Since the winners of the other two matches had withdrawn one after another, Matsuake was the only one left on the field with the strength to continue fighting.
Thus, he became the top performer in this exam.
When this result was announced, Matsuake’s Cheat also judged that two C-rank missions had been completed.
[C-rank mission completed: Defeat Uchiha Suke in the Ninja Academy’s Graduation Exam and make him understand who speaks with strength.
Reward: 50 points] [C-rank mission completed: Pass the Graduation Exam.
Reward: 100 points] The reward for the first mission was a fixed 50 points.
As for the second mission, based on Matsuake’s overall performance in this exam, he was ultimately awarded 100 points.
Combined with the accumulation over this period, his total points had now surpassed the 200 mark.
Naturally, Matsuake was quite satisfied with this outcome.
However, the only slight regret was that he felt he hadn’t fought to his heart’s content.
Matsuake had originally thought that he would finally get to battle an opponent on equal footing.
But it was only now that he realized that truly talented ninjas had already graduated within one or two years of entering the Ninja Academy.
Even Go, who had long met the standards of a Genin, couldn’t compare to those top-tier geniuses.
True geniuses like the future Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi.
They graduated from the Ninja Academy at a very young age, and by the time their peers graduated, they had already reached the level of Jōnin.
Take Hiruzen at this time as an example.
He was only a year older than Go, but his strength was already not far from that of a Jōnin.
Matsuake himself possessed extremely strong innate talent, no weaker than that of a young Kakashi.
Coupled with the advantages of his Cheat, it could be said that his growth speed far surpassed that of his peers.
Not only Matsuake, but even the others watching from the sidelines felt somewhat unsatisfied.
Hashirama had, at some point, taken off his Hokage Hat and was using it to fan himself.
After looking around, his gaze finally settled on Hiruzen, who was standing beside Tobirama.
“Monkey, go have another match with little Matsuake,” Hashirama said with a smile.
“Huh?
Me?” Hiruzen pointed at himself with his right hand.
“That’s right.
Otherwise, it feels like things haven’t fully concluded yet.” “Yes, sir!” Originally, Hiruzen hadn’t been particularly enthusiastic about fighting, merely following the Hokage’s order.
But upon seeing Biwako, who hadn’t left the sidelines yet, his eyes lit up.
During the previous exam, Matsuake had displayed overwhelming dominance over the other examinees.
If he were to defeat him now under the guise of guidance, wouldn’t that instantly attract Biwako’s attention?
“This kid.” Seeing Hiruzen shift from reluctance to excitement, Tobirama, who knew his student well, felt a headache coming on.
Having someone other than graduates or examiners participate in the Graduation Exam was unprecedented.
However, he had no intention of stopping his elder brother’s somewhat reckless arrangement.
After all, he also wanted to know what his nephew’s current strength was like.
If he could easily defeat Genin-level peers, how would he fare against Hiruzen, who was already close to Jōnin level?
Hiruzen quickly ran over to the examiner and whispered a few words.
The examiner was momentarily stunned, then looked toward the other side of the field.
After seeing the Hokage nod to him, he then continued to announce.
“The final winner of this exam is Senju Matsuake!” “Next, the outstanding graduate of the Ninja Academy, Sarutobi Hiruzen, will engage in a friendly match with student Matsuake.
The outcome of the battle will not affect the final results of the Graduation Exam!” “A friendly match, with Brother Hiruzen?” Matsuake, who had just been thinking that the fight wasn’t satisfying enough, was taken aback.
Noticing the earlier actions of Hashirama and Hiruzen, he had thought some other matter was going to be announced.
He hadn’t expected it to be an additional match against Hiruzen.
It seemed that not only he himself, but even the spectators like Hashirama, felt he hadn’t shown his true strength.
But this suited him just fine.
Matsuake himself hadn’t fought to his heart’s content and felt pent-up energy within him.
Moreover, in Konohagakure, he was one of the biggest beneficiaries of connections—the Hokage was his uncle, and the future next Hokage was his second uncle.
So he had no need to hide his abilities anyway.
Just then, his Cheat platform thoughtfully issued a corresponding task.
[C-rank mission issued: Fight Sarutobi Hiruzen without losing.
Reward: 200 points!] Seeing this, Matsuake let out a long sigh.
Even missions of the same rank could vary greatly in terms of rewards.
200 points even exceeded the total rewards from the two previous missions combined.
However, mission rewards were also directly proportional to their difficulty.
Although he didn’t know how strong Hiruzen was at this time, being taken as a disciple by his second uncle Tobirama and becoming the Third Hokage in the original timeline meant his strength was certainly not to be underestimated.
But the mission requirements were clearly not that strict either.
It was just a friendly match, not a life-or-death struggle.
As a senior who had graduated five or six years ago, Hiruzen obviously wouldn’t go all out.
And the mission requirement was merely not to lose…
Regardless, he would only know after fighting!
Thinking this, Matsuake didn’t hesitate.
Under the encouraging gazes of his companions, he slowly walked to the center of the arena.
Perhaps because of the change in opponent, his mindset was different from the previous few matches.
His earlier opponents had a significant gap in strength compared to him.
But now the situation was reversed—he himself was the weaker one.
This gave Matsuake a sense of pressure, but also motivation.
“Long time no see, Matsuake.” “Long time no see, Brother Hiruzen.” Standing in the center of the arena, Hiruzen was also just a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.
He wore tight-fitting clothes suitable for ninja combat, with neat short hair, full of youthful vigor.
At this moment, Hiruzen wasn’t entirely without pressure either.
He had watched the earlier match, and Matsuake had indeed displayed impressive strength.
Although he still felt Matsuake wasn’t his match, there were no absolutes in ninja battles.
If he somehow lost to him, it would be too embarrassing.
Moreover, Hiruzen was now a battle-hardened Chūnin with a certain level of discernment.
Facing Matsuake, he felt he wasn’t dealing with a freshly graduated Genin.
But a ninja who could genuinely pose a threat to him.
“Both parties, form the Seal of Confrontation!” Seeing both sides in position, the examiner loudly announced as usual.
With the formation of the opposing hand seals, this friendly match commenced.
“Battle, begin!”