Anbu Examiner Sakura Haruno
After visiting Yugao and Sasuke, Sakura Haruno hasn't had much to do lately.
That's roughly how the initial preparations for the Land of Snow base went.
Sakura didn't plan to tell Kakashi about this, because she wasn't confident she could convince him if Kakashi objected; Kakashi wasn't Sasuke, whose values weren't yet fully formed. Besides, even if Kakashi knew, he couldn't really help...
However, the mission to the Land of Snow will not begin for some time.
She had just written this down in a letter and sent it out. The person who forwarded the letter was Asama Takehiko. This great director did not stay in the Land of Snow to assist Kazahana Koyuki like his uncle did, but continued to travel the world making his movies.
During this time, he was filming near Konoha and also took some time to visit the two members of Team 7.
Asking him to deliver the letter is absolutely reliable, it just takes a little longer— Asama Takehiko only has a few more scenes to film, and he won't return to the Land of Snow until after filming is finished. He can also deliver Sakura Haruno's letter there.
Next, we have to wait for the mission request form from the Kazahana Koyuki faction representative, which will take some time.
It will probably take another ten days or so.
During this time, she also filled out and submitted her application for promotion to Special Jōnin.
The ninjas were much faster than the messengers.
So, her Special Jōnin exam came first.
Compared to the grand and lively Chunin Ninja Exams, the Special Jōnin Exams were much simpler. There was no particularly complicated competition or other events. Instead, the personnel department coordinated with other departments to conduct the assessment.
The Chunin Exams are far more serious and formal than the Special Jonin exams because Chunin are essentially the core ninja class of the ninja villages.
Leaving aside Ninja Academy students, Genin encompasses everyone from fresh graduates to those who have wasted over a decade and still lack the ability to be promoted Genin Chunin. The former usually lack experience, while the latter are mostly not very strong in combat— Naruto, who was taken out of the village Chunin Jiraiya before he even had a chance to become a chunin, is an exception.
Therefore, in the village's eyes, relying on Genin to carry out missions is definitely unreliable.
As for the Special Jonin and Jonin, their numbers are too small. As elite troops, they certainly cannot be asked to handle large-scale missions that are not very difficult.
The village truly relies on Chunin core Chunin ninja. They have enough experience and intelligence, they know how to cooperate as a team and can also carry out missions alone, and their combat strength is passable... Therefore, most missions actually require Chunin (or higher) to lead the team.
Therefore, the Chunin Ninja Exams Konoha. Because these exams require assessing the Genin's qualities in many aspects, the format is varied, and every year the authorities rack their brains to examine their abilities from all angles.
The Special Jōnin Exam is much simpler, testing only two aspects.
First and foremost, combat effectiveness.
"I've already reviewed your resume." The bespectacled ninja from the personnel department sat at his desk, raising his hand to Sakura. "My name is Yuichi Taketori, and I'm the main person in charge of your evaluation."
Yuichi Taketori's resume, of course, doesn't refer to the list that records how many missions Sakura has performed and what level of missions she has carried out. That kind of information is actually not worth mentioning. During the Chunin Ninja Exams, Kabuto drew this kind of information into a character information card, and no one objected. After all, this kind of information has no value in keeping secret.
When Sakura was carrying out missions in the Anbu, she often felt that the mission levels were a bit too high, probably because these internal missions were not rewarded according to mission level.
For example, the first mission to search Orochimaru's base was marked as an S-rank mission. In reality, the mission was only upgraded to the highest level because there was a possibility of directly confronting Orochimaru. During the entire mission, they didn't encounter a single person, let alone Orochimaru. Their mission was as easy as an old lady shopping for groceries at the market.
Such an S-rank mission could be completed by any Chunin, so it doesn't prove Sakura Haruno's strength.
The ninja with glasses was holding Sakura's battle record sheet, which recorded Sakura Haruno's recent battle records. This kind of record, which contains the secrets of a ninja's Ninjutsu and combat habits, is the truly top-secret intelligence.
Sakura's report, though brief, was nonetheless impressive: she had recently clashed head-on with Akatsuki's Zombie Combo, had killed Orochimaru's elite Kimimaro a while back, and had encountered various enemies while on missions in the Anbu...
"Judging from the records, you already possess the combat strength of Jonin, or even an elite Elite Jonin. You're more than qualified to be promoted to Special Jōnin," he said calmly, adjusting his glasses and looking at Sakura Haruno. "However, we still need to assess your strength up close."
"Then how do we do it?" The girl tilted her head slightly, her soft pink hair swaying gently against her cheek. She brushed it away with her hand and asked softly.
"It's very simple," Yuichi Taketori nodded. "Generally, if a Chunin their combat resume, we'll arrange at least six practical training sessions within the third month to assess whether they possess the strength of Special Jōnin. However, you don't need to go through that trouble. Just demonstrate a few Ninjutsu listed on your resume, and then have two practical battles to test it out."
He stood up, carefully put the form back into the scroll, and said to Sakura, "Come with me. The Anbu just had some new recruits today, so you'll be Anbu examiner and assess their skills. And I'll be your examiner, evaluating whether your abilities qualify you to become Special Jōnin..."
"Basically, if you can unleash even 10% of the combat power shown on your resume, you'll be qualified for promotion to Special Jonin!"
He led Sakura to the courtyard where Shino had once tested her.
They were greeted by two Anbu ninjas. One was a tall Anbu wearing a dog-face mask whom Sakura did not recognize, and the other was Shino, dressed in civilian clothes.
Sakura was speechless when she saw him—this guy really didn't listen to Terumi Ijin's advice to stay in the hospital and recover. He couldn't stay in bed for long and sneaked out to wander around.
He actually wandered over to the Anbu and went to visit his friends.
She glared at Shino fiercely; if the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, she would have given him a good beating— Shino's position in the Fourteenth Squad was gradually being suppressed by the two females.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Shino quickly put on an innocent expression and begged for forgiveness with a wink.
Sakura ignored her completely, simply gesturing to Shino she would definitely report it to his girlfriend...
Sakura's examiner ignored the two members of the Team Fourteen's antics, showed his warrant to another Anbu Ninja, exchanged a few words with him, and then turned to Sakura and said, "Alright, you'll stay here and Kenichi take over as examiner for Kenichi."
It turns out that the name of this unfamiliar dog-faced figure Kenichi Anbu.
Sakura nodded and stepped forward.
"Hey~ before that," Kenichi, wearing a mask Kenichi, reminded her, "Sakura Haruno, you should change into your Anbu uniform and mask, and your ninja shoes. Oh right! Your cat-face mask got broken again a few days ago, didn't it? That's the only spare cat-face mask you have. The new one won't arrive for a few more days..."
Having your mask smashed twice in a row, that's something else.
He scratched his head, wondering if he should find another mask for her to wear temporarily—but that would be against the rules of the Anbu —when the door of the building next to the courtyard was opened.
The four of them looked over at the person who walked in—it was Shino's old friend, Katsura U, followed by a clearly new Anbu.
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