Side observation point.
Three instructors were standing together observing Sora's group of personnel.
"That kid is a bit interesting." Leopard Instructor suddenly said quietly, "He times his movements very accurately, almost as if he can predict the direction of the scout's gaze."
Eagle Instructor nodded slightly, "Number 567, that's the seven-year-old brat, right? The one the Hokage-sama is paying special attention to."
Owl Instructor leaned in with interest, "His concealment skills aren't the absolute best, but his observation and use of the environment are excellent, and his body is unusually agile."
...
In the field, Sora had already covered three-quarters of the distance. Only the final stretch of open ground remained.
There was almost no cover here, just a few patches of low grass. Two scout ninja were monitoring this area, one on the left and one on the right.
Several other candidate members had been discovered here one by one. At this moment, the only ones still holding out were Sora and another person about twenty meters away from him.
Sora held his breath, his body pressed tightly against the ground. He had been waiting here for two full minutes.
There was no cover at all further ahead, and there were also the two scout ninja. Therefore, he had been waiting for the best opportunity.
Finally, the moment came when the ninja on the left turned his head to briefly communicate with his companion.
'This is the chance!'
Whoosh!!!
Sora erupted into motion! He shot out like an arrow from a bow. In a mere three seconds, he crossed this open area and successfully reached the endpoint.
"Clearance time: eight minutes and forty-two seconds. Undetected." The recorder reported.
Sora let out a soft sigh of relief. His gaze fell on the last ninja who had been removed from the field—this person was precisely the other candidate member who had been lurking near him just now.
Unfortunately, the other person had lacked a bit of decisiveness. He failed to seize the gap in the scouts' attention created by Sora's movement. After Sora had rushed past the endpoint, without that cover, he was ultimately exposed and regrettably eliminated.
In the end, out of two hundred candidate members, only twenty-two passed the stealth and reconnaissance test. On average, each group had only two people. The difficulty was evident.
However, Sora's batch of personnel were all newly recruited, and training had just begun. The number of those passing in the future would definitely increase.
The subsequent training programs unfolded one after another.
...
That day's training continued until 6 PM. It included multiple items such as taijutsu sparring, shuriken throwing, and code decryption.
Sora performed outstandingly in taijutsu sparring. Relying on his physical strength and refined taijutsu skills, he easily defeated multiple opponents.
However, in shuriken throwing and code decryption, he only reached an average level.
But Sora didn't mind these much. He had always positioned himself as a taijutsu-type ninja. Things like shuriken and code decryption were not his focus.
After all, once he matured, he could practically be considered an immortal, indestructible existence. Shuriken like these could not harm him, and he didn't rely on shuriken for his livelihood.
Just as Sora had heard a saying in his previous life—it's better to master one skill perfectly than to be a jack of all trades.
As for code decryption, an average level was sufficient. Anything too complex could be handed over to teammates when the time came.
After training ended, Sora dragged his tired body back to the dormitory.
The intensity of Anbu training far exceeded that of the ninja school days. Even with his physique enhanced by the Azure Dragon Fruit, he felt somewhat fatigued. After all, he was only 7 years old now, and his physical condition had its limits.
"However, this kind of specialized, high-intensity training is truly helpful for improving strength." Sora thought to himself as he rubbed his aching muscles.
...
In the following days, Sora gradually adapted to the rhythm of Anbu training.
Training started at 6 AM every morning and ended at 6 PM. There were only brief breaks and meal times in between.
The training content covered all the skills required by the Anbu, from practical combat techniques to theoretical knowledge, leaving nothing out.
Sora discovered that the Anbu's training method was completely different from the ninja school's.
Here, the focus was more on practical combat and application. There were few useless theoretical classes. Every training item had a clear purpose and practicality, directly related to Anbu missions.
'No wonder Anbu members are generally stronger than ninja of the same rank. This training method is indeed efficient.' Sora thought to himself.
At the same time, Sora also noticed the peculiarity of the candidate member numbering system.
During a break, while talking with several candidate members from the same batch, he learned the details of the numbering system.
Anbu candidate member numbers were assigned in a cycle from "001 to 600". Once it reached 600, it would start counting again from 001.
Candidate personnel were recruited every three months. Newly recruited members needed to first participate in an initial one-on-one assessment, mainly to test each person's strength and areas of expertise. Because Sora was specially recruited by Sarutobi Hiruzen, he did not undergo this assessment.
After that, every three months, they needed to participate in a practical combat assessment. In total, they needed to undergo two practical combat assessments. If a member failed two consecutive practical combat assessments, they would be removed from the candidate sequence and must strictly adhere to the confidentiality agreement, not leaking any Anbu-related information.
Because the holders of previous numbers either passed the assessment and were promoted to full Anbu members, or were eliminated after failing three assessments, this formed a complete cycle. Therefore, the regular size of Anbu candidate members stabilized at 400 people. But due to various reasons, there were always a few people missing.
Currently, it was exactly numbers 201 to 600, among which:
Numbers 201-400 were in the No. 2 training area, which included the number 369 that Sora had noticed.
Numbers 401-600 were in the No. 1 training area, which was Sora's current training area.
Moreover, Sora also learned from several instructors that the next assessment would take place three months later. All candidate personnel had to participate, including Sora's batch of newcomers.
Although they had a strength gap with the seniors who entered three months earlier, this was the Anbu's selection rule.
If one could pass in this lopsided assessment, they wouldn't have to stay the full six-month assessment period, because such people were geniuses comparable to Kakashi.
After all, each assessment only selected ten people from four hundred. The difficulty was imaginable!
When Sora heard this rule, his head hurt. He definitely didn't feel he could pass with certainty.
After all, those who could enter the Anbu were considered relatively strong among their peers. Not to mention, the youngest among them were still three or four years older than Sora.
But if he really had to wait six months, or even longer, to pass the assessment, this was unacceptable to Sora.
He needed to become a full Anbu member as soon as possible, so he would have time to develop the Azure Dragon Fruit's abilities alone.
'It seems, I need to open the Fourth Gate: The Injury Gate as soon as possible within these three months!'
'And I absolutely must not use the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit. This kind of assessment definitely has Byakugan users present, one hundred percent!'
Sora sighed, feeling very helpless inside.
His original intention was precisely not to become "cannon fodder". Entering the Anbu had already delayed the progress of developing his fruit abilities. If he wasted even more time because of this Anbu assessment, when it came time and his strength was insufficient, once on the battlefield, Sora's life would no longer be in his own hands.
After all, that was the Third Great Ninja War. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a meat grinder filled with human lives!
It should be noted that even a genius like Kakashi almost lost his life on the battlefield.
"It seems I can only go all out! Without truly testing oneself in a real fight, how can one know it's impossible!" Sora clenched his fist. The hesitation in his eyes vanished completely, replaced only by a determined expression.
Fortunately, nearly three months had passed since he first opened the "Third Gate: The Life Gate". Adding the following three months, Sora was still confident he could successfully open the "Fourth Gate: The Injury Gate".
It should be known, with three gates open, his strength was already approaching that of a Special Jonin. With four gates open, he would definitely reach the level of a Special Jonin. Most of these candidate personnel were Chunin, with Special Jonin being a very small minority.
Sora stroked his chin, mentally calculating, and couldn't help but nod.
'Looking at it this way, I still have a great chance of passing the assessment.'
...
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