Hokage, no one knows better than me how to cultivate talent.

Although she didn't speak, her little face was also full of seriousness.

Hinata Hyuga quietly raised her head, glanced at the tall figure on the podium, and then quickly looked away.

You must do well on the exam.

We must not let Teacher Qiushui be punished.

Yamanaka Ino turned her head to look at Haruno Sakura diagonally in front of her, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Sakura."

Sakura Haruno turned around.

Ino looked at her and said seriously, "Don't make any mistakes this time. Try to get first place in the whole grade in the theory exam."

Sakura Haruno paused for a moment.

"Don't worry, Ino," she said with complete confidence. "I can't guarantee anything in the practical exam, but when it comes to the theoretical exam, I'm second to none in the fourth year."

That's a very unmodest statement.

But Ino, unusually, did not refute it, because she knew that Sakura was telling the truth.

Shino Aburame adjusted her sunglasses.

Yesterday, he had planned to release a few bugs during the exam to copy Sakura's answers, but now, he glanced at Akisui, who was announcing the rules on the podium, and then at Murata Koji, who was standing in the corner.

Two teachers were proctoring the exam.

Any violation will result in a score of zero.

Shino Aburame was silent for two seconds.

Then, he silently retracted his plan to release the insects.

Forget it.

I'll have to rely on myself.

If it were discovered that I got zero points, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The school bell rang.

Akisui and Murata Koji each picked up a stack of exam papers and distributed them.

The two then took turns proctoring the exam, one still and one moving, one in front and one behind.

Koji Murata stood above the podium, his gaze sweeping across the classroom, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

If Qiu Shui's popularity among students initially only made him envious, the scene before him now was something he couldn't quite understand.

His gaze fell on Nara Shikamaru, who was sitting by the window.

Koji Murata remembered clearly that when he was proctoring this class before, Shikamaru basically just stared out the window in a daze during the second half of the exam, occasionally yawning.

But now?

He was hunched over the table, his pen moving rapidly across the exam paper, his gaze so focused it was as if he were a completely different person.

Koji Murata then looked in another direction at Naruto Uzumaki.

In his memory, Naruto's state during exams was always the same: frowning, biting his pen, unable to write a single word for a long time, and when he finally handed in his paper, it was basically blank, with nothing written except his name, and he often drew some cartoon figures.

But now, in his eyes, Naruto was staring at the test paper, his pen moving slowly. Although he wrote very slowly and occasionally stopped to bite the pen tip and stare blankly, he was writing.

Koji Murata couldn't understand how Akisui had managed to turn a class that had given countless teachers headaches into what it was now in just one month.

At 11:30 a.m., the bell rang on time to signal the end of get out of class.

Qiu Shui stood up, glanced around the classroom, and said, "The exam time is over. Please stop writing and wait in your seats."

A flurry of noise filled the classroom. Some students put down their pens and breathed a sigh of relief; others closed their test papers with expressions of relief on their faces; but a few students, taking advantage of the instant Qiu Shui finished speaking, quickly lowered their heads and scribbled a few more lines on the paper with their pens.

Qiushui didn't say anything, but walked down the line with Fujino Daikuma, collecting each and every exam paper.

Some people reluctantly wrote two more words before handing it in.

Someone stared at the exam paper that had been taken away, their eyes filled with regret. They had almost missed answering that question.

All exam papers have been collected.

Qiu Shui stood on the podium, looking at the relaxed or nervous faces below, and said, "Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, we will gather at the school playground for the Shadow Clone Technique, Ninja Tool Throwing, and Physical Fitness Test. Everyone should arrive as early as possible. Those who are fifteen minutes late will be disqualified from the practical test."

After saying that, he and Fujino Daikuma left the classroom together.

The moment the two figures disappeared at the classroom door.

The classroom instantly became lively.

"Sasuke." Ino Yamanaka jumped up and rushed over in a flash, faster than she usually ran, directly to Sasuke's seat. She placed her hands on his desk and softly asked, "What did you choose for the third multiple-choice question?"

Since the discussion was about grades, Sasuke wasn't as indifferent as usual and said, "A."

Ino's face instantly lit up with a bright smile: "Great, we're really in sync, I also chose A."

When Sakura Haruno saw this, her face immediately darkened.

That brief moment of peaceful coexistence vanished instantly.

She rushed over too.

The two started arguing again about Sasuke.

Hinata Hyuga was sitting in her seat with her head down when a voice suddenly rang in her ear.

Hinata.

Hinata suddenly looked up and met a familiar smiling face.

Naruto stood in front of her, a bright smile on his face, and asked casually, "How do you feel about the test?"

He often trained with Hinata during this period. Although the two didn't talk much, Naruto felt that Hinata was already his friend.

The students in the classroom immediately turned their attention to the two of them.

Hinata's face flushed instantly, and she nervously poked her fingers together, but still replied softly, "It's...okay."

Naruto leaned his head close to hers and said loudly, "What did you say? I didn't hear you."

Hinata immediately turned into a steam engine.

Naruto didn't press further. Instead, he put his hands on his hips and said with unprecedented confidence, "I finished most of the questions. I think I did well on the test."

When the others in the classroom heard Naruto say this, they immediately thought he was exaggerating, but no one denied him as they usually did. In fact, they all hoped that he was telling the truth.

Sunday morning.

Qiu Shui arrived at school half an hour early.

The playground, which is usually so quiet at this time that you can hear birds chirping, is now bustling with people jogging to warm up, stretching, and chatting.

Qiu Shui's gaze swept across the crowd and quickly found the two familiar figures.

Naruto Uzumaki was squatting by the track, earnestly stretching his legs, while Hinata Hyuga next to him was doing stretching exercises.

The two saw him almost at the same time.

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up, jogging over and calling out, "Shusui-sensei!"

Hinata followed behind him, her pace quickening slightly, but she tried her best to maintain her composure. She walked up to Shusui, bowed her head slightly, and softly called out, "Shusui-sensei."

Qiu Shui nodded to the two of them, glancing over them. They were both dressed in neat sportswear and looked to be in good shape. She asked, "How was your warm-up?"