Bab 156: Chapter 156: Rin's Remarkable Performance
On Monday, after finishing his morning routine, Obito quickly split a Shadow Clone and said:
"You better hurry to school now, being late wouldn't look good."
"Heh, trying to trick me into taking the exam while you slack off yourself? You think I don't know today is the final exam?" the Shadow Clone sneered.
As fellow Obito, he didn't need a second thought to figure out what the original was thinking.
"Anyway, it's usually you who goes to school. You can handle the theory exam," Obito stated his attitude plainly when his trick didn't work.
"Going to school is just to save face for Yumi-sensei. As for the exam, forget about it," the Shadow Clone also made his stance clear; doing the paper was out of the question.
"If I go to take the exam, both of us will suffer, but if you go, only one person will suffer," reasoned the Shadow Clone convincingly.
Obito felt momentarily persuaded, as if it were indeed the case.
Obito had no choice but to dispel the Shadow Clone and then grumble, "Damn Senju Tobirama, this Shadow Clone is utterly useless!"
With his clone exam plan failed, Obito had breakfast and headed to school to take the test.
On the way, Obito encountered several first-year students he vaguely remembered, as they were students in Mutsuki's class and had participated in the summer special training together, so Obito recalled some of them.
"Good morning, Obito Senpai," greeted Hagane Kotetsu, Kamizuki Izumo, and Anko.
"Good morning to you too," Obito replied with a smile.
"I noticed you don't seem very happy, Obito Senpai. Did something happen?" Kamizuki Izumo asked.
"Is it because of today's exam?" Hagane Kotetsu speculated.
"Kind of, I'm not very good at theory exams," nodded Obito.
"Eh, Obito Senpai, you're not good at theory either? Me neither," Anko said, as if she found a kindred spirit.
"Those theoretical concepts are so hard to remember, it's normal not to be good at it," Obito seemed to see a reflection of himself in Anko, feeling some familiarity.
"We actually..." Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo tried to join in.
"Don't be fooled by these two scoundrels, Obito Senpai. They're actually excellent in theory. They got full marks in the last exam, and the one before that they scored 98 or 97," Anko ruthlessly exposed their lies.
"Full marks? Are you guys geniuses?" Obito was astonished, as getting full marks seemed unbelievable. Isn't the human limit supposed to be 60?
"No, no, we just do a bit more revision than usual," Hagane Kotetsu admitted honestly, while Shisui is the real genius.
"They're both so annoying, always teasing me about my low theory scores," Anko pouted, hands on her hips.
"Obito Senpai, how much do you usually score? It should be above 80, right?" Anko asked, thinking Obito wouldn't be as bad as her, maybe scoring around 78.
"Um, how about you normally?" Obito felt that this kindred spirit of a student seemed off, and the shadow of familiarity vanished instantly.
"Don't laugh when I tell you, Obito Senpai. My grades are really bad, and they keep declining. The first time, I only got 80, and last time, I dropped to 78," Anko sighed.
There aren't many low scorers like her in Mutsuki's class, so Anko felt that even if she had low scores, it wouldn't be below 78.
"I think I saw someone I know ahead. Let's talk later when I have time," Obito glanced around after listening and immediately jogged forward.
"Guy, wait for me." Obito truly didn't want to stay with Anko and the others any longer, feeling like every second spent with them was like a kunai piercing his heart.
Scoring only 80 points was considered really bad, and scoring full marks with a little more studying almost made Obito feel like exams were easy. If he hadn't never scored above 70 before, he might have almost believed it.
"I only got 20 points on my first exam!" Obito compared his initial score and silently raged in his mind. If he scored 80 points, he'd proudly display his paper for all to see.
"Another morning full of youth!" Guy enthusiastically smiled and gave Obito a thumbs-up.
"Guy, are you confident about this exam?" Seeing how upbeat Guy was, Obito asked.
"Oh, right, today is the exam." Guy's thumbs-up instantly wilted, and his smile froze on his face.
Seeing Guy like this relieved Obito, and he smiled contentedly. This was more like it; those first-year juniors were completely abnormal.
...
On the first day of the theory exam, although Mutsuki didn't invigilate, he wandered around the exam hall a few times. On the second day of the theory exam, Mutsuki went to the exam hall of the fourth-year second class, where Obito and Rin were.
Mutsuki came primarily to check on Rin's performance in the practical exam.
Among Mutsuki's disciples, Rin's strength was the weakest, quite a distance behind Guy and Obito, and not even a match for some individual students in the class.
Now, Mutsuki had taught Rin Enhanced Strength techniques and strengthened her Taijutsu. He felt that Rin's performance should improve, and she shouldn't lose to anyone other than Guy and Obito anymore.
Rin became Mutsuki's disciple during the summer special training period and had been under his tutelage for almost five months now.
"Yumi-sensei," Ueda Aya greeted Mutsuki as she was in charge of monitoring class 2 of the fourth year this time.
"Mutsuki-sensei," another proctor, who wasn't as familiar with Mutsuki, added his position when addressing Mutsuki.
Mutsuki smiled and nodded in response, "I've come to check on the students I've been responsible for during the break."
"Also, Mutsuki, you've been selected as a mentor for the interns," Ueda Aya asked curiously.
It's not a secret among the senseis; almost everyone knows about it.
"Mm-hmm," Mutsuki nodded.
"Which students are you responsible for? Guy and Obito, right?" Ueda Aya guessed.
Given Mutsuki's strong teaching ability, Ueda Aya felt that the school would surely assign the best students to Mutsuki.
"For class 2, it's those two," Mutsuki replied.
"The first examinee is Rin, and the second examinee is Uchiha Tekka," the proctor announced.
As the exam began, Ueda Aya picked up the grading sheet, no longer engaging in much conversation with Mutsuki, preparing to grade seriously.
"Rin isn't having good luck this time. If she didn't encounter Tekka, she might have made it to the top four," students from class 2 discussed.
Since the end of the last special training, Rin had also performed well in the class. In the last exam, apart from Obito and Guy, who were consistently top performers, only Uchiha Tekka could reliably beat Rin.
So they believe this time should be more or less the same.
"After all, Tekka was in Group A from the beginning of the special training, while Rin seemed to have been promoted to Group A near the end."
Most students favored Uchiha Tekka, considering him stronger than many students participating in the grade-level practical exams. However, each class could only produce two candidates, and Guy and Obito were too strong.
"Rin-chan, you better hold back a bit later, don't punch that guy to death," Obito exaggerated.
He didn't believe Uchiha Tekka could beat Rin.
"Obito, you're exaggerating," Rin felt like her image in Obito's mind was somehow different.
"Hehe," Obito chuckled, then fist-bumped Rin to cheer her on. "Go for it, Rin-chan!"
With a gentle smile, Rin walked to the confrontation arena, sealing the Seal of Confrontation, waiting for the battle to begin.
Uchiha Tekka quickly entered the arena and assumed a stance, but he didn't take this fight seriously. Instead, he was pondering the gap between himself and Obito and Guy.
"I wonder how Uchiha Obito trained. It feels like the harder I work, the wider the gap becomes," Uchiha Tekka felt frustrated, recalling his last battle with Uchiha Obito during the previous exam.
"The battle begins!" as both assumed their stances, the proctor announced.
As soon as the proctor finished speaking, with a swift movement, Rin vanished from Uchiha Tekka's sight, reappearing by his side.
"Such a fast Body Flicker Jutsu!" Uchiha Tekka's pupils contracted, greatly surprised.
But what astonished Uchiha Tekka even more was Rin's Taijutsu.
Caught off guard, Uchiha Tekka couldn't dodge in time, only able to raise his arm to block Rin's seemingly feeble punch.
Bang!!
With a loud noise, Uchiha Tekka was sent flying backward by Rin's punch, crashing heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Feeling the intense pain in his arm, Uchiha Tekka was bewildered, looking at Rin's slender arm with a puzzled expression.
If he were fighting against Guy, Uchiha Tekka wouldn't be surprised, but facing off against Rin, he hadn't expected her Taijutsu to become so strong.
Uchiha Tekka wanted to endure the pain and form seals to release Ninjutsu, but his injured arm slowed him down. Soon, Rin rushed at him again, forcing Uchiha Tekka into a struggle.
However, in his weakened state, Uchiha Tekka stood no chance against Rin. He was quickly sent flying and crashed to the ground.
The onlooking students fell into silence, even Obito, watching Uchiha Tekka being tossed around, broke into a cold sweat.
"Is Rin's Taijutsu really that strong?" The onlooking students were dumbfounded. It was completely different from what they had expected. Uchiha Tekka not only didn't win but also barely put up a fight, losing miserably.
"Nohara Rin wins!" announced the proctor after completing the scoring.
"Sensei, please have someone take me to the infirmary," Uchiha Tekka, lying down, felt like he couldn't go on.
"You guys continue proctoring. I'll take him to the infirmary," Mutsuki smiled and said, adjusting his glasses.
He had come mainly to observe Rin's performance. He could come back for the second round of battles.
Mutsuki carried Uchiha Tekka on his back and escorted him to the Academy's infirmary for treatment.
"Thank you, Yumi-sensei," Uchiha Tekka, feeling a bit better, thanked Mutsuki.
"No problem, as a sensei, it's my duty," Mutsuki replied warmly.
"Yumi-sensei, am I someone without talent?" Uchiha Tekka suddenly asked.
Today's round with Rin left Uchiha Tekka feeling a bit down. Though there was some initial carelessness, upon reflection, Uchiha Tekka realized that even without that, he would have only lost a bit slower.
He admitted losing to Uchiha Obito; being fellow Uchihas, Obito might have had a burst of potential.
He admitted losing to Guy; after all, Guy's effort seemed a bit extreme.
But losing to Rin was something he never expected. Despite Rin's strong theoretical knowledge, her combat skills had always been mediocre, quite average. She belonged to the type that Uchiha Tekka couldn't even be bothered to remember the name of.
From being the top of the class to being cleanly defeated by Rin, Uchiha Tekka's confidence was shattered.
"How could this happen? Being placed in Group A from the beginning of the special training meant you were ahead of many others."
"Don't deny yourself because of a momentary failure. You've been defeated, yes, but haven't you also defeated them? Believe in yourself." Mutsuki turned around to comfort him before leaving.
With Mutsuki's words, Uchiha Tekka felt much better. Indeed, Obito and the others were only stronger than him by two semesters, but he had been stronger than them for three years!
"Take a good rest, I have other matters to attend to," Mutsuki smiled and left, heading to the training ground where the practical exams were held.
Mutsuki felt that if there were levels to giving pep talks, he might have reached a level close to Mastery; he had almost instinctively started offering encouragement.
The first round of battles took the longest, so Mutsuki didn't rush to the exam venue of Class 4-2, instead returning to his own class for a while.
In Mutsuki's class, things were still much the same as before. Shisui remained unrivaled in strength, with Anko usually coming in second unless she ran into Shisui early on. Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu fell into the third tier.
The remaining students weren't weak; it's just that the ones mentioned earlier had surpassed the current grade level.
"Mutsuki-sensei, the average level of students in your class is too high. Just pick a few and place them in other first-year classes, and they'll easily secure the top four or even top two positions," the invigilating sensei praised.
Every sensei who came to invigilate Class 1-1 would be astonished by the average level of the class. Having a few prodigious students was quite normal for Konoha; the village never lacked talented ninjas
But having an entire class of excellent students was quite exaggerated. It couldn't be that a whole class consisted of prodigies, right?
Mutsuki made a few modest remarks and then had an idea. What if he and Third suggested modifying the grade-level practical exam rules? Instead of two representatives from Class 1-1, the entire grade could compete in practical scores.
In that case, there would be a total of sixteen participants in the grade-level practicals, with probably twelve students from Mutsuki's class. After the first round, it would essentially become an internal battle within Mutsuki's class.
However, this wouldn't hold much significance for Mutsuki. It would only serve to highlight the strength of his class without offering many rewards from the system.
In fact, comparing the average practical scores of each class would already indicate the strength of his class. In the last exam, the average practical score of Mutsuki's class was twice that of the other classes.
As the first round of Mutsuki's class was nearing its end, Mutsuki headed to the exam venue of Class 4-2. Rin was the first examinee, and she would also be the first to start the second round.
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Status Power Mingguan
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