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

"Shikamaru, it seems you can make consecutive misjudgments too," Choji Akimichi said slowly while munching on potato chips.

In the past, no matter what he asked Shikamaru, as long as Shikamaru could answer it, he basically never made a mistake.

However, in both of these monthly exams, he asked Shikamaru who would win between Naruto and Sasuke, and Shikamaru answered incorrectly both times.

Shikamaru stood with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky, utterly speechless.

I thought Naruto using Shadow Clone Technique and Gale Palm was already incredibly powerful.

Who the hell would have thought that Uchiha Sasuke could even use a B-rank Great Dragon Fire ninjutsu?

Let alone these students or genin, even some chunin would find it difficult to deal with this move.

Fujino Daikuma was stunned. He was also a fire-attribute ninja, but the Great Dragon Fire ninjutsu was something he had spent several months learning when he became a Chunin.

Now that it's being released in a student, he feels somewhat unreal.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who was surrounded by his classmates, and still couldn't believe that he had lost again.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Hinata ran to his side and whispered.

"What could possibly happen to me?" Naruto put his hands on his hips, pretending to be nonchalant. "I was just careless this time. I'll definitely win next time."

Before he could finish speaking, he subconsciously puffed out his chest, the movement being a little too exaggerated, which immediately aggravated several areas that Sasuke had hit hard during the close combat earlier.

His smile froze instantly, his facial expression twisting little by little until it became a standard mask of pain.

"Don't push yourself, go to the infirmary for a check-up and treatment," Qiu Shui said.

"Master Shusui, there's no need for that!" Naruto quickly waved his hand. "It's just a minor injury from a few punches and kicks, not worth mentioning at all."

To prove he was really okay, he did a jumping jack without saying a word.

The moment I landed, the expression on my face instantly changed from "I'm fine" to "I'm about to die."

Naruto didn't want Shusui-sensei to worry, and he didn't want Shusui-sensei to think he was too weak.

And just now he vowed to avenge Hinata, but he didn't do anything about it.

Thinking of this, he felt both embarrassed and ashamed.

"Alright, alright, do you think I can't tell?" Qiu Shui sighed helplessly. "Go to the infirmary right away. If you delay treatment and your recovery is slow, I'll make sure you stay home and rest during the next few days of training. Don't even think about going anywhere."

"Okay!" Naruto immediately obeyed upon hearing this.

Main Quest: The Path to Raising Naruto Uzumaki

[Mission Requirement: In the next final exam, have Naruto Uzumaki defeat Sasuke Uchiha.]

[Task Rewards: Awarded based on a comprehensive evaluation of task completion]

Qiu Shui looked at the task panel that popped up in front of her, and a knowing look appeared on her face.

Through Naruto's mission, he discovered that these main quests could only be triggered if the person he was tied to had a sufficiently strong desire.

Otherwise, you'll end up like Hinata, unable to complete any missions and only able to rely on the meager chakra rewards she receives from training.

After the competition ended, Shusui took Hinata to a secluded corner.

"Shusui-sensei, I'm sorry." Hinata stopped walking and bowed deeply.

She believed that Qiu Shui had specifically called her here because he was dissatisfied with her performance today.

After all, she ranked second in the grade in the last practical assessment, and first in the overall ranking. This time, she was eliminated in the second round, so her overall ranking will definitely drop a lot.

"Hinata, you don't need to apologize to me. You've done very well. I can see that you gave it your all." Shusui gently patted her shoulder. "Winning and losing are normal. No one can avoid it. Just like Sasuke, didn't he lose to Naruto last time? If he loses this time, he can always win next time. If he can't win next time, he can win the time after that."

Don't lose confidence in yourself just because you lost a regular competition or feel inferior to others. Your teachers have seen all your hard work, so please don't feel like you've let them down just because you lost a game.

Even if you lose this time, your teacher won't be disappointed in you at all. You'll still be treated the same as always. In your teacher's eyes, you'll always be unique.

Hinata slowly raised her head, her face filled with disbelief.

Although Ms. Qiushui is always very gentle in their daily interactions, she has always been scolded at home over the years whenever she has done something wrong or failed to meet her father's expectations. So after losing the match, she subconsciously thought that Qiushui would react in the same way.

"You came in first place last month, but I didn't give you a reward because you weren't very good at physical techniques back then." Qiu Shui took out a booklet from her body and handed it to her. "This month, I've come up with a set of physical techniques called Water Breathing, which can be combined with your own physical techniques. Consider it a belated reward for you."

"Shusui-sensei..." Hinata's eyes welled up with tears.

During one training session, Naruto told her that he received a reward from his teacher, Shusui, after winning first place in a real battle.

She was wondering if she would receive a reward for winning first place in her grade, but Ms. Qiu Shui didn't mention it, and she didn't bring it up herself, because she was already very satisfied with winning first place.

If Teacher Qiushui hadn't brought it up now, she would have completely forgotten about it.

Hinata was surprised that Shusui-sensei had remembered this all along, and did not blame her for not performing as well as last time.

She was so moved that she didn't know what to say, and she also felt guilty for having doubted Teacher Qiushui earlier.

[You have gifted Hinata Hyuga, a high-quality talent with a level 2 relationship, a Water Breathing Technique training manual]

[Hinata Hyuga is deeply moved by the high-quality talent, triggering a 200x critical hit]

[Reward Obtained - Quality Inspection Skill (Max Level)]

[Hinata Hyuga, a high-quality talent, has increased her affection for you; the current training relationship has been upgraded to level three.]

[Reward obtained - Tenseigan (5%)]

As Qiu Shui looked at the few messages that popped up in front of her, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

To be honest, what he said earlier was partly deceiving Hinata, not because of the competition, but because he didn't give her the first place reward last time.

Back then, Hinata hadn't triggered any main quests, and Shusui vaguely felt that if he had given her away then, he might have gotten some rewards, but they would never be as generous as this one.

Qiu Shui admitted that there was indeed an element of gambling involved, but he never expected that the reward revealed this time would be the Tenseigan, a powerful weapon.