Chapter 41

Talent Time (才能の時間, Sainō no jikan) is chapter 41 of the Assassination Classroom manga.

Long summary
Takaoka-sensei mocked Karasuma for choosing Nagisa to duel against him, because Nagisa was the shortest boy in Class E. Karasuma ignores Takaoka, instead giving Nagisa additional advice on how to properly attack his opponent.

Meanwhile, Takaoka reveals that he thought that Nagisa was, "without doubt, the weakest of the boys", considering that his physical abilities had no speciality and that his constitution and strength were that of a girl's. Adding that Nagisa is being required to use a real knife, Takaoka knows that an amateur would panic at the thought of using the weapon. With those assumptions in mind, Takaoka believes this is a fight he could "win with his eyes closed." Nagisa at first has reservations about how to use a real knife, but recalls what Karasuma told him. He then tells himself "I don't need to fight and win... I win if I kill him." He then casually walks up to Takaoaka with a smile on his face, stops before him and briefly pauses. He then proceeds, without reserve, to thrust his knife directly at Takaoka's throat. The realization that he (Takaoka) was about to die, threw him off balance. Nagisa capitalized on this by grabbing Takaoka's clothing from behind and tugging downward, dropping Takaoka to the ground. Nagisa then got behind Takaoka, wrapped himself around his teacher and held his knife to Takaoka's throat, achieving victory. Almost immediately after, before even relinquishing Takaoka, Nagisa seemed uncomfortable, and asked if he was correct in using the back of the knife.