I have to say, Gekko Chizan's smile was just... too sly...
No wonder Obito complained about him—being the only examiner for this assessment, smiling like that? Who wouldn't feel uneasy?
Feeling everyone's gazes and hearing their laughter, Chizan instantly felt awkward and withdrew his grin.
He'd forgotten there were so many people around and had gotten carried away.
But embarrassed? Come on. Chizan had thrown shame out the window long ago. Only those with no shame can be truly invincible!
Also, don't forget who his teacher is—Orochimaru!
"Ahem... Obito, come on!"
"Kid, I'm telling you now—if you haven't improved, you're gonna be the next victim of the Thousand Years of Death!"
Gekko Chizan once again formed the Tiger Hand Seal, but Uchiha Obito showed no fear whatsoever.
"No way! After a year of special training, I've transformed!"
"I've experienced Thousand Years of Death once already—that was enough! I won't fall for it again!"
Hearing that, Gekko Chizan couldn't help but grin hungrily.
So you're setting yourself up with a flag, huh? Then I'll gladly make your wish come true!
The battle began. This time, Obito didn't charge forward but instead leapt back.
He rapidly formed hand seals, his speed looking quite impressive to the onlookers.
Then he took a deep breath.
"Fire Style! Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball roared out instantly—visually very impressive.
"Oh? Not bad. That Great Fireball Jutsu finally looks like something."
Chizan nodded. Obito's technique had taken on a proper scale.
Looks like he wasn't lying about training hard for a year.
Faced with such a large fireball, anyone with a functioning brain wouldn't try to tank it head-on.
Chizan wasn't that dumb either. The exam stage was spacious, so he dodged to the side.
He let the fireball fly off the stage—he was only responsible for things that happened on the stage. What happened outside wasn't his concern.
Just as the fireball shot past the edge, a figure appeared in front of it.
The man raised his hand slightly, and with a ripple, the giant fireball was instantly dispersed.
"Thanks, Hizashi."
Hatake Sakumo looked at the one who intervened and smiled faintly.
"Sakumo-sama, you're too kind. I'm just glad to help."
That person was Hyuga Hizashi, a jōnin Sakumo had called in to maintain safety. His elder brother Hyuga Hiashi was there too, just stationed on the opposite side of the exam area.
With that little interlude over, the assessment continued.
"I'm not done yet! Fire Style! Phoenix Fire Jutsu!"
Since the Great Fireball hadn't sealed the win, Obito didn't panic and once again formed Hand Seals.
He spat out over a dozen small fireballs, their trajectories resembling the scatter of phoenix flower seeds—this was one of the Uchiha clan's commonly used fire techniques, the Phoenix Fire Jutsu.
"Not bad, Obito. The power of these two Fire Style techniques is impressive."
"You pass this assessment."
Gekko Chizan coated his palm with chakra, shattering the Phoenix Fireballs while acknowledging Uchiha Obito's strength.
Just as Obito beamed with joy, Gekko Chizan made his move.
Like a ghost, he appeared behind Obito and launched a sudden Thousand Years of Death.
"Ow—!"
A figure flew up clutching his rear, his scream music to Gekko Chizan's ears.
"Kid, let me teach you a lesson—don't talk nonsense."
"Or you'll end up like this, suffering terrifying consequences."
Gekko Chizan looked down at the pitiful Obito lying on the ground, his tone full of mischief.
If he hadn't triggered a mission, he might've let the kid off the hook. But now that the mission had started, how could he possibly let his prey go? Geigeigei~
"Next, Shiranui Genma."
Toothpick in mouth, Shiranui Genma walked up to the exam stage, trembling.
"Ah, don't worry. I'm not gonna randomly use the Thousand Years of Death again. I was just giving him a little lesson."
"Relax."
Seeing the other boy's anxious face, Gekko Chizan could only offer some reassurance.
Just then, Hatake Sakumo also spoke up.
"Chizan, you're not allowed to use Thousand Years of Death again!"
"Conduct the assessment properly."
At that moment, Hatake Sakumo's face was full of dark lines. He seriously regretted creating the Thousand Years of Death technique.
He'd unleashed a menace...
Who could endure someone who opens every fight with Thousand Years of Death???
Looking at the dark lines practically covering everyone in the crowd, Gekko Chizan didn't feel even a little guilty.
According to Sakumo's logic, if the technique was invented, wasn't it meant to be used?
Just then, a familiar system notification popped up.
[Ding! Host has used Thousand Years of Death to land 5 consecutive hits. Special reward: Thousand Years of Death power increased by 1%. Note: when power increase reaches 10%, a new trait will be activated!]
Wow, the power went up!
Only by 1%, sure, but even a small gain is still meat on the table!
If he kept landing hits—say, a hundred in a row—he could walk sideways through the ninja world with Thousand Years of Death alone!
He'd already made a plan: use Transparent Release to sneak in, then hit with Thousand Years of Death!
One strike, one down! Perfect!
Thanks to Sakumo's interference, Gekko Chizan didn't use Thousand Years of Death again for the rest of the assessment.
The rest of the students finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Only Uchiha Obito and Asuma groaned: "Why were we the only ones who got hurt?!"
In the end, the exam was successfully completed.
Quite a few passed, including Might Guy, Uchiha Obito, and Rin—a total of over twenty.
Finally, Hatake Sakumo stepped onto the stage. Looking at the newly minted genin, he gave a faint smile.
"Excellent. From today on, you are all ninja."
"Three days from now, report to the school. You'll be assigned to a jōnin team leader."
"For now, go collect your forehead protectors."
Gekko Chizan, mission complete, headed straight home.
Though the fights hadn't been intense, assessing so many students in a row was exhausting.
Not to mention, the Chūnin Exams were coming up tomorrow—he needed rest.
But before he could get much sleep, he was disturbed.
It was ANBU, one of the veterans. He'd been a personal guard of the Hokage ever since the Third Hokage's rise, and was a core figure within the ANBU.
With his arrival, Gekko Chizan knew—there was a mission.
"Gekko Chizan. By order of the Hokage-sama, here is your mask."
"For your next mission, you'll go with Haru and Rinkaku to the Land of Rivers."
"According to intel, a group of Sunagakure ninja has entered the Land of Rivers and is advancing toward the Land of Fire."
"The Hokage-sama wants you to eliminate them, and if possible, extract some intel."
Gekko Chizan accepted the mask—and wow, it gave him quite the shock.
Looking at it, Chizan felt like fate was playing a joke on him.
Because this wasn't just any mask—this was the one Kakashi would wear in the future.
It resembled a cat mask, with two cat-like ears, red patterns and red eye marks on both sides, black eyes, and a downturned mouth.
Honestly, for the ANBU, this was a good-looking mask!
Thousand Years of Death might be a taijutsu technique, but that didn't mean it couldn't be served with style!
This was the very technique that would one day help the protagonist conquer the ninja world—it had to look the part!
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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