Chapter 417: The Pressure of the Sharingan
Maybe Hiruzen had simply been too busy lately, or maybe he wanted to nurture Mugetsu further. Either way, he directly placed Mugetsu in charge of the Chunin Exams.
In name, Hiruzen was still the overall head, with Mugetsu serving as his deputy. In practice, Hiruzen was basically a figurehead. Every decision, from the exam procedures to the selection of examiners, was decided by Mugetsu. He could make the final call without even needing to report back.
In a sense, it was temporary authority on a massive scale. This power let him mobilize Konoha jonin, and even a portion of ANBU.
Even though this was not a joint exam with other villages, Konoha still treated the safety of the Chunin Exams as a top priority.
Of course, Mugetsu had no special feelings about it. To him, it meant nothing.
If this authority truly belonged to him permanently, it would be useful. But in reality, it was only power lent by Hiruzen, and it could be taken back with a single sentence.
Compared to running the exams, Mugetsu would rather organize the second phase of ANBU training. The S rank reward from the intermediate course was genuinely good.
Unfortunately, that was unrealistic right now. Konoha's ANBU were too busy and simply had no time to train.
Even if Mugetsu did not care about being put in charge, this particular Chunin Exams still mattered to him for one reason.
Shisui was participating.
From Obito's experience, if someone performed exceptionally well in the Chunin Exams, the rewards could be substantial.
Mugetsu's Ice Release and Golden Skyline both came from Obito's participation. Even the chakra rewards had been impressive.
If there was an opportunity in the future, Mugetsu even wanted Nagato to participate in Konoha's Chunin Exams as a Rain ninja.
It sounded a bit like bullying, but rewards were rewards. If they could be taken, they should be taken.
"Mugetsu sensei, I want to be an examiner!" Obito volunteered excitedly the moment he heard Mugetsu was in charge.
"Not a chief examiner," Mugetsu replied after thinking for a moment. "Only a regular examiner."
Chief examiners generally had to be at least a special jonin. Regular examiners could be chunin.
Even then, villages rarely chose newly promoted chunin as examiners. They preferred chunin with more seniority.
But Obito had an excellent mission record, and in Konoha, strength spoke louder than paperwork. No one would dare complain about him being a regular examiner.
If they compared the numbers honestly, most regular examiners probably could not match Obito's record at all.
Obito and his team had completed many A rank war missions alongside Minato on the battlefield. Meanwhile, most regular chunin only handled C rank and B rank assignments.
"A regular examiner is fine," Obito said, eyes blazing. "I want to supervise the first exam!"
Kakashi stared at him, expression turning strange.
He could not figure out why Obito wanted this so badly.
It could not be that after losing the last battle and doing practice problems for half a month, Obito had become mentally warped and now wanted to watch other people suffer through written questions, right?
"The village's first exam is still too lenient," Obito complained. "You can pass just by passing notes."
"If it's meant to test teamwork and information gathering, then it should at least force people to do it more discreetly."
Back then, Obito had struggled hard just to pass. To him, getting fed answers so easily ruined the point.
"Let me use my Sharingan to supervise them!" Obito declared with full enthusiasm.
Kakashi's face filled with black lines. Using a Sharingan to catch cheating was a level of personal grudge that deserved its own bingo book entry.
"It's possible," Mugetsu said, his expression a little subtle, "but it's better not to keep the Sharingan active the entire time. It will put too much pressure on the examinees."
Obito's motivation really was different from normal people.
Shisui's calm expression never changed. He was completely confident in the written exam. Even if someone monitored the room with a Byakugan, it would not matter, let alone a Sharingan.
On the day of the Chunin Exams, Uchiha Tekka entered the classroom for the written test.
The moment he saw Obito standing there, he paused.
"Didn't he become a chunin last year?" Tekka thought, confused. "Why is he in the Chunin Exams venue?"
As one of the most talented younger shinobi within the Uchiha clan, Tekka did not need to investigate Obito to know about him. Even without trying, rumors reached his ears.
He had also watched that previous Chunin Exams. Even back then, Obito's strength had already surpassed the level of a normal chunin.
Then, after the chief examiner finished speaking, Obito opened his mouth, and Tekka froze.
"My eyes will be on you," Obito said, activating his Sharingan as he swept his gaze across the classroom. "Sloppy cheating won't pass the exam."
He scanned once, then deactivated it just as quickly.
Some examinees with weak theoretical knowledge saw the blood red gleam in his eyes and immediately broke into cold sweat.
"Hey, hey, are they serious? A Sharingan examiner?"
"Whoever arranged this is a devil. How are we supposed to cheat now?"
Obito had only revealed his Sharingan for a few seconds, and the examinees were already sweating. They had a terrible feeling this would be the strictest Chunin Exams they had ever experienced.
"I never expected Obito to become an examiner," Shiranui Genma said with relief. "Good thing our theory isn't bad."
Sharingan supervision was a first in Konoha's Chunin Exams history.
Compared to combat, the written exam was usually less emphasized. Konoha even worried some shinobi could not handle it, so they would place examiners disguised as students to provide answers.
Ebisu wiped sweat that did not exist and nodded.
Tekka's mood grew complicated. The former dead last from his own clan had become an examiner, and Tekka was the one being watched.
Because of Mugetsu's reminder, Obito did not act too arrogant. He only activated his Sharingan occasionally for quick sweeps.
Even so, it was enough.
The entire first exam became unusually quiet. Almost no one dared make small movements, terrified of being caught under Obito's gaze.
When the written exam finally ended, many people released a breath they felt they had been holding since the moment Obito opened his eyes.
The pressure of the Sharingan was suffocating.
"As expected of the legendary Sharingan," one shinobi from Obito's class muttered bitterly. "I didn't think Obito could feel this intimidating."
Because of Obito's usual personality, even after he became top of the class, no one imagined he could pressure anyone outside of combat. Today, as an examiner, he forced everyone to see a completely new side of him.
"Genma, Ebisu," Obito said afterward, grinning as he draped an arm over each of them, "was I super cool up there?"
"Cool is hard to say," Genma replied honestly, "but being stared at by your Sharingan felt like getting squeezed by a giant python."
Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses and finally stayed silent.
He was certain none of the examinees found Obito cool. They were probably cursing him in their hearts.
"Haha, isn't that awesome?" Obito laughed, taking Genma's description as praise. "I really should have had Rin come see it."
Looking at Obito's foolish grin, the others quietly retracted their earlier evaluation.
Obito, outside combat, really could not create pressure.
It was just that today he held a special identity, and that identity did all the heavy lifting.
Obito did not ask Shisui how he performed. He had enough self awareness for that.
When it came to theory scores, among Mugetsu's disciples, the only person Obito could beat was Might Guy.
Mugetsu did not change the exam format much. The second exam was still a team confrontation, testing coordination and combat cooperation.
Of course, if one person was strong enough, it could still turn into a solo performance.
This time, Mugetsu made it simpler. There was no need to gather Heaven and Earth scrolls. Matchups were decided directly by drawing lots.
The winning team advanced to the third exam. The losing team was eliminated.
In one stage, the number of teams was cut in half.
Shisui's team was strong overall. Not only was Shisui powerful, his teammates, Inuzuka Midori and Aburame Nao, were also skilled.
If the previous Chunin Exams had not been held under special circumstances, Midori and Nao would already have qualified for promotion based on overall strength.
Relying on that advantage, Shisui's team won easily and advanced to the third exam.
The third exam was still the classic individual battles, also decided by drawing lots.
Even without daimyo and crowds of officials watching, many shinobi and villagers still came to see the matches.
By coincidence, the Ninja Academy was on break, so many academy students also came, hoping to learn by watching their seniors fight.
Anko, Kotetsu Hagane, and Izumo Kamizuki agreed to attend the third stage together.
"I wonder if Shisui will be here," Anko said the moment they entered, scanning the crowd. "He must be dying to hear the good news that I got first place in practical combat for my grade."
Ever since Shisui graduated, Anko had finally escaped her eternal second place. In her third year, first semester, she secured the top spot in both exams.
"I think everyone but you doesn't want to know," Kotetsu complained, face blank.
Maybe it was because she had been stuck in second place for too long, but now Anko mentioned her first place practical score every single day. Kotetsu's ears were practically numb from hearing it.
Back when Kotetsu scored full marks in theory, he only bragged for half a semester.
"Some people get first place because they have absolute strength," Izumo said, "and others get first place because the original first place graduated early."
Anko's gaze locked onto Izumo.
Her fingers cracked as she flexed them.
She could not beat Shisui, but dealing with a small Izumo was easy, right?
"You know," Izumo continued without changing expression, "I was talking about Kakashi senpai. Ever since Kakashi senpai graduated, the academy has had more students whose talent can be compared to his."
Izumo had not even been enrolled when Kakashi became a chunin, but that did not stop him from hearing the legends.
After hearing the explanation, Anko felt there was nothing wrong with it.
"Sit down already," Kotetsu urged. "The exam is about to start."
Izumo silently gave Kotetsu a thumbs up. A good brother was reliable.
The venue buzzed with noise as acquaintances chatted about everything under the sun.
"The shinobi world is even more chaotic now than it was over a decade ago. This time, all Five Great Villages are involved."
"I wonder if this Chunin Exams will produce dark horses like Obito and Might Guy did."
Because Shisui was participating, many Uchiha also came.
Fugaku even brought his son, Itachi, to watch.
Mikoto saw Itachi frown at the noise and leaned close.
"Should I take Itachi back?" she suggested. "It's too loud here."
Fugaku shook his head.
"He will become a shinobi in the future," Fugaku said. "If he cannot tolerate this much noise, what does that say?"
Mikoto hesitated, then simply stroked Itachi's head gently.
Hiruzen, who usually acted as a hands off manager, also appeared that day. He sat at the highest level of the venue to observe, while Mugetsu stood behind him.
"You've worked hard these past few days, Mugetsu," Hiruzen said with a chuckle, removing his pipe.
Mugetsu had not tried anything unusual this time. Unlike the internship reforms, he ran the Chunin Exams in the standard way, just like previous years.
In Hiruzen's eyes, that stability was a good sign.
Chunin were already capable of serving as squad leaders. The exam that promoted shinobi to chunin was an important event for Konoha.
For something of this scale, simply avoiding mistakes was already a success.
"I only gave orders," Mugetsu replied with a smile. "It wasn't that much work."
For most matters, Mugetsu only needed to make the final decision. He did not personally handle every detail.
Even if he used shadow clones for the workload, dispelling them would still leave him exhausted and hurt his learning efficiency.
"First match," the referee called out. "Uchiha Shisui versus Uchiha Tekka."
While they spoke, Hiruzen's gaze shifted toward the arena, interest in his eyes.
"This Shisui is your disciple, Mugetsu," Hiruzen said. "How does he compare to Obito?"
Because ANBU monitored the Uchiha compound, Hiruzen already knew Shisui was a genius. But Mugetsu did not know about that monitoring.
More importantly, Hiruzen wanted to hear how Mugetsu would evaluate his own disciple.
"In combat, they each have strengths and weaknesses," Mugetsu answered after thinking. "Obito is better at creating miracles. Shisui is more thoughtful, and calmer in battle."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, as if weighing those words.
Shisui's match was about to begin.
Fugaku pointed toward Shisui's position.
"Watch carefully, Itachi," he said. "This is the goal you will chase in the future."
Itachi obediently tried to widen his eyes and stare where his father pointed.
In truth, Itachi did not understand why he had to chase Shisui. Shisui did not even steal his dango like the scary grandma in Obito's stories.
Still, if his father told him to watch carefully, then he would watch carefully.
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