"Oh, it's Nagi! And Sasuke too!"
Surprisingly, Naruto didn't start a fight the moment he saw Sasuke.
Normally, the two of them couldn't even pass each other in the hallway without trading insults.
"Nagi… do you think I still have a shot?"
Naruto looked at him with pitiful eyes, practically begging.
He had just learned that today's graduation exam would involve a random selection from the Three Basic Techniques.
Help! Of all things, why that?
"Maybe a one-third chance," Nagi replied casually.
If they tested Transformation, Naruto might scrape by. But if it was Clone or Substitution... he was toast.
The Nine-Tails' chakra interference still made it nearly impossible for him to perform any jutsu besides the Transformation Technique.
"Really?!"
Hearing that he still had a one-third shot, Naruto lit up with hope.
"I'm gonna pass today's exam, believe it!"
With Nagi's encouragement, his confidence reignited. One-third odds? That's not zero! It could happen!
…
"Uzumaki Naruto. Your exam—Clone Technique."
"…Heh."
Nagi nearly burst out laughing when he saw it.
Of course someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.
The examiner in charge of today's selection was none other than Mizuki—the same guy who'd trick Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals in the original story.
Just now, when Naruto drew Transformation Technique, Mizuki had subtly swapped the card.
A small trick, but nothing could escape Nagi's eyes.
Meanwhile, Naruto stood frozen like he'd been struck by lightning.
"Next up, Uchiha Sasuke. Clone Technique."
"Another Clone Technique?"
Even Mizuki was surprised. Apart from the first card, the next two had all been Clone Technique.
Was this demon fox kid really cursed with bad luck?
"Sasuke, you go first," Iruka said, giving Naruto a little more time to recover.
Sasuke glanced smugly at Nagi before stepping up.
"Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Four perfect clones appeared beside him. The entire classroom went wide-eyed.
"Whoa, that's amazing! Four clones in one go!"
"As expected from the former top student!"
The word former still stung a little, but Sasuke took it in stride.
This time, he would take back everything he'd lost.
Shooting Nagi a cold, determined glance, Sasuke stood tall.
"Excellent. As expected of Uchiha Sasuke!" Even Iruka and Mizuki were impressed.
At this age, creating four clones was already outstanding.
"Sasuke, full marks. You pass."
Iruka marked a big "Pass" on his sheet.
"Next—Nagi."
Iruka turned his gaze to the one who had constantly delivered miracles since day one.
The entire class perked up, eyes locking on Nagi. Everyone wanted to see how many clones he could make.
"Shikamaru, how many clones do you think Nagi can make?" Chōji asked between bites of chips.
"No idea. But I doubt it'll be anything simple."
Shikamaru may have looked uninterested, but he knew one thing:
Nagi wasn't the kind of guy who'd just go "You made four? I'll do ten."
"Hmph, I bet he can do at least a dozen," Sakura said confidently.
"Don't be ridiculous—he can definitely do more than twenty!" Ino retorted, starting another round of their usual bickering.
Mizuki, still new to recent class developments, looked confused.
Iruka whispered to him, "You've been away on missions, so you don't know. Nagi's basically the strongest in our class now."
"Oh? The strongest?" Mizuki asked, masking his scheming thoughts behind a fake righteous look.
"External Avatar."
With a clap of his hands, Nagi summoned a single clone that looked exactly like him.
"…Just one?"
Iruka frowned. During his match with Sasuke, Nagi had summoned more than ten clones. Why just one now?
"What's going on?"
Even the students began murmuring in confusion.
"I'm over here, Sensei."
Nagi's voice came from by the window. The class turned to find another Nagi casually waving at them.
"Wait, what? Two? Three? Which one's real?!"
Iruka was stunned. He couldn't tell at all.
With Sasuke's clones, it had been obvious which was the original. But Nagi's? Identical in every way.
"No difference whatsoever…"
"Which one of you is the real Nagi?" Iruka asked, genuinely confused.
That's when the door slid open.
The Third Hokage entered the room.
"Hokage-sama!"
Everyone stood up at once.
"No need for that," he said, smiling. "I was just… passing by."
Of course he wasn't going to admit he'd been watching through his crystal ball and rushed over when things got interesting.
[End of Chapter]