By the time March arrived, the third semester was nearly finished. Starting this month, Izayoi began attending class in person more and more often—not just in the afternoons, but the morning academic lessons as well.
There were two reasons for that: first, March is not only when sixth-years graduate, but also when the year-end exams happen for every other grade. Before the semester ends, there's a major exam that factors into a student's overall score—along with any smaller tests and pop quizzes from the three semesters. The school then uses these final scores to select a single "top student" for the entire year group (sometimes called the "chief" of the grade).
Standing out as the top student among potentially dozens or even over a hundred classmates—including many from established ninja families—is a major deal. If the winner is from a known clan, that marks them as their family's new rising star. If they're from a civilian background, it means they outdid all the shinobi-clan heirs—a true "civilian genius." These top performers become big names at the Academy.
Izayoi had no intention of letting anyone else claim that title. This year's class was especially noteworthy; all the major ninja clans had their successors enrolled. Beating them all for the number-one spot would carry more weight than it would in any other year. Once Izayoi proved his abilities by taking first place, he'd have even fewer obstacles in his way when it came to hanging out with Hinata.
Given Izayoi's current level, winning the top spot wasn't really a challenge. Even if he had only shown up via shadow clone, he'd have stomped everyone else. Still, he decided to be there in person—because he knew Konoha's undercurrents were growing turbulent.
In Konoha Year 55, the "Konoha 9" were all seven years old. It was also the year of a shocking incident that shook the entire shinobi world: the Uchiha Clan—by then arguably the number-one ninja clan in the world—would be wiped out by a single thirteen-year-old. That boy was none other than Uchiha Itachi, the clan leader's son and the older brother of Sasuke. Through that terrifying feat, Itachi became the youngest-ever S-rank rogue ninja.
However, only a few people knew the truth: the Uchiha Clan hadn't been annihilated by Itachi alone. Konoha's upper echelons were involved, as well as an outside collaborator. Izayoi happened to be one of the few who knew that secret. Around this time, the world's biggest "apologist" could drop into Konoha via Kamui at any moment. Not wanting to catch that person's attention, Izayoi planned to slow down his training and, until the Uchiha downfall was over, refrain from taking Hinata to practice at the old training ground. Better safe than sorry.
As the Hyuga heiress who didn't bear the Caged Bird Seal, Hinata's Byakugan would be incredibly valuable if sold—but borderline unattainable—on the black market. Even a single Byakugan had turned Ao of the Hidden Mist into an elite Jonin who landed on Konoha's most wanted list. Who knew if Tobi (Obito) or Zetsu (Black and White) might suddenly decide to target Hinata's eyes? Izayoi wasn't about to test a villain's conscience.
…
March 20th.
Grades 1–5 took their year-end exams before the sixth-years began their graduation tests. Izayoi arrived early at the Academy, only to find Hinata had beaten him to the classroom. After a quick exchange of secret signals to confirm this was the real Izayoi, Hinata smiled softly and said, "Izayoi-kun, good luck."
"Mm, let's both do our best." Izayoi grinned and whispered, "Let's shoot for first and second place!"
"Right!"
Hinata's eyes sparkled as she imagined seeing their names posted on the board—Izayoi first, Hinata second. In the past, she hadn't cared about grades. But now, she didn't want to lose to anyone except Izayoi. She felt she had the strength to compete for that second place spot.
Finally, exam time arrived. The morning portion tested academic subjects. Even though the Three Basic Techniques had been introduced this semester, the school wasn't testing them yet. After all, many sixth-years didn't fully master the Three Basics before graduation. Some graduation exams would only randomly pick one of the Three Basics to test. Newly minted Genin capable of using a single C-rank elemental jutsu could already shock their supervising Jonin, showing how the Naruto world prioritizes combat ability over book smarts. Case in point: Naruto himself.
Hence, the morning academic test posed no trouble at all for Izayoi and Hinata.
The afternoon exam covered shuriken-throwing, taijutsu sparring, and a newly added survival exercise. None of this was especially difficult either. As long as Hinata's taijutsu matchup wasn't Izayoi, she'd be sure to get a perfect score, even if she fought Sasuke. In terms of taijutsu, Hinata was basically untouchable among first-years. Her decisive Gentle Fist was every kid's worst nightmare. However, if she ended up facing Izayoi, there'd be no second place for her this time.
Why not "no first place" instead of second? Simple. Over the three semesters, Hinata had already been matched with Izayoi once or twice. The outcome was always the same—she lost. Her overall record wasn't on par with Izayoi's. Even if she somehow got full marks on every test, she still couldn't snatch the top spot. Likewise, even if Izayoi happened to make a careless mistake on the academic portion—say, losing out to Sakura—Sakura couldn't claim first place either, thanks to her overall cumulative scores.
Currently, in first-year, only Izayoi, Sasuke, and Shino had never lost a fight in the official curriculum. But Sasuke and Shino's academic results still lagged behind Izayoi and Hinata, so no matter how well they did on the year-end test, they couldn't surpass Izayoi overall. If Hinata scored perfectly in the practical portion, she could lock in second place—unless there was someone in another class with even better cumulative scores, which was pretty unlikely.
Izayoi easily hit a perfect score in the shuriken-throwing test. Then came the taijutsu sparring, where he found himself paired with an unexpected opponent:
"Next match—Izayoi versus Uzumaki Naruto!"
The entire Class 1-A stood in a circle around the open space. Iruka, holding a clipboard, loudly announced the matchup from the center.
"Whaaat…?"
Naruto clutched his head in despair. "Why'd it have to be Izayoi of all people? I'm doomed!"
For Naruto, academic tests and shuriken throwing were already nightmares. Taijutsu was the only area where he had a slight chance of doing okay. Now that chance was gone—Izayoi was someone Hinata—"the taijutsu demon"—couldn't even beat.
Unlike Naruto's despair, Izayoi's eyes lit up. Finally, he was matched with this "Child of the Prophecy!"
~~~
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