The next day, the final exams began.
Since he intended to pass the exam and wanted to get first place, he achieved excellent results in the written test. He was confident he would get a perfect score.
In the absence of Senju Teru, Shimura Shin, and Uchiha Rai, he also achieved the best results in the Shuriken throwing competition.
In Taijutsu, he still lagged behind Hyuga Hodaka, ranking second.
In the Ninjutsu exam, he ensured his performance was on par with Hyuga Hana, but there were no Chakra control tests in this exam.
Feng Zheng was not surprised, as almost everyone in his class had good Chakra control and could perform Tree Climbing and Water Walking, because Genshu had conducted many training sessions in these areas this year.
The exam also tested the students' mastery of various basic skills taught in the previous year.
Feng Zheng once again ensured his ranking in this exam was close to the top.
When the results came out, Feng Zheng ranked first, Hyuga Hana ranked second, and Hyuga Hodaka surprisingly ranked fifth; his written test scores had improved significantly to achieve such a high ranking.
A week later, the graduation exams began.
Feng Zheng noticed that there were three different batches of students here.
His own grade batch, his seniors, and students one year below him.
There were 23 students from his class participating in the graduation exam.
The graduation exam was presided over by Nara Takamasa. He looked at the list of participating students.
There were 68 candidates from the fifth year, 35 from the fourth year, and 8 from the third year.
He sighed, thinking the exam was "really tiring," and instructed to begin the exam.
The first exam was the written test.
Feng Zheng looked at the test paper, expecting more theoretical questions. But he was surprised when he read the questions.
The questions were not theoretical; instead, they listed scenarios, and students needed to write down what they would do.
After reading all the scenarios, Feng Zheng sighed.
"This is just basic Ninja protocol, confirming whether the students have been completely brainwashed. To think, I was still expecting some good questions."
Alas, he sighed and continued to answer, his responses just like any graduating school student would answer.
The exam lasted one hour.
When the time was up, the test papers were collected and sent to Nara Takamasa.
He had 6 school teachers check the answers and judge whether the students were ready to graduate.
It took half an hour to thoroughly check, and then they provided the results to Nara Takamasa. One of the teachers said.
"Mr. Takamasa, we have finished checking. Out of 111 students, 79 gave satisfactory answers; the rest are not yet ready."
Nara Takamasa nodded and said.
"Send them back."
These 32 students were asked to go home and prepare for next year. Feng Zheng exclaimed in surprise.
"Ah, they just let the children leave like that? Wouldn't that demotivate them? Are they trying to reduce the number of participants for the next exam?"
Feng Zheng was not the only one with this thought. A teacher from a regular class asked Nara Takamasa.
"Senior Takamasa, won't this dampen the students' enthusiasm? Those participating in the exam are the best students in the school."
Nara Takamasa looked at the teacher. He had entered the school two years later than Nara Takamasa but was not very talented, barely becoming a Chunin during the war.
Nara Takamasa shook his head and said.
"If they lose motivation due to such a small failure, then they have no hope. They would be better off in the Genin preparatory squad, and we can use resources to cultivate those more qualified to be promoted to Chunin."
Although the teacher was not entirely convinced by this answer, he said nothing more, as this was not the first time Nara Takamasa had proctored a graduation exam.
After the written test, the candidates were tested in various aspects such as Shuriken, stealth operations, camping, and Chakra control, similar to the tests in Feng Zheng's class a week earlier.
Since the elite class had already been tested, they were not tested again, and their scores from a week ago were carried over.
School teachers observed everyone's performance, and 15 students failed these exams.
Upon receiving the report, Nara Takamasa thought.
"Wow! This is so convenient. Now the Taijutsu competition will be much simpler."
Shortly before the Taijutsu competition began, the Hokage came to watch the exam.
He was followed by a character Feng Zheng easily recognized: Kakashi Hatake.
Feng Zheng was very surprised to see him. He thought.
"Why is Kakashi here? Hiruzen wouldn't force him to start training the children now, would he? I really hope not. If Hiruzen assigns my squad to him, the original timeline will be disrupted! I don't know how strong I can become in the next 6 to 7 years, so now I really hope things don't change because of me."
Next was the Taijutsu competition among the remaining 64 students.
Nara Takamasa arranged a knockout tournament. So a student could fight a maximum of 6 times.
Feng Zheng easily advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, he had to face a member of the Hyuga Clan who was one year older than him.
Feng Zheng fought intensely with him but was still at a great disadvantage.
Although he managed to land heavy blows to the opponent's right ribs, nose, and below the left ribs, he ultimately lost the match.
Feng Zheng was initially annoyed, complaining inwardly.
"Damn it, how do these guys train? Even though I've made great progress in the past few months, I still lost!"
He immediately calmed down and analyzed the battle in more detail.
"On the other hand, this might be reasonable. I guess the elders of the Hyuga Clan often spar with them. And I can only fight my Shadow Clone."
"Moreover, the Hyuga Clan's fighting style is entirely Taijutsu. While I, when cultivating, rely more on Wind Push Technique, Body Flicker Technique, and Earth Army Movement Technique. Without them, my combat ability would indeed be greatly reduced. If Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu were allowed, perhaps I could have won this battle. Furthermore, I didn't even use Chakra to enhance my punches and kicks in the fight."
Then he watched the final between Hyuga Hodaka and that guy.
Due to the injuries sustained in the match against Feng Zheng, he struggled and lost.
However, since Feng Zheng had fought both of them, he knew that even without these injuries, Hyuga Hodaka would still win the match.
Hyuga Hodaka ranked first, but Feng Zheng was not too worried.
"My scores in other exams are much higher than Hyuga Hodaka's. So this gap won't have too much impact, and I should still be first in class."
Feng Zheng also noticed that no one was eliminated in the Taijutsu competition.