Chapter 45: Graduation Exam
The next day, the final examinations began.
Since he intended to pass the exam and aimed for first place, Kaito achieved excellent results on the written test. He was confident he would receive a perfect score.
In the absence of Senju Teru, Shimura Shin, and Uchiha Rai, he also achieved the highest scores in the shuriken throwing competition.
In taijutsu, he still ranked behind Hyuga Hodaka, placing second.
In the ninjutsu examination, he ensured his performance was comparable to Hyuga Hana's level, but there were no chakra control tests included in this exam.
Kaito wasn't surprised, as nearly everyone in his class had developed adequate chakra control and could perform Tree Climbing and Water Walking exercises, because Genshu had conducted extensive training sessions in these fundamentals throughout the year.
The exam also assessed the students' mastery of various survival skills taught during the previous year.
Kaito once again ensured his ranking in these practical exams was near the top.
When the final results were announced, Kaito ranked first overall, Hyuga Hana ranked second, and Hyuga Hodaka surprisingly ranked fifth—his written test scores had improved dramatically to achieve such a high placement.
A week later, the graduation examinations commenced.
Kaito noticed there were three distinct groups of students present.
His own fourth-year class, the fifth-year seniors, and even some third-year students one year below him.
There were 23 students from his class participating in the graduation exam.
The graduation exam was presided over by Nara Takamasa, a veteran chunin examiner. He reviewed the list of participating candidates.
There were 68 candidates from the fifth year, 35 from the fourth year, and 8 from the third year.
He sighed internally, thinking this would be "genuinely exhausting," and instructed the proctors to begin the examination.
The first exam was the written test.
Kaito examined the test paper, expecting theoretical questions about shinobi tactics and history. But he was surprised when he read the actual questions.
The questions weren't purely theoretical; instead, they presented various field scenarios, and students needed to describe what actions they would take.
After reading through all the scenarios, Kaito sighed:
"This is essentially testing basic shinobi protocols and confirming whether students have internalized the Will of Fire ideology. And here I was expecting some genuinely challenging strategic questions."
Nevertheless, he sighed and continued answering, providing responses exactly as any properly trained Academy graduate would.
The examination lasted one full hour.
When time expired, the test papers were collected and delivered to Nara Takamasa.
He assigned 6 Academy instructors to evaluate the answers and determine whether students were adequately prepared to graduate.
It required half an hour to thoroughly review all submissions, and then they provided the results to Nara Takamasa. One instructor reported:
"Takamasa-san, we've completed our evaluation. Out of 111 students, 79 provided satisfactory answers demonstrating readiness; the remaining candidates require additional preparation."
Nara Takamasa nodded curtly and said:
"Dismiss them."
These 32 students were instructed to return home and prepare for next year's examination. Kaito thought with surprise:
"They're just dismissing the students like that? Wouldn't that severely damage their motivation? Are they deliberately trying to reduce participant numbers for future exams?"
Kaito wasn't the only one concerned by this approach. An instructor from a regular class questioned Nara Takamasa:
"Takamasa-senpai, won't this discourage the students significantly? Those participating in this exam are among the Academy's best students."
Nara Takamasa regarded the instructor calmly. This teacher had entered the Academy two years after Takamasa but possessed limited talent, barely achieving chunin rank during the war through necessity.
Nara Takamasa shook his head and explained:
"If they lose motivation from such a minor setback, then they have no real potential as shinobi. They would be better served in the Genin Corps performing support duties, and we can allocate resources to cultivating those more qualified for eventual chunin promotion."
Although the instructor wasn't entirely convinced by this reasoning, he said nothing further, as this wasn't the first time Nara Takamasa had administered a graduation examination with these standards.
After the written test, the remaining candidates were evaluated in various practical areas such as shuriken accuracy, stealth operations, wilderness survival skills, and chakra control—similar to the assessments Kaito's class had completed a week earlier.
Since the elite class had already been thoroughly tested, they weren't examined again, and their scores from the previous week carried over directly.
Academy instructors observed everyone's performance carefully, and 15 additional students failed these practical examinations.
Upon receiving this report, Nara Takamasa thought with relief:
"Excellent! This makes the organization much simpler. The taijutsu tournament will be far more manageable now."
Shortly before the taijutsu competition commenced, the Hokage arrived to observe the examination personally.
He was accompanied by a figure Kaito immediately recognized: Kakashi Hatake.
Kaito felt genuinely surprised to see him present. He thought with concern:
"Why is Kakashi here? The Hokage wouldn't be forcing him to begin training students already, would he? I genuinely hope not. If Hiruzen assigns my squad to Kakashi, it could disrupt the original timeline significantly! I don't know how strong I can become over the next 6 to 7 years, so right now I'm hoping events don't change drastically because of my presence here."
Next was the taijutsu tournament among the remaining 64 qualified students.
Nara Takamasa organized a single-elimination bracket. So students could fight a maximum of 6 matches to reach the finals.
Kaito advanced easily to the semifinals. In the semifinal round, he faced a Hyuga Clan member who was one year his senior.
Kaito fought intensely against his opponent but found himself at a considerable disadvantage.
Although he managed to land heavy strikes to the opponent's right ribs, nose, and left side, he ultimately lost the match.
Kaito initially felt frustrated, complaining internally:
"Damn it, how do these Hyuga train? Even though I've made tremendous progress these past few months, I still lost!"
He immediately composed himself and analyzed the battle more objectively:
"On reflection, this outcome might be reasonable. The Hyuga Clan elders probably spar regularly with the younger generation for training. And I can only fight against my own Shadow Clone for practice."
"Moreover, the Hyuga Clan's entire fighting philosophy revolves around taijutsu specialization. While my training has relied heavily on Wind Pushing Technique, Body Flicker, and Subterranean Voyage for tactical advantage. Without those techniques available, my pure taijutsu capability is naturally reduced. If ninjutsu and kenjutsu had been permitted, I might have won this match. Furthermore, I didn't even use chakra enhancement on my strikes during the fight."
Then he observed the final match between Hyuga Hodaka and the older Hyuga student.
Due to injuries sustained during his match against Kaito, the older student struggled significantly and lost.
However, since Kaito had fought both competitors, he recognized that even without those injuries, Hyuga Hodaka would have won the final regardless.
Hyuga Hodaka claimed first place in taijutsu, but Kaito wasn't overly concerned:
"My scores in other examination categories are considerably higher than Hodaka's. So this gap won't impact the overall rankings too much, and I should still finish first in the class standings."
Kaito also noticed that no students were eliminated during the taijutsu competition phase.
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