"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique!"
Obito rapidly formed hand seals. Chakra gathered in his mouth as he completed both the chakra nature transformation and shape transformation as quickly as possible.
A fiercely burning fire dragon burst forth and charged straight toward Uchiha Tekka.
During their earlier close combat, Tekka had already been growing increasingly surprised.
He hadn't expected that after just one vacation, Obito would have improved this much.
Compared to his third-year performance, Obito's progress was enormous.
When he saw Obito forming hand seals, Tekka immediately started forming seals of his own, preparing to counter with ninjutsu.
He didn't believe that even if Obito's taijutsu had improved, his ninjutsu could have improved just as much.
There was no way he would lose to Obito in a ninjutsu clash.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Tekka unleashed his chakra and expelled a massive fireball, nearly the size of a person, toward Obito.
On one side was a ferocious fire dragon with fangs bared.
On the other side was a roaring blazing fireball.
The two ninjutsu were about to collide.
"I'm so jealous… they've already learned offensive ninjutsu."
Many watching students sighed enviously.
Some of them hadn't even mastered the Academy Three Basic Techniques yet, let alone learned additional jutsu. And they had no channels to learn them either.
"Wait, you call that guy Dead Last?"
Students from other classes were shocked.
They had originally come to watch Uchiha Tekka's strength, but now they were seeing Obito perform a surprisingly solid Fire Release technique.
With that level of skill, calling him Dead Last felt absurd.
"That said, I still think Tekka's stronger. His fireball looks much bigger than Obito's fire dragon," someone analyzed.
In their opinion, the bigger ninjutsu should obviously win.
"As expected of the Uchiha clan," Kimura said while recording scores.
"I didn't expect Obito Uchiha to be hiding his strength like this. Even if he's slightly weaker than Tekka, this level of ability could probably get him first place in my class."
"It's just a pity his theory grades are terrible."
Students from prestigious ninja clans really were different.
Back when Kimura was a student, he would have been happy just to master the Three Basic Techniques.
Based on Obito's taijutsu performance and the ninjutsu he had demonstrated, Kimura was already prepared to give him a fairly high score, even if he lost this match.
Just as the two techniques were about to collide—
The fire dragon suddenly rose upward, avoiding the fireball entirely.
Instead of crashing into the Great Fireball, it curved through the air and continued charging toward Tekka.
At the same time, Obito quickly moved, dodging the fireball while controlling the dragon.
Tekka hadn't expected Obito to fight so… unconventionally.
But there was nothing he could do.
The Great Fireball Technique couldn't change direction.
Seeing the fire dragon rapidly approaching, Tekka realized it was already too late to dodge.
Grinding his teeth, he prepared to take the hit and accept the injury.
At that moment—
Makoto, who had already been ready to intervene, made his move.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, he appeared beside Tekka instantly, grabbed him, and carried him out of the battlefield before setting him down safely.
"Thank you, Sensei," Tekka said.
Without Makoto's intervention, he would definitely have been injured.
Makoto nodded and then announced the result:
"First match: Obito Uchiha wins."
Some of the watching students hadn't even processed what had happened.
The situation had changed too quickly.
They had been expecting a dramatic Fire Release clash, but Obito had suddenly pulled a clever maneuver that ended the fight instantly.
If the teacher hadn't stepped in, Tekka might have been seriously hurt.
"Obito Uchiha shouldn't be underestimated," one student said cautiously.
Tekka's giant fireball looked impressive, but it wasn't easy to land in a real fight.
Obito's Dragon Flame Technique, on the other hand, had a smaller area but far greater flexibility, making it much easier to hit an opponent.
"Well done, Obito!" Rin said happily.
She was genuinely proud of him.
Defeating Uchiha Tekka head-on in the practical exam meant that even if Obito's theory scores were poor, no one would dare call him Dead Last anymore.
After all—
In the ninja world, strength spoke louder than grades.
The moment Obito walked over, he heard Rin praising him.
His face immediately lit up with a smug smile.
"See? I told you it'd be fine," he said proudly.
At that moment, Obito felt extremely grateful to Makoto.
He understood exactly why he had changed so much.
It was because he had become Makoto's student and received daily personal guidance.
If the old Obito had fought this battle, he probably would have been knocked senseless by Tekka's punches during the taijutsu exchange.
[Disciple Obito Uchiha — Trust Level Increased]
[Current Trust Level: 3]
While Makoto was reading out the next match list, the system notification appeared.
He glanced at Obito.
The boy was currently grinning widely while chatting with Rin about something.
"Looks like being a lovestruck idiot has its advantages," Makoto thought.
Trust Levels were extremely difficult to increase.
Even a single level increase meant doubling the benefits, and it also strengthened the disciple reward return effect.
The reason disciple training feedback hadn't given much chakra before was simply because Shisui and the others hadn't yet entered their explosive growth period.
But once they did—
If Shisui gained 10,000 Chakra, a higher Trust Level would mean an additional 10,000 Chakra returned to Makoto.
Originally, Makoto expected that one disciple reaching Trust Level 3 within a semester would already be good.
Obito reaching Level 3 in just one month was an unexpected bonus.
The battles that followed were far less intense than the first one.
There were no situations that required teacher intervention.
Makoto simply sat on his chair, scoring the students' performances while chatting occasionally with Kimura.
If he hadn't been assigned to proctor the exam, Makoto would have liked to wander around using his Appraisal ability to see if there were any overlooked geniuses.
He currently had four disciple slots, but only three were filled.
One spot remained empty.
Since he didn't know whether the system could increase the disciple limit in the future, Makoto had no intention of using that slot on someone with potential lower than S-rank.
The higher the disciple limit, the greater the rewards he could gain in the future.
There were many geniuses in Konohagakure, and the shinobi world was vast.
There was no need to rush.
Adding one more disciple right now wouldn't bring much improvement in the short term anyway.
Makoto opened his system panel.
Name: Hosokawa Makoto
Age: 18
Chakra: 5300
Skills:
Water Release: Water Severing Wave
Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique
Water Release: Water Formation Wall
Wind Release: Pressure Damage
…and many more
Evaluation:
You have mastered numerous ninjutsu, including several high-level techniques. This allows you to handle many different situations. Ordinary Jōnin are not your match.
In truth, Makoto's growth speed was already impressive.
Within one month, he had gained 1,000 Chakra.
His known techniques had increased from two to dozens, including powerful techniques like Water Release: Water Severing Wave.
Based purely on the system panel, he could easily defeat the version of himself from when he had first transmigrated.
By noon, the first two rounds of matches had already finished.
However, Might Guy hadn't made a shocking impression like Obito.
His opponents had been fairly ordinary.
Although Guy defeated them decisively, it wasn't enough to completely overturn everyone's perception of him.
But Makoto knew it was only a matter of time.
Because by the afternoon, the class practical exam would conclude—
And the final match would determine the No. 1 student in the class.
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