Akihiko announced with a stern nod, "The third stage of the entrance exam will be… shuriken and kunai throwing."
Kazuki's expression darkened as he froze, his brows knitting together. 'WHAT THE HELL!? Shuriken and kunai throwing? How is that fair!?' he thought, his jaw clenching. 'Orphans like me can't even afford practice weapons… I thought about buying some, but they were so expensive I couldn't even dream of it. What am I supposed to do now? I can't afford to fail and wait another year.' He scoffed under his breath.
The proctor continued, his tone softening slightly, "However, unlike the other stages, this won't get you failed directly because there are many children who cannot afford ninja tools and thus can't practice."
Kazuki sighed in relief, his tense expression easing as he heard that this exam wouldn't directly eliminate him. He thought, his lips twitching into a faint smirk, 'Maybe this stage will also play a part in deciding who gets into the elite batch… and no one will fail this exam outright.'
He glanced at the crowd, his eyes narrowing as he frowned. 'But aren't there too many children? Does the academy even have enough resources to take so many at once?' he wondered, his gaze scanning the area.
Akihiko continued in a serious tone, his arms crossed, "In this round, each of you will be given 5 kunai and 5 shuriken, and then you will have to hit that target over there."
Akihiko pointed his finger at the target, which had three portions: a red center, an orange ring around the center, and a yellow ring around the orange ring. Some children gasped, their eyes widening at the sight of the vibrant target.
Akihiko said while staring at the target, his expression unreadable, "If you hit the dead center of the target, which is colored red, you will be given 3 points; 2 for the orange part, and 1 for the yellow part. We have 20 targets here, so you will take turns."
Akihiko then turned to the children, his serious gaze sweeping over them as he said in a firm voice, "As I said, you will not fail the exam if you perform badly in this stage, but you can still fail if your overall performance is not good. Out of the 196 of you, only 180 will pass this exam, and that will be decided by your rankings."
Hearing this, many children became nervous, their whispers buzzing through the crowd as some fidgeted anxiously. One girl bit her lip, her eyes darting to the target, while a boy nearby rolled his eyes, muttering, "Great, more pressure." Kazuki, however, had a relieved look on his face, his posture relaxing as he thought, 'Rankings, huh! This seems interesting.' He grinned slightly, his confidence returning. 'Luckily, I didn't hold anything back in the first two stages, and I'm sure I would have been in the top 10 if not for this stage.'
He leaned back slightly with his hands behind his head, a lazy smirk on his lips. 'Well, let's see what's going to happen. I'm pretty confident that I'm going to pass this test. I just have to worry about entering the elite batch,' he mused, his eyes half-lidded in a relaxed manner.
The teachers at the ninja academy assisted the children in throwing the shuriken and kunai, demonstrating the correct stance and action with patient gestures. One teacher adjusted a boy's arm, nodding approvingly, while another sighed, shaking her head at a poor throw.
Soon, Kazuki's turn arrived. He observed the stance the teacher demonstrated, his brows furrowing in concentration as he tried to mimic it. He threw the shuriken and kunai one after another, his movements stiff but determined.
When he was done, the teacher frowned deeply, his arms crossed as he thought, 'How can there be an Uchiha who doesn't even know shuriken jutsu?' He shook his head in disapproval, his lips pressing into a thin line. On the contrary, Kazuki was quite pleased with his performance, he had managed to hit one shuriken on the yellow ring, one kunai on the orange ring, and another kunai on the yellow ring, granting him 4 points. He puffed out his chest slightly, nodding to himself in satisfaction as it was just the first time he was trying this.
When it was Itachi's turn, everyone watched in awe, their mouths dropping open—except Kazuki, who already knew how good Itachi was. Itachi landed all his hits on the exact center, the bullseye, his movements fluid and precise. A few children clapped, their eyes wide with admiration, while many girls looked at him like he was some kind of celebrity.
When everyone had taken their turns, Akihiko announced, his voice carrying over the crowd, "All of you have performed very well today. The results will be announced in one hour. You can either stay here or go to your guardians, but make sure to come back in an hour."
Unlike his calm and serious voice, he frowned internally, his brows creasing. 'Here comes the difficult part. Now I have to fail 16 of the students and also assign them batches according to their performances. Man, what a drag,' he thought, rolling his eyes slightly.
After an hour, everyone returned, and a ninja pasted a list on a nearby board. Seeing that, the children rushed to the list to check the results, some shoving to get a better look as they began searching for their names. One girl squealed in excitement, while another boy groaned, his shoulders slumping.
When Kazuki reached the board, the first position caught his attention. As he had expected, it was none other than Itachi Uchiha. He nodded to himself, unsurprised, but quickly started looking for his own name, his eyes scanning the list intently. After searching for a bit, he finally found it at the 28th position, and he let out a long sigh of relief, his tense shoulders relaxing.
'28th position, huh! That's actually good, and I didn't expect that,' he thought, a small smile tugging at his lips. 'Now I might be able to join the elite batch.'
After looking at the list for some time, Kazuki found another familiar name: Izumi Uchiha, who was ranked 8th. His eyes widened slightly, then softened as he thought, 'Izumi, huh! That's Itachi's future girlfriend. I forgot she was in the same year as Itachi. Well, that's good—at least I have someone I can compete with, because there's no way I can compete with Itachi.' He frowned a bit at the last part, his expression turning slightly sour.
Everyone was talking to each other about their ranks, their voices overlapping in a chaotic buzz, when Akihiko raised his voice with chakra, his tone commanding attention. "As you can see, these are the rankings of the test. Those who failed, don't be discouraged. Come back next year after training hard," he said, his expression softening with a hint of sympathy.
After that, the ninjas escorted the children to their guardians. Some were crying, their shoulders shaking as they clung to their parents, while others stood with clenched fists, their eyes burning with determination to train hard and come back next year.
When everyone who had failed was gone, Akihiko announced, his voice ringing with pride, "Congratulations to all of you who passed the exam! From now on, you are students at the ninja academy, so make sure to train hard and improve your rankings. Those who ranked in the top 30 will be part of the elite batch, and the rest of the children will be divided into 3 groups of 50, who will be assigned to a normal batch."
Akihiko yawned lazily, his eyes half-closing as he said, "That's it for today. Come to the academy tomorrow at 7 AM. You don't have to bring anything other than your lunch and bags. Those who are orphans will be given an allowance every month." He waved his hand dismissively, his voice sleepy as he added, "You are dismissed." He sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping as he turned away.
After that, everyone started heading home with happy faces, some children skipping with excitement while others chattered eagerly.
On his way home, Kazuki thought with a happy expression, a wide grin spreading across his face, 'Hell yeah! I'm in the elite batch, and I already know two people there—Itachi and Izumi. I'll have to train really hard from tomorrow if I want to become strong.' His eyes sparkled with determination, his steps light.
With that, Kazuki reached home and had a peaceful afternoon nap, a content smile lingering on his face as he drifted off.