Although Hatake had not remembered Akashi Uchiha before, he knew him now—
Not long ago, the three chief examiners had discussed Akashi's answer sheet.
If Hatake, one of their own, had not pulled some strings for him, Akashi would never have been selected.
Akebino could actually guess that this guy probably did know those combination ninjutsu, but he was not about to speak up for Akashi!
Many others were also observing Akashi now, clearly full of doubts about his answers, along with—
The same kind of "anticipation" they had shown toward Watermelon Mountain earlier.
"Genin Akashi Uchiha, you mentioned combination ninjutsu in all four questions," and had even specifically described their effects—
"However, this is not common knowledge. Not only can very few people master combination ninjutsu, but even identical combinations do not necessarily produce the same effects. If you want to prove that your answers are genuine and feasible, you'll need to demonstrate them."
After a pause, Hatake added, "Of course, to protect your private techniques, the examiners from the Hidden Mist Village and Iwagakure have agreed that you only need to demonstrate the combination ninjutsu you wrote about in the fourth question."
The fourth question concerned a rear-guard mission: obstructing hostile ninja as much as possible.
Akashi's answer had been to use the combination of [Earth Style: Earth Flow River] and [Fire Style: Fire Running Technique], [Hell's Gate], to create a restricted zone and drastically reduce the pursuers' speed—
Moreover, the parameters Akashi had used were highly unreasonable, markedly higher than those of a standard B-rank Earth Style [Earth Flow River].
If the combination ninjutsu he described truly existed, it could indeed allow for an unharmed retreat, but—
When Akashi stepped forward, many people realized only then just how young this "Akashi Uchiha" was.
Their "anticipation" grew even