ANBU Test and Assassination Attempt

The graduation dinner was really just a bunch of kids eating and drinking, no different from an ordinary meal.

About an hour later, all the remaining food was cleared away. Everyone obediently sat in the classroom, waiting to be assigned.

Shimizu Shunsuke walked in and said, "Those whose names are called, come with me. Everyone else stays where you are. Don't run around."

"Hyuga Hayato."

Hayato was the first.

After following him outside, Hayato said, "Teacher Shimizu..."

Shimizu Shunsuke interrupted him with a stern face. "Don't talk!"

"Isn't that a little too serious?" Hayato muttered, but he did not take it to heart.

When they arrived before a gray wooden door, Shimizu Shunsuke said, "Go in." Then he left directly.

Without even a hint of instruction, Hayato had no choice but to push the door open and go in.

The door creaked open with a somewhat grating sound. The room was dimly lit.

An ANBU ninja wearing a dog mask stood in the shadows with his arms crossed, his brown eyes coldly fixed on Hayato.

"Hyuga Hayato?" His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, as though there were a clump of sand in his throat.

"Yes."

Hayato could not help frowning.

Crossing one's arms was said to be body language indicating resistance to contact or rejection.

Could it be that this ANBU ninja disliked Hayato? Or disliked the status represented by Hayato's eyes?

Some people liked the Hyuga Clan, and naturally, some did not.

After that, the ANBU ninja became motionless again, staring fixedly at Hayato. If he had not blinked occasionally, Hayato would have suspected that the figure before him was a lifelike statue.

Seconds passed one by one.

The atmosphere was heavy, and the air seemed stagnant. Hayato's breathing began to quicken.

He did not know how long it had been—perhaps a minute, perhaps ten.

Hayato noticed that the light had grown even dimmer.

Perhaps he should say something to break the deadlock, Hayato thought.

Suddenly!

The ANBU ninja's eyes narrowed as he unleashed a sharp killing intent.

Whoosh!

Without thinking, Hayato threw a kunai and assumed a defensive stance at the same time.

Faced with the incoming kunai, the ANBU ninja did not react.

Thunk!

The ANBU ninja did not make any evasive movement, yet the kunai still missed and embedded itself in the wall.

Hayato's kunai had been aimed at his chest. At such a short distance, there was no way it could have gone off target.

What was going on?

Genjutsu?

The ANBU ninja finally moved. He lowered his arms and said, "Congratulations, you passed." His voice had become gentle, even somewhat pleasant.

"So this was some kind of test?" Hayato slightly raised his head and looked at the window above him. It was a square window, and its glass seemed specially made, allowing the angle and brightness of the light to be adjusted manually.

So the window had distorted the light just now?

Seeing Hayato notice the window, the ANBU ninja nodded to himself and said, "That's right. This is ANBU's stress test. Every newcomer has to pass this stage."

"I passed?"

"Yes."

"What counts as passing? Ah, sorry, I was just curious."

"I understand." The ANBU ninja was completely unlike his initially icy self as he patiently explained, "As long as you don't suffer a mental breakdown, it is fine. Taking the initiative to attack, making a strategic retreat, or calmly observing are all acceptable."

"Oh." Thinking about it, Hayato agreed. They were only newcomers, after all. The requirements could not be too high.

The ANBU ninja pointed toward a corner of the room, where there was a table holding a set of clothes and a bird mask with red markings. "Put those on, then report to ANBU Headquarters."

After leaving the room, Hayato examined it again. It was even smaller than it looked, and there were no vents. Anyone who stayed inside too long would feel stifled. The room had likely been built specifically for this purpose.

After walking for a while, Hayato asked, "Are we heading to the Hokage Building?"

The ANBU ninja said, "Of course. ANBU is the Hokage's personal force. Is it strange for our headquarters to be in the Hokage Building?"

"Not strange, but..."

"Bullet String!"

A transparent thread shot from Hayato's index finger at high speed and pierced the ANBU ninja's back.

The ANBU ninja turned his head, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Why... you...?"

Still acting?

Bang!

Before Hayato's eyes, the ANBU ninja turned into smoke. It was a Shadow Clone.

"Come out." Hayato looked behind a tree and shouted.

An identical ANBU ninja walked out.

"When did you notice?" the ANBU ninja asked.

"The distance was wrong. If we were really heading to the Hokage Building, we should have arrived already. And the road to the Hokage Building doesn't have dirt this soft." Hayato sneered, while inwardly wiping away a cold sweat.

He had let his guard down. Since Shimizu Shunsuke had led the way, he had not doubted the ANBU ninja's identity. During the stress test, his nerves had been tightly wound, but the moment he passed, he relaxed his vigilance. That was probably when he had fallen under the genjutsu.

Then was this person a fake ANBU ninja?

No, he was probably a real ANBU ninja. Just not the Hokage's ANBU—he belonged to Shimura Danzo, the ANBU within ANBU: Root.

Shimura Danzo had ample reason to do this. First, eliminate someone Sarutobi Hiruzen thought highly of. Second, damage the relationship between the Hyuga Clan and the village. Killing two birds with one stone.

Fortunately, he had noticed the abnormality in time.

Hyuga ninja were extreme when it came to genjutsu. Their ability to cast genjutsu was almost at the bottom in Konoha, but their ability to see through it was exceptionally strong. At the Five Kage Summit, Ao's Byakugan had even seen through the strongest genjutsu—Kotoamatsukami.

The moment Hayato sensed something was wrong, he discovered unknown foreign chakra inside his body. After spending some time silently expelling that foreign chakra, he broke the genjutsu.

He found himself in a forest.

The forest was remote, making it the perfect place for an assassination.

Hayato removed all his weights, activated his Byakugan, and readied himself. The man before him possessed jōnin-level chakra. Hayato wanted to charge in, but his strength simply did not allow it.

The ANBU ninja watched Hayato with interest. "Interesting. Very interesting. But the one fighting you won't be me."

There was another enemy?!

Hayato was shocked, but aside from this ANBU jōnin, there was no one else within his Byakugan's field of vision.

Could the unknown enemy know the Branch Family's Byakugan extremely well and be hiding in its blind spot?

Before he could think any further, three identical clones wielding blades lunged at Hayato from three different angles.

Dance of the Crescent Moon!

"Five-Colored Strings!"

Hayato curled his five fingers into claws and launched a sweeping attack. Under the assault of the fine threads, all three clones turned into smoke.

The wide attack left Hayato with a massive opening, and a short figure appeared at his side.

"Reverse Kesa Slash!"

Bang!

The struck Hayato turned into smoke.

The Dance of the Crescent Moon's attack pattern involved three clones launching a surprise assault while the real body hid in the shadows, looking for an opening to deliver a killing blow. Hayato wiped away a cold sweat. Fortunately, he had known the intelligence on Dance of the Crescent Moon in advance and had been prepared. Otherwise, he would never have been able to use the Cicada Molting Technique.

Shikamaru had defeated Hidan alone not through powerful ninjutsu, but through intelligence he had gathered with his clever mind.

What Jiraiya had traded his life for was, in truth, a piece of intelligence about Nagato.

The key point: intelligence was very important in battles between ninja.

You want to kill me? Anger burned in Hayato's heart. He had spent so many years treading on thin ice and working tirelessly because he had set his sights on the Fourth Great Ninja War. Yet before he had even left the beginner's village, he had nearly died.

The attacker had apparently never expected Hayato to evade that strike and froze for a moment.

"Overheat!"

The attacker's opening was enormous. Hayato could have chosen to seal the enemy's chakra points and subdue him, but in his rage, he chose Overheat, the most destructive option.

Die!

Caught off guard, the attacker frantically raised his blade to block.

Clang!

The observing ANBU jōnin suddenly intervened, using a short sword to block Overheat.

"Enough." The ANBU ninja shouted, "Stop!"

Hayato snapped, "Damn it, you tell me to stop and I'm supposed to stop? What, I don't have any dignity? Today, I'll show you the Hyuga Clan's S-rank forbidden technique—the ultimate ninjutsu that not even a Kage would dare take head-on."

Hayato pressed both hands against the ground. "Explode, Armstrong Spinning Acceleration Jet Armstrong Cannon!"

Bang!

A thunderous boom rang out!

The two ANBU ninjas instinctively leaped back at high speed! As the jōnin retreated, he even took the time to form hand seals.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

A wall of earth rose up. The two people hiding behind it stared at each other, wide-eyed. After a moment passed without any further movement, they cautiously emerged from behind the earthen wall.

White smoke filled the clearing.

The short ANBU ninja pinched his nose and asked, "Was that a smoke stink bomb?"

The ANBU jōnin nodded woodenly.

The short ANBU ninja asked, "So there was never any S-rank forbidden technique?"

The ANBU jōnin spat out two words. "Genin."

Right. At most, Hayato was a genin. No matter how talented he was, there was no way he could use an S-rank forbidden technique.

The short one slammed his fist into his palm and said angrily, "Ah! So he was just bluffing, using Smoke Release to run away. Bastard, we were fooled!"

The ANBU jōnin rolled his eyes.

There was no need to spell out something so embarrassing in such detail!

[PS] Thanks to "Windbreaker Joke," "Marine Paratrooper," "nqkjhf," "hebeisue," and "Book Friend 150601114707" for their one recommendation vote each; thanks to "Tell You の World" for the recommendation vote; thanks to "gajh014" for five recommendation votes; thanks to "Lemon Dumpling Sauce" for six recommendation votes—bet fifty cents this is a cute girl; and thanks to "Lone Wind Zi Ao" for ten recommendation votes, and "4607" for fourteen recommendation votes. There are new faces and familiar IDs alike. Thank you all for your support, truly.

There should not be many stories about joining ANBU, right? A new arc begins. Please recommend and bookmark.

The next chapter will be at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.