I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

Chapter 449: During the Assessment

After reaching the destination, Nagasawa didn’t start the assessment immediately. Instead, he gave them some time to adjust and prepare.

Twenty minutes later, Nagasawa finally announced the beginning of the exam.

"The assessment officially begins!" Nagasawa declared. No one hesitated. They all quickly stepped into the dense forest.

The truly cowardly had already been eliminated back in the illusion-based entrance test before even joining the Special Ops Division.

Those who remained had courage and confidence. They believed in the results of their training, believed in their own strength.

This mountain wasn’t famous, it was just an ordinary mountain. Many members of the Special Ops didn’t even know its name.

After all, this wasn’t inside Konoha. It was beyond the village’s borders.

In truth, Konoha’s residents rarely left. Apart from necessary missions, most people spent their entire lives within the village.

Konoha itself was vast, comparable in size to a modern city from Nagasawa’s previous life. Most of the land was used for training grounds, with the population concentrated in a single area, giving a smaller impression. But the territory was massive.

Even with fewer people, Konoha had everything needed for daily life. No one needed to leave.

And besides, there wasn’t much outside anyway. It took a long walk to reach any town. Civilians found it tiring, and shinobi didn’t see the point.

It was noon, and the sun blazed overhead. Iruka walked cautiously through the forested mountain, keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings.

The weather today was particularly clear. No clouds, and the sun shone fiercely. Its rays lit up the young green leaves in the woods, giving off a glittering spring-like glow.

But Iruka wasn’t drawn in by the scenery. His hand tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, keeping his mind fully alert.

He hadn’t forgotten Nagasawa’s warning, this seemingly ordinary mountain was full of poisonous insects and strange beasts.

Before entering the mountain, someone had asked Iruka to form a team. After all, Iruka wasn’t an aloof loner. On the contrary, he was cheerful and friendly, quite popular among the Special Ops.

But he believed Nagasawa wouldn’t make such a basic mistake. The exam couldn’t be exploited through cheap tricks. Passing would require real skill.

So not only did he decline the offer, he even tried to persuade others to go solo and rely on their own strength to pass.

Some were convinced and gave up teaming up. Of course, opinions varied. Some believed Nagasawa had intentionally left a loophole to be discovered.

Others simply didn’t want to face the test alone, they weren’t seeking an easy pass, just companionship.

To those who still insisted on grouping up, Iruka didn’t say much more. He simply warned them to be careful. He had done his part, if they didn’t listen, there was nothing he could do.

Besides, he wasn’t necessarily right. Maybe Nagasawa did want them to analyze the rules and look for gaps.

If it turned out he was wrong, well... that would be pretty embarrassing.

Suddenly, Iruka spotted something unusual on the glittering green leaves in the sunlight.

"Water Breathing, First Form, Water Surface Slash!"

Without hesitation, Iruka drew his sword. A stream-infused slash cut through the air, slicing through all the nearby foliage.

Slash! Splatter!

Shredded leaves scattered like confetti, and hidden behind them, a green poisonous insect exploded, dark green fluid spraying in every direction.

"Hoo..." Iruka exhaled as he quickly dodged the splatter. If he’d been distracted by the beautiful scenery and rushed in carelessly, he would’ve been attacked by the bug.

It wouldn’t have killed him, but it wouldn’t have felt great either. Getting injured or poisoned on the first day would make the next five days hell.

Taking a sip of water, Iruka pressed on.

This mountain was unfamiliar to him, but he would have to survive here for six days, so understanding the terrain was essential.

Even though the pass condition was to survive six days and reach the summit, Iruka had no intention of heading straight for the top.

Climbing might be hard for civilians, some mountains take half a day to scale.

But for ninja, so long as there were no obstacles, they could reach the top in minutes.

That’s why ninja dominate modern warfare in the shinobi world.

Great Nations’ wars are ninja wars, wars between the Great Shinobi Villages.

No matter how dedicated regular soldiers were, they couldn’t keep up with ninja. Their mobility wasn’t even in the same league.

Not to mention, ninja were like superhumans. If ninja faced normal soldiers, it would be no contest, like fighting an army of superheroes.

On the surface, ninja seemed fragile, but only to other ninja. The high damage output made it seem that way.

A chakra-enhanced kunai could slice through steel. That kind of power wasn’t something a normal person could match.

Let alone their reflexes, there was no comparison.

When you really think about it, a ninja war was a battle of tens of thousands of superpowered beings. No wonder it was called a Ninja World War.

Iruka first scouted a one-kilometer radius around himself, clearing out every poisonous bug he saw.

He hadn’t encountered any monsters yet, but that wasn’t surprising. Nagasawa had said the deeper parts of the mountain had more monsters. Iruka was still in the outer layer.

That was one reason he didn’t rush to the summit on the first day.

Not even counting monsters like Itachi and Kabuto, just Gekkou Hayate and Uchiha Isamu were likely already rushing straight to the top.

If they cleared out some monsters, it would make things easier for Iruka later.

He wasn’t worried about the monsters being wiped out. Nagasawa had said there were plenty, enough for everyone to kill twenty and still not run out.

If Itachi and Kabuto went on a killing spree for fun, well... bad luck. He’d come back next year.

But based on what he knew about them, they weren’t that bored. They wouldn’t waste effort for no benefit.

"If I pass, my father and mother will probably be really happy too."

Thinking of this, Iruka smiled.

He didn’t come from a prominent clan like Itachi. No high-ranking brother in the Hokage office.

His parents were ordinary jōnin of Konoha, without any famous titles.

But Iruka felt content and blessed. After all, some kids’ parents were only chūnin, or even civilians.

Compared to that, his parents could provide decent help on the ninja path.

Even if they didn’t know Breathing Techniques, they had some taijutsu skills, and could share practical ninja experience.

After entering the mountain, Itachi and Kabuto stuck together.

Of course, with their strength, they didn’t need any tricks to pass the test.

If they couldn’t pass, Nagasawa’s test might as well be used as the jōnin exam.

(Though in reality, there was no such thing as a jōnin exam.)

Jōnin were already the backbone of a village, even Konoha didn’t have many.

Each promotion to jōnin was personally reviewed and approved by the Hokage.

That’s why Minato used to assign Nagasawa only S-rank missions, sometimes splitting a long S-rank task into multiple shorter ones, just to make Nagasawa’s record look good, avoiding any backlash when promoting him.

After all, if someone who’d only done D- and C-rank missions, and barely any B-ranks, got promoted to jōnin, it would spark controversy. Especially back when Minato was just taking office and Danzo was watching his every move.

As for why Kabuto stayed with Itachi, it was because Itachi would soon be leaving on his journey across the Land of Fire. Kabuto felt reluctant.

They had known each other for a long time. Back when Kabuto had just left the orphanage and moved into Nagasawa’s home, he met Itachi by the river while practicing Water Release.

Two characters who would have been enemies in the original story, now unexpectedly shared a bond.

They hit it off and quickly became friends. It had been three years now.

Just three years, but Itachi meant a lot to Kabuto. After all, he had no memories before that.

Nono had found him among the ruins after the war, head injured, eyes damaged.

So Itachi was Kabuto’s first true friend since regaining memory. He didn’t dislike the others at the orphanage, but Itachi felt... different.

Nagasawa and the director were family, but Itachi was something else. If he ever vanished, Kabuto knew he’d be devastated.

The two walked through the forest, occasionally using jutsu to eliminate hidden bugs. Suddenly, a sharp sound tore through the air, a green figure shot toward them.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Kabuto reacted instantly, forming hand seals. Water burst from the ground, forming a circular barrier around them.

Bang!!

A massive snake head, half the size of their bodies, slammed into the Water Wall, sending ripples outward.

Itachi’s eyes narrowed. Gripping his sword, he surged with chakra. His breathing rhythm changed sharply.

Slash!

A flash of silver cut through the air. A thin red line appeared across the giant snake’s head.

Boom!

The green-scaled snake split in two, its blood spraying out, its heavy body thudding to the ground and kicking up dust.

Seeing it was dead, Kabuto dispelled the Water Wall.

Itachi walked over with his blade. Inside every monster was a bead, they needed to retrieve them. The final assessment score depended on how many you collected. One bead equaled one kill.

To pass, each person needed at least two.

As Itachi reached to collect the bead, a loud roar erupted. A black-furred monster suddenly charged through the trees.

This time, Kabuto made his move. He lightly swung his blade. A splash of water scattered around them.

The black-furred beast hesitated, then jumped at a tree, violently attacking it.

Of course, it wasn’t venting frustration on a tree for fun.

Kabuto had used a modified version of Gokai’s Konoha-Style Willow Water Breathing technique, it created a visual illusion.

In the monster’s eyes, that tree was Itachi.

Slash!

While the beast focused on the tree, Kabuto released a blue water slash, cleanly severing its head.

The severed head flew like a volleyball, blood splashing as the body collapsed with a loud thud.

Once they confirmed the area was clear, Kabuto retrieved the bead.

"These creatures don’t seem intelligent, but they don’t attack each other. One is fine, but if you run into a group, it could be bad," Kabuto said as he walked back.

Of course, "bad" referred to the other examinees. For him, it was one slash per beast.

"Makes sense. This is an assessment for official members. The difficulty is appropriate. Without strength, they’ll fail missions later too," Itachi nodded.

After tidying up, the two resumed heading for the summit.

They already had enough beads to pass. Now they just had to wait out the days.

With their abilities, no beast could stop them, solo or in pairs.

Once, five monsters attacked in a row. It only slowed them down slightly.

Though they already had enough beads, they still collected extras from every beast they killed.

Not to show off or win applause.

But simply because if someone unqualified managed to pass thanks to luck, and later died on a mission, that would be a bigger tragedy.

So they spent a minute more to prevent that outcome.