The First Candidate!

Sakura suddenly realized something.

She looked closely and saw a long gash in the chest of the new recruit's Anbu uniform. She smiled knowingly, realizing that Katsura U was up to his old trick of a surprise attack in the corridor again. Back then, the girl had been terrified by such a thing, and for a moment thought Katsura U had betrayed her...

--Yes, they've even started using the word "back then," Sakura Haruno already considers herself a veteran.

Hopefully, the newcomers weren't scared off.

After being ambushed by Katsura U, the new recruit in the Anbu became noticeably more vigilant. Upon seeing the four people standing in the courtyard, he looked over nervously, wondering what kind of trouble the Anbu was going to cause during their assessment.

Of the four, only one was an Anbu Ninja in full uniform. Of the remaining three, one was clearly dressed as a civilian ninja; the other two were dressed differently: one in a hospital gown, appearing somewhat weak, and the other in casual clothes typical of a young and pretty girl—none of them seemed like combat personnel.

Logically, the examiner should be that formally dressed Anbu Ninja. He was puzzled by the presence of office workers, patients, and ordinary girls; was this also part of the Anbu's selection process?

This tactic is too sophisticated; he's finding it a bit too much for him!

The newcomer, forcing himself to analyze the situation, concluded that the clerical ninja was likely recording the assessment results, and his aura wasn't particularly strong, so he was skipped. The sick man, though appearing somewhat weak, revealed a surprisingly extraordinary presence upon closer inspection of his movements and demeanor. Further investigation revealed a dense and profound quality to his slightly leaking Chakra, as deep and unyielding as a mountain – was he actually an Elite Jonin disguised as a patient? This tactic was indeed unfathomable...

As for the other beautiful girl in her prime, judging by her slender figure and delicate features, she seemed like an ordinary person who posed no threat. However, she was dressed so lightly in the dead of winter, and there was no sign that she was using Ninjutsu to maintain her body temperature. Her aura was concealed, and her Chakra was extremely well-controlled. One could not sense the quality of her Chakra at all. She seemed to be someone to be reckoned with as well...

When Sakura Haruno noticed that the newcomer had given her and Shino a few extra glances, she knew that the newcomer, personally brought by Katsura U, was indeed quite capable, at least in terms of observation and thinking skills.

Kenichi, the unfamiliar Anbu beside her, noticed the newcomer's movements, nodded secretly, and then whispered to Sakura, "Tsk, never mind, no need to change clothes, let's begin... I'll leave this to you, examiner!"

After that, the three of them, along with Katsura U, jumped onto the balcony of a nearby building—or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a spectator stand—to watch the game.

Sakura Haruno nodded and turned to face the new Anbu member.

"Then I'll be your examiner for this onboarding assessment..." She carefully examined the newcomer standing before her and said calmly, "My code name is Kite."

"My code name is White Fox," the newcomer said somewhat nervously.

The mask on the White Fox's face blocked Sakura's probing gaze.

Judging from his appearance, one could only tell that he was a young man of average height and build, with short, straight black hair. Such a ninja would be completely unremarkable once he put on a mask, which was exactly the type that Katsura U liked the most.

His Chakra sense was also not obvious, which meant he had deliberately suppressed his Chakra fluctuations, making it impossible to identify whether he was Ninjutsu type or Taijutsu type.

But it doesn't matter, she's not afraid of any type...

Having just finished her battle with Kakuzu, Sakura Haruno is now incredibly confident. As long as the opponent isn't Kage Level fighter, they're nothing to her anymore, and she's not afraid of a situation like Shino's, where the examiner gets completely crushed by the examinee.

The pink-haired girl was secretly gloating, while also wondering how much water to use so as not to accidentally eliminate the examinee... Although it was her first time being an examiner, she had seen it all before. The examiner's job was usually not to suppress the examinee's strength, but to guide the examinee to bring out their full potential. This required the examiner to be much stronger than the examinee, and generally also required the examiner to have rich experience. The latter was precisely Sakura Haruno's weakness, so she had to think it through carefully.

The two formed Seal of Confrontation, and the battle officially began.

The newbie's opening move was the cliché of rapid -Shuriken attacks.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh--!

The moment he released the Seal of Confrontation, his left hand, which had already been quietly holding the shuriken, struck with lightning speed. With a sudden flick of his wrist, he created a blur, and the ninja tool in his hand transformed into several cold stars, shooting towards Sakura Haruno like a Hayate.

The newcomer was already moving quickly, but the girl in her Cherry Blossom Impact state was even faster.

"Ice Release: Legion Ice Clone Technique!"

She quickly Hand Seals, and with a swift Ninjutsu, instantly created more than twenty clones in front of her. Clang, clang, clang—amidst a series of impacts, the clones wielding ice blades easily blocked the darts launched by the newcomer.

Legion clones were originally developed to deal with intense battles. Their power is relatively controllable, and they are less likely to accidentally injure teammates during sparring.

Of course, with the further improvement of the Ice Release combat system, and when combined with Ice Clone Explosion and Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, this move can exert considerable power even in high-intensity combat.

"That Ninjutsu was executed very quickly." In the stands, a civilian ninja from the personnel department couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. To be able to complete Ninjutsu the instant the shuriken was thrown was quite remarkable.

This Ice Clone technique amazed him.

"Of course." Katsura U smiled and recalled the Ice Clone technique he used to test Sakura Haruno. He became a fan of hers after that Ninjutsu.

Thinking that she was still Sakura's mentor in the Anbu, Katsura U felt a little proud.

Shino simply shook his head dismissively.

You're already praising this much? Sakura Haruno hasn't even used a tenth of her strength yet.

He had witnessed Sakura at full power in battle!

"Hmm, the newcomer is not bad either." Wearing a dog-face mask Kenichi focused his attention mainly on the new Anbu, White Fox. After all, his main task was to assess the new Anbu. He watched the two on the sidelines constantly testing and exchanging blows with various Ninjutsu, and praised them.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

This technique was originally Fire Style exclusive to the Uchiha, but with the decline of the Uchiha, it has gradually become a signature Fire Style of the Konoha Ninja.

The fireball spewed from the White Fox's mouth swelled upon contact with the wind, instantly expanding into a massive fireball several meters tall, its imposing aura and oppressive heat surging towards Sakura Haruno and her Ice Clone.

The fierce fireball plowed a furrow in the ground. The power, speed, and timing of the Ninjutsu were all quite impressive; even Uchiha Clan ninja couldn't match it. Therefore, Kenichi couldn't help but comment on it.

Boom! The fireball exploded, and as expected, it missed the examiner.

However, Sakura did not use the extremely fast Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

Instead, he used a slower Substitution Technique to dodge the attack.

With a deafening explosion, the fireball engulfed the Ice Clone left behind by the substitution jutsu. A surge of heat suddenly dissipated, filling the air with smoke and billowing dust. Moments later, after the Ninjutsu ended, the Ice Clone had been evaporated without a trace, and Sakura Haruno landed unharmed not far away.

"What an incredible Substitution Technique!" The new Anbu White Fox, narrowed his eyes as he watched the girl's figure appear leisurely from the air. He was somewhat surprised that his signature Fire Style technique had been dodged so easily!

However, he was unaware that, in Sakura Haruno's opinion, the Fire Style technique praised by Kenichi was too slow and lacked power compared to Kakuzu's Ninjutsu.

If it's Kakuzu's Searing Migraine- on attack, half of it will be burned red by the sea of fire, and even if she uses Substitution Technique, she won't be able to escape the range of that attack; or he'll use Flame Bullet Flame Bullet that are even faster, so that she won't even have time to use Substitution Technique.

Therefore, this move is only at the Jonin level...

She even had the leisure to appreciate and compare Kakuzu's Ninjutsu until the fireball was almost upon her before calmly using the Substitution Technique.

Without realizing it, Sakura's standards had become extremely high.

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(The commenters are all experts at guessing the plot, but none of them are completely accurate!)