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

"Choji, you're quite strong. I admit I underestimated you before," Kiba Inuzuka said, his chest heaving slightly.

"Congratulations on your victory," Choji said sincerely.

Choji walked off the field with his shoulders slumped, approached Ino, and scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "Ino, I'm sorry, I didn't win."

Ino rarely cheers for anyone except Sasuke, so he actually appreciated that shout just now, but in the end he still let her down.

Yamanaka Ino paused for a moment, then waved her hand with a wry smile, "Choji, why are you apologizing to me? You lost, you lost, you can always win it back later."

"Choji, Ino is right, don't take it too hard." Shikamaru walked over and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him. "To be honest, even if I were in his shoes, I might not be able to beat Kiba."

"Ino... Shikamaru..." Choji looked at them, deeply moved, and secretly resolved to train hard for the next month, so that he could win this match back no matter what when the final exams came.

Kiba Inuzuka, standing not far away, overheard their conversation, and his expression became somewhat subtle.

What happened?

Even though I'm clearly the winner, why do I feel like I played the villain?

"The second match is about to begin. Students who drew number three and number four, please come forward." Shusui wrote down Kiba Inuzuka's victory on the form and called out.

"Ino, do your best!" Choji immediately put his earlier disappointment behind him and cheered Ino on loudly.

Yamanaka Ino looked down at her draw number, then looked up at Aburame Shino as she walked onto the stage.

Her face instantly turned very ugly.

Why him of all people?!

Although Kiba Inuzuka's Akamaru occasionally spews out some disgusting stuff, it's nothing compared to Shino Aburame.

Shino's bugs, those swarms of black, crawling, rustling bugs, just looking at them made her scalp tingle. From childhood to adulthood, these kinds of things were her greatest fear.

But she never considered giving up.

Admitting defeat is not in line with Yamanaka Ino's character, nor can she bear to lose face for the Yamanaka clan.

After the match began, Ino tried to attack from a distance with kunai and shuriken, and also tried to create opportunities with substitution and clone techniques, but Shino Aburame remained standing still and didn't move much.

He simply raised his arm, and a swarm of dark insects poured out from his sleeve, forming a living shield that blocked all the attacks.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Ino gritted her teeth and decided to charge in for close combat.

Before she could even get close, Shino Aburame had already raised her hand, and a swarm of insects surged in from all directions, surrounding her completely.

The insect didn't touch her.

Shino precisely controlled the swarm of insects, stopping it three inches in front of her, without advancing any further.

Ino stood frozen in place, not daring to move, her face already deathly pale.

She took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and said, "I give up, thank you."

She nodded to Shino as a way of thanking her.

Shino nodded slightly in response, then expressionlessly recalled the swarm of insects.

Sakura Haruno witnessed the entire match from the sidelines.

When she saw Ino admit defeat, she couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

Ino lost, and I got a bye this round. So, it's no surprise that I'll surpass Ino in the overall rankings this time.

Fujino Daikuma initially thought that only these few students from ninja clans were particularly strong, but after watching the next few matches, he realized that he was wrong. The students from ordinary families performed exceptionally well in both ninja tool throwing and the Three Body Technique.

"Shusui, the level of your class's ninja tool throwing and Three Body Techniques is far ahead of other grades," Fujino Daikuma couldn't help but praise. "Even the students in Mizuki-sensei's class are significantly different from those in your class. I feel like the other teachers in the school should bring a small stool and go to your classroom to learn how you teach."

He wasn't just being polite.

It's reasonable for ninja students to be proficient in the Three Body Techniques; it's also normal for a few commoner students to occasionally reach this level.

But if 90% of the students in a class are at this level, there's really no other explanation besides the teacher being good at teaching.

Otherwise, why didn't this happen in other classes?

"It's all thanks to the students' own efforts; I've only done my best," Qiu Shui replied modestly.

His proficiency in the Three Body Techniques is at the maximum level. With the added advantage of his talent aura, it's impossible to find a second person in the entire ninja world who can teach these three ninjutsu better than him, let alone a teacher in a school.

Fujino Daikuma shook his head, feeling that Shusui was sometimes a little too modest, which was not like what a young person should be like.

"Students who drew number 21 and number 22, please come up."

"Go Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and other girls from other classes almost simultaneously shouted out as they watched Sasuke walk into the arena, their eyes practically bulging with hearts.

Fujino Daikuma looked at Uchiha Sasuke, who had instantly become the center of attention, and suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia, recalling that he had received similar treatment when he was in school.

Of course, that was a long, long time ago.

Kenji Shiraishi stood opposite Sasuke, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Although Naruto defeated Sasuke last time, the sense of oppression Sasuke had built up in the class over the years could not be erased by a single victory or defeat.

He had absolutely no confidence in beating his opponent and only hoped that he wouldn't lose too badly later.

As soon as the match began, Kenji Shiraishi immediately threw out several shuriken, then created two clones, which, along with his main body, rushed towards Sasuke.

This move might be a bit tricky for someone else.

But for Uchiha Sasuke, it was hardly a problem.

Kenji Shiraishi was only using a regular clone technique. Let alone activating his Sharingan, the dynamic vision enhancement that his Sharingan provided even before activation was enough for him to see through the original at a glance.

Kenji Shiraishi was halfway there when he noticed Sasuke standing still, which annoyed him.

He knew Sasuke was strong, but he had also trained a lot during this time. Standing there without moving would be too disrespectful.

Just as he was about to cross the halfway line, Sasuke's figure suddenly disappeared from sight.

The next second, a cold touch pressed against his neck.

Kenji Shiraishi froze on the spot. Looking down, he saw that Sasuke had somehow gotten behind him, with a kunai firmly placed against his neck.