The Assessment Begins! (Please Keep Reading)

The Chunin Exams arrived as scheduled, though the first month consisted entirely of preliminary assessment events.

Although this Chunin Exams was only an internal assessment, with no participants invited from other villages.

All the necessary events were still in place. But none of that was the key—the most important part was naturally the final assessment!

This final assessment had also drawn quite a few off-duty ninja to watch.

There was no formal viewing ceremony, nor were large facilities like the Training Grounds used. It was simply held at a training ground protected by a barrier.

But people naturally loved a lively scene, and quite a few had come to cheer on their friends and family.

"Big brother, over here!"

Amid the crowd, Sasuke Uchiha waved at his beloved older brother, Itachi Uchiha, who was waiting in the examination area.

His beloved older brother was competing, so no matter what, he had to come cheer him on!

Not only had he come, but quite a few members of his family had as well. It could be said that their family had brought the largest cheering section.

"All right, Sasuke. Don't distract your brother."

Fugaku Uchiha glanced at his younger son, then at his eldest son, who smiled and nodded at him, before speaking expressionlessly.

"He needs to focus so he can face the harsh assessment ahead."

"Yes, Father."

Little Sasuke pursed his lips. He did not dare argue.

Seeing that his younger son had quieted down, Fugaku Uchiha turned his gaze toward Shisui, who stood nearby in casual clothes.

"Shisui, I heard you say that the examiner for this assessment is your friend. What exactly is he like?"

"Friend?"

Izumi Uchiha looked curiously at Shisui. She had also come to cheer Itachi Uchiha on, and this news especially interested her.

"Yes, he is indeed a friend."

Shisui nodded, though he could not help muttering inwardly, We're teammates too!

"And he's an extremely powerful guy. His abilities in every aspect are terrifying. This time, Itachi... just needs to perform well."

Though Shisui could be a little silly at times, that did not mean he failed to understand what Fugaku Uchiha meant by that question.

Clearly, the clan head wanted to know whether Itachi Uchiha had any hope of winning.

It was true that Itachi Uchiha was formidable. Years ago, he had even defeated someone from Root.

But he was facing Hidezawa now. As his teammate, Shisui knew all too well just how outrageous Hidezawa's combat strength was.

That stone dragon was still etched vividly in Shisui's memory!

"Is your friend really that troublesome?"

How could Fugaku Uchiha not understand what Shisui meant? His brow furrowed.

"If it were you, what would the situation be like?"

"Well..."

Shisui could not really say for sure, but he felt that his chances of winning should be greater.

Especially since he had the Mangekyō Sharingan!

"All right, don't make things difficult for Shisui."

Mikoto Uchiha interrupted them. She rubbed Sasuke's little head and smiled.

"They're friends. There's no need to decide who wins or loses. Besides, we came to watch Itachi, didn't we?"

"Yes, yes, I understand."

Fugaku Uchiha said nothing more. Little Sasuke, however, still had blind confidence in his beloved older brother. He waved his little fist and said earnestly.

"Big brother will definitely win!"

Shisui laughed freely at that, but soon withdrew his gaze and muttered to himself.

"Anyway, Itachi won't get hurt. I nagged him about it for ages and even treated them to several meals!"

Naturally, Shisui did not want anything to happen to his little brother, especially since he knew some of his good teammate's habits all too well.

To avoid any accidents, once he learned that Hidezawa was Itachi's chief examiner, he stepped up his "bribery."

His request was not excessive. He only wanted Itachi not to be injured!

"Still, why was Hidezawa allowed to be an examiner?"

Shisui rubbed his chin. He was rather curious about that himself.

While he was deep in thought, the Third Hokage was speaking with Hidezawa in the examiner's backstage area.

"Hidezawa, do you know why I agreed to let you become an examiner?"

"Uh..."

Hidezawa looked utterly baffled. The exam was about to begin, so why was he being pulled aside and asked all this random nonsense now?

You had not said a word about it during the entire past month!

Still, Hidezawa obediently shook his head.

"I don't know, Lord Hokage."

"You are a child who came from Root. Your way of thinking is very different from that of others."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and patted Hidezawa's shoulder, a kindly smile on his face.

"But you are also a ninja of Konohagakure. You carried too much darkness before, and that makes me feel very sorry. Now, I hope even more that you can walk toward the light."

"..."

Hidezawa was somewhat speechless after hearing that. Rather than saying all this, would it not be better to shut down Root?

Of course, he was not foolish enough to say that. Root's existence was necessary, not to mention that he himself had his sights set on Root!

"I know Danzo may have told you many negative things about the Uchiha."

Seeing that Hidezawa remained silent, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not mind and continued with a smile.

"But I want to tell you that whether it is you or the Uchiha, everyone is a ninja of Konohagakure. I would rather see everyone living in harmony.

Itachi Uchiha is a genius of Konohagakure, while you and Shisui are even teammates. That is why I decided to have you serve as his chief examiner.

You are no longer a member of Root, so I hope to see a new you—an outstanding Konohagakure ninja no longer influenced by the will of darkness.

Can you promise me that, Hidezawa?"

"..."

Damn it, he made it sound so nice, but he was just here to talk me into it too!

Hidezawa truly had not expected that the Third Hokage seemed worried he might cause some trouble, so he had come specifically to emphasize it again.

But Shisui had already talked his ear off for so long. There was really no need for him to come now!

Besides that, that old bastard Danzo had also often sent people to pass along messages, roughly meaning that he should remember Root's humiliation—

New mission acquired: Defeat Itachi Uchiha and make him understand Root's humiliation

New mission acquired: Ensure that Itachi Uchiha is not injured

Looking at these two new missions, Hidezawa found them rather absurd.

He truly felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo seemed naturally unable to get along.

The missions they had issued could not exactly be called identical—they could only be called vastly different.

"I understand, Lord Hokage."

But Hidezawa had experienced the Sunagakure mission. He had plenty of experience handling missions that were practically opposites.

"I won't let you down."

"That's good."

The smile on Hiruzen Sarutobi's wrinkled face became even brighter.

"I look forward to your performance. Hurry and get ready..."

"The assessment has begun!"