Haru arrived at testing area number 5. And this was Haru's forte: ninjutsu.
The exam requirements here were simple and straightforward: release your ninjutsu. One ninjutsu was allowed for each chakra nature, including non-elemental ninjutsu, and the target was to shatter a rock ten meters away.
Hitting the rock with ninjutsu earned ten points, and shattering it earned twenty. It was that simple, yet it stumped many students. The best age to start learning ninjutsu was around eight, which was about two years after entering the academy. Most of the students at this point didn't have any decent ninjutsu, and many in the first two groups had scored zero.
"Haru, the instructor said earlier that you should rest well first. I'll go and come back!" Choji said, walking to join the queue. Haru understood his kindness and followed him, joining the line as well.
There, they saw an inconspicuous boy wearing sunglasses and a high collar standing at the front of the line. In the previous two tests, he had scored 3 points in attack and directly forfeited defense. Yet now he was standing first? This confused many students behind him. He looked like a kid with no outstanding abilities, so why was he here making a fool of himself?
But the boy didn't care about the others' sneers. He pulled his collar up a little higher and directly began to release his ninjutsu. Tiny bugs crawled out of his body, slowly gathering and taking shape outside. He was a bug user!
Parasitic Destruction Insect Technique: Insect Sphere!
A large mass of parasitic destruction insects, under the boy's control, slowly flew towards the rock. And the moment the insects latched onto the rock, it shattered silently. No one could clearly see how it happened, but the fact remained.
"Aburame Shino, 20 points," the instructor announced the boy's score.
"So he's from the Aburame clan. Not bad. His earlier forfeits were quite strategic. This child has good intelligence and can join the special class," Minato highly praised this quiet child. If only his own Naruto could be so composed.
"Aburame... no wonder he forfeited earlier," Haru mused, guessing the reason for his earlier forfeits. The Aburame clan's close combat was too weak!
Choji's turn came quickly. The children before him naturally couldn't release any decent ninjutsu, so their turns were fast.
Choji used the Multi-Size Technique, his arm spanning the ten-meter distance, easily smashing the rock. Then, it was Haru's turn.
However, Haru was a bit worried. His concern wasn't about quantity, but that his Fire Release wasn't really suitable for breaking things, and he hadn't learned any other Fire Release techniques yet. D-rank Fire Release just wasn't powerful enough. This put him in a bit of a predicament, and he stood there in a daze for a while ten meters away.
"Haru-kun? Please begin your performance," the instructor said impatiently, urging him from the side.
"Oh, oh, yes," Haru snapped out of his thoughts, but still hadn't come up with a solution. In a daze, he remembered Sasuke's Fire Release.
Memories flashed in his mind, and his hands unconsciously formed seals. After three somewhat unfamiliar movements, he completed them. He opened his small mouth!
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!
Although only a small fireball was released, it accurately hit the rock. And ten meters away, the rock shattered with a crack.
"Whew. A lucky shot. It barely worked," Haru breathed a big sigh of relief. If he could get a perfect score with his least confident Fire Release, then he naturally didn't need to worry about the rest.
"Alright, 20 points. Next—"
Water Release: Water Whip! Precise strike! Break! Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison! Violent crush! Break!
Lightning Release: Earth Flow! Swift penetration! Break! Wind Release: Violent Air Palm! Miniature storm! Break! ...
"Ha... ru... perfect, perfect score," the instructor stammered, completely dumbfounded. Even as a chunin, he only proficiently mastered one chakra nature. But looking at such hand seal speed and technique, it was clearly the result of long-term practice. So young... this could only mean that he, Haru, possessed all five chakra natures!
This was simply a miracle! Konoha's first Kekkei Mōra!
"Haru, you're so amazing! Five chakra natures!" Choji said excitedly. It was his first time seeing so many ninjutsu. Such skillful use made Choji very envious.
"Let's go, let's test speed," Haru calmed his breathing and called Choji to go to the next area together.
"Uh, Haru, I won't go. I'll forfeit the next two rounds. I'll just wait for the final one-on-one. Good luck!" This was natural. The Akimichi clan had never produced fast or agile ninjas, and these two categories were their weakness, something they couldn't improve no matter what. Forcing Choji to go would really be making things difficult for him.
So, Haru went to testing area number 1 alone. This was purely about speed: a 100-meter sprint, forbidden to use ninjutsu or tools, relying solely on the body.
If he could use ninjutsu, Haru naturally wouldn't worry. One Violent Air Palm would be enough to propel him 100 meters. But he couldn't, so he had to run properly.
Haru stood on the starting line. There were ten people testing together. Nine of them, including Haru, had their hands behind their backs, leaning forward, ready to sprint at the sound of the whistle. However, the other person had all four limbs on the ground, head raised, staring at the ground ahead, limbs spread out for support, fingertips gripping the ground tightly.
His name was Inuzuka Kiba. Being from the Inuzuka clan, he was naturally a ninja dog user. He was proficient in various dog skills and could launch combination techniques with his ninja dogs. And his current posture was exactly what a ninja dog user should have!
The whistle blew!
All ten students immediately rushed out, and the difference in speed was instantly apparent!
Leading the pack was Inuzuka Kiba! His speed was developed through years of training with ninja dogs; how could he possibly lose to these kids who had never left the village! Second was Haru. His training since the age of three had given him a better physique than others, so simply running was naturally not a problem for him.
"Yo, the Inuzuka brat, huh? Gotta pull him into the special class too! Such speed plus reconnaissance ability... hmm, he could coordinate well with that Aburame kid from earlier," Minato was very appreciative of talent, and such speed was naturally something he valued.
"Indeed, this year is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Let's see what other talents there are," the Third Hokage said happily, looking at each child with their unique skills, suddenly feeling that Konoha's future was bright, and he no longer worried about his affairs after death, feeling much more relaxed. "This method is really good. Let's do this every year in the future, letting students specialize in their strengths early on is much more effective than the original teaching method," the Third Hokage added.
The first-place Inuzuka Kiba finished the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, and 10 seconds was a perfect score. Haru followed closely behind, running a time of 10.02, also achieving a high score of 98 points.
"Yo, kid, you're not bad! You almost kept up with me. My name's Inuzuka Kiba. Wanna make me your big bro?" Kiba looked at his defeated opponent Haru cockily, but Haru, after hearing this, turned back very friendly and said, "My name is Haru. Nice to meet you."
"Ah, so do you wanna make me your big bro or not? I'll look out for you!" Clearly, Kiba wasn't satisfied with this answer and continued to pester Haru, wanting him to be his underling.
"No, I'm going to the next test. See you later," Haru said, turning his head and walking away. He naturally had no interest in being someone else's underling. Just running fast and wanting to be Haru's big brother was a bit too far-fetched. Haru thought Kiba was too childish and quickly shook him off.
However...
"My name's Inuzuka Kiba, wanna be my little bro?"
The last test was agility. Students needed to dodge some obstacles and run through a curved path. Reaching the finish line earned 50 points, and a time of less than 20 seconds was a perfect score.
Haru's condition had basically recovered to its peak, ready to directly rush through the obstacles, but he saw a girl had already started the test. A lithe figure, walking unhurriedly through the flying obstacles. Others might not see anything special, but with Haru's eyesight, he saw the difference at a glance. Her eyes were white!
Pure white eyeballs, with veins bulging near her temples. Haru had once heard from the Third Hokage that this was the Hyuga clan, known as the strongest in Konoha, and these unique eyes were the Byakugan, comparable to the Sharingan!
A 360-degree field of vision with no blind spots, fully detecting the movement of objects and directly showing chakra flow, this allowed the little girl to walk through the obstacles as if on flat ground.
"That person... seems to be Hyuga-sama's Hinata-ojousama," Kiba said, appearing again out of nowhere, but this time he didn't clamor to recruit a little brother. Maybe he had forgotten.
"Now the reconnaissance team is complete! I almost forgot about the Hyuga clan!" Minato was immediately happy seeing the characteristic Byakugan. A bug user, a ninja dog user, plus the Byakugan; possessing hearing, smell, and vision, this was simply the best reconnaissance team!
And Haru, standing aside, although amazed by her skillful movements and admiring her elegant dissipation of force, was still thinking about his own method. Clearly, he could only rely on his reaction speed to deal with such intricate obstacles.
A few minutes later, it was Haru's turn. At this moment, he still hadn't come up with a strategy, but as the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way. Since things had come to this, he could only rush in and try.
Tenryū Style - First Form! Needle Threading!
He used his taijutsu style again, preparing to deflect the obstacles one by one and reach the finish line. But clearly, these obstacles weren't just child's play. They came in layers, timed perfectly one after another. There were boulders, flying arrows, gravel, sharp spikes...
Seeing that he wouldn't have time to dodge, Haru used the Shadow Clone Technique.
Bang, bang, bang! Three sounds echoed as three shadow clones appeared, surrounding Haru, all facing outwards, and then...
Wind Release: Violent Air Palm!
Three miniature versions of the storm impacted the obstacles, directly blowing away the small hidden weapons. Even the boulders were forcibly stopped by Haru's force. He didn't dare to delay, fearing the next wave of obstacles would attack again, in which case, a perfect score would be impossible. Haru directly copied the "Naruto Whirlwind," having two shadow clones throw his main body and another shadow clone into the sky.
However, things weren't that simple! Some of those hidden weapons were manually controlled! The launch ports all aimed at the sky, predicting Haru's position, and fired!
Another wave of hidden weapons!
The usefulness of shadow clones was evident at this moment!
Second relay! Wind Release: Violent Air Palm!