Let That Child Take the Chunin Ninja Exams!

Hokage's Office.

The domed building at the very center of Konoha.

An ANBU ninja knelt on one knee, speaking almost mechanically as he reported the latest news to the old man seated behind the desk. "Lord Hokage, word has come from the second alert zone. Violent tremors have appeared near Training Ground Nine..."

"Mm."

The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a conical hat and casually held a pipe between his lips. As he lowered his head to read through the stack of papers in his hands, he seemed unconcerned by the ANBU's report. "If I recall correctly, Training Ground Nine was assigned to the ANBU training class..."

ANBU training class.

In name, the ANBU training class belonged under ANBU.

However, most ANBU personnel knew that the ANBU training class was Shimura Danzō's Root Organization. In reality, Root had long since grown far beyond the size of a single class.

"Yes."

The ANBU ninja acknowledged him and continued, "From a distance, a forest appeared on Training Ground Nine in a very short time..."

"Oh?"

The Third Hokage still held his pipe between his lips and continued carefully reading the stack of papers. "Why does that sound so familiar..."

"Yes."

The ANBU ninja quickly lowered his head and explained, "Tenzo, who was transferred into ANBU by Lord Hokage not long ago, once used a Wood Style Ninjutsu called Wood Style: Birth of the Sea of Trees at the ANBU training grounds, creating a forest in a short time. We initially suspect that someone used the same Wood Style Ninjutsu at Training Ground Nine."

"Mm. There's no need to investigate it further."

The Third Hokage nodded, still not particularly concerned as he looked through the papers in his hands. "I already knew about this. Danzo, the Hokage's advisor, has already told me that there is another Wood Style Bloodline ninja in the ANBU training class."

Clearly.

The Third Hokage had lied to his subordinate.

After all, not long ago, he had mobilized ANBU to surround Root, looking as though he was ready to suppress it at any moment, and had snatched a Wood Style Bloodline ninja from Danzo's command...

Now that he knew Danzo had another Wood Style Bloodline ninja under his command, was he supposed to deploy ANBU to surround Root again and take that second Wood Style Bloodline ninja away as well?

Such a thing...

Could not be done twice.

Especially with so little time having passed since the last incident. If he did the same thing to Shimura Danzō again so soon, Danzo would inevitably grow dissatisfied and resentful.

If that Wood Style Bloodline ninja proved talented, he could find an opportunity to transfer him into ANBU in the future. There was no need to provoke Danzo now.

Konoha needed Danzo to handle certain unsavory troubles.

The ninja world was still far from peaceful. The great nations' hidden villages were still openly and covertly competing, while espionage, infiltration, assassination, and theft had never ceased.

Konoha itself was not stable either. The Uchiha Clan, the strongest noble ninja clan within it, was fiercely ambitious, and its conflict with the village was growing more intense by the day. A clash could erupt at any time.

These matters...

All needed Shimura Danzō's help to resolve.

But...

Danzo had to be given a warning now.

He had to let Danzo know that his every move was being watched.

Danzo had to put away any improper thoughts now. He could not become bold enough to stage another Hokage assassination attempt like the one from years ago simply because he had another Wood Style Ninja under his command.

That old friend...

He was narrow-minded, yet cowardly as a mouse...

Once a weakness was exposed, he would be so frightened that he would crawl into a sewer.

"Enough."

"There is no need to discuss this further."

"What matters most now is the village's Chunin Ninja Exams for the second half of the year."

The Third Hokage was still leafing through the stack of papers in his hands. They were the registration forms for Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams in the second half of the year, the most important assessment in all of Konoha.

The purpose of the Chunin Ninja Exams was to select talent.

Konoha had a vast number of Genin. These Genin formed the foundation that allowed the village to accept low-level ninja commissions and were an important force behind Konoha's prosperity, yet they could only spend their lives taking C-rank and D-rank ninja commissions to make a living.

Chunin, however, were different.

If a Genin performed exceptionally in the Chunin Ninja Exams and was promoted to Chunin by the village, he would thereafter have what amounted to a stable job of his choosing.

Chunin could take lucrative B-rank combat commissions, work in certain village departments, and even have a chance to enter ANBU.

The Chunin Ninja Exams were Konoha's highest-level standardized examination.

Konoha held two Chunin Ninja Exams each year, occasionally jointly hosting them with other small and medium-sized hidden villages. Without exception, every exam had an extremely low pass rate.

Since the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the ninja world had entered an age of peace, and the Chunin Ninja Exams had gained a new purpose. They had become an important occasion for displaying Konoha's national strength.

Konoha's financial income mainly came from the daimyo of the Land of Fire and ninja commissions.

The daimyo of the Land of Fire often came to watch the Chunin Ninja Exams and used them to decide whether to increase or reduce financial support. Daimyo and nobles from other small nations also came to determine whether they should entrust high-level commissions to Konoha.

Beyond that...

The most important thing, of course, was to intimidate and attract Konoha's allies.

Generally speaking, small hidden villages were allies sought by the hidden villages of the Five Great Nations. Those small hidden villages often compared the national strength of the various great nations' hidden villages before choosing to rely on the stronger one.

The Chunin Ninja Exams were undoubtedly the occasion during peacetime when small hidden villages could most directly observe Konoha's national strength. This forced Konoha to place even greater importance on the exams.

"Are all the registration forms for the Chunin Ninja Exams here?"

The Third Hokage slowly removed the pipe from his mouth and suddenly asked, "Did that child Uchiha Itachi apply to take the Chunin Ninja Exams alone?"

"Yes."

The ANBU ninja nodded and explained, "According to the information we reviewed, two years ago, Uchiha Itachi's teammates were all killed during a mission..."

"Since then, Uchiha Itachi has never formed a team again, nor has he participated much in missions. Naturally, he has no teammates to take the Chunin Ninja Exams with..."

"However..."

"Over the past two years, Uchiha Itachi has been training with Uchiha Shisui, and he even assisted Uchiha Shisui in completing collaborative assessment missions..."

"Even though that assessment mission was interrupted, it is enough for us to determine that he is an outstanding ninja capable of completing the Chunin Ninja Exams alone."

"The only unfair part would be the three-person cooperative combat assessment."

"There have been many precedents in the village."

"For example, when the teammates of ANBU captain Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, took the Chunin Ninja Exams, they lacked teammates for the three-person cooperative combat assessment. Although their classmate Kakashi Hatake had already become a Chunin, he was still judged eligible to assist his two teammates in the final three-person cooperative combat assessment of the Chunin Ninja Exams..."

"However..."

"Uchiha Itachi only has Uchiha Shisui as a teammate. Having the famous Jonin Body Flicker Shisui participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams would be somewhat..."

"Hahahaha..."

The Third Hokage burst into laughter and interrupted his subordinate, waving a hand. "That would be bullying these children too much. It would turn the exam into a joke."

"Yes."

After nodding, the ANBU ninja raised his head to look at the old man and added, "However, Uchiha Itachi truly has the ability to pass every exam alone. Uchiha Shisui has mentioned that every one of Uchiha Itachi's training results is excellent..."

"Good. Let's do it this way this time!"

The Third Hokage nodded and seemingly spoke casually. "Kakashi, Tenzo, go deliver a registration form to the ANBU training class..."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

Two masked figures swiftly stepped forward!

The Third Hokage looked at one of them, his eyes turning somewhat sharp. "Tell Danzo to let that child with Wood Style take the Chunin Ninja Exams as well!"

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Tomorrow, there should be a chance to enter the trial period...