It was early morning.
Naruto, still groggy from sleep, got up and, as usual, washed his face and got dressed. Once ready, he left his house and looked up at the sky.
"The sun is taking its sweet time to appear today." Naruto said, yawning.
"Naruto!" A voice called from afar.
Naruto turned his head and saw Choji and others slowly approaching. He quickly waved.
"Hello, Shikamaru, Hinata, Choji, Ino, Sasuke!"
Shikamaru, who was slowly walking, yawned and said, "Good morning, Naruto. You don't need to call out everyone's name."
Naruto disagreed with Shikamaru's words. "Haha, it's a happy thing to be able to call out all your names first thing in the morning, isn't it?"
Hinata greeted, "Naruto-kun, good morning."
Sasuke asked, looking at Naruto curiously, "Loser, why are you so energetic today?"
Naruto pouted, not wanting his good mood to be ruined. "Huh? Annoying Sasuke, let's not argue first thing in the morning, okay?"
Ino, standing beside Sasuke, said, wagging her finger, "No, Naruto, Sasuke means that today seems to be the final exam."
"Ex… exam?!" Naruto was stunned for a moment, then shouted in disbelief.
"Just as I thought…" Sasuke had a speechless expression.
On this day, seeing Naruto still so energetic, he thought he had definitely forgotten that there would be an exam today. Otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a good mood right now.
Hinata comforted Naruto, "Naruto-kun, it's okay. I heard this theoretical exam will be relatively simple."
"Really?" Naruto, who had been dejected, immediately brightened up and asked.
Hinata nodded. "Yes, I heard Shinji-sensei say so."
Gah—
Naruto, who had just been happy, instantly froze, with only one thought in his mind.
Shinji-sensei said so.
Ino covered her forehead, comforting Hinata, who was flustered by Naruto's expression, "Hinata, Shinji-sensei's 'simple' always aims for the highest difficulty."
"Let's go, or we'll be late." Shikamaru called for them to follow.
—
For the final theoretical exam, Shinji, as the head teacher, would not proctor.
At this moment, he was sitting in the office, with Iruka beside him, who was busy writing and drawing on documents.
After a while, Iruka put down his documents and asked Shinji, "Shinji, do you want to go check on the classrooms later?"
"Hmm, sure." Shinji nodded.
Shinji got up, poured a cup of tea, walked to the desk, handed it to Iruka, and asked, "Iruka, have you thought about taking over the position of head teacher next year?"
"Eh?!"
Iruka, who had been calm, looked at Shinji in disbelief.
Iruka said, waving his hand, "Don't joke. My strength is just so-so, and I just became vice head teacher."
Shinji replied nonchalantly, "Head teacher is not a position you get by strength alone. And I heard that the classes you lead have good results, so consider it."
It wasn't that Shinji didn't want to continue in this position, but he had been busy recently.
Not to mention daily training, there was even the Jonin assessment after the final exam. By the time the next school year started, he would probably be even busier.
"I still don't think I'm qualified." Iruka still shook his head and refused.
"Think about it carefully. There's still plenty of time. I probably won't have much free time next year."
Shinji didn't press further, as Iruka needed to make up his own mind about such a matter.
"Hmm? Are you really going to be promoted to Jonin?" Iruka asked curiously upon hearing Shinji say this.
"Yes, but how did you know?" Shinji calmly nodded and inquired.
"Uh, many teachers have been discussing it recently." Iruka rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed, as he had heard about it from others.
"Everyone is saying you might be promoted to Jonin, but because you're always busy, no one has really approached you."
"I see." Shinji replied thoughtfully.
It seems someone is deliberately stirring things up.
Ninjas from some minor clans were present in the Academy, so Shinji wasn't surprised that rumors were spreading. But deliberate discussion felt a bit like fanning the flames.
"Let's go, let's inspect together. Think carefully about what I said." Shinji got up, inviting Iruka to go with him.
"Okay." Iruka nodded, following Shinji's footsteps.
—
Along the way, every teacher who saw Shinji nodded and greeted him. Shinji, with a smile on his face, nodded back to everyone.
"Shinji, it seems your class will be first again this time." Iruka said, looking through the window at Naruto's class, comparing it to other classes.
At least in Shinji's class, few people were scratching their heads or hesitating to write.
"It's good to have results. After all, if these children can learn, it means they are being responsible for themselves."
Shinji maintained a calm demeanor, as there were no rewards for the final exam last semester. So, he didn't care much about this type of exam.
"Well said." Iruka nodded in full agreement.
Just as he was about to avert his gaze, he saw a dark shadow.
"When did our Academy get a cat?"
Shinji was startled upon hearing this, then turned his head to look. He saw Mimi's plump body just sneaking away. Seeing this, Shinji narrowed his eyes.
What was that fat cat doing at the Academy at this time?
Mimi, clutching a sausage, was panicking. He shouldn't have come this way. He had intended to check on Naruto's class but ended up encountering Shinji.
'I just secretly ate some sausages, there shouldn't be any problem, right?'
Thinking this, Mimi quickly fled the scene.
As Shinji and Iruka finished inspecting the classrooms and were about to return to the office, an anxious teacher hurried over.
"Head teacher Shinji, there's a thief in the Academy. Just now, when preparing, I found a large batch of sausage ingredients missing."
Shinji was stunned upon hearing this, then remembered the plump figure he had just seen.
This fellow…
Today was the final assessment, so Shinji had planned for all students and teachers to eat together after the exam. The ingredients were prepared by the Akimichi clan.
So, how keen was that cat's nose?
Shinji waved his hand and said to the reporting teacher, "Don't look for it yet. Go tell the Akimichi clan's head. Ask them to send another batch, and we'll pay for it all at once."