The village's higher-ups and the great clans understood the importance of this Ninja Academy assessment even better than the students did. Thus, whether it was Danzo and advisors like Utatane Koharu, one of the Sannin like Tsunade, or a great clan like the Hyuga, they all had no choice but to get involved.
Because that was simply how things stood!
During the war in Grass Country, the Akatsuki Organization had already revealed the terrifying strength to sweep through a major shinobi village. The Five Great Shinobi Villages had long since lost their former position of superiority over the Shinobi World, where only one another were worthy opponents.
The current Five Great Shinobi Villages could barely suppress the Akatsuki Organization only by clinging tightly together.
Yet everyone knew this suppression could not last. The powerful Akatsuki Organization would inevitably unleash turmoil capable of overturning the structure of the Shinobi World!
Therefore, to deal with the turmoil that was certain to come, Konoha had to prepare in advance and cultivate powerful shinobi who could ensure the village's continuation and safeguard Konoha's interests!
Of course.
If that were all there was to it, there would have been no need to hold such an assessment. They could simply have focused all their efforts on cultivating the Fourth Hokage, just as they had done before the Third Shinobi World War.
What prompted Konoha to make this decision was that too many geniuses had suddenly emerged in the Ninja Academy, leaving the higher-ups unsure of whom to place at the center.
For example, Tsunade supported Yakumo as the core of the next generation, while Jiraiya believed Naruto had immense potential. Kakashi leaned more toward cultivating Sasuke, whereas Utatane Koharu openly supported Shinji.
What was worse was that, on closer examination, all these candidates could be considered