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It was the second semester exam week for the academy. Daichi stepped into the classroom and saw some students revising the lessons, a few not doing anything and the rest playing around.

Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba belonged to the last group while Sakura and Ino were in the first. The moment Daichi stepped into class he knew he got their attention.

"Hey Daichi! Come on, come on!! We're gonna prank Daikoku sensei when he gets here. You wanna join us?" Naruto excitedly ran up to Daichi and asked. He had a wide smile on his face. Ever since the Yota incident he gained several valuable friends and he was happier than ever.

"Good morning to you too Naruto!" Daichi slightly sighed but still happily greeted his friend. "And to answer your question, No! I'm not going to join you in your pranks."

"Aww… Come on… It'll be fun!!" Naruto started whining.

"Give it up Naruto. He's not gonna join." Shikamaru came along and greeted Daichi.

"Hey Shikamaru. Didn't think you'd join him in pranks." Daichi smirked looking at the young Nara.

"I'm bored and didn’t have anything better to do. Also Naruto threatened to dump water on my face whenever I take a nap if I didn't join him…Such a drag." Shikamaru sighed saying this.

"I didn't threaten you. I only implied it." Naruto said with a devilish grin.

"Hahaha…." Daichi let out a small laugh, hearing him. "The fact that you even know the word 'implied' is in itself scary… Have you studied for the exam?" Daichi asked Naruto even though he knew the answer.

"I'll be fine. I studied all day yesterday. Now it's time for some fun."

"Let's just get to our seats before sensei comes." Daichi moved to his usual spot in the back.

But Naruto went to the teacher's chair and put some glue on it. "This is gonna be awesome."

Shikamaru sighed looking at his friend's antics. "Our teacher is a chunin. He's not gonna fall for that."

"Oh yeah? Then what's your plan?"

"My plan was to sleep till the teacher got here and then answer just enough questions to pass and then go back to taking my nap. But since that's not gonna happen… I might as well help you." Shikamaru had a deadpan look on his face as he said the words.

Shikamaru helped Naruto set up a simple trap and went back to their seats.

Meanwhile Kiba and Choji were near Daichi watching Naruto and Shikamaru. Choji was munching on some snacks while Kiba tried to goad Daichi into a bet.

"Come on Daichi. Let’s make this exciting. 20 Ryo says Daikoku sensei isn't gonna fall for that."

"That's obvious." Daichi muttered. "He wouldn't have been made a chunin if he fell for such a childish trap."

"What about you Choji? Wanna bet?" "Arf Arf?" Kiba and Akamaru looked at their big boned friend.

"No. If I lose my money then I won't be able to buy my snacks." Choji said, munching on the crisp potatoes.

It was at that moment that Daichi saw Sakura and Ino approaching. Daichi noticed Sakura subtly pushing Ino towards him.

"Hey Daichi! How was the holidays?" Ino asked. She had a small almost imperceptible blush on her cheeks as she spoke.

Having watched all sorts of anime and cartoons for a lifetime, Daichi was well aware of the romance cliches. 'Oh my god!! Does she have a crush on me? This can’t be happening… Ok!! Keep cool Daichi. Just answer the question and pretend everything is normal.'

"Yeah. It was nice. Got to relax. And I spent most of my time reading some books. So you know… The usual… How have you been Ino?"

"Oh I'm great! Was helping out at my shop and studying and all that… Say Daichi… My father got some new flower seeds in his stock. You wanna come by and check them out later?" Ino asked boldly.

"Sure. I'll drop by the store sometime next week." Daichi nodded and politely smiled at her.

Reputation increases with Ino Yamanaka.

Reputation slightly increases with Sakura Haruno.

"Good luck with the exams Daichi. I know you'll be first."

"No way. Sasuke will be first this year." Sakura chimed in.

Both Ino and Sakura went back to their seats arguing who would be first. Daichi slightly smiled looking at them. 'Even though they're arguing I can't sense any real malice… I guess their friendship didn't end because I took Sasuke's place in Ino’s mind. Another ripple effect from the Yota rescue mission no doubt!... Ino is cute but this feels really weird. I have no interest in a romantic relationship right now. Should I tell Ino that? No… That might complicate things… '

Daichi sighed and leaned back. ‘I’ll tell her some other time. That’s a future me problem.’

As Daichi sat in his chair, he noticed Sasuke eyeing him every so often. He could sense the anger coming from the Uchiha from where he sat. Daichi gave a small eye smile and mouthed the words good luck. Sasuke glared at him and averted his gaze.

Since it was almost time for class to start, everyone got to their seats. Naruto was sitting a couple rows in front of Daichi while Shikamaru was sitting next to him.

"Why did you help him set up the prank Shikamaru?" Daichi asked in a slow voice.

"I told you… He threatened to take away my nap time. Besides, I only gave him a few suggestions. He's the one who set it up."

Daichi smirked, hearing his answer. "Come on. I know you better than that. You wouldn't help him with pranking a teacher knowing you could get detention. And you and I both know Naruto was just making empty threats. The real reason you did it was because you've seen it, haven't you?" Daichi stared at Shikamaru with a knowing look.

Shikamaru looked at Daichi for a few seconds and then sighed. He spoke in a low voice. "Nothing gets past you does it?... Yeah. I noticed that most teachers don't like Naruto for some reason. They haven't punished or yelled or even spoken harshly to him but… I can tell that they don't like him. And it's not because of the pranks. I just don't know why… But something tells me you do."

"I know most people in the village feel the same about him but other than that nothing." Daichi said with a straight face. He continued. "So then you're helping him because you want to see how Daikoku sensei reacts?" Daichi asked him.

Shikamaru nodded. "We set up a simple harmless prank. I doubt he'd fall for it. But it's still a prank. I want to see how he responds to it?"

They spoke some more and then fell silent.

After a few minutes the bell rang and Daikoku sensei opened the doors.

"Good morning class. I hope all of you are ready for the exam." As he said the words he reached the chair. He then noticed something peculiar and instantly recognized it as glue.

'Do they actually think they can catch me with this? I'm almost disappointed.'

It was then that he noticed an almost imperceptible, thin ninja wire tied to the chair. It went all the way up to the top of the board and Daikoku noticed a water balloon strapped to the wire, right on top of where he was standing. 'So, the glue was a distraction huh. If I had moved the chair the balloon would have dropped.'

Daikoku signed. He turned to the class and questioned them. "Alright, who did this?"

"Oh man! You almost fell for it." Naruto's loud voice of disappointment could be heard.

"Were you the one behind this?" Daikoku asked in a neutral tone.

"Yup. Next time I'll definitely get you. Hahaha." Naruto boisterously said those words.

Daikoku looked at him with indifference and then sighed. "Just sit down, Naruto."

The joy Naruto felt dimmed and he sat down in his chair and crossed his arms.

Shikamaru noted Daikoku sensei's look. He understood what it was. 'Indifference. He's ignoring him and pretending Naruto doesn't exist. That’s harsh. I'll have to see why everyone dislikes Naruto so much.'

The written exams began shortly after.

'The questions are easy enough.' Daichi completed his exam faster than anyone else. He then meditated till Daikoku sensei collected everyone's papers.

The students were taken outside to test their shurikenjutsu skills. Daichi and Sasuke scored perfect hits. Naruto was among the lower end of the class rankings in the shurikenjutsu test. Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba were among the middle to upper tier of the class.

The last part was the Taijutsu spar. For the exams the students were paired up with someone similar in their strength level. The spar started with students at the lower end ranking. Everyone knew the rules and the spars started. A pair of names would be called every few minutes.

Naruto was paired up against Hibachi. The sparing started once both of them made the seal of confrontation. Even though Naruto's books knowledge and aim were poor, he trained his body and tried to improve his Taijutsu skills. And with the added benefit of exceptional stamina and chakra, Naruto won the spar a minute after it started. He was able to knock Hibachi out of the ring thus securing the victory.

The fights continued and before long it was Daichi and Sasuke's turn. This time no quest like 'defeat the opponent' popped up. Daichi figured it must be because of his overwhelming strength.

The spar began but neither one made any moves. Sasuke observed Daichi and seeing that he wasn't making any moves Sasuke rushed at him. Daichi stood in his spot and easily blocked the incoming attacks. He wanted to see how fast Sasuke had become before counter attacking.

'He's definitely been training harder than before. Based on his current speed and strength he could easily defeat anyone in the class and maybe even several senior students. It seems being second has given him a driving force.'

Daichi casually blocked a punch aimed at his face and held on to the fist. Sasuke immediately tried to get out of it by attacking him with his other limbs but it was for naught. Daichi easily evaded the strikes and counterattacked. Within a few seconds Sasuke was on the ground wheezing. He looked up and saw a finger pointed at the middle of his forehead.

"Match over. Daichi is the winner." Daikoku sensei called the match. He was observing Daichi much more than Sasuke. 'He's gotten a lot stronger since the last spar. His chakra hasn't fluctuated and neither has his breathing. This was far too easy for him. He won't learn anymore if he stays in this grade. I should speak with the Hokage.'

Daichi and Sasuke made the seal of Reconciliation. Even though Sasuke was displeased with it. And with that last spar, the exams came to an end. A couple days passed and the results were out. Daichi retained his top spot with Sasuke as the second. Naruto was somewhere in the middle to lower end of the class rankings. The last day of classes for the second year came to an end.

Kensei had come home from his trip a few days prior. He shared stories with Daichi and took him to Shi Fang's restaurant the day the academy closed. Both of them had special meals in celebration of Daichi results.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daichi was laying in bed looking at the clock. A few seconds after it struck midnight several notifications popped up.

Ongoing Quest - ‘Path to the strongest.’

2nd Year tasks successfully completed. Distributing the Special reward for clearing a dungeon. Distributing New Skill reward for learning new jutsu.

Special Reward:

Title: Dungeon Warrior.

Note: Apprentice Dungeon Warrior title has been replaced by the new title ‘Dungeon Warrior’ (This title will increase all your stats by 15% when fighting inside a dungeon.)

New Skill: Plunderer.

"Plunderer huh… I wonder what kind of a skill that is?" Daichi clicked on the skill. A new information box popped up.

Plunderer - Passive (LV. MAX): This passive skill allows the user a certain chance to plunder a skill, special ability or a jutsu from the targets the user kills. The user can choose to absorb or abandon the plundered reward. The user will only get a single reward per kill if the Plunderer skill is triggered.

The chances of obtaining skill or jutsu from the killed enemy is 10%.

The chances of obtaining special abilities or bloodline limits is 1%.

"HOLY FUCK…" Daichi's eyes almost popped out of his skull.

'I can get jutsu or special abilities from people I kill? Is that limited to the real world or would this skill activate if I kill dungeon ninjas? Even if there is only a 10% chance for a skill or jutsu to drop, it is still a massive advantage. I had killed 167 ninjas in the last dungeon. If I had this skill before, I could have had about a dozen new skills. This is definitely an OP passive ability.'

'And the chance of obtaining a special bloodline limit… Even if it's only a 1% chance… I need the ‘luck’ stat. Have to find a way to unlock it somehow. That stat would definitely help me with this skill.'

Daichi thought about the usefulness of this passive ability. He wanted to test it out immediately but he restrained himself.

'This skill description clearly says the targets I kill and not defeat… I can't go around killing people in the real world. But in the dungeons it's an entirely different story. If this skill works on the dungeon ninjas then my dungeon runs just became much more crucial to my growth.'

'This is an excellent reward. Thank you system. I'll be sure to put it to good use.'

Satisfied with the rewards, Daichi went to sleep.

Author’s Note:

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