Ninja Academy Talent Assessment

Perception was the most troublesome.

Chiba Shun came up with a method: blindfold someone and bring them into a completely sealed dark room, then have them determine how many chakra sources were in the room, how strong the chakra was, and where they were located.

Yes, that would do. A dark room was easy enough to make with Earth Release, and chakra sources were easy too. They could just have students, Genin, Chunin, and Jonin take turns serving as test subjects.

Finally, and most troublesome of all, was the wisdom attribute.

How should this attribute be tested? No one had a fixed standard.

After all, the people taking these tests had relatively low levels of education, especially the new students about to enter the academy.

They should have advantages in practical combat ability, but their theoretical knowledge was certainly lacking.

What should the written test cover, and how difficult should it be? That required careful consideration.

The difficulty of the Chunin Ninja Exams from the original story definitely would not work. If they really used that, everyone would probably score zero.

As the teacher setting the questions, he had to make sure the students' scores showed clear differences in level.

After three days of preparation, the Ninja Academy began a school-wide assessment.

All children aged four and above had to take the test.

Before the students began their assessments, Chiba Shun had several Chunin give everyone a demonstration.

The standards Chiba Shun had set were quite demanding. After the tests, those Chunin were all sweating nervously.

Many of the categories had given them zero points, and even in their strongest areas, no one had received a perfect score.

After the demonstration, the students began taking the tests in order.

The Ninja Academy originally had more than five thousand students, but this time, the Third Raikage had directly placed over a thousand talented children into it.

The Third Raikage's policy also showed everyone in the village just how much importance the higher-ups placed on the Ninja Academy.

Thus, everyone sent their own children to the Ninja Academy. This group was even larger, numbering more than two thousand, though their average age was somewhat younger.

As a result, the Ninja Academy's total enrollment had directly reached nine thousand.

The Third Raikage looked over the scores of those Chunin and found them quite poor. He frowned and asked, "Shun, isn't this standard too high?"

Chiba Shun explained, "Lord Raikage, this standard can be used not only to assess students, but also Genin, Chunin, and even Jonin!"

"I've actually tested myself already. These are my results."

"I estimated that scores from 2.0 to 4.9 should correspond to Genin level, while scores from 5.0 to 7.9 would be Chunin level."

"If someone scores above 8.0 in a certain category, then they have reached Jonin standards in that category."

"A perfect score means they have reached the average Jonin level in that area. For a Ninja Academy student, that would definitely make them a genius."

As he spoke, Chiba Shun handed his test results to the Third Raikage.

Hand Signs: 9.1 points. Chiba Shun's hand sign speed was considered very fast among Jonin. The reason it was only 9.1 was because he remembered someone from the original story who could form six hand signs in one second, so he set the Jonin hand sign speed standard at five signs per second. His fastest speed could reach five signs per second, but his average speed was still slightly below that.

Taijutsu: 5.2 points. The average Jonin standard was 10. Chiba Shun's taijutsu was poor even among Chunin, so he only scored 5.2.

Ninjutsu: 9.7 points. Ninjutsu was Chiba Shun's specialty, and he had actually reached the average Jonin standard. However, he performed poorly in some test categories, such as developing ninjutsu, so his overall score was only 9.7.

Illusion Technique: 6.8 points. Chiba Shun had not yet learned an A-rank Illusion Technique, so his score remained at the Chunin level.

Swordsmanship: 6.3 points. His swordsmanship was Four-Sword Style Swordsmanship, which he had already mastered completely. It was also quite good among Chunin, earning him a 6.3.

Thrown Weapons: 2.9 points. Chiba Shun had rarely practiced thrown weapons before, because training with them was particularly expensive. As a result, he performed very poorly in this area.

Practical Combat: 3.6 points. It should not have been this low, but A had deliberately gone hard on him during the practical combat test. That was why Chiba Shun's combat score did not even reach 5, making it seem as though he had not even met the Chunin standard.

Chakra Control: 8.0 points. Chiba Shun had an advantage in this area, though not an overwhelming one. He had also trained it after acquiring his abilities, but his chakra reserves had limited his training frequency in the past, so he scored 8.0.

This 8.0 was also due to his recent study of Illusion Techniques and perception ninjutsu under Maki Uzumaki, which had noticeably improved his chakra control.

Medical Skills: 0.7 points. Chiba Shun only knew the simplest bandaging techniques, and even his bandaging process had been criticized at length by the medical ninja invited by the Ninja Academy.

Sealing: 0 points. Chiba Shun had never learned any knowledge of Sealing Techniques.

Perception: 6.7 points. Although it seemed to be only 6.7 points, there were not many Jonin in all of Kumogakure who could exceed that score. The only reason it appeared low was because Chiba Shun had chosen the wrong person when setting the standard—he had brought in Maki Uzumaki for it.

Although Maki Uzumaki was not as monstrous as Karin, her perception ability after mastering the Mind's Eye of the Kagura still far surpassed Chiba Shun's.

Wisdom: 10 points. Because Chiba Shun was both the teacher who set the questions and the one who graded them, the wisdom attribute on his score sheet was 10 points.

After reading it, the Third Raikage compared Chiba Shun's scores with those of the Chunin, then nodded. He felt that this scoring standard was good and could be promoted throughout the village.

Then Chiba Shun handed him another sheet of paper.

The Third Raikage glanced at it and saw that it listed the scores of his son, A.

He did not care much about the other categories, but what was with the 4.9 points behind the final wisdom attribute?

In fact, it was precisely because of that 4.9 that Chiba Shun's practical combat score had become 3.6.

A felt that Chiba Shun was targeting him, so when it came time to test Chiba Shun's combat talent, A personally stepped in as his opponent. Once they began fighting, he directly activated the Lightning Release Stimulation Method!

A was standing nearby at that moment. When he saw Chiba Shun hand his score sheet to his father, he immediately felt that he had gone too easy on him earlier!

"Damn it, I clearly tore up that score sheet. How did Chiba Shun write another one?!" A fumed.

But when his father looked over, he immediately shrank back.

There were simply too many people at the Ninja Academy. The testing process lasted a full four days.

Four days later, Chiba Shun and the others divided everyone into classes according to their results.

There were four elite classes in total, one each for five-year-olds, six-year-olds, seven-year-olds, and eight-year-olds.

Once the academy's geniuses reached nine years old, another elite class for nine-year-olds would be opened.

As for children aged four and below, Chiba Shun and the others discussed it and decided not to establish elite classes for them yet.

That was because the test results of four-year-old children had no meaning at all.

The results of this assessment pleasantly surprised the Third Raikage, because it uncovered quite a few previously unnoticed geniuses.

For instance, Hayata's chakra control had actually received a perfect score of 10!

Even Chiba Shun, a Jonin, had only scored 8.0, yet Hayata, a student who was not even a Genin, had scored 10.

When the Third Raikage saw that result, he expressed great regret.

That was because cultivating the Lightning Release Chakra Mode required powerful chakra control.

Unfortunately, Hayata's chakra reserves were too low—so low that everyone felt he was not worth cultivating.

Chiba Shun wanted to place him in an elite class, but three people, including A, disagreed. Chiba Shun could only let the matter go.

Then there was a student with exceptionally good talent for thrown weapons.

His kunai throwing even carried something of the Uchiha Clan's Kunai Throwing Technique.

Unfortunately, he did not have the Sharingan.

Moreover, what delighted the Third Raikage the most was discovering a large number of children with ninjutsu talent in attributes other than Lightning Release.

He instructed Aoki Yuyi and Chiba Shun to pay closer attention to these people. The village needed them to fill the gaps in those related fields.

Naturally, the two hurriedly agreed.

After the classes were assigned, Chiba Shun called Ayana, Shosuke, and Hayata together.

The three of them were all somewhat dejected.

Because none of them had entered an elite class.

Chiba Shun was helpless as well. He had actually argued for all three of them, since the benefits of an elite class were completely different from those of an ordinary class.

But the foundation of all three was simply too poor.

At least Hayata had one astonishing strength. As for the other two, there had been no particularly outstanding performance in the arrangements Chiba Shun had made for them.

Ayana's ability to make Sealing Scrolls could not be tested in the exam either.

Chiba Shun could not possibly give everyone materials and ask them to make Sealing Scrolls.

This ability could only be reflected in the Sealing Technique test.

But Sealing Scrolls and Sealing Techniques were two different things. They were somewhat related, but not closely, so Ayana's score was very poor and she appeared to have no particular strengths.

Shosuke was comparatively better off. After receiving fifty thousand ryo from Chiba Shun twice, he had improved his meals, and his chakra reserves had increased.

Combined with his especially diligent training and strong willpower, his overall strength had improved greatly.

However, that still could not change the fact that he had originally been mediocre.

Especially compared with those geniuses who had just entered the Ninja Academy. Some of them were children of ninja clans, and every one of them outclassed Shosuke.

Thus, he had also missed out on the elite class.

Chiba Shun was not in a hurry to comfort the three. Instead, he first looked them over.

The three lowered their heads without speaking. They had worked very hard during this assessment, yet they still could not enter an elite class. They felt that they had embarrassed Chiba Shun.

They were no longer children who knew nothing like when they had first entered the Ninja Academy.

From those Chunin teachers, they had learned that under normal circumstances, students like them, who were not even ninja yet, had to do a great deal of work when accompanying a Chunin captain on missions, but could receive only a tiny share of the rewards.

Only those whose strength had reached true Genin level, and who were considered good even among Genin, might receive half the reward.

As for accompanying a Jonin on missions, wanting half the reward was impossible unless all three advanced to Chunin and became strong among Chunin.

Otherwise, they should not even dream about it.

But when following Chiba Shun, not only did the three not need to do anything, Chiba Shun even had to send clones to protect them.

Moreover, Chiba Shun took them to eat delicious food, soak in hot springs, and learn about the customs and culture of various countries.

Most importantly, Chiba Shun had shared half the reward from an A-Rank Mission with them!

Chiba Shun treated them extremely well. He had spent a great deal of time and money on them.

Especially money. The three could tell that Chiba Shun himself should be short on it as well.

After all, Chiba Shun could also be considered an orphan.