Late at night, in Hyuga Kagami's home.
Holding a teacup, Hyuga Kagami took a sip as he listened leisurely to Itachi's report.
Although he had participated in the Chunin Exams from start to finish today as Kirigakure's Kirin, he was ultimately only an examinee and had limited awareness of the overall situation.
To keep track of events in real time, he had left behind a Shadow Clone to act as Kirigakure's Kirin and remain at the inn where the examinees were staying, while he himself had switched back to his Yin Release original body.
"Sir, that was roughly how today's Chunin Exams went." After a pause, Itachi continued, "At present, the Advisory Elder Council unanimously believes that Kimimaro and Haku from Oto, Darui from Kumogakure, Deidara from Iwagakure, Shira from Sunagakure, and Kirigakure's Kirin are examinees worthy of special attention!"
Hyuga Kagami nodded lightly.
The people singled out by the Advisory Elder Council were indeed the standouts among the examinees.
After hesitating for a moment, Itachi said, "Additionally, I personally believe that an examinee from Kusagakure is also worthy of the village's close attention!"
Itachi then described in detail how that Grass Ninja had defeated Sasuke, analyzing, "Although Sasuke was in poor condition at the time and had nearly exhausted his chakra, with the Sharingan assisting him, he should at least have been able to barely withstand a few moves even against a Jonin. Yet the opponent knocked Sasuke down with a single punch. That is highly abnormal!"
Hyuga Kagami took a sip of tea and listened quietly.
Itachi continued, "After the exam ended, I retrieved that Grass Ninja's intelligence file from the Intelligence Division. However, the file indicated that he was merely an ordinary Kusagakure ninja, which clearly did not match the facts."
Hyuga Kagami smiled. "He was actually