The Shimura Actually Has Ice Release

With a thunk, the shuriken thrown by Shiranui Genma embedded itself in the target—but it didn't hit the center.

"Your posture's pretty standard. Got any ninjas in the family?"

The teacher, who had locked eyes on Genma the moment he picked up the shuriken, asked casually.

"Yes, my father is a jōnin from Konoha."

Genma nodded.

"I see. Have you ever practiced the Three Basic Jutsu?"

As he scribbled something on a form, the teacher continued his questions.

"Clone Technique!"

Rather than answering directly, Genma chose to respond with action.

The teacher immediately noticed the flaws in the clone Genma had produced.

"Still, for your age, that's good enough."

Nodding in approval, the teacher set his pen down and motioned for Genma to wait off to the side.

"Anko Mitarashi, right?"

Looking at the girl before him, the teacher pulled out a fresh form.

"Yes."

The usually loud and carefree Anko became surprisingly obedient in front of the teacher, nodding sweetly.

"Yeees~"

Behind her, Takeshi couldn't help but mock her tone, drawing a sharp glare from Anko.

The teacher noticed him as well.

However, he said nothing—just gave Takeshi a deep look before shifting his attention back to Anko.

"Same as the last kid—throw a shuriken for me."

Anko threw the shuriken with fairly standard form. As with the others, the teacher asked about her family background and then tested her on basic ninjutsu and genjutsu aptitude.

"Alright, next."

With Anko's turn over, Takeshi walked up slowly.

"Name."

"Shimura Takeshi."

"Shimura..."

Hearing the name, the teacher's hand hesitated mid-reach for the form. Then, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary, he pulled one out and wrote down Takeshi's name.

At the same time, he recalled a conversation he'd had with colleagues earlier that morning.

"Did you hear? This year's applicants include not only the young master from the Third's clan, but also the actual son of the Hokage's advisor."

"Seriously? That advisor has a son?"

"You didn't know? He's always hanging out on the streets with Asuma and the others—he's the cutest one of the bunch."

"Better tread carefully. If you flunk any of these bigwig kids, the consequences could be... troublesome."

...

"Sensei?"

Takeshi cautiously called out when the teacher went quiet while holding the form.

"Ah—oh, yes. Shimura Takeshi, right? Let me start with a few simple questions."

Snapping back to reality, the teacher quickly put on a smile.

"That guy wasn't smiling when testing the others, was he?"

Anko grumbled to Genma beside her.

Chewing on a toothpick, Genma just shrugged.

"If your dad were the Hokage's advisor, the teacher would smile at you too."

"As a ninja, the most important thing is quick thinking. So I'm going to test your mental agility."

Skipping the shuriken and ninjutsu/genjutsu tests entirely, the teacher marked full scores for them on the form and asked his so-called "questions":

"Which is bigger—8 or 4?"

"Uh... 8."

"Correct. Konoha ninja usually operate in four-man cells, but other villages don't follow this structure. Iwagakure, for example, prefers large-scale operations. So when we face eight enemies, our four-man teams are at a disadvantage."

As he explained, the teacher wrote in the remarks column: "Quick-thinking, exceptionally intelligent."

"What's 4 + 4?"

"Uh... 8."

"Right. Two four-man teams make eight. That's the meaning of teamwork."

Nodding in approval, he added: "Possesses strong team spirit."

"..."

Takeshi was speechless.

At this point, he strongly suspected that even if he had answered 4 + 4 = 2, this guy would've found a way to justify it.

"Alright, next."

With a smile, the teacher gestured for Takeshi to go wait with Anko. But as soon as Might Guy appeared in front of him, the smile vanished.

"Sensei, I—"

"Alright, just go throw the shuriken first."

Cutting him off, the teacher immediately wrote Guy's name on a form.

The son of Might Duy, the eternal genin... Always running around the village doing weird performance art. What a disgrace to the name of Konoha ninja.

The teacher shook his head ever so slightly. After testing Guy's ninjutsu and genjutsu skills, his expression visibly darkened.

This kid... Other than his physical strength, his jutsu skills are a disaster...

"Tsk tsk, looks like this guy's in trouble..."

Seeing the teacher's expression, Anko muttered aloud—only to get a light smack on the head from Takeshi.

"Don't talk nonsense, Anko."

Anko and the others didn't understand, but Takeshi did.

The Might Guy of the future would demonstrate what it meant to trade life for strength—fighting bloodline freaks with sheer willpower, almost kicking the story to its end. In this world obsessed with lineage, he would roar with the fury of the ordinary.

"Oh."

Anko nodded meekly after the tap, staying quiet.

"Thank you for your support!"

Though their voices weren't loud, the spacious room carried them clearly. Yet the scorned Might Guy didn't show any hurt—he simply gave Anko a thumbs up.

"This guy..."

Anko looked surprised.

...

With the last student exiting the building, the entrance exams came to a close.

Staring at the thick stack of evaluation forms, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a helpless smile.

"Looks like I've got my hands full for a while."

"This is part of your duty as Hokage."

Danzō sat calm and collected, sipping tea for what felt like the hundredth time.

Irritated by Danzō's relaxed demeanor, Hiruzen pulled out a portion of the forms and placed them in front of him.

"You really came here just to drink tea, didn't you?"

"I'm just a parent waiting for my son."

Glancing at the stack, Danzō didn't even bother reaching for them.

Root was already undergoing covert reforms to meet his expectations, so he had no intention of recruiting more people anytime soon. As for training Anbu for the Hokage...

Let Hiruzen worry about that himself.

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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