As soon as Koharu finished speaking, her three longtime colleagues all turned their gazes toward her in unison, looking at her as if she were a fool.
They had met with Makoto alone today simply to see for themselves the unique ninjutsu that this village prodigy had created on his own, and to rule out certain conjectures with only a very small likelihood. They were not here to slap on labels or seize a spy.
If there were real suspicion, they would have had ANBU arrest him long ago and send him to the interrogation unit to extract information—there would be no need for the higher-ups to step in personally.
This advisor also realized that her words had been highly inappropriate. "I misspoke. Seeing that the two ninjutsu shared some similarities, I couldn't help but think a bit too much for a moment."
Hiruzen said calmly, "There are countless ninjutsu in the shinobi world. Similarities are perfectly normal. Our Sarutobi clan specializes in Fire Release, and some of our techniques are also similar to the Uchiha clan's Fire Release."
"Besides, if I were the one designing a chakra-based defensive ninjutsu, my thinking might well be similar to this child's. So what would you say then? That I also have ties to Sunagakure?"
"Furthermore, Chiyo's 'Mechanical Light Shield Block' is primarily based on sealing techniques, whereas this technique is the opposite. Sealing is only a simple auxiliary component here—its core lies in changes to the nature of chakra."
As Danzō aged, he grew increasingly contemptuous of these two old companions he had grown up with. Not only did they fail to agree with his ideology, they also repeatedly got in his way.
What was more, from the current situation, it seemed that even their most basic judgment was becoming increasingly unreliable.
He retorted, "Koharu, you've become senile too. Would you hand this village's secret ninjutsu to a spy you dug up in another village?"
"For that little brat from the Higashino family to be able to develop a similar defensive ninjutsu on his own—aside from proving that he really is a genius—also proves, precisely, that it's impossible for him to have had any contact with Sunagakure."
"If it were me, and I found such a good seed in another shinobi village, I would only kidnap him at the first opportunity. If I couldn't take him away, I'd kill him to eliminate future trouble. There would absolutely be no possibility of developing his strength."
Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu, upon hearing this, once again turned their gazes toward Danzō in unison.
Was it unexpected? Not at all unexpected—this really was exactly the kind of thing Danzō could do.
Or rather, people like them who gathered intelligence in other shinobi villages all thought more or less the same way.
At this time, Homura, who had not spoken the whole time, said, "This child has indeed displayed unparalleled talent in creating ninjutsu. Whether it's the defensive ninjutsu he just demonstrated, or the [Wind Release: Shadowless Sword], [Wind Release: Wind Finger Gun], or the sensory ninjutsu listed in the materials, all of it is astonishing."
"Most importantly, this child's love for the village—he doesn't hide anything at all. He is willing to share these precious ninjutsu so that the village can become even stronger."
After hearing this, Danzō looked at him with disdain. "Homura, in the end, you haven't participated in battle for many years. Your eye for things has deteriorated severely."
"Don't you realize that aside from the way these ninjutsu pursue efficiency, what is truly the most formidable about them is what?"
"That is an extremely exacting, almost harsh level of control over chakra form transformation and changes in its nature. Let me ask you—these ninjutsu, even if they are made public, how many people could actually learn them? Could you?"
Homura: "???"
He did not want to speak anymore, and silently went to sit at the same table as Koharu.
Hiruzen took several deep puffs of his pipe, feeling a trace of helplessness in his heart. Ever since his two companions had shifted into administrative work, their abilities and instincts as shinobi had indeed deteriorated excessively.
But there was nothing to be done about that.
In the end, he set the tone for today's meeting. "Alright, let's put this matter to rest here. Makoto is a rare genius of Konohagakure, another outstanding result of Konoha's education after Minato and Kakashi."
"In the future, rein in thoughts of this kind. I do not want to hear similar claims again. Is that understood?"
The three said nothing further, effectively accepting the Hokage's conclusion.
At the same time, Danzō, his single eye slightly narrowed, felt somewhat displeased inwardly. What a fine genius—he had ended up benefiting that monkey.
Unfortunately, that brat Higashino Makoto was not to his taste. There was no darkness in his heart—his mind was full of that monkey's so-called Will of Fire, making him completely impossible to control.
If it were not for that, he would have seized him for himself no matter what.
By comparison, the child Hatake Kakashi suited his preferences quite well. His personal experiences were steadily drawing him into darkness. It seemed it was time to swing the hoe and dig a bit, to see whether there might be a pleasant surprise.
...
The next morning, Makoto arrived at the venue for the Chūnin Exams with a sense of curiosity.
This counted as an entirely new experience for him, giving him a faint feeling reminiscent of sitting for the college entrance examination in his previous life—it felt quite novel.
Inside the examination hall, the candidates taking part were basically all present. They were all genin from Konohagakure, and there were quite a lot of them. A single glance revealed twenty-five three-man teams plus two one-person teams, for a total of seventy-seven people.
The number was already close to that of the later multinational joint examination. This was all the result of the shinobi academy expanding enrollment in recent years due to the war.
Makoto recognized only a small number of team members. They were all from the same graduating class as him, but as genin who had not managed to earn battlefield merit for promotion.
Those he was familiar with—such as Gekkō Hayate, Uzuki Yūgao, Aburame Muta, and Inuzuka Meko—had already automatically advanced to chūnin by this point and did not need to take the exam, aside from Makoto himself and Shisui, who had been specially arranged.
In wartime, as long as one's strength was sufficient, promotion for shinobi was somewhat easier than in times of peace—but it was earned by gambling with one's life.
The newcomers from the same class who knew Makoto were very surprised. They could not understand why this big shot had come to take the Chūnin Exams—wasn't this just increasing the difficulty for everyone else?
Shisui was the most surprised of all, but he quickly recalled what had happened in the camp after the victory on the eastern front, and some guesses formed in his mind.
Makoto waved to Shisui in a brief greeting, then began to observe the exam venue's distinctive mix of participants.
Put simply, there was a sharp polarization in age. They were either children around ten years old who had graduated not long ago, or already-grown genin, with very few in between.
Some candidates even had graying hair and beards. To still be struggling desperately for the title of chūnin at that age—one could only wonder how deep the obsession in their hearts truly was.
At the same time, they were also the most nervous. By contrast, the younger examinees were eager to try, wearing expressions full of confidence.
This was the reality faced by many lower-tier genin in Konohagakure. Their talent and potential were extremely limited; in the eyes of true experts, a chūnin who was little more than roadside fodder was the ultimate goal they would struggle toward for their entire lives.
Many had even already given up on the Chūnin Exams altogether, content to remain safely at the genin rank—a position that was, in its own way, quite promising. They survived by completing low-level missions issued daily by Konohagakure and the surrounding towns. Rather than calling them shinobi, it was more accurate to say they were hired laborers with chakra—strong, durable, and good at physical work.
Konohagakure had plenty of jobs to keep them alive. The village's only real expectation of them was that they marry early and have children—perhaps a few seeds of genius might sprout by chance.
Before long, only a few minutes after Makoto took his seat according to the number in his hand, the first stage of the Chūnin Exams—the written test—officially began. Proctoring chūnin distributed the test papers to each examinee.
Unlike the later, more famous exam, this one had very few proctors. There were two stationed on each side, and two more on the podium together with the chief examiner.
They merely watched the examinees, without writing anything down.
At the same time, the requirements for this exam were also different. Written clearly on the blackboard were the conditions for passing: all three members of a team had to answer eight questions correctly to qualify. In other words, if even one person in the team failed to meet the standard, the entire team would be eliminated.
Makoto glanced over the test paper. There were ten questions in total, covering several categories of knowledge that shinobi were required to master. Half of them were not particularly difficult—anyone who had studied diligently on a regular basis would be able to answer them.
But the remaining five questions went somewhat beyond the standard curriculum. If one had not come into contact with this material in advance during the genin stage, or deliberately studied it beforehand, there was no way to answer them.
Want to get the questions right and pass the exam? Then you would have to find your own solution.
It seemed that no matter the era, what the Chūnin written exam truly tested was everyone's ability to gather intelligence. If you could copy, that was your skill—so long as the methods were not too blatant.
And gathering intelligence wasn't copying. When it came to shinobi, could that really be called copying?
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