"Still, a few ninja in our Intelligence Department performed well, especially those from the Interrogation Department.
"Many ninja were intimidated the moment they saw them. They fought too cautiously, and defeat was their only possible outcome."
Yamanaka Keichi nodded. "True. The Interrogation Department is one of the few combat-capable branches of the Intelligence Department. Its members also interrogate prisoners regularly, so they carry a chilling air about them. Naturally, some ordinary ninja are afraid."
"The Sealing Team performed the worst. They specialize in Sealing Jutsu and have almost no experience fighting other ninja.
"None of them stood out. They didn't lose too badly, but none of them surprised us, either."
Yamanaka Keichi took the complete village-wide figures compiled by the intelligence staff. The pages were packed with the names of everyone who had competed that day and their results.
The results had been sorted by department.
"I thought the Intelligence Department would come last. I didn't expect it to rank around the middle of Konoha's departments.
"The regular Ninja Corps, meanwhile, produced quite a few gifted youngsters."
The Intelligence Officer smiled. "The younger generation of Ino-Shika-Cho has done well. Their rise is looking unstoppable.
"Inoichi in particular uses the Yamanaka clan's Secret Technique so subtly that many opponents fall victim to it before they even realize what's happened."
Yamanaka Keichi nodded, unable to hide how pleased he was with his son.
"Inoichi has done well, but the Yamanaka clan's Secret Technique has its own limitations. It still falls short in a fight to the death between ninja," Yamanaka Keichi said.
"Now that the intelligence has been compiled, I'll report it to the Hokage. He's probably waiting for it."
With that, Yamanaka Keichi rose and headed for the Hokage Building.
In the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage was indeed waiting for