Naruto: Strength Through Teaching

Chapter 19: Graduating Early?

The exams on the third day are coming up soon. After all, only two students are selected from each class, and there are only eight classes in the entire Academy for each grade.

Today is the same as the second day; non-candidates can choose not to come. However, quite a few students have come today to watch the exams and see who will be the first in grade four.

"Am I seeing things? Isn't that Uchiha Obito? Why is he standing on the side of the candidates?" someone wonders.

"Didn't you pay attention to the news from Class 2 yesterday?" the person next to him asked.

"Yeah, yesterday I had bad luck and encountered the strongest in our class in the first round. I lost and went home."

"That's normal then. Uchiha Obito has become very strong now; he defeated Uchiha Tekka from their class."

The students watching discuss the participating students from each class with relish.

Sometimes, debates arise over who has stronger abilities. At such times, even those who had criticized Obito and Might Guy before would try their best to defend them, after all, they represent their own class.

"I guess the only one who can be the first in his grade this time is Shisui," Mutsuki says after watching the first round. He feels that Obito and Might Guy are in a precarious situation.

Kamon Hyuga, who practices the Gentle Fist, is doing well. Coupled with the advantage of the Byakugan, it's difficult for Might Guy to win, let alone Obito.

Mutsuki can only say that the early stages of the Hyuga Clan's ninjas are still advantageous. The Byakugan is not as difficult to awaken as the Sharingan, and the family's Gentle Fist is also an excellent taijutsu.

The time they spent practicing with him is still too short. Now, their strengths are not enough, and there are still many weaknesses.

As time passes, they enter the final two rounds of battles. Obito fights against Hyuga Kamon, and Might Guy faces a ninja from the fourth year, third class.

As Mutsuki expected, in front of Hyuga Kamon, Obito is beaten by the Gentle Fist even before using a single Ninjutsu.

During the final match, Might Guy's performance was indeed better than Obito's, but his moves were completely anticipated by Hyuga Kamon's Byakugan, and he couldn't escape the outcome of losing.

Obito, feeling somewhat disheartened after losing the match, had hoped to compete for the first place but unexpectedly didn't even make it to the top two.

As Mutsuki happened to pass by, he consoled, "Don't always dwell on your failures. You should think about how much you've improved since the last time and work hard for the next opportunity."

Upon hearing this from Mutsuki, Obito's mood instantly improved. After all, during the previous third-grade final exams, he was ranked around twentieth in his class. This time, he almost made it to the top two in the entire grade. Considering this, his progress was substantial, and the first place seemed within reach!

Mutsuki then walked over to Might Guy. Surprisingly, Might Guy also appeared somewhat disheartened. Mutsuki had initially thought that someone like Guy wouldn't care much about a win or loss. Upon closer consideration, Mutsuki found the reason.

It might be because he had given Might Guy a Taijutsu training manual yesterday, causing Might Guy to feel the weight of Mutsuki's expectations.

"Failure always runs through life from beginning to end; that's life. Don't let one failure bring you down," Mutsuki comforted.

Might Guy's body trembled. When it came to failure, he indeed had the right to speak. From the initial entrance exam, where he almost missed becoming a ninja, to challenging Kakashi and being defeated in one move, consistently ranking last in every course and being dubbed the "tail-ender"...

Although he was only eight years old, Might Guy had already experienced too many failures. It seemed like he was starting to understand what his father, Might Duy, meant by "youth never fading."

"I understand, Mutsuki-sensei," Might Guy's gaze became more determined.

He realized that his focus should not be on being disheartened by his wins and losses. Instead, he needed to train hard to win the next battle until he became the strongest.

Mutsuki nodded approvingly and then went on to pass by Shisui.

When Mutsuki found Shisui, Shisui was surrounded by a group of students asking questions left and right.

Seeing Mutsuki approaching, the students greeted Mutsuki one after another.

"Yumi-sensei, I managed to get second place in the grade. Is there any reward for me?" Anko walked over to Mutsuki with a cheerful smile.

Mutsuki smiled, patted Anko's little head, and thought for a moment before saying, "How about treating you to some Dango?"

"Great! Yumi-sensei is the best!" Anko immediately transformed into Mutsuki's number one fan upon hearing about the Dango.

"Shisui, even though you got first place in the grade, you haven't asked for a reward. Anko, you're too eager," Hagane Kotetsu commented from the side.

It's not that Kotetsu really thought Anko was too impatient; it was just a bit of teasing.

Mutsuki chuckled and sent the group of students away. Then, with Shisui, he headed towards the commercial street to buy the Dango he promissed.

"How do you feel?" Mutsuki asked.

Shisui thought for a moment and honestly replied, "Pretty ordinary, to be honest. There wasn't even anyone who required me to go all out."

"Very normal. After all, with your strength, there aren't many in the fourth grade who can match you, let alone the first grade," Mutsuki praised generously.

"Hey, Mutsuki-sensei, do you think I should graduate early?" Shisui asked, looking into Mutsuki's eyes. Mutsuki's eyes had a unique color, a sky-blue hue.

"Graduate early?" Mutsuki questioned.

"Yeah, because I heard that some talented Senpai in the past thought they couldn't learn much in the ninja school and graduated quickly," Shisui replied.

Mutsuki shook his head and said, "I don't recommend graduating in your first year. At the very least, wait until the second or third year."

"Your strength may be outstanding among your peers, but once you're out of school, your opponents won't only be your peers. Especially now, a major war could break out at any time."

"If you feel the Academy's courses are meaningless, you can use Shadow Clones to attend classes for you, and then you can follow my guidance for training," Mutsuki suggested.

Although in the original story, Shisui safely survived the Third Great Ninja War and even earned the nickname "Body Flicker Shisui," the original story didn't include Mutsuki Yumi. The butterfly effect makes predictions uncertain.

Mutsuki still hoped that Shisui would spend a few more years developing in the ninja school. If you can't even defeat a Chunin, what's the point of graduating? If he were in Shisui's shoes, without Jonin-level strength, he wouldn't feel safe walking on the streets of Konoha.

Upon hearing Mutsuki's suggestion, Shisui's eyes lit up. He nodded, feeling that Mutsuki's advice was quite good.

Later, Mutsuki took Shisui to buy a bunch of Dango and returned to the school. Before the afternoon classes, every student in Class 1-1 received a portion of Dango.

Mutsuki wasn't really going to give Dango to Anko alone, but since he promised, Mutsuki gave an extra portion of Dango to Anko.

"Yumi-sensei is the best!" Anko expressed great satisfaction. If a few more portions of Dango were to come, there might be a Yumi cult in Konoha soon.

Other students also expressed their thanks, and their already high regard for Mutsuki increased even more.

The efficiency of the Academy was quite high. Two days after the exams, all the results were sorted out and announced, confirming Mutsuki's conjectures.

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