NARUTO FANFIC Chapter 3

Chapter 4: Entrance Exam

"Where leaves flutter, fire also burns eternally. The flames will illuminate the village and nurture new sprouts!"

At the Leaf Ninja School, waves of new students listened to the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's speech. Many of their faces exhibited expressions of admiration and even zealous excitement.

Among the new students, Namikaze Minato, also with an excited smile on his face, turned to Tatsuma and said, "Tatsuma, do you think we'll be placed in the same class?"

Tatsuma shook his head and replied, "How would I know? But if we perform well enough, we might get assigned to the elite class, and then we can be in the same class."

"Elite class? Is there such a class?"

Namikaze paused. He hadn't heard of any elite class, and the Hokage-sama hadn't mentioned it either. Tatsuma shrugged, not saying anything.

Indeed, there was no "elite class" within the Ninja School, but Tatsuma had already noticed several kids wearing clan insignias on their clothes, congregated in the seats closest to the Third Hokage.

A bit further out, there were other children with clan insignias on their clothes, along with some who were well-equipped. The latter might not be from ninja families, but their parents were likely active ninjas.

And the third level is made up of commoners, their clothes lacking clan insignias, their equipment not very complete, but their ninja tools, tool bags, and clothes and shoes are all brand new, indicating a good financial situation.

Tatsuma and Namikaze were on the outermost edge, surrounded by kids who looked undernourished, wearing faded or ill-fitting clothes. Their tool bags were also heavily worn, and like Tatsuma, they probably bought secondhand items. Without a doubt, they were orphans.

However, unlike the other kids who were war orphans, both Tatsuma and Namikaze didn't look underdeveloped. It wasn't that the village treated them differently; all war orphans received the same financial support. The only difference was that these two had clear plans for their monthly stipends.

Tatsuma, having lived two lives, understood the importance of budgeting income and knew how to manage his money. As for Namikaze, perhaps he was precocious.

This clear distinction in seating arrangements made Tatsuma doubt the Ninja School's ability to handle class assignments. Maybe Namikaze just naively believed that the seating was assigned randomly by the teachers, but Tatsuma couldn't be that complacent.

"Come this way, next we'll conduct an entrance exam."

Shortly after Hiruzen Sarutobi finished his speech, a group of Leaf Ninja wearing Chunin vests led the new students onto the training grounds.

Tatsuma glanced around and noticed rows of targets in the distance. Five meters away from the targets was a long table with common ninja tools such as kunai, shuriken, and senbon.

Seeing this, Tatsuma involuntarily looked at Namikaze, who also glanced back. There was a grateful smile on Namikaze's face. The surprise training from yesterday had taught him how to throw ninja tools properly.

Although his skill level was average at best, he had at least learned the technique. He could now hit the target consistently, without problems like lack of strength or misdirection.

Tatsuma smiled and said, "Let's do our best. With your talent and yesterday's training, you should have a good performance. How about we compare our scores?"

Faced with a friend so keen on competition, Namikaze wasn't as helpless as he was yesterday. He decisively nodded.

After reviewing their day together, Namikaze had realized that setting goals before each challenge made him more motivated, inspiring him to complete the set amount of training. Maybe that's why this friend liked setting challenges so much!

"Choose the ninja tool you prefer, aim at the target in front of you, and throw it five times. No pressure, it's just a simple test."

After batches of students had their turn, it was finally Tatsuma and Namikaze's turn. The ninja school teacher smiled at them and said, "Could you please tell us your results later? Thank you."

Tatsuma, using polite language, responded, "Could you kindly inform us of our scores later? Thank you very much."

Tatsuma's use of formal language didn't bother him, especially when he needed a favor. The teacher paused for a moment, observing the two kids whose demeanor and spirit differed greatly from the other war orphans. Eventually, the teacher nodded.

Seeing this, Tatsuma smiled at Namikaze, who also nodded. They both picked up kunai from the table. The teacher seemed surprised by their choice, given that kunai were a bit heavy and large for kids of their age.

Maybe for adult ninjas, kunai, shuriken, and senbon had similar levels of difficulty in throwing. However, for five or six-year-old children, shuriken were the best choice. Kunai were too heavy, and senbon were too light and hard to control.

The way these two kids held kunai was different from mere play. The teacher, who had no expectations from these war orphans, looked at the targets, curious about their performance.

"Tock, tock, tock~"

"Tock, tock, tock~"

With almost no adjustments in between throws, both Tatsuma and Namikaze immediately picked up another kunai from the table after throwing one. Within a very short time, they launched all five kunai, hitting the targets five meters away accurately.

For ninja, five meters was quite close; generally, ninja didn't practice with five-meter targets. However, for kids who hadn't yet enrolled in the academy, hitting the target was already good enough. But when the teacher blinked, seeing the impressive hits, they looked again at the targets, then at the two boys, asking in surprise, "Have you practiced before?"

"We usually practice at the training grounds."

Tatsuma replied with a smile. The teacher nodded in acknowledgment, saying, "Very well, it seems you two are quite suitable to become ninja. You scored fifty rings, and you, over there, forty-five rings. Give me your enrollment letters, please. Tatsuma Sakamoto, Namikaze Minato."

The teacher made a few notes on their enrollment letters and handed them back, saying, "Alright, go over there for the next test."

With a nod, the teacher recorded their scores. The teacher hadn't heard the sounds of the other war orphans' throwing their tools onto the targets.

After respectfully saluting, Tatsuma and Namikaze left. Tatsuma looked at Namikaze and said, "Your talent is truly excellent. If you had started training a month ago like me, you might have won."

"Ding~ [Physical Ability +2]"

Namikaze scratched his blond hair and replied, "If you hadn't taught me, I wouldn't have performed so well today. And even if I did well, I would have only matched your score this time. Tatsuma, if I'm not mistaken, a five-meter target probably can't fully showcase your abilities, right?"

Tatsuma smiled without answering. He knew that if he hadn't picked up Namikaze's talent yesterday, he would have been left praying for luck today.

"Let's go, there's still the next test waiting for us. If we want to be assigned to the same class, one good performance isn't enough. Let's keep up the good work."

"Sure, let's do our best."