"First question: Lord Hokage orders you to kill Advisor Mitokado Homura's daughter. How will you complete the mission?"
No hesitation allowed, meaning he had to immediately voice his most genuine thoughts.
Among the Jonin behind Nara Rokaku, there must be someone from the Torture and Interrogation Division capable of detecting lies.
Yōkō answered immediately:
"I would carry out the mission without the slightest hesitation.
The key to the problem, I believe, lies in the method of killing her.
Advisor Mitokado Homura's daughter, raised under the Advisor's tutelage, would absolutely never betray Konoha.
To suspect his daughter is to suspect him.
If Lord Hokage feels compelled to order her death, a possible reason could be that she is involved in a scandal that affects Advisor Mitokado Homura's reputation.
Scandals like [censored - implied immoral/illegal acts], torture, flaunting wealth in the Hokage Building, etc., once exposed, could end the Advisor's political life.
Therefore, her death must be secret, unknown to anyone, perhaps even unknown to Advisor Mitokado Homura himself.
I would collect information on Advisor Mitokado Homura's movements, and assassinate his daughter when he is away from the village or otherwise preoccupied.
Killing his daughter would be protecting him.
More crucially is the disposal of the body. There must be no trace left, preventing Advisor Mitokado Homura from finding her upon his return.
I don't use Fire Release, so I would tend to find a large beast, preferably one that eats bones..."
"Stop!" Nara Rokaku hurriedly halted Fox's answer; he already found it somewhat outrageous.
He glanced back at Yellow Dog. Was the current ethos in the ANBU a bit too extreme?
Yellow Dog, however, couldn't help but nod.
Well done. For assassinating someone close to a village elder, the most important thing indeed is disposing of the body and leaving no traces.
Among the ten Jonin, one recalled their own performance when answering this question back then.
Their answer involved both pleading with the Hokage and reporting to Advisor Mitokado Homura. Compared to this, they had been too focused on Konoha comradeship.
There was no standard answer for such questions; it was more about judging the shinobi's decision-making tendencies through their response.
ANBU shinobi Fox's decision-making tendency was cold, resolute, and left no loopholes.
Nara Rokaku asked the second question:
"You are on a guard mission in the Land of Hot Water. At this moment, a Konoha shinobi finds you and begs you to save his squad.
If you go to save the Konoha squad, the person you are guarding will die.
If you continue guarding, the Konoha squad will die.
What choice will you make?"
Yōkō thought to himself, a problem similar to the trolley problem.
A train going straight will run over five people; changing tracks will run over one person. The question is whether you would change tracks.
Someone will die either way.
Yōkō answered immediately:
"If I go to save the Konoha squad, the person I'm guarding will die.
That means, even if I send a shadow clone to save the Konoha squad, the person I'm guarding might die because my chakra is halved.
Then I choose to continue the guard mission. Furthermore, I will detain the Konoha shinobi who came to me for help, using my authority as his superior to order him to assist me in completing the guard mission.
If he returns to his squad, it will result in the squad's annihilation. It's better for him to stay and help me complete the guard mission. This not only increases the success rate of my mission but also saves his life.
This way, we maximize the benefit."
The Jonin present glanced at each other.
Among the answers to this question, this was the first time someone suggested detaining the SOS Ninja.
This was a bit excessive. How could one detain a distress ninja from another squad for their own mission?
Nara Rokaku glanced at Yellow Dog again.
Yellow Dog thought to himself, why hadn't he thought of this approach back then?
His own answer back then was to send a summon to help the Konoha squad. Looking at it now, Fox was right. Using a summon might cause his guard mission to fail due to the loss of that summon.
Nara Rokaku asked the third question:
"Suppose you are sent to the distant Land of Bears for a deep undercover mission lasting thirty years. During this time, you must not expose your identity, nor contact any Konoha shinobi. It will be as if you never existed. What would you do?"
Yōkō answered without hesitation:
"A thirty-year undercover mission means the village aims to achieve a goal measured in decades.
The Land of Bears is a vassal state of the Land of Earth. I would formulate a long-term plan in the Land of Bears.
With my abilities, in thirty years I would control everything in the Land of Bears.
The Daimyō of the Land of Bears would be my puppet, the Dowager Queen of the Land of Bears would be my lover, and the nobles of the Land of Bears would be my slaves.
My sole goal would be to become the unseen Overlord behind the Land of Bears.
Once the thirty-year latency period ends and Konoha gives me the order, I would, at the very minimum, leverage the entire power of the Land of Bears to lead it in rebelling against the Land of Earth, send troops to attack the Land of Earth, and help Konoha win the war against them."
The Jonin nodded repeatedly. They had gotten used to Copper Fox's Root-like way of thinking and realized this approach was indeed the optimal solution.
Everything else was fine, but becoming the Dowager Queen's lover... shouldn't her age be considered?
Thinking about it carefully, if the Daimyō is a puppet, the Daimyō might be under 10 years old, so being the Dowager's lover becomes somewhat acceptable.
Nara Rokaku shook his head while writing his comments on the scroll.
It wasn't that it didn't meet Konoha's requirements, but it was just a bit too perfectly aligned with the ANBU's requirements.
Shinobi from the ANBU background tended to be somewhat extreme.
Copper Fox, you are too extreme. The final comment Nara Rokaku wrote on the scroll was a recommendation that Copper Fox remain in the ANBU permanently, as he was no longer suited to be a regular shinobi.
"Alright, the interview assessment is over. Next is the practical assessment."
Yellow Dog was very satisfied with Yōkō's performance. As for the practical assessment, he was even less worried.
Nara Rokaku said:
"The practical assessment will be conducted here.
Three Jonin will test your skills. Rapid defeat, or damaging anything in this meeting room, will be considered a failure of your assessment."
Yōkō quickly asked: "What if one of the three Jonin intentionally damages the floor or windows?"
Nara Rokaku said: "Not all Jonin are from the ANBU. Not all Jonin are unscrupulous. Jonin have their pride."
Yōkō was taken aback. Did that seem like a pointed remark aimed at him?
What did that mean? Was he being called unscrupulous? Did he lack pride?
Three Jonin, holding kunai, charged at Yōkō from three directions.
Yōkō used his hand like a blade, chopping at one Jonin's kunai.
With a sharp clang, the kunai broke.
Yōkō very much wanted to punch his chest, but feared sending him flying and breaking various items, so he reached out to grip the throat of the Jonin before him.
However, this Jonin was fast and dodged Yōkō's iron-claw-like hand first.
The Jonin from behind also charged over. Yōkō turned and similarly used his copper-red hand to chop the other's kunai and grab for his throat.
This time, Yōkō successfully seized the vulnerable throat.
The next instant, Yōkō's fox mask was illuminated by a flash of light.
Lightning Clone?
The Jonin from behind charged from Yōkō's blind spot, having prepared a Lightning Clone in advance.
This person's Lightning Release proficiency was exceptionally high, using the Lightning Clone technique Kakashi had used in the original story.
Yōkō's other hand formed seals, hurriedly using the seals for Earth Clone.
The lightning burst, exploding towards Yōkō. However, it only hit a puddle of mud.
Yōkō's figure appeared in the corner of the meeting room, standing behind the Jonin skilled in Lightning Release.
He was almost exposed in front of so many people – the fact that his Absolute Defense: Copper Light was an Earth Release secret technique.
The two engaged in a stalemate with taijutsu.
The Lightning Release Jonin retreated further and further, using another Jonin's cover to form seals, preparing to use Lightning Release: Earth Running.
Seeing those seals, Yōkō instantly grew tense.
Not because he feared that jutsu, but because he feared Lightning Release: Earth Running would damage the floor.
Yōkō jumped up, hanging upside down from the ceiling.
That Lightning Release Jonin indeed stopped forming seals, looking up at Yōkō.
The other two Jonin simultaneously used Body Flicker to appear near the ceiling, thrusting kunai at Yōkō from front and back.
They were still testing Yōkō's Absolute Defense, trying to find a weakness.
The three fought from the ceiling to the floor, and from the floor to the windows.
A potted plant on the windowsill was knocked down. Yōkō kicked one person away forward, leaned back mid-air, and caught the flowerpot near the ground.
Just after placing the flowerpot, someone else charged at him.
The three battled fiercely, primarily using taijutsu and small-scale ninjutsu.
Five minutes later.
"Stop!" Nara Rokaku shouted:
"Without using your trump cards, none of you four can gain an advantage over the others.
Fox, you have passed the assessment.
The combat assessment is over. After I finish writing the assessment comments, Fox, you can go upstairs to see Lord Hokage."
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(End of Chapter)