Chunin Assessment

Yichen and Shinohara followed Kitsuchi to the Training Ground. Once they stopped, Captain Kurotsuchi said, "Yichen, you'll be taking the Chunin Assessment in three days. Team Five has no missions for the next three days, so we'll be giving you special training."

"This training will focus on your taijutsu, so take off your weighted training gear first. For the next three days, you must give it everything you have."

Yichen's heart stirred. Although Kitsuchi had been Team Five's captain for a year now, he had not really taught the three of them much during that time.

Instead, he had been focused on training Yichen to become a qualified captain.

Thanks to the Chunin Assessment, Yichen could finally receive Kitsuchi's guidance in combat.

"First, you and Shinohara will spar. But this time, you can't just dodge blindly. You need to properly face the enemy head-on."

Yichen nodded, removed his weighted training gear, and stood facing the eager Shinohara.

Although the two constantly bickered, they had not formally fought like this since their match at the Ninja Academy that year. Both of them were looking forward to it, wanting to see how much they had grown.

After forming the Seal of Opposition, Yichen and Shinohara charged at each other at the same time. Shinohara drew a kunai, while Yichen pulled out the short blade at his waist.

Yichen's blade was slightly longer than Shinohara's, and without his weighted training gear, Yichen was a little faster as well.

Shinohara, as a Taijutsu Ninja, also wore weighted training gear, though his was strapped to his wrists. Since today was only meant to test Yichen, Shinohara had not removed his weights, giving Yichen the advantage in speed instead.

However, there was far too great a gap between them in taijutsu. In terms of technique, Shinohara was far superior to Yichen.

Thus, they were able to trade blows at first, but Yichen was soon forced onto the defensive.

Since they were fighting at close range, Yichen had no chance to use ninjutsu and was quickly defeated.

Kitsuchi nodded. "All right. First of all, Yichen, with your taijutsu foundation, once a Chunin gets close to you, you'll have no ability to resist. So you need to spend most of your time on targeted training for when a Taijutsu Ninja gets into close range."

"Second, you lack a way to seize the initiative. As a Ninjutsu Ninja, you must have a method to create an opportunity for yourself to use ninjutsu during battle. Otherwise, learning ninjutsu that you can't use is the same as not learning it at all."

"Also, you've actually learned quite a few ninjutsu already. You need to come up with a way to apply the various ninjutsu you know in actual combat."

"I'll guide you specifically on the first two problems. As for the rest, you'll have to think them through yourself."

After hearing Kitsuchi's words, Yichen nodded to show that he understood. Next, Kitsuchi began explaining several ways to respond in close combat. Once he finished, Shinohara served as Yichen's training partner and let him put them into practice.

While Yichen was undergoing special training, someone else received notice to participate in the Chunin Assessment just after returning to the village from a mission. That person was Ikura, who belonged to the same class as Yichen.

In terms of strength, Ikura was unquestionably the strongest of Yichen's class. He was even stronger than the top students of several previous classes.

There were two reasons why the village valued Yichen. One was his potential. Ninja with powerful mental power had much more room for development later on.

The other was his intelligence. Whether it was his grasp of the bigger picture or his ideas regarding Sealing Jutsu, Yichen had greatly satisfied the higher-ups.

The reason Ikura was valued was much simpler: he was a Genius, talented in both taijutsu and ninjutsu.

When the Anbu delivered the notice, Ikura wore a surprised expression. He was not surprised by the matter itself; his strength had long been comparable to a Chunin's.

What surprised him was that this had happened without any warning. Team Two had only completed an ordinary C-rank mission this time. If they wanted to promote him, shouldn't they have chosen a time just after he completed a B-rank mission or a particularly difficult C-rank mission?

Meikou, who was on the same team as him, was somewhat envious. But she knew her own limits. As a ninjutsu-type ninja like Yichen, she faced the same awkward situation as him: without her companions' support, she was nothing.

Uzumaki Yumi, on the other hand, did not care much. Her current benefits were already better than those of an ordinary Chunin, so becoming one would not affect her much.

Besides, both she and the village saw her role as being centered on Sealing Jutsu.

During a break in training the next day, Yichen panted heavily as he asked Kitsuchi, "Captain Kurotsuchi, who's the Chunin I'll be fighting this time? What kind of ninja is he?"

Tana, who was practicing the Body Flicker Technique nearby, and Shinohara, who was also resting, both looked at him with disdain. This guy was openly trying to cheat.

Kitsuchi smiled. "I thought you wouldn't ask. I asked around for you. I was planning not to tell you if you didn't ask."

Then, seeing the surprised looks on the two girls' faces, he added, "Don't be surprised. In ninja combat, intelligence comes first. Being able to gather accurate intelligence before a battle is an important safeguard for both your mission and your own safety."

"For some reason, there are two Chunin selected this time. One is called Kenbon, and the other is called Nagao.

"Kenbon was already a Chunin before the Second Shinobi War. I crossed paths with him during the war. He's a very cautious ninja, excellent at taijutsu, and he knows one Earth Release technique: Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

"I'm not familiar with Nagao. I heard he's a Chunin who's good at both taijutsu and ninjutsu. Mm, he's also an old-established Chunin."

Yichen nodded slightly after hearing this, looking thoughtful, but did not ask any further questions.

Seeing that, Kitsuchi smiled as well. "All right, you've rested long enough. Let's begin."

Yichen's face fell, but he did not dare waste any time. He quickly got up and began fighting Shinohara again.

Compared to the previous round, Yichen lasted much longer this time. He first held out for quite a while beneath Shinohara's swift attacks, then seized an opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack.

However, Shinohara was already very familiar with that kind of counterattack, so Yichen was unable to use it to create an opportunity to perform ninjutsu.

Instead, he exposed an opening during his counterattack and was defeated by Shinohara.

Next, Yichen fought Tana. Tana's fighting style was completely different from Shinohara's. In front of Tana, Yichen's speed was pitiful. He simply could not keep up with her rhythm.

The kunai he threw and the like were also all dodged by the prepared Tana.

Although he had chances to use ninjutsu, Tana had long been on guard, and Yichen could not hit her at all.

After exhausting every means he had and still failing to do anything to Tana, the battle came to an end.

The three days of special training passed quickly. Unlike people such as Naruto and Sasuke, blessed with protagonist halos, Yichen did not learn any new ninjutsu in those three days, nor did he learn some overpowered technique like Summoning Jutsu.

He only made considerable progress in taijutsu combat.

Early on the day of the test, all of Team Five arrived at an enclosed training room. To their surprise, the four members of Team Two were there as well.

Both groups were somewhat surprised. After talking for a while, they learned that two people would be taking the test today.

Upon hearing that Yichen would also be participating in the Chunin Assessment, Meikou felt somewhat dejected. The gap between herself and Yichen was growing larger and larger.

As their strength increased, the help their families could provide became less and less. Their talent had already differed to begin with—Yichen's mental power was much stronger than Meikou's—and that gap was still widening.

Meikou's only advantage was that she had considerably more chakra than Yichen, but Yichen's several seemingly cheat-like high-level missions had directly canceled out the value of that advantage.

Yichen did not pay attention to what the others thought. He was not surprised that Ikura could participate in the assessment. Instead, he was full of confidence in Ikura—more confidence than he had in his own ability to pass.

The group had not talked for long before Ōnoki entered with a group of advisers and two Chunin.

Normally, a Chunin Assessment did not require so many higher-ups to attend. One representative was enough.

However, Yichen and Ikura were the standouts of their class, and theirs was also an expanded-enrollment class. Their future achievements would at least reach Jonin, and if properly cultivated, they might even reach Kage level. Thus, the higher-ups attached particular importance to them.

In recent years, the Land of Earth had not produced any particularly outstanding geniuses, which caused the higher-ups to place even greater importance on them.

The examination room was very large. For some reason, the higher-ups had Yichen and Ikura each face a Chunin and undergo their tests at the same time.

Perhaps they wanted to arouse their competitive spirit, Yichen thought.

However, he was very calm. Ikura's strength was not something he could compare to, so he felt no pressure to compete.

After an adviser announced the start, Yichen stopped paying attention to Ikura's side and immediately formed hand seals with both hands, preparing to use ninjutsu.

Having gained experience from multiple battles, Yichen did not form hand seals openly in front of his opponent this time. Today, he had deliberately worn clothes with especially large, long sleeves, hiding both hands within them as he formed the seals.

Yichen had thought of this method after taking inspiration from the way Itachi Uchiha had infiltrated Konoha and fought Kakashi in the original story.

The person fighting Yichen was Kenbon. Kenbon had also inquired about Yichen's intelligence, so he was not surprised by this.

Knowing that Yichen was a ninjutsu-type ninja, he had expected it. Without hesitation, he flung a barrage of shuriken from both hands at once while charging toward Yichen at full speed.

Yichen had never expected his opponent to wait for him to use ninjutsu, so he had been watching his opponent's movements from the moment he began forming seals.

Thus, the first wave of shuriken did not affect his hand seals at all. He easily dodged them.

As he evaded them, he continued retreating, trying to open the distance.

However, Kenbon was clearly much faster than Yichen. Yichen estimated that his speed was nearly comparable to Tana's, a ninja who specialized in speed.

Just as Kenbon was about to catch him, Yichen finished forming his hand seals first and swiftly slapped both hands onto the ground.

Because Yichen had concealed his hand seals, Kenbon had not been able to determine what ninjutsu he was about to use. He also had not expected Yichen to complete the seals so quickly, so he lost the initiative.

But as an experienced Chunin, his reaction was still excellent. He began leaping left and right irregularly, using constant movement to evade the incoming ninjutsu attack while continuously closing in on Yichen along an S-shaped route.

Yet the expected attack ninjutsu, such as Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet or Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear, never came. Instead, when he was about a meter away from Yichen, an Earth Wall rose beneath his Feet.

If this had been an Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear cast by Yichen, Kenbon's leap to the left would have allowed him to avoid it perfectly. But Yichen's Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall was over three meters wide, and Kenbon's next landing point was still within its range.

The suddenly rising ground caused Kenbon to misjudge the situation. To avoid injuring himself by landing against the Earth Wall due to his momentum, he adjusted his body and posture in midair.

But Yichen had anticipated all of this. Without the slightest hesitation, he launched a taijutsu attack.

Two shuriken shot out rapidly from his left hand, followed without hesitation by a Quick Draw Slash as his right hand gripped the hilt of his long blade.

Caught off guard, Kenbon responded brilliantly. First, he used the kunai in his right hand to knock aside Yichen's shuriken.

At the same time, he drew another kunai with his left hand, predicted where Yichen's slash would fall, and held the kunai close against his body to take Yichen's strike head-on.

Yichen's blade struck the kunai and failed to harm Kenbon. Instead, Kenbon used the force of that slash to pull away from Yichen.