Chapter 291: Jonin Assessment
"Who's first?" The five people on the field stood ready, and someone suddenly asked.
According to the unwritten rules of ninja, it's generally the person with the highest status or the strongest strength who goes first or last.
And so... four pairs of eyes turned in unison to look at Haruno Sakura, who was standing at the end of the line.
"Eh? Why are you all looking at me?" Sakura was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted and said with a smile, "Just do as you like. As long as I'm not the first one, it's fine."
She liked to fight for first place in other aspects, but in this kind of situation, where she was being watched by a crowd who was waiting to see her perform, Sakura was a little nervous...
Not first, so that means she wants to be the main event, the last one. The four quickly came to this conclusion, and after a few more sentences of discussion, they immediately worked out the order. (Note)
The first to be assessed was an acquaintance of Sakura's, Shiranui Genma.
This guy had previously served as Haruno Sakura's Chunin Exam proctor, and in the blink of an eye, he had become a ninja who was taking the Jonin assessment with her.
How strange the world is.
Sakura thought to herself with some emotion as she watched him standing on the field, a senbon hanging from his mouth, looking cool.
Compared to the "cool-kid" look that Sasuke had put on in the original story, she still appreciated this kind of "cool" from Genma more. His calm in the face of danger during the Konoha Crush operation had left a deep impression on Sakura.
The proctor for the Jonin exam was chosen by Tsunade from the Jonin who were observing the ceremony. Her choice was quite casual. At this moment, Tsunade directly chose Hyuga Hotaru.
"It's an acquaintance," Sakura blinked her eyes. As expected, she knew all the elite Jonin who could be proctors, or at least she had seen them a few times in the Anbu.
Hyuga Hotaru was the captain of Anbu Squad 2. Her strength was top-ranked in the entire Anbu. When Haruno Sakura had gone to the Hyuga's house to find Hinata before, she had seen her sparring with Hiashi. In that fleeting glimpse, Sakura could see: the two of them were evenly matched!
Although it was just a spar, it was already enough to prove many problems.
Hyuga Hotaru should have been a member of the branch family, just like her brother Hizashi, with the Caged Bird seal. Because she had joined the Anbu and held an important position in it, and was also in the Hokage's direct line, with strength, status, and someone to back her up, the matter of placing the seal on her had been postponed again and again, and had never actually been done.
Part of the reason why Hinata had been training so hard and striving for improvement was that she had been inspired by her story. Hinata had always taken her Aunt Hotaru as her role model!
If she could be like Hyuga Hotaru, then even if Hinata became a member of the branch family in the future, the matter of the Caged Bird seal would naturally be left unsettled.
The women of this branch of the Hyuga family were all quite formidable: Hotaru, Hinata, and Hanabi.
However, Genma on the field was not fighting badly either.
Haruno Sakura's impression of him was stuck on his usual, senbon-chewing, slacker-like appearance, and his steadiness and reliability at critical moments. But as for how high his combat power was, she was not very clear.
After facing Hyuga Hotaru, with her as a reference, Genma's combat power was finally highlighted—facing the stormy attacks of a quasi-Kage level ninja, he could still barely hold on, standing firm like a reef in the tide.
Hyuga Hotaru pressed forward step by step, and Genma fought as he retreated!
Retreating to the edge of the field, Shiranui Genma's eyes narrowed. He suddenly spat out the senbon from his mouth. Swish—!
The senbon turned into a cold star, attacking Hyuga Hotaru, as fast as lightning!
Hyuga Hotaru turned sideways to avoid it, and her offense stalled for a moment. Shiranui Genma took the opportunity to jump up, formed hand seals, and spat out a giant fireball from his mouth!
"The timing was grasped very well," the candidates waiting for their assessment by Sakura's side whispered to each other. "He caught the gap in Hyuga Hotaru's attack!"
"Genma was at a disadvantage when he was approached by Hyuga Hotaru at the beginning," another person said. "He retreated again and again, and was already standing on the edge of a cliff, but at the last moment, he reversed the situation. What a beautiful blow! Hyuga Hotaru is going to be at a disadvantage now."
Then they began to analyze and comment on various things.
Haruno Sakura felt a faint toothache as she listened to these comments.
This blow from Genma is a small highlight, but she knows very well that he had been brewing this move ever since he was entangled by Hyuga Hotaru. As for the reversal of the situation and Hyuga Hotaru being at a disadvantage... she, who had been a proctor, knew what was going on. It was all a routine.
To avoid accidents, the strength of the ninja serving as a proctor should be a level higher than the candidate's, so that they can be at ease in the battle and retract their power freely. Hyuga Hotaru had not used her true strength at all, only the strength of an ordinary Jonin. Otherwise, after Genma had been approached by her, he would absolutely not have been able to escape her pursuit and entanglement.
With different strength and vision, the world one sees is also vastly different.
What Sakura saw was Hyuga Hotaru guiding Genma step by step to unleash his full strength. What they saw was a back-and-forth battle.
But after this group of people had finished their comments, they even turned their gazes over, seeking her opinion or approval, which made Sakura feel a little awkward.
"Genma is very strong! Passing the assessment shouldn't be a big problem," she said with a smile. This was said in accordance with their words, but it was also the honest truth.
On the field, Genma had turned from defense to offense. His waves of ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks were like a tide, with a grand presence. It looked as if he was suppressing Hyuga Hotaru.
However, Sakura could see clearly that his attacks actually had a limited effect on Hyuga Hotaru. In taijutsu, he did not dare to continue to get close, and could only use ninja tools to harass her, which was useless against Hyuga Hotaru, who had the Gentle Fist and the Byakugan.
The ninjutsu attacks looked very effective, but it was just Hyuga Hotaru holding back. That first fire jutsu, Haruno Sakura had seen Hyuga Hotaru's hand move slightly and then stop. She knew that she had wanted to use an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm to disperse it, but had probably given up the idea considering her identity as a proctor.
Shiranui Genma's biggest highlight was still the senbon that had been immersed in his chakra for many years. Through something like a puppet master's chakra threads, Genma could manipulate the senbon from a distance, coordinating with his ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks, and had launched several swift and powerful sneak attacks. The timing and angle were both grasped very well. The senbon tactics were full of tricks in his hands, and he used them with such skill that even Hyuga Hotaru had to raise her guard.
The veteran Jonin who were observing the ceremony could basically also see that Hotaru was holding back. But what they cared about more was the strength that Genma had displayed. His ninjutsu, taijutsu, and combat intelligence were all above the passing line for a Jonin.
It seemed that he had actually been qualified to be promoted to Jonin a few years ago.
"Tsunade, how did you convince him to apply for promotion to Jonin?" the Third Hokage asked, smoking his pipe and standing beside the Fifth Hokage, tilting his head.
The Third Hokage was a little gloomy. Genma, that guy, was a slacker and was afraid of trouble, so he had never been interested in being promoted to Jonin. He had persuaded him several times, but it had been useless.
Tsunade chuckled and brushed off the question. She would never tell the Sandaime that she had taken a roundabout route, and had persuaded his girlfriend to force him to become more motivated... This was a woman's advantage.
She glanced at the battle on the field. After being suppressed for a while, Hyuga Hotaru had gotten a little more serious, and Genma was suddenly at a disadvantage again. He began to struggle under the pursuit of Hyuga Hotaru's long-range Gentle Fist Vacuum Palm, and that senbon of his was not of much use as harassment.
Seeing that Genma's situation was already precarious and he was about to be defeated, Tsunade decisively signaled for the battle to stop and the assessment to end. She turned her head and asked for the opinions of the observing Jonin and the several high-level advisors, and then directly announced that Genma's assessment was passed.
Applause sent the two of them off the field. The next to go up was Namiashi Raidō, and the proctor was Hatake Kakashi.
On the side waiting for the assessment, only Sakura and two others were left. They were a pair of brothers. She had never heard their names before. They were called Asō Nozomu and Asō Nozomi.
Just now, these two brothers had made a lot of comments. When the fight had ended, they had found that Hyuga Hotaru had been holding back a lot to be on par with Genma, and they had realized that the analysis they had just given was complete nonsense.
Only then did they know what Sakura's smile without words had meant.
The two brothers, who felt that they had made a fool of themselves just now, now had the nerve to start commenting again. But they had learned to be much smarter and had begun to ask for Sakura's opinion.
Such as, "Miss Sakura, how many moves do you think Namiashi Raidō can last under a full-powered Kakashi?" "Can Raidō block Kakashi's Raikiri?" and such.
The battle on the field was not intense, so Sakura still had the leisure to answer their questions. It was just that compared to these two, who were focusing their attention on Namiashi Raidō, Haruno Sakura was more concerned with Kakashi's strength.
It had been a long time since they had sparred.
She had heard from Sasuke that Kakashi had been training quite diligently recently, and his strength had grown a lot, showing signs of advancing to the Kage-level. She really wanted to see it. Unfortunately, Namiashi Raidō could not force out Kakashi's full strength.
It was already pretty good that he could force out twenty to thirty percent of Kakashi's combat power.
After Namiashi Raidō had passed the assessment, the two brothers also went up one by one. Although their judgment was a little lacking, their strength was not bad. They soon passed smoothly.
Finally, it was Haruno Sakura's turn, the one who had attracted everyone's attention.
The voices on the field immediately became noisy. The Jonin who had been observing on the side, who had been calm and composed just now, were now all excited.
The several high-level officials who were sitting on the side also began to whisper to each other.
Tsunade looked back at the group of Jonin behind her, as if she were about to select a proctor. A few people quickly raised their hands, volunteering to be the proctor. Of the remaining Jonin, many's expressions also moved slightly, eager to try. When the Fifth Hokage looked back at them, they all turned their gazes to Tsunade, their fighting spirit burning.
"It seems everyone is really looking forward to it," she said, turning her head and speaking to the Third Hokage with a smile.
"Hehe, after all, that child is already a master now," the Third Hokage said, smiling with his eyes narrowed. "The opportunity to spar with a master is very precious! They are not in the mindset of being a proctor now, but want to go on stage as a challenger!"
"Then... who should I send to be the proctor?" Tsunade said, rubbing her smooth chin with her fingertips, thoughtfully, as she turned back around and muttered to herself.
"I'll do it, Lord Fifth Hokage. As Haruno Sakura's team leader, I should be the most suitable proctor to go up," Kakashi said, stepping forward at this time.
Tsunade shook her head. "Precisely because you are her teacher, you have many opportunities to spar with her, so let's leave this opportunity to someone else." Her gaze swept over the ninja behind her, sizing them up one by one.
Amidst the faintly expectant gazes of the crowd, Tsunade's gaze stopped on Hyuga Hotaru. The latter looked back at Tsunade calmly, a smile just about to appear on her face, but the Fifth Hokage's gaze only lingered for less than half a second before moving on to the next ninja.
She needed a proctor who was strong enough, but Hyuga Hotaru had already gone up.
Tsunade quickly scanned the whole field, and soon she had a plan in her mind.
So, I've decided on you. Come on out!
Tsunade waved her hand and threw out the Poke Ball—
"Gai, you go!"
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