Assessment Passed

Inside the Konoha Arena.

Senju Genma and a Jonin from the village entered the arena.

Since Senju Genma was to be promoted to Jonin, regardless of his other capabilities, he still had to prove his strength.

Senju Genma's examiner was a Jonin from the Sarutobi Clan, Sarutobi Hiyo.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was in high spirits, chatting and laughing with Uzumaki Mito beside him.

Ever since he learned that Senju Genma possessed the Wood Release bloodline limit, he had been keeping a close eye on him, even intending to groom him as one of the candidates for the Fourth Hokage.

However, the fact that Senju Genma had volunteered for the battlefield made him like the boy even more.

Had he not walked that same path himself?

In his youth, he had joined the village's foreign wars with nothing but hot-blooded passion, and ultimately, he was chosen as Hokage after choosing to stay behind to cover Senju Tobirama's retreat.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt that if it had been Senju Genma on the battlefield back then, he would have made the same choice.

In the seat below Hiruzen Sarutobi, a black-haired man dressed in black was also staring intently at Senju Genma.

He was the current head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Yodo.

He was not here to blame Senju Genma for spiriting away the young girl from his clan.

Exogamy was very common within the Uchiha Clan, and there were even many records of men marrying into the clan in their genealogy.

The Senju Clan was quite popular in the village, and although the feud between them and the Uchiha Clan ran deep, Uchiha Yodo did not care at all.

His only thought now was how to ease the relationship between his clan and the village, and to have the village accept them.

This was also the shared sentiment of the clan elders.

If he could see Uchiha Mikoto and Senju Genma united, he would wake up laughing in his dreams.

The only thing that worried him was his son, Uchiha Fugaku.

Fugaku had liked Mikoto since they were children.

He turned his head to look at his son.

As the head of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Yodo found it perfectly acceptable to bring his son, who was now a Chunin, to watch the match.

Seeing his son's well-behaved appearance, Uchiha Yodo nodded, feeling quite gratified.

Putting the clan's interests first and not being swayed by personal emotions—that was what a qualified clan heir should be.

In truth, Fugaku was merely bowing to the pressure from his father and the clan, choosing to comply because he dared not resist.

"Begin!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice drifted down from above.

Senju Genma and Sarutobi Hiyo both nodded toward Hiruzen Sarutobi's position, then looked at each other and performed the Seal of Confrontation.

"The examination begins!" The referee below the stage, Sarutobi Isshin, issued the command at the right moment.

As soon as the referee's voice fell, Senju Genma and Sarutobi Hiyo on the stage entered their combat states.

Sarutobi Hiyo struck first, launching over a dozen shuriken in the span of two or three seconds.

Clang, clang, clang!

Senju Genma also threw shuriken to intercept them, drawing a three-pronged kunai to strike down the ones that slipped through.

Seeing Sarutobi Hiyo's ninja tool throwing technique, Senju Genma couldn't help but feel a jolt of alarm.

This was his first serious fight against a Jonin-level ninja; he had sparred with Tsunade before, but she always subconsciously held back.

Sarutobi Hiyo was truly a veteran Jonin of the same generation as Hiruzen Sarutobi; his throwing technique was perfect in both angle and force, as if every single shuriken was aimed at taking his life.

Of course, he was certain that if he couldn't block them, the elite Jonin-level referee below would step in to save him.

That greedy fellow Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn't be willing to let him die.

Senju Genma cast aside his frivolous mindset, found an opening, and drew shuriken from his waist pouch to fire at Sarutobi Hiyo.

Sarutobi Hiyo likewise threw shuriken to intercept.

Clang, clang, clang!

The arena was filled with the sound of clashing shuriken.

"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!"

Taking advantage of the gap while the shuriken were being intercepted, Sarutobi Hiyo chose to break the stalemate.

Sarutobi Hiyo quickly formed seals and spat out a cloud of high-temperature ash, which instantly covered a large area in front of Senju Genma and began to surround him.

Senju Genma threw the kunai in his hand at Sarutobi Hiyo, and instead of forming seals with his free hands, he simply clapped them together.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Senju Genma spat a waterfall-like volume of water from his mouth, forming a wall of water that rotated in a circle around him.

Sarutobi Hiyo's Ash Pile Burning landed, and he made a biting motion with his mouth; the ash was ignited, and a chain reaction of explosions occurred in short order.

Flames erupted throughout the arena.

When the explosions subsided, the spot where Senju Genma had been standing was covered in white steam.

Sarutobi Hiyo stared ahead cautiously. Lacking bloodline limits like the Byakugan or Sharingan, and not being a sensory-type ninja, he had no choice but to rely on his naked eyes and reflexes to stay on guard.

"Fire Style: Great Flame Technique!" Sarutobi Hiyo spat a fierce torrent of flames from his mouth, the fire spreading into the steam.

"What's going on? Is Senju Genma's Water Formation Wall just for show? Did he not even use Ash Pile Burning? Why has everything gone quiet?" Many people watched the cloud of mist with curiosity, wondering why Senju Genma had stopped reacting.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd let out an exclamation: "Look, how did Genma get over there?"

"It's the Flying Thunder God! It's Tobirama's Flying Thunder God technique! As expected of Genma—this is a jutsu that, until now, no one but the Second Hokage has been able to master!" another ninja said excitedly.

The repeated exclamations from the crowd on the sidelines did not affect Senju Genma, who had already arrived not far from Sarutobi Hiyo.

He raised his right hand, and a small blue sphere of chakra appeared in his palm, striking toward Sarutobi Hiyo's face.

Sarutobi Hiyo felt the immense destructive power contained within the Rasengan, but he was already too late to react.

The chakra sphere stopped right in front of Sarutobi Hiyo's face, then quickly vanished.

It was only an assessment; Senju Genma had no intention of killing him.

"I lost!" Sarutobi Hiyo let out a long sigh of relief, admitting his defeat.

Senju Genma nodded and stepped back two paces, and the two performed the Seal of Reconciliation.

Although he felt a bit unsatisfied, Senju Genma knew that it was impossible to go all out in such a setting.

After the assessment ended, Hiruzen Sarutobi kept Senju Genma and Uzumaki Mito behind.

Clenching his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi scrutinized the young man before him, then spoke sincerely: "Genma, I didn't expect you to have grown so much in the blink of an eye. You are now an outstanding ninja and the future of Konoha. Congratulations on becoming a Jonin."

He paused, thought for a moment, and continued: "I hope you will join the Anbu to protect the village."

Looking at Senju Genma, Hiruzen Sarutobi found himself liking him more and more.

Having Senju Genma join the Anbu was intended to protect and train him.

The missions carried out by the Anbu were extremely dangerous, but then again, where on the battlefield was ever safe?

The minimum standard for entering the Anbu was a Special Jonin, and under the same level of danger, it was always better to be with the strong.