First Performance

The Squad Leader took out a pale red scroll, gestured with it, and continued.

"The competition uses a point system. Each scroll is worth one point."

"The time limit is three days. After three days, no more fighting is allowed. Return here to assemble."

"When the time comes, the three people with the most scrolls will pass."

"A reminder: scrolls may be stolen. The bottom line is that fights to the death are forbidden. Accidental deaths do not count."

After explaining the rules, the Squad Leader shouted loudly.

"Then I declare the assessment begun."

At that, everyone exchanged glances before turning in unison to look at Ryōken. Their meaning was obvious.

Boss, give us some time to hide.

"Uh..."

Ryōken awkwardly scratched his head, shrugged, and gestured around him.

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly scattered in every direction. They fled like startled beasts, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Not a single clue was left behind.

The Squad Leader could not help but laugh bitterly at the sight, silently praising their cleverness.

Once everyone had left, Ryōken nodded to the Squad Leader and casually chose a direction to set off in.

Standing atop a thick tree branch, Ryōken could not help feeling a little troubled as he considered the selection rules.

He was not worried about lacking the strength to sweep through the entire field. After all, there were practically no jonin among the reserves.

What he was thinking about now was how to obtain the highest possible evaluation.

If he was going to do it, he would do it better than anyone else.

So those who came after could look up to him!

"No wonder no one has ever received the highest evaluation."

Ryōken silently pondered, recalling the rules of this assessment.

Under rules like these, if someone was determined to hide, then in a forest this vast, finding everyone would be like searching for a needle in the ocean.

To receive the highest evaluation, he needed to find everyone and defeat them one by one, while also locating every hidden scroll.

Most importantly, he only had three days.

Three days to drag everyone out of hiding was no easy task.

Still, anyone who could pass this assessment would surely be a qualified ANBU member.

This assessment tested reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, concealment, judgment of the situation, and more.

Those who passed would basically become qualified ANBU ninja, capable of handling ANBU's difficult missions.

"Fortunately, it's not like I came unprepared."

"Summoning Technique!"

Ryōken put on a show of forming hand seals, then slammed his hand onto the ground. A cloud of smoke rose up.

Beneath the cover of smoke, a sky-blue teleportation circle slowly spun.

Suddenly, the teleportation circle flashed brightly, and a small wolf appeared. Its entire body was snow-white, with only a few black markings on its face and shoulders.

Little Wolf's lively eyes sparkled. He leaped onto Ryōken's shoulder and rubbed against his cheek as though acting cute.

Ryōken smiled helplessly. "I summoned you this time because there's work to do."

Little Wolf's eyes immediately lit up. Then he opened his mouth, astonishingly speaking aloud.

"Master, you haven't summoned me in ages. Tell me, what is it?"

"But we agreed on ramen, okay?"

Ryōken could not help laughing bitterly. Ever since activating the Summoning System last time, he had summoned this little glutton.

Fortunately, this wolf was not picky about meat or vegetables, and Ryōken had successfully bought him over with ramen.

His original guess had indeed been right. The Summoning System really could summon jungle monsters from Summoner's Rift.

As Ryōken's strength increased, the jungle monsters he could summon would become stronger as well.

Eventually, he might even be able to summon Nashor, comparable to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

"Alright, you won't be short on ramen."

Ryōken smiled and took out a scroll.

Little Wolf leaned over and carefully sniffed it, wearing an extremely confident expression.

He immediately ran off, bounding forward at incredible speed.

Seeing this, Ryōken's lips curved into a faint smile.

"Are you ready? I'm going to start hunting."

Meanwhile, in the Forest of Death, some people quickly found scrolls.

Others discovered traces of their competitors and began fighting in chaotic melees.

Some secretly formed teams, intending to use them to oppose Ryōken.

Others hid away after finding a scroll, planning to muddle through and compete for the remaining two spots.

In short, everyone had their own ideas. This assessment was meant to test each person's judgment of the situation—whether to cooperate, act alone, or hide.

Following Little Wolf, Ryōken soon came across two ninja fighting each other.

Ryōken had no intention of concealing himself. He simply walked out into the open.

Little Wolf squatted behind him, watching with great interest.

The moment they saw Ryōken, the two men instantly stopped fighting and backed away, staring at him warily.

"Leave all your scrolls behind, and I'll let you go."

Ryōken drew his sword and walked toward them without the slightest guard, speaking calmly.

The two ninja opposite him immediately gave bitter smiles. They exchanged glances, and a strange glint flashed through both their eyes.

They each reached into their clothes, took out a pale red scroll, and showed it to Ryōken. Then they bent over, appearing completely obedient.

The instant they lowered their heads, two kunai suddenly shot out. Their obedient expressions vanished completely as the two moved as if by prior arrangement. Almost at the same time, they darted out in opposite directions—one rushing toward Ryōken with lightning speed.

The other rapidly formed hand seals and spat out a Great Fireball Technique. The blazing fireball rolled fiercely toward Ryōken.

In an instant, Ryōken, who had seemed so confident, appeared to have fallen into a dead end.

"Since that's the case, then I won't hold back."

Ryōken shook his head and sighed, as though he had no choice.

His body seemed to move, yet also seemed not to move. A hazy azure flash swept through the air.

Both the fireball and the kunai abruptly froze before splitting in half. The fireball scattered into the air, leaving behind only a faint scorching heat to prove it had ever existed.

"Impossible, right?"

Witnessing that seemingly divine scene, the two ANBU members were stunned. They abruptly stopped, staring wide-eyed in disbelief.

Suddenly, they felt an icy chill on their necks. When they raised their hands to touch them, they found bright red blood. They immediately looked at Ryōken in horror.

Only then did they realize that in that instant, Ryōken had been capable of taking their lives. He had even severed their attacks along with them.

Ryōken was looking at them with a faintly amused smile. His sword glowed with a hazy azure light, one that was not dazzling but instead somewhat gentle.

Yet they did not dare look directly at it, as though that gentle radiance could blind their eyes.

After a long while, the two men bitterly shook their heads. Cold sweat covered their foreheads, fear filling their eyes as they took out two red scrolls and respectfully handed them to Ryōken.

Ryōken accepted them, examined them to make sure they were genuine, then turned and left.

The two ninja watched Ryōken's retreating back. They struggled with themselves again and again, but ultimately could not muster the courage to attack. They exchanged bitter smiles, looking rather like a pair of fellow sufferers.

"So strong."

The two spoke almost in unison. Remembering what had just happened, their hearts turned ice-cold.