Assessment

Chapter 16: Assessment

Three days later, at noon.

Konoha's Third Training Ground. The blazing sun hung high overhead, baking the level yellow earth until it was scorching hot. The air warped and shimmered in the heat, while cicadas cried themselves hoarse, adding to the oppressive irritation.

Shuji arrived on time. He wore a standard dark-green ninja uniform, his forehead protector properly positioned. Two figures were already standing silently in the center of the empty training ground.

Both wore the Anbu's standard dark-gray, high-collared uniforms, their faces covered by expressionless animal masks that concealed both identity and emotion.

One of them was taller, his stance carrying a barely perceptible laziness. Several strands of silver-white hair stubbornly poked out from beneath the edge of his mask, exceptionally conspicuous beneath the sunlight.

The other was somewhat slender, seeming one or two years younger than Shuji. He stood ramrod straight, like a spear, so silent that he seemed part of the background.

"Special Jonin promotion assessment. Candidate: Shuji." The tall, silver-haired Anbu spoke. His voice emerged from behind the mask with deliberate flatness, yet that distinctive, slightly drawn-out tone still carried a trace of familiarity.

"The two of us will conduct the evaluation. Assessment content: demonstrate the ninjutsu you have mastered. Evaluation criteria: power, control, efficiency, and combat adaptability."

His gaze fell upon Shuji through the eyeholes of his mask.

"Begin when you are ready."

There was no unnecessary small talk. The Anbu style was concise and direct.

The moment he finished speaking, the silver-haired Anbu's figure blurred without warning!

Shuji's pupils contracted sharply as he shifted sideways to the right.

"Crackle—!"

A blinding streak of blue lightning tore through the air where he had been standing moments ago, leaving behind a blackened mark and the pungent stench of ozone.

The silver-haired Anbu appeared there, his right hand wreathed in leaping lightning—Lightning Release: Lightning Blade! Though its power had clearly been restrained, the explosive speed and sharp killing intent in that instant displayed the pressure of an elite Anbu.

"Combat reaction: pass." The flat voice came from behind the mask, but his assault did not pause. His left hand rapidly formed seals. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A massive, scorching fireball roared forth, sealing off Shuji's room to evade.

Shuji's gaze sharpened, his hands forming seals like fluttering butterflies.

"Water Release: Water Wall!" A thick, condensed wall of water surged up from the ground, precisely intercepting the fireball.

"Hiss—!" Violent steam erupted, and dense white mist instantly spread out, obscuring much of the field of vision.

Using the water vapor as cover, Shuji retreated swiftly while changing his hand seals once more.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" A violent gale exploded outward from him, not only rapidly dispersing the dense fog but also sweeping toward the silver-haired Anbu with a piercing howl, trying to disrupt his rhythm.

The silver-haired Anbu's figure flickered as he moved through the gale like a phantom, his motions so fluid that it was as though he had foreseen the path of the wind pressure.

He formed seals again. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!" A sturdy earthen wall rose instantly, blocking the gale head-on.

Yet at the instant the earth wall rose, several sharp Wind Blades had already come slashing from a tricky blind spot at its side!

"Tsk." An extremely soft click of the tongue came from behind the mask. The silver-haired Anbu twisted his body at an almost impossible angle, narrowly avoiding the Wind Blades. The hem of his robe was silently sliced apart.

"Wind Release control: excellent," he assessed.

At that moment, the shorter Anbu, who had been standing silently and watching all along, moved.

He swiftly pressed his hands together before his chest. Chakra surged, and his movements carried a rigid precision.

"Wood Release: Silent Strangle Jutsu!"

Several tough vines burst from the earth beneath Shuji's feet without warning, like venomous snakes awakened from slumber, rapidly coiling around his ankles!

Shuji's heart tightened. Wood Release! Yamato?

"Earth Release: Rock Avalanche!" Centered on his feet, the hard ground instantly cracked and collapsed, forming a shallow pit.

The vines bursting from the ground were blocked and crushed by the shattered rocks, their coiling momentum immediately stalled.

Seizing that instant of respite, Shuji leaped into the air. While still airborne, he had already completed his hand seals. "Lightning Release: Earth Current!" Leaping blue arcs spread rapidly along the fractured ground like a spiderweb, heading straight for the shorter Anbu who had just finished casting his jutsu!

The shorter Anbu did not panic in the slightest. He pressed his hands together before his chest again, his movements as steady as a machine. "Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!" A row of thick, perfectly curved wooden pillars instantly arched up from the ground, protecting him tightly without a single gap. Lightning crackled as it struck the dark-brown wooden wall, leaving black scorch marks, yet it could not shake it in the least.

The silver-haired Anbu silently closed in from the flank, a kunai in his hand wrapped in fine lightning that made Shuji's scalp tingle, like the fangs of a venomous snake.

With a piercing shriek, the kunai stabbed directly at Shuji's poorly defended ribs.

Suspended in midair with nowhere to brace himself, Shuji remained calm and quickly formed two seals—Snake, Dragon.

"Wind Release: Gale!"

A powerful current of air erupted, and the recoil pushed Shuji to the other side.

Shuji landed, his breathing slightly hurried and sweat beading at his temples.

The silver-haired Anbu landed as well.

"Proficient in practical ninjutsu application. Chakra reserves... abundant." He delivered an objective assessment. With the level Shuji had displayed, his qualification for Special Jonin was beyond question.

However, the assessment was not over.

The shorter Anbu, who had remained silent, stepped forward. The empty eyeholes of his mask locked onto Shuji as he formed seals and pressed his hands together before his chest again. "Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees!"

Rumble, rumble!

The ground shook violently! Countless thick, gnarled roots burst from underground like ancient giant pythons awakening from slumber, growing and spreading madly! The once-open training ground was instantly covered by a rapidly expanding miniature forest brimming with primal vitality! Emerald branches and leaves swayed beneath the sunlight, yet they radiated a suffocating force of restraint and pressure as they encircled Shuji at the center from all directions, closing in to crush and strangle him!

The silver-haired Anbu retreated several steps, his gaze beneath the mask fixed tightly on the field.

Faced with such a formation, Shuji took a deep breath and created a Shadow Clone. At the same time, the chakra within his body was refined and transformed at an unprecedented speed! His real body formed hand seals so fast that they left afterimages!

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" A crimson fire dragon of moderate size yet extreme density roared from his mouth, radiating terrifying heat as it burned the trees.

At the same time, the Shadow Clone formed seals, and powerful currents of air surged forth.

Wind fueled the flames!

Boom—!!!

Fed by the gale's utmost force, the crimson fire dragon suddenly expanded several times over! The temperature of its blazing flames soared to the limit, its color shifting from crimson to a dazzling white-hot glare.

A wildly violent flaming wind dragon roared as it crashed fiercely toward the forest's right flank, where regeneration was relatively slow and the structure slightly weaker!

Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!

A deafening explosion tore through the training ground's silence.

Where the white-hot flaming wind dragon passed, the incomparably tough Wood Release branches were effortlessly ripped apart and incinerated like rotten wood and dry grass, turning into ash and sparks that scattered through the air!

A scorching, blackened passage of destruction, filled with pungent smoke and terrifying heat, was forcibly blasted straight through this forest prison teeming with both life and lethal intent!

Shuji followed close behind the flaming wind dragon's tail, shooting out from that hellishly hot passage and landing steadily upon the cleared scorched earth, where the smell of burning lingered.

He panted faintly. Several parts of his ninja uniform had been charred and curled by the heat, and soot stained his face. Yet his calm eyes remained firmly fixed on the two Anbu before him through the rippling heat.

The training ground was a complete mess.

A huge blackened breach, its edges still burning, had been forcibly torn through the miniature yet terrifying forest.

Broken, burning branches crackled, and the smell of char filled the scorching air. The flames gradually subsided, leaving only wisps of twisting smoke and charred debris strewn everywhere.

The silver-haired Anbu looked at the passage that had been torn open through sheer force, as well as the figure standing at its far end.

"Ninjutsu coordination... timing, power, control: excellent." He put away the lightning-wreathed kunai. His voice, passing through the mask, returned to its deliberate flatness. "Assessment complete. Special Jonin qualification confirmed and granted."

(End of Chapter)