Standing in the front row, Sora thought to himself, 'As expected.'
He had always remembered that the Anbu notification letter mentioned a "Jonin Instructor." After arriving at the Anbu and finding about 400 candidates, he felt it was strange.
He realized that even if ten people were assigned one Jonin Instructor, it would require 40 jonin.
But this was clearly impossible. Konoha currently only had about 200 jonin. Sora thought it was reasonable for the Anbu to have 40 jonin. However, these jonin also needed to leave the village, even go abroad for various missions. They obviously could not all serve as these "Jonin Instructors."
'It seems they are the real candidates.'
Sora pondered silently. There was an assessment every three months. Ten would pass, and thirty would be selected to become real Anbu candidates. These people would have "Jonin Instructors."
Exactly three candidates were paired with one Jonin Instructor, forming a team.
In total, there were thirty candidate Anbu and ten Jonin Instructors.
Sora thought these Jonin Instructors were probably jonin returning to the village from missions on rotation, taking on the guidance of these newcomers as an additional duty. Or perhaps serving as a Jonin Instructor was itself a mission.
Interestingly, among the ten who passed this assessment, except for Sora, all were part of the thirty selected three months ago.
As for the remaining three hundred plus who just failed the assessment, numbers 401 to 600 meant they still needed to wait for the next assessment opportunity. Numbers 201 to 400 had permanently lost the qualification to become official Anbu.
Of course, it could not be ruled out that if a ninja war broke out in the future, they might be temporarily selected into the Anbu. After all, compared to other Konoha ninja who had not received Anbu special training, their background and strength would be more suitable.
So in Sora's view, this Anbu training was more like a higher-level advanced institution for Konoha ninja after graduating from the ninja academy, similar to high school or university in his previous life.
But fortunately, Sora successfully passed the assessment. This had nothing to do with him anymore. Now he just wanted to quickly take on a few simple missions after joining and then return to the orphanage to develop his fruit ability.
...
After the announcement, Instructor Eagle said nothing more and directly ordered the dismissal.
Those who passed the assessment and obtained Jonin Instructor qualification could rest for one day and report the day after tomorrow. The others would return directly to the Anbu base to await orders.
Sora, dragging his still somewhat sore body, immediately left the Forest of Death, a place that made him feel oppressive.
He did not return to the Anbu dormitory but headed straight for the direction of the orphanage.
Three months of high-pressure training and brutal assessments made him miss that simple yet warm place intensely.
Along the way, Sora reflected on the just-concluded assessment.
At first, he had wondered in his heart. He had hidden perfectly without any flaws. The assessors should not have detected his traces. Unexpectedly, the one he encountered this time was another Uchiha.
However, Number 369, whom he knocked unconscious, did not concern Sora, even with the Uchiha name.
This was an official Anbu assessment, monitored throughout. Moreover, Sora had given warnings three times consecutively, and his subsequent actions were all within the rules.
Not to mention just breaking the other's face, even if he had killed the person on the spot, it would have been within regulations.
If the Uchiha clan dared to trouble Sora over this matter, they wouldn't be troubling Sora. They would be troubling the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen!
...
When Sora pushed open the familiar gate of the orphanage, the setting sun was just bathing the small courtyard.
"Brother Sora!"
Yumi, nearly five years old, was the first to notice him and rushed over quickly. Beside her, Ayumi, the same age, followed with wide, round eyes.
Miyamoto Ichirō and Uesugi Rin also gathered around, asking questions all at once.
"Sora, you're back!"
"This time you were gone for so long!"
"Was the training hard?"
Looking at their concerned faces and the greetings in their eyes, Sora felt much of his fatigue dissipate.
He ruffled Yumi and Ayumi's hair and showed them a faint but genuine smile:
"Yes, I'm back."
...
At the same time.
Inside the Hokage's office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his smoking pipe and picked up the assessment report just delivered by the Anbu, reading it carefully.
Nara Shikagure stood quietly before the desk, awaiting his instructions. (Note: Nara Shikaku is about the same age as Namikaze Minato, around 18 now. Changed to his father, Nara Shikagure.)
When he saw the part about Sora's encounter with Uchiha Kenta, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyebrows raised slightly, and he couldn't help but utter a soft, "Oh?"
"Shikagure, what do you think?" He handed the report over.
Nara Shikagure took the report and quickly skimmed it.
When he saw that Sora opened the "Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain" and defeated Uchiha Kenta, who had special jonin strength, with one punch, a flicker of surprise also passed through his eyes.
"Opening the Gate of Pain at seven years old and being able to defeat a special jonin from the Uchiha clan head-on..." Nara Shikagure put down the report and stroked his chin. "This kid's growth rate is much faster than we anticipated."
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.
It had only been a little over five months since Sora took first place in the ninja academy assessment. From a chunin, he had grown to someone who could defeat a special jonin head-on. His strength improvement was extremely rapid.
He even mentally elevated Sora to the same level as Kakashi.
Kakashi became a chunin not long after graduating last year. At most, his strength was now about equal to Sora's, or he might not even be able to defeat Sora, even though Kakashi was a year younger.
But this did not affect Sora's rocket-like rise in status within Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind.
Unfortunately—Sora was ultimately an outsider.
Nara Shikagure spoke up with a suggestion: "Is the Uzumaki clan's physique... that strong? Should we conduct an examination?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag of his smoke and slowly exhaled: "No need. Sora is a child who inherits the Will of Fire."
He remembered Sora's excited gaze standing beside him during the school opening ceremony, and the records in the files showing Sora's good relationships with Nonō Yakushi, Kurenai Yūhi, Asuma, and others.
Moreover, in his eyes, Sora was ultimately just a taijutsu genius with low ninjutsu talent and not a high ceiling.
Even if Sora could open the Eight Inner Gates to the Eighth Gate: Gate of Death in the future, it didn't matter. That was a life-risking technique. Sora wouldn't come to trade his life for his. And if it was only the Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder, Konoha had many ninja who were not idle.
Furthermore, why go to great lengths to examine Sora?
No matter how strong his physique was, could it surpass that of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama?
Currently, Konoha hadn't even successfully replicated the Wood Release kekkei genkai. There really was no spare capacity to investigate a peripheral member of the Uzumaki clan.
If they really insisted on researching the Uzumaki clan's bloodline, why not directly study Kushina?
Compared to Sora, Kushina, being a orthodox Uzumaki clan member and the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, was undoubtedly a better and safer research subject.
Unless—Sora displayed a new kekkei genkai.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━