Chapter 417: The Intimidating Power of the Sharingan
Chapter 417: The Intimidating Power of the Sharingan
Sarutobi Hiruzen had been busy lately, or perhaps he wanted to further cultivate Mu Yue. Either way, he directly handed over the responsibility of the Chunin Exams to her.
In name, Sarutobi remained the overall leader, with Mu Yue as his assistant. However, Sarutobi was mostly a figurehead, and Mu Yue was given free rein to decide on the exam content, choose the examiners, and make other decisions without needing to report back to Sarutobi.
In a sense, this could be considered a temporary grant of great power, as this authority allowed her to not only mobilize Konoha's jonin but also a portion of the ANBU.
Even when not jointly held with other ninja villages, Konoha took the Chunin Exams' security very seriously.
Of course, Mu Yue had no personal interest in this authority, as it held no meaning for her.
If this power had been permanently bestowed upon her, it might have been of some use. But since it was essentially only borrowed from Sarutobi, he could take it back at any moment with a single word.
Rather than organizing the exams, Mu Yue would have preferred to hold the second phase of the ANBU training. The S-rank reward for the intermediate course was still quite attractive.
However, that wasn't realistic at the moment, as Konoha's ANBU were currently too busy to undergo any training.
Although she felt indifferent about being in charge of the Chunin Exams, this particular exam held some significance for Mu Yue because Itachi Uchiha would be participating.
According to Obito and the others, the rewards for outstanding performance in the Chunin Exams were quite generous.
Mu Yue's Ice Release and Golden Horizon were both obtained through the exams, and aside from jutsu, the chakra rewards were also substantial.
If the opportunity arose, Mu Yue even planned to have Nagato participate in Konoha's Chunin Exams as a Rain Ninja in the future.
Although it might seem like bullying, they would definitely take any rewards they could get.
"Teacher Mu Yue, I want to be an examiner!" Obito eagerly volunteered when he heard that Mu Yue would be in charge of the Chunin Exams.
"You can't be the head examiner, but you can be a regular examiner," Mu Yue replied after some thought.
The head examiner was usually at least a special jonin, while the other examiners could be chunin.
Even for a regular examiner, one who had only recently become a chunin would not usually be chosen; instead, a more experienced chunin would be selected.
However, Obito's mission record was excellent, and in a village like Konoha, where strength was paramount, no one would object to him becoming an examiner.
In fact, if one were to make a comparison, most regular examiners' mission records probably wouldn't measure up to Obito's.
Obito and his team had executed numerous A-rank war missions alongside Namikaze Minato, while regular chunin usually only handled C- and B-rank missions.
"It's fine even if I'm just a regular examiner. I want to be an examiner for the first round of exams!" Obito said excitedly.
Kakashi looked at Obito with a strange expression, unsure why he wanted to be an examiner.
Could it be that after losing their last battle and having to do paperwork for half a month, he had become psychologically twisted and now wanted to watch others struggle with their paperwork and enjoy the look of pain on their faces?
"The village's first exam was too lax. People could pass just by picking up a piece of paper," Obito complained.
"Since it's supposed to test teamwork and information-gathering abilities, it should at least be done more secretly," he added.
Obito himself had only passed the exam after intense practice, and he felt that simply picking up a piece of paper was too easy and didn't serve the purpose of an exam.
"Let me use my Sharingan to supervise them!" Obito declared confidently.
Kakashi looked at Obito with a mixture of exasperation and amusement, wondering what grudge he held to want to use his Sharingan to catch cheaters.
"It's possible, but it's probably better not to keep the Sharingan active the entire time, as it might intimidate the examinees," Mu Yue said, her expression somewhat complicated.
Indeed, Obito's motivation for becoming an examiner was quite different from that of a typical person.
Itachi maintained a calm expression, showing no reaction. He was absolutely confident in his ability to pass the written test, and even if Obito used his Sharingan or Byakugan to supervise, it wouldn't affect him.
The day of the Chunin Exams arrived.
Uchiha Teyaki, an examinee, entered the classroom for the written test.
Upon seeing Obito in the room, Teyaki paused, slightly confused.
"Didn't he become a chunin last year? Why is he here at the Chunin Exams?" Teyaki wondered.
As one of the most talented young ninjas of the Uchiha clan, Obito's reputation had reached Teyaki even without him specifically inquiring about it.
Moreover, he had witnessed that Chunin Exam and knew that Uchiha Obito's strength at the time was far beyond that of an ordinary chunin.
After the head examiner finished speaking, Obito made an announcement that left Teyaki stunned.
"My eyes will be on you," Obito said, activating his Sharingan and scanning the room before deactivating it. "Don't try any clumsy cheating, or you won't pass."
Some of the ninjas with weaker theoretical knowledge paled and broke into a cold sweat at the sight of the Sharingan's crimson hue.
"Hey, is this for real? They got a Sharingan user to be an examiner?"
"The person who arranged for him to be an examiner must be a devil. How are we supposed to cheat now?"
Just a few seconds of Obito's Sharingan was enough to make the examinees nervous and sweaty. They had a feeling that this would be the strictest Chunin Exam they had ever taken.
"I can't believe Obito became an examiner. Good thing we're not weak in theory," Genma Shiranui said with relief.
Having a Sharingan user as an examiner was unprecedented in the history of Konoha's Chunin Exams.
Compared to the practical exams, the first round of written tests was usually not taken very seriously, and Konoha even worried that the ninjas might not be able to answer the questions, so they would arrange for examiners to pretend to be students and provide answers.
Ebisu wiped his forehead, even though he didn't have any sweat, and nodded in agreement.
Teyaki's feelings were complicated. The former class dunce and clan outcast was now an examiner, while he was the examinee being supervised.
Thanks to Mu Yue's reminder, Obito didn't act too arrogantly, only occasionally activating his Sharingan to scan the room.
Nevertheless, this was enough to make the first exam unusually calm, with very few cheaters, as everyone was afraid of being caught by Obito's Sharingan.
When the exam ended, many people breathed a sigh of relief, as the pressure they felt from Obito's Sharingan had been intense.
"As expected of the legendary Sharingan. I never thought Obito could be so intimidating," one of Obito's peers commented.
Due to Obito's personality, even if he had achieved top grades, no one would have expected him to be capable of pressuring others without being in a combat situation. This exam had revealed a completely new side of him.
"Genma, Raido, didn't I look cool up there?" Obito asked with a smile, placing his hands on the shoulders of the two men.
"It's hard to say if you looked cool, but when your Sharingan looked at me, I felt like a snake was coiling around me, suffocating me," Genma admitted honestly.
"Haha, isn't this cool? I should really let Lin come and see this," Obito said, thinking that the description of the Unknown Fire Shadow Technique was very cool.
Seeing Obito's silly smile, the other students decided to retract their previous evaluation. Obito, when not in a combat situation, was indeed unable to pressure others. It seemed that his previous intimidating aura was only due to his special identity as an examiner.
Obito did not ask how Kakashi's exam had gone. In this regard, Obito was quite confident.
Among Mu Yue's disciples, the only person Obito could surpass in terms of theoretical knowledge was Might Guy.
For the exam content, Mu Yue did not make significant changes. The second exam still tested the students' cooperative combat abilities in a group battle.
Of course, if an individual was strong enough, the second exam could turn into a solo performance.
This time, Mu Yue did not make things too complicated. Instead of collecting the Heaven and Earth scrolls, they would directly draw lots to determine their opponents. The winning teams would advance to the third exam, while the losing teams would be eliminated, cutting the number of teams in half at this stage.
Kakashi's team consisted not only of himself, a powerful individual, but his teammates Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino were also strong.
If not for the special circumstances of the previous Chunin Exams, Kiba and Shino's combined strength would have been sufficient for them to advance to the level of Chunin.
With their formidable overall strength, Kakashi's team easily defeated their opponents and advanced to the third exam.
The third exam remained the same as before: individual battles based on a random draw.
Although there were no feudal lords or large numbers of officials present to watch the exams, many ninjas and villagers came to observe the matches.
Coincidentally, the Ninja Academy was on holiday, so some students chose to come and watch the exams, learning from the experiences of their seniors.
Anko Mitarashi, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi had made plans to go to the venue of the third round of the Chunin Exams together that day.
"I wonder if Kakashi will come to watch the matches. He must really want to know the good news that I've achieved first place in practical combat for the grade," Anko said as she entered the venue, looking around.
Ever since Kakashi graduated, Anko had finally escaped her fate as the perennial runner-up, successfully achieving first place in the first two exams of her third year.
"I think besides you, no one else wants to know," Ino said flatly.
Perhaps due to having been the runner-up for too long, Anko felt the need to emphasize her new status as the top student in practical combat every day. Ino was so tired of hearing it that her ears were about to grow calluses. Back when Ino had scored a perfect score in the theory exam, she had only bragged about it for half a semester.
"Some people are able to achieve first place because they have absolute strength, while others can come first because the original first-place student graduated early," Shino said.
Anko turned her gaze to Shino, clenching her fists.
Shino was not even trying to hide his true thoughts anymore. He might as well have directly stated her student number.
If she couldn't beat Kakashi, she could still take out a little shrimp like Shino.
"You know, I'm talking about Kakashi. Since he graduated, the number of people in school who are comparable to him in terms of talent has increased," Shino said calmly.
Although he had not yet enrolled when Kakashi became a Chunin, it did not stop him from hearing about Kakashi's legend.
After hearing Shino's explanation, Anko felt that it made sense.
"Just sit down already, the exam is about to start," Choji urged.
Shino silently gave Choji a thumbs-up. His good brother was indeed reliable.
The venue was bustling with voices as people discussed various topics.
"The ninja world is even more chaotic now than it was over a decade ago. This time, the five great ninja villages have all entered the exams," someone commented on the current state of the ninja world.
"I wonder if this Chunin Exam will give rise to dark horses like Uchiha Obito and Might Guy," someone else wondered about the upcoming battles.
Because Kakashi was participating in this Chunin Exam, many Uchiha ninjas had also come over.
Even Uchiha Fugaku brought his son, Uchiha Itachi, to watch the Chunin Exams.
"Maybe I should take Itachi back. It's too noisy here," Mikoto suggested as she saw Itachi frowning.
The noise of such a large venue was indeed a bit hard for a child to bear.
"He's going to be a ninja in the future. If he can't even bear this much noise, what use is he?" Fugaku shook his head in refusal.
He had high expectations of Itachi and hoped that Itachi would become a genius like Obito and Kakashi.
Mikoto hesitated, then finally just gently stroked Itachi's head.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who usually left things to others, also showed up on this day. He sat in the highest tier of the venue, watching the exams, with Mu Yue standing behind him.
"You've been working hard these days, Mu Yue," Hiruzen said, removing the smoking pipe from his mouth and smiling.
Although Mu Yue did not innovate with the Chunin Exams like she had with the internship, simply hosting them in the same way as previous years, this was actually a positive thing in Hiruzen's eyes. It showed that Mu Yue was mature and steady.
Chunin were already capable of serving as squad leaders, and the Chunin Exams, which allowed ninjas to advance to this rank, were relatively important events for Konoha.
For an event of this magnitude, not making any mistakes was already considered a significant success.
"I'm just giving orders. It's not that tiring," Mu Yue replied with a smile.
For most matters, Mu Yue only needed to make the final decision instead of personally handling every detail.
Even shadow clones couldn't handle that, and she would still feel exhausted after dispelling them, which would affect her learning efficiency.
"Match one: Uchiha Kakashi versus Uchiha Teppa."
During the conversation between the two, the referee announced the names of the first pair of combatants.
"This Uchiha Kakashi is your disciple, Mu Yue, right? How does he compare to Uchiha Obito?" Hiruzen looked towards the center of the venue, his eyes filled with interest.
Because the Root Organization monitored the Uchiha clan, Hiruzen knew that Kakashi was a genius. However, Mu Yue was unaware of the Root's surveillance of the Uchiha, and Hiruzen also wanted to hear Mu Yue's evaluation of her own disciple.
"They each have their own strengths in battle. Obito is better at creating miracles, while Kakashi is better at thinking and staying calm during battles," Mu Yue replied after some thought.
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully.
"Kakashi's battle is about to start, Itachi. Watch carefully. He's the target you should aim to surpass," Fugaku said, pointing towards Kakashi's position.
Itachi obediently tried his best to keep his eyes open wide and looked in the direction his father had indicated.
At this time, Itachi did not understand why he had to surpass Kakashi. Kakashi wouldn't take away his dumplings like the old lady in Obito's story, but if his father told him to watch carefully, then he would.
(End of Chapter)
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