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

"Almost there!" Naruto patted his chest. "I'm in great shape today, I'm sure I'll get a good grade!"

Hinata nodded gently and said softly, "I...I'm ready too."

Qiu Shui nodded and said, "Let's continue warming up."

"Yes!" The two returned and turned to walk back.

Time passed by, second by second.

More and more people are gathering on the playground.

Five minutes before the exam, a figure came running up, panting.

"Sorry I'm late."

Iruka jogged up to Qiushui, his hands on his knees, panting heavily. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead, and his chest heaved, clearly from rushing on his journey.

"It's alright," Qiu Shui waved her hand and said, "The exam hasn't started yet."

When the exam time arrived, Qiu Shui stood up, glanced at the students lined up, and announced, "The clone technique exam begins."

He and Iruka sat down behind the table, on which were two record sheets and several pens.

The first student stepped forward.

Forming hand seals.

With a bang, a clone appeared beside him.

Qiushui glanced at it and wrote down the score in the notebook, while Iruka was also writing something on his own form.

The next seven or eight students were all at a similar level. Their clone technique was performed in a mediocre manner. The clones were clearly humanoid, but their expressions were blurry and the details were rough. Out of a possible score of 100, they all hovered around 70 points.

Some people breathed a sigh of relief after receiving their scores, while others frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with their performance.

Sakura Haruno stepped forward.

Her movements were clean and efficient, and her hand seals were formed at an extremely fast speed. With a bang, a clone appeared beside her, with the same expression, physique, and appearance as her.

"Sakura Haruno, 95 points," Akisui announced the score.

A small gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.

Yamanaka Ino followed closely behind.

With equally clean and precise hand seals, and equally perfect clones, she, having competed with Sakura Haruno for so long, naturally wouldn't falter in this situation.

"Yamano Ino, 95 points."

Ino slightly raised her chin and raised an eyebrow at Haruno Sakura.

Next up is Nara Shikamaru.

He walked forward lazily, casually forming hand seals, seemingly nonchalant, but in reality, they were similar to the clones of Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino.

"Nara Shikamaru, 95 points."

Shikamaru yawned and returned to the group.

Iruka was stunned by what he saw. He remembered that Shikamaru always got 60 points on every test.

Choji Akimichi and Kiba Inuzuka took turns competing and both scored over 90 points.

"Next up, Uchiha Sasuke," Akisui announced.

Uchiha Sasuke stepped forward, stood in the designated spot, and formed hand seals with such speed that they were almost invisible.

The clones he created were exactly the same as Sasuke himself, from their expressions and postures to their subtle facial expressions. For a moment, it was impossible to tell which one was the real Sasuke and which one was the clone.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Shusui wrote on the form, "Full marks."

"Sasuke is amazing."

Sakura Haruno was the first to lead the applause.

"Sasuke is so cool."

Yamanaka Ino was not to be outdone, her voice even louder than Sakura's.

The two exchanged a glance, and sparks seemed to fly through the air.

Sasuke walked back to the group expressionlessly, as if none of this concerned him.

Hinata Hyuga stepped forward next.

After she reached the designated spot, she took a deep breath, formed a mudra with her hands, and moved gently yet precisely.

boom.

A clone appears.

The clone looked exactly like Hinata, with her head slightly lowered, her lips gently pursed, and even the curve of her eyelashes was identical.

"Hinata Hyuga," Shusui nodded in satisfaction, "Full marks."

A chorus of surprised exclamations arose from below.

"Hinata gets a perfect score too?"

"Didn't she only score around 80 points before?"

"How did you improve so much...?"

Hinata blushed slightly upon hearing the surrounding chatter and ran back to the group.

Qiu Shui watched her retreating figure, not at all surprised.

Hinata's chakra control was the strongest in the class from the very beginning, and that was never in doubt.

Her only problem is her personality.

She gets nervous too easily and is too afraid of making mistakes. She always underperforms during exams, and those 80s she got before were not her true level at all.

But after a month of training every morning, facing those problems every day, and working hard with Naruto every day, her personality has indeed changed a little.

Furthermore, his chakra control is more precise than before, so it would be strange if he didn't get a perfect score.

The team continues.

One by one.

Soon, only one person remained.

"The last one." Qiu Shui looked at the list, "Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto Uzumaki took a deep breath and stopped at the designated spot.

The crowd below was unusually quiet.

All eyes were on him, and those eyes held neither expectation nor mockery, only an indescribable tension.

I don't expect his clone technique to be any better, I just hope it won't be like before, a soft, limp lump.

Naruto raised his hands and formed hand seals.

boom!

A burst of white smoke exploded.

The white smoke dissipated.

A clone appeared beside him.

Standing straight and tall.

Although the expression was still a bit stiff, the details were not refined enough, and it couldn't compare to the clones of other students, that clone was indeed a human form.

A human figure that can stand upright.

It's not that soft, limp thing from before.

The crowd fell silent for a second.

Then someone, I don't know who, let out a soft "Wow".

Qiu Shui looked at Naruto in front of her, then at the ordinary but at least normal clone, and wrote down the score in her notebook, saying, "Naruto Uzumaki, sixty-five points."

Naruto was stunned when he heard the number; this was the first time he had passed the Shadow Clone Technique test since enrolling.

"Naruto!" a voice called from the crowd. "Well done!"

"I didn't expect your clone technique to actually pass!"

"Naruto is amazing!"

"Such great progress!"

The praises came one after another, like a tidal wave.

If you only look at the score, 65 points is not even in the top tier of this group. There are plenty of people with scores of 90, 95, or even full marks. None of them have received such praise.

But without comparison, there is no harm. Naruto's previous clones were really too bad. Everyone's expectations of him were so low that they just wanted them not to be too outrageous.

Naruto listened to the praise around him, his eyes narrowing into slits with laughter. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, but mostly unable to hide his pride.

"Qiushui, it seems you really are suited to be a teacher!" Iruka turned to look at Qiushui and said with admiration.

He knew better than anyone what Naruto's Shadow Clone Technique used to be like.