they can. Shinra also observed some kids who were stuffing paper in their socks.
'They really are treating this so seriously, I guess I might be the odd one out. Most of the subjects are quite easy to learn, for ninja principles you just need to 'embody' the will of fire, history is somewhat challenging and other basic subjects like Maths, Physics and Human biology are around the level of a middle schooler.'
Soon Reigen entered the classroom with a stack of paper in his hands, "Quieten down. Exam time is an hour, no cheating anyone caught doing so will be punished."
He began handing out the papers one by one, Shinra looked at the questions and began answering them. It didn't take long for the exam to finish.
Shinra was confident in his answers for the most part, he quietly left the classroom and began making his way to the training field to practice his next exam.
Next up is, shuriken throwing, endurance test, sparring and chakra control tests. Naturally these will not be tested on the same day, 'Out of these exams the one that I might perform in the worst is shuriken throwing my record was an 8/10 and that was on a good day, I didn't train that much in it because there was hardly a time where a ninja died from a shuriken.'
The next day, the entire class were lined up in the field where they will take turns throwing shurikens from 15 meters away.
Reigen called up their names one by one, Ren, Inumaki and Kenta got a perfect score. A few others managed to get a 9 while most hovered around a 5 and a 6. The lowest score currently was a 3.
Shinra stepped up as he heard his name being called, he took up his shurikens and began throwing them one by one. 'Eight of them managed to hit, definitely a good score.'
Next up was the endurance exam. Shinra made sure to leave his weights at home that day, he usually wore it underneath his track suit and when he starts training he increases its weight.
This exam involved the students running laps around the field until they are unable to, the second rank this time was Uchiha Ren 150 laps, then Inumaki, Hyori, Akimichi Chodo. The first rank was Shinra who continued until sunset and was asked to stop by Reigen ending with a total of 400 laps.
'Although showing off too much isn't good, I need to get my hands on the shadow clone jutsu and this was the only way I could think of.'
In the chakra control exam, they were asked to simultaneously perform the leaf concentration exercise. This time the results were a bit closer. It was Shinra with 56 minutes followed by Inumaki 48 minutes and Ren with 46 minutes, mind you the average of the class was 12 minutes. 'I didn't really know the standard since last year we weren't tested on it, I guess my crazy training routine paid off at the end.'
By the end of the exam he could feel a set of eyes looking at him with anger. It was Uchiha Ren. 'Is he upset that I outperformed him in the last two exams?'
Though next exam whether it was fixed or not the first fight was Ren vs Shinra, Shinra sighed inwardly and stepped forward standing opposite to him was Ren who unlike Shinra had many fangirls cheering for him.
'I always thought that the anime exaggerated it with Sasuke, but for it to turn out to be true. Do these Uchiha have hidden pheromones or somethings?'
And in a true Naruto-like fashion Shinra had many of the boys cheering for him to take down Ren, 'Sorry dude, I just want to get my hands on the shadow clone. So I will do my best either way.'
"Start!" Reigen's shout snapped both of them into focus.
Looking at Ren's stance Shinra thought, 'This is not the konoha style taijutsu, is it the Uchiha clan's?'
Ren closed the distance immediately and began striking Shinra's side, Shinra parried him and counterattacked striking his leg.
Ren jumped backwards avoiding the attack then charged at him again, this time he aimed for his head to which Shinra directly caught his fists and pulled him forward.
Ren surprisingly offered no resistance and was pulled into Shinra who prepared to hit his chin with his kneecap, however just before he made contact Ren weaved slightly to the left and shook his hand out of Shinra's grasp.
It looked like Ren was going to fall to the ground giving Shinra the best opening to attack him, but he somehow shifted into a handstand and kicked Shinra in the chest launching him back a few meters.
Reigen for the first time ever since he taught this class displayed interest in the fight. 'Ren's taijutsu style is pretty high level for an academy student, he is trying to corner him at every opportunity. Although it looks like all he could do is block and wait, he had many opportunities to attack but chose not to. Is he trying to turn this into an endurance match? If so then this brat is truly talented.'
The fight continued on for ten more minutes with Ren fully on the offensive, Shinra occasionally attacked from time to time but his plan had already worked.
"You Damn Bastard! Do you only know how to run away?" Ren gritted his teeth as he felt exhaustion wash over him.
Shinra didn't answer him and continued blocking and dodging, this act further angered Ren who finally committed a mistake that left him wide open.
Shinra caught his shirt and kicked his legs causing Ren to fall with Shinra on top of him, yet before Shinra could strike Reigen's voice reached him first.
"Stop! The winner is Shinra. Now form the seal of reconciliation."
Shinra extended his hand towards Ren who looked down but still formed the seal, before leaving the field and waiting around for the exam to finish.
The next matches didn't take nearly as long as the first one, and today many people learned that the blue haired kid with the blue eyes sitting in the back was actually a hidden genius.
Though if Shinra was to hear such praise he would scoff and say, "I worked my ass off for the past two years, following a crazy routine. This is Discipline not talent."