Konoha: Intentionally losing to Hinata at the start

Even before the fight began, Naruto was already imagining himself defeating Sasuke and gaining everyone's approval.

It made him burst out laughing.

On stage, Iruka was speechless. "Naruto, what are you laughing at? Get out of here right now!"

While Naruto was laughing heartily, many students had already followed Iruka out.

Seeing that he was the only one left in the classroom, Naruto's laughter stopped abruptly.

He quickly packed his ninja tool bag and ran out.

Iruka looked at Naruto's retreating figure with a helpless expression. "Sigh, this guy, I don't know why the Hokage made him into this class in the first place."

This class was an elite class; Naruto, with his level, would never have been able to get into it.

To Iruka's dismay, Naruto entered the class without even undergoing an assessment.

We arrived at the training ground.

Thirty-odd students stood in a row, and Iruka explained the rules of the exam to them.

Then they started drawing numbers for the matches.

"Students, remember this: you are only allowed to draw one number. Students who draw the same number will be opponents in the same group."

Yu Ming, however, didn't seem to feel anything.

It has been very peaceful.

After randomly drawing a number, Yu Ming stood back down.

He drew number 12.

However, he doesn't care who his opponent is.

Soon, Iruka sorted the numbers he had just received and determined the opponents.

Naruto looked at Kiba, who was fighting him, and was somewhat speechless. "Why is my opponent you?"

Kiba was quite pleased and patted Naruto on the shoulder, laughing heartily, "Naruto, don't worry, I'll definitely go easy on you and won't let you lose too badly."

Naruto slapped Kiba's hand away and said to him defiantly, "Heh, Kiba, you're too confident. I'm worried that you're too weak and not worthy of being my opponent. Hmph, my opponent is Sasuke."

Kiba wasn't angry, but laughed and said, "You still love to talk big, don't you? But unfortunately, I also really hope Sasuke will be my opponent."

At this moment, Yu Ming, who was in the crowd, frowned slightly.

He sensed Kakashi's presence on a large tree outside the school's training ground.

"Why is he here?"

Meanwhile, Kakashi, standing outside the school and outside the training ground wall, looked at the students on the training ground, and his gaze narrowed slightly when he saw Yu Ming.

"Does his expression suggest he's discovered something?"

Since yesterday, Kakashi has been suspicious of Yu Ming, feeling that Yu Ming is not as simple as he seems.

After checking Yu Ming's information, the secret service found nothing special about him.

However, still unable to dispel his doubts, he went to the ninja academy to investigate.

After sensing Kakashi's presence while standing in the training field, Yu Ming calmed down.

He thought to himself, "Looks like I'd better keep a low profile."

"Could it be that he targeted me yesterday? I'm usually quite low-key, so how could he have targeted me? Trading a Body Flicker Technique for being targeted by Kakashi is a pretty high price to pay."

Yu Ming initially thought it might just be Kakashi's momentary doubt yesterday, but who knew he would appear here watching him at this moment.

Standing in front of Yu Ming, Iruka looked at the list in his hand and said, "Alright, let's begin the assessment now. Follow the order on the list. The first assessment item is shuriken and kunai throwing. You can choose either shuriken or kunai."

Sasuke stood in the crowd, speaking in a haughty low voice, "Heh, they actually want to test the Uchiha clan's ninja tool throwing techniques. That's our forte."

"Besides, I had practiced with my brother before, so I'm sure I'll get first place in this assessment."

Because the Uchiha clan has not yet been wiped out, Sasuke's personality is still in a very immature stage.

They are extremely persistent in striving for first place.

And he was the first one.

Iruka looked at the list, saw Uchiha Sasuke's name, and smiled, "First one, Uchiha Sasuke."

At this time, he had a good impression of Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke was good at studying, strong, came from a prestigious family, and was also very polite. He was the complete opposite of Naruto.

Sasuke slowly walked out, feigning composure.

He drew five shuriken and threw them all at once amidst Naruto's constant cursing.

"Knock knock knock knock~".

Five resounding collisions.

All five shuriken hit the bullseye.

The students gasped in amazement. "Wow, that's amazing!"

Even Naruto clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "Damn it, this guy is really showing off, but he is really amazing. Could I do that?"

Sakura and Ino shouted together, "Sasuke is the best! Sasuke is the coolest!"

All the girls in the class were staring at Sasuke with infatuated expressions.

Naruto bit his clothes, filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"That damned guy is even more popular than me."

Kiba frowned and said, "This guy, as expected of someone from the Uchiha clan, is indeed quite formidable."

Shikamaru, unusually, wasn't sleepy and nodded, "Indeed."

Choji also took a bite of potato chip and laughed, "After all, he's the top student in the class and from the Uchiha clan, so it's normal."

The only person in the entire class who wasn't surprised at all was Yu Ming.

He could do the same as Sasuke, and even do it better.

However, he still clapped along with everyone else.

It wasn't that he approved of it, but rather that he wanted to pretend that he thought Sasuke was very powerful.

With a calm expression, Yu Ming thought to himself, "Being stared at is indeed a bit uncomfortable. Is Kakashi out of his mind? Why is he staring at me?"

Kakashi, perched in the tree, watched Yu Ming's clumsy acting and twitched his lips slightly. "This brat really did notice me, otherwise he definitely wouldn't have acted so awkwardly."

"That's interesting. You must have sensed my presence, which is why you acted differently than usual and seemed so awkward."

Kakashi is a veteran of the Anbu; it's completely impossible for Yu Ming to fool him.

"I wonder what else you'll come up with, it's really interesting."

Yu Ming was unaware of Kakashi's thoughts; he simply assumed that Kakashi was suspicious of him, which was why he was keeping an eye on him.

Moreover, Yu Ming felt that he should appear flawless.

Little did he know that his acting skills were truly amateurish in front of the Dark Division Captain.

After Sasuke, no student has been able to get a perfect score on this assessment item.

After more than a dozen students had passed by, it was Yu Ming's turn.

Yu Ming walked onto the stage, and the students in the class treated him no differently than any other student.

Yu Ming drew out five kunai.

Very calmly, "I guess I'll get four."

Unlike Sasuke, Yu Ming did not throw out all the kunai at the same time.

Holding a kunai, Yu Ming expressionlessly flung it out.

"Thump~".

A solid, powerful voice rang out.

Chapter 3

The first kunai hit the bullseye.

"Thump~".

The second kunai also hit the bullseye.

"Thump~".

The third shot also hit the bullseye.

"Thump~".

The fourth shot hit the bullseye.

The students in the entire training ground were stunned.

Sasuke also looked up at Yu Ming.

He frowned.

As for the last kunai, Yu Ming casually tossed it out.

"Whoosh~".

The fifth kunai missed the target.

Everyone realized what was happening.

Especially Iruka, who looked at Yu Ming with some regret, said, "Eighty points, what a pity, Yu Ming. If you work harder in the future, you will definitely hit the bullseye on the fifth one."

"You must keep working hard."

Yu Ming nodded.

Without saying a word, he withdrew.

Sasuke, who had been frowning, glanced at Yu Ming with disdain, thinking to himself, "I thought he was a master, but who knew he wasn't so great."

Eighty points is not bad, but it's only average.

Yu Ming returned to the group and remained calm.