Although Izayoi was a little disappointed that the Sage Body didn't manifest, he was still quite fortunate to have awakened the Uzumaki bloodline.
This bloodline, like the Senju, Uchiha, and Kaguya clans, is a branch of the Otsutsuki family.
As descendants of the Sage Body, both the Uzumaki and Senju clans possess immense vitality, and their chakra reserves are extraordinary.
In addition to being skilled in sealing techniques, the Uzumaki clan also possesses three powerful unique abilities.
These three abilities are: Kaguya's Byakugan, King Kong Sealing, and Physical Healing.
Kaguya's Byakugan is one of the strongest sensory techniques in the ninja world.
King Kong Sealing is both an offensive and defensive technique that can also be used to create barriers and perform sealing techniques. Even the Tailed Beasts have a hard time escaping once bound.
Physical Healing allows the user to consume chakra to heal themselves or others. The effect is quite powerful.
All three of these abilities are top-tier support skills.
However, just as not every member of the Uchiha clan awakens the Sharingan, not every Uzumaki clan member can awaken these three unique abilities.
In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki didn't awaken any abilities until he gained Kurama's approval.
After gaining Kurama's approval, he did acquire the same moral sensing ability that Uzumaki Mito had.
He didn't awaken the other abilities, perhaps because the true Sage Body was too powerful, or maybe because the original author didn't want to give him too many advantages.
But it's undeniable that Naruto not only has the Uzumaki bloodline, but as the reincarnation of Ashura's chakra, his bloodline's purity is also very high.
Now, Izayoi had manifested the Uzumaki bloodline. If he was lucky, he might awaken one of the three unique abilities.
If, like Karin, he were to awaken all three unique abilities, whether in sensory skills, sealing, or healing, he would reach the peak of the ninja world.
Even if none of the unique abilities were awakened, Izayoi would still inherit the powerful vitality passed down from the Sage Body, which was not a bad deal.
Izayoi smiled happily as he put away the glowing screen, watching the matches unfold.
With one round after another, the physical combat portion quickly ended.
Next up was the final test, the newly added survival exercise.
Before the survival exercise began, Iruka led the students to the medical room to get checked by the doctors.
Afterward, they went to the equipment room, where Izayoi and the others could pick up the necessary tools.
These tools were essential for using the invisibility technique.
Unlike the Genin's survival exercise, which involved snatching bells, the ninja school's survival exercise mostly consisted of hide-and-seek. It mainly tested the students' mastery of the invisibility technique, body flicker technique, and substitution techniques.
Those who performed well would receive high scores or even full marks.
If someone performed poorly, they would be given another chance, like in the Chuunin Exams. If they still didn't improve, they would be caught.
For Izayoi, who had already mastered substitution techniques, this exercise was naturally no challenge.
He breezed through it, again scoring full marks.
Although the results wouldn't be posted until the new semester in April, the title of Top Student was already his.
"Hinata, see you at the usual place tomorrow."
"Mm!"
After school, Izayoi and Hinata parted ways at an intersection, just as they always did, with plans to meet again.
Even though, before the Uchiha clan's destruction, Izayoi wouldn't take Hinata to the abandoned training grounds anymore, he had still not stopped training with her.
The training grounds had simply shifted from the abandoned grounds to the schoolyard or Izayoi's home yard.
The Nine-Tails Chaos had not destroyed Izayoi's home.
The inheritance left by his ninja parents included a two-story house with a small yard.
Compared to Naruto Uzumaki, whose inheritance was confiscated, and even the scarf left by Kushina being thrown into the storage room, Izayoi's situation was incredibly fortunate.
Fortunately, both of his parents were ordinary ninjas, so the village didn't act in an overly harsh manner.
...
There are three terms in a year at the ninja school, and aside from the longer summer vacation, the other holidays were very brief.
Before they knew it, it was April 1st, and the new school year had begun at the ninja school.
The sixth graders had graduated, and the Genin who had been recognized by the Jonin instructors had started to take on missions.
Those who had not been recognized either repeated the year, were recruited by other departments, or had dropped out after realizing they didn't have the qualifications to become ninjas.
The first to fifth years moved up a grade and began switching classrooms.
The now vacant first grade welcomed the new students who passed the entrance exam.
That day, the bulletin board was crowded with students.
The first-year students were checking which classrooms they were assigned to.
Students from other grades were checking their scores from the big exam.
"Hey, hey... Izayoi-kun, have you checked your scores on the bulletin board?"
"Impressive, Izayoi! You've become the top student in our grade!"
"No surprise, Izayoi is so strong, even Sasuke is no match for him."
"Izayoi is the top student, Hinata is second! You two have claimed the top two spots in our class—amazing!"
...
Izayoi had just entered the new classroom when he was surrounded by classmates, both male and female.
Izayoi didn't feel impatient but instead stood there smiling and chatting with them for quite a while.
From their conversation, it was clear that Izayoi was the top student, and second place wasn't Sasuke, but Hinata.
Izayoi wasn't surprised by this.
Hinata's grades had always been among the top in the class.
In the original series, during the first exam of the Chuunin Exams, among the twelve young ninjas, only Hinata and Sakura didn't need to cheat.
With Izayoi's help, Hinata had learned tree climbing and water walking in her first year. Her once shy personality had grown confident, and she no longer hesitated during battle, becoming decisive.
If Hinata could lose to Sasuke, Izayoi might as well find a rock to hit himself.
Sasuke should count himself lucky he didn't have to face Hinata in the physical match; otherwise, he wouldn't have even kept third place.
After all, Shino Aburame wasn't someone to be underestimated.
After chatting with his classmates for a while, Izayoi finally returned to his seat as class was about to start.
"Izayoi-kun, good morning."
"Morning, Hinata."
Hinata had arrived earlier than Izayoi as usual.
After exchanging greetings, they started chatting casually.
"Izayoi-kun, congratulations on becoming the top student."
Hinata had clearly seen the results posted on the bulletin board.
Izayoi smiled. "Congratulations to you for securing second place. Your father won't stop you from going out now."
"Mm, yeah..."
Hinata nodded repeatedly, her face lighting up with a happy smile.
It was clear she had realized that her father had already figured out her and Izayoi's plans.
But Hinata hadn't been grounded and could go out freely, meaning her father had given his approval for her interactions with Izayoi.
Thinking back to how her father had discovered her practicing water walking at home multiple times, yet never questioned her, Hinata believed it was all due to her progress.
Now that she had secured second place in the grade and Izayoi had become the top student, if her father found out, he would definitely recognize Izayoi even more.
Thinking of this, Hinata couldn't help but feel overjoyed.