Chapter 417: The Pressure of Sharingan

Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi had been busy lately, or perhaps he wanted to further nurture Muzuki, so Hiruzen Sarutobi directly put Muzuki in charge of the Chunin Exams.

Nominally, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still the general head, with Muzuki as his deputy. However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was essentially just a figurehead; all decisions regarding the exam procedures and examiner selections were made by Muzuki, who could make final decisions without needing to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

In a sense, this could be considered a temporary wielding of great power, as this authority not only allowed him to mobilize Konoha Jonin but also a portion of the Anbu.

Even if it wasn’t a joint event with other Shinobi Villages, Konoha still took the safety of the Chunin Exams very seriously.

Of course, Muzuki had no particular thoughts on this, as it held no meaning for him.

If this power belonged to him permanently, it would be useful, but in essence, this power was temporarily lent to him by Hiruzen Sarutobi and could be recalled with a single word.

Rather than being in charge of the exams, Muzuki preferred to organize the second phase of Anbu training; the S-rank reward for the intermediate course was quite good.

But that wasn’t very realistic right now; the Anbu of Konoha were very busy and had no time for training.

Although indifferent to being in charge of the Chunin Exams, this particular Chunin Exams held some significance for Muzuki himself.

Because Shisui was participating in this Chunin Exams.

According to Obito’s experience, if one performed exceptionally well in the Chunin Exams, the rewards could be quite substantial.

Muzuki’s Ice Release and Golden Skyline were both results of Obito’s participation in the Chunin Exams. Besides skills, the Chakra rewards were also considerable.

If there was an opportunity in the future, Muzuki would even want Nagato to participate in Konoha’s Chunin Exams as a Amegakure Ninja.

Although it might seem a bit like bullying, any rewards that could be taken certainly should be.

“Muzuki-sensei, I want to be an examiner!” Obito volunteered excitedly after hearing Muzuki say he would be in charge of the Chunin Exams.

“Not a chief examiner, only a regular examiner,” Muzuki replied after some thought.

Chief examiners generally had to be at least Special Jonin, while regular examiners could be Chunin.

Even for regular examiners, they usually wouldn’t choose Chunin who had just been promoted but rather those with more seniority.

However, Obito had an excellent mission record, and in Konoha, where strength spoke volumes, no one would say anything about him becoming a regular examiner.

Because if one were to compare, most regular examiners’ mission records probably couldn’t even match Obito’s.

Obito and his team had performed many A-rank war missions alongside Minato Namikaze on the battlefield, while regular Chunin usually only undertook C-rank and B-rank missions.

“A regular examiner is fine, I want to be an examiner for the first exam!” Obito’s expression was extremely excited.

Kakashi looked at Obito strangely, momentarily unsure why Obito wanted to be an examiner.

It couldn’t be that after losing the last battle and doing problems for half a month, he became psychologically warped and wanted to watch others do problems and enjoy their pained expressions, could it?

“The Village’s first exam is still too lenient; you can pass just by passing notes,” Obito expressed his dissatisfaction.

“Since it’s meant to test teamwork and information gathering abilities, it should at least be done more discreetly.”

Obito himself had to practice hard to pass the exam back then. He felt that simply receiving a note to pass the exam was too easy and didn’t serve its purpose.

“Let me use my Sharingan to supervise them!” Obito shouted with great vigor.

Kakashi looked at Obito with a face full of black lines. What kind of grudge was this, to use a Sharingan to catch cheating?

“It’s possible, but it’s better not to keep the Sharingan activated throughout, as it will put pressure on the examinees,” Muzuki’s expression was a bit subtle.

Obito’s motivation for wanting to be an examiner was indeed somewhat different from ordinary people.

Shisui’s calm expression remained unchanged; he was absolutely confident in completing the written exam, and it wouldn’t matter even if it was a Byakugan supervising, let alone a Sharingan.

On the day of the Chunin Exams.

Uchiha Tekka, as an examinee, walked into the written exam classroom for the Chunin Exams.

Seeing Obito in the classroom, Uchiha Tekka paused slightly.

“Didn’t he become a Chunin last year? Why is he in the Chunin Exams venue?” Uchiha Tekka felt a bit confused.

As one of the most talented Ninja of the younger generation of the Uchiha Clan Compound, even if Uchiha Tekka hadn’t specifically inquired about Obito, he would have heard some information about him.

Moreover, he had also watched that Chunin Exams, and Uchiha Obito’s strength at the time of the exam was already beyond what a regular Chunin could compare to.

After the chief examiner finished speaking, Obito’s words stunned Uchiha Tekka.

“My eyes will be on you. Sloppy cheating won’t pass the exam,” Obito said, activating his Sharingan, scanning the classroom, and then quickly deactivating it.

Some Ninja with weaker theoretical knowledge saw the bloody gleam in Obito’s eyes and couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

“Hey, hey, is this serious? Having a Sharingan Ninja as an examiner?”

“The person who arranged him as an examiner must be a devil. How can we cheat like this?”

Obito merely revealing his Sharingan for a few seconds had already made the examinees below sweat profusely. They had a premonition that this might be the strictest Chunin Exams they had ever participated in.

“I really didn’t expect Obito to become an examiner. Good thing our theory isn’t bad,” Shiranui Genma said thankfully.

Sharingan supervision, this was a first in the history of Konoha’s Chunin Exams.

Compared to the practical combat phase, the first written exam was relatively less emphasized. Konoha even worried that Ninja wouldn’t know how to do it and would specifically arrange examiners to disguise themselves as students and provide answers.

Ebisu wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and nodded in agreement.

Uchiha Tekka’s mood was very complex now; the former dead last classmate from the same clan had become an examiner, while he was the supervised examinee.

Because of Muzuki’s reminder, Obito wasn’t too arrogant, only occasionally activating his Sharingan to glance around.

However, this still successfully made the first exam of this Chunin Exams unusually calm. Few people made small movements, fearing being caught by Obito’s Sharingan.

When the exam ended, many people breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure Obito’s activated Sharingan put on them was too great.

“As expected of the legendary Sharingan. I didn’t expect Obito could be so intimidating,” a Ninja from Obito’s class couldn’t help but complain.

Due to Obito’s personality, even after he became top of his class, no one would think that Obito in a non-combat state could exert pressure. This time, Obito as an examiner unlocked a brand new image of him for them.

“Genma, Ebisu, was I very cool up there just now?” After the exam, Obito said with a grin, putting his hands on their shoulders.

“Whether you were cool or not is hard to say, but being seen by your Sharingan felt like being suffocated by a constricting python,” Shiranui Genma said honestly.

Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses, finally closing his mouth.

He felt that none of the examinees present would find Obito cool; they would only curse him inwardly.

“Haha, isn’t that pretty cool? I really should have had Rin come and see it,” Obito thought Shiranui Genma’s description was very cool.

Looking at the foolishly grinning Obito, the other classmates decided to retract their previous evaluation. Obito in a non-combat state indeed couldn’t exert pressure; it was just the special identity he held.

Obito didn’t ask Shisui how he did on the exam; Obito was very self-aware about that.

In terms of theoretical scores, the only person among Muzuki’s disciples that Obito could surpass was Might Guy.

Muzuki didn’t make too many changes to the exam format; the second exam was still a team confrontation, testing the students’ ability to cooperate in combat.

Of course, if one person was strong enough, the second exam could also become a solo show.

This time, Muzuki didn’t make it so complicated. There was no need to collect Heaven and Earth scrolls; opponents were decided directly by drawing lots. The winning team advanced to the third exam, while the losing team was eliminated, directly cutting the number of teams in half at this stage.

Shisui not only had solid personal strength, but his teammates, Inuzuka Midori and Aburame Nao, were also quite strong.

If it weren’t for the somewhat special circumstances of the previous Chunin Exams, Inuzuka Midori and Aburame Nao’s overall strength would have been enough to be promoted to Chunin.

Relying on their strong overall strength, Shisui’s team easily defeated their opponents and advanced to the third exam.

The third exam was still the same old individual battles, determined by drawing lots.

Although there were no daimyo or large numbers of officials watching, many Ninja and villagers came to watch the matches.

Coincidentally, the Ninja Academy was on vacation at this time, so some Ninja Academy students also chose to come and watch the matches, learning from the experiences of their seniors.

Anko, Kotetsu Hagane, and Izumo Kamizuki agreed to go to the venue for the third stage of the Chunin Exams together on that day.

“I wonder if Shisui will come to watch the match. He must be eager to hear the good news that I’ve achieved first place in practical combat for my grade,” Anko said, looking around after entering the venue.

Ever since Shisui graduated, Anko finally got rid of her perennial second-place position, successfully securing the top spot in both exams during the first semester of her third year.

“I think everyone else but you doesn’t want to know,” Kotetsu Hagane complained with a speechless expression.

Perhaps it was because she had been in second place for too long, but Anko now emphasized her first-place achievement in practical combat every single day. Kotetsu Hagane’s ears were practically calloused from hearing it. He had scored full marks in theory back then and only showed off for half a semester.

“Some people can get first place in their grade because they have absolute strength, while others can get first place because the original first place graduated early,” Izumo Kamizuki couldn’t help but say.

Anko’s gaze settled on Izumo Kamizuki, and she began to crack her knuckles.

Izumo Kamizuki wasn’t even pretending anymore; he was practically shouting her student ID number.

She couldn’t beat Shisui, but she could certainly deal with a small Izumo Kamizuki, couldn’t she?

“You know, I was talking about Kakashi-senpai. Ever since Kakashi-senpai graduated, there have been many more people in the school whose talent can be compared to Kakashi-senpai’s,” Izumo Kamizuki said without changing his expression.

Although he hadn’t even enrolled when Kakashi was a Chunin, it didn’t stop him from having heard the legends of Kakashi.

After hearing Izumo Kamizuki’s explanation, Anko felt like there was nothing wrong with it.

“Let’s sit down quickly; the exam is about to begin,” Kotetsu Hagane urged.

Izumo Kamizuki silently gave Kotetsu Hagane a thumbs-up. A good brother was indeed reliable.

The venue was bustling with noise, and acquaintances discussed all sorts of miscellaneous things.

“The Ninja World is even more chaotic now than it was over a decade ago; this time, all Five Great Ninja Villages are involved,” someone discussed the current situation of the Ninja World.

“I wonder if this Chunin Exams will see dark horses like Uchiha Obito and Might Guy emerge,” someone wondered about the upcoming battles.

Because Shisui was participating in this Chunin Exams, many Uchiha Ninja also came.

Uchiha Fugaku even brought his son, Uchiha Itachi, to watch the Chunin Exams.

“How about I take Itachi back? It’s too noisy here,” Uchiha Mikoto suggested when she saw Uchiha Itachi frown.

The noise in such a large venue was still a bit difficult for a child to bear.

“He is to become a Ninja in the future; what is it if he cannot tolerate this much noise?” Uchiha Fugaku shook his head, refusing.

He had great expectations for Uchiha Itachi, hoping that Uchiha Itachi could become a genius like Obito and Shisui.

Uchiha Mikoto hesitated to speak, finally just gently stroking Uchiha Itachi’s head.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had always been a hands-off manager, also appeared that day, sitting on the highest level of the venue to watch the exam, while Muzuki stood behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

“You’ve truly worked hard these past few days, Muzuki,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a chuckle, taking the pipe from his mouth.

Although Muzuki didn’t try anything new in the Chunin Exams like he did with the internship, simply conducting it normally like previous years, this was actually a plus in Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes, indicating Muzuki’s stability.

Chunin were already capable of serving as squad leaders, and the Chunin Exams, which allowed Ninja to be promoted to Chunin, was a relatively important event for Konoha.

For an event of this magnitude, not making mistakes was already a significant success.

“I merely gave orders; it wasn’t that much work,” Muzuki replied with a smile.

For most matters, Muzuki only needed to make the final decision, rather than personally doing everything.

Even Shadow Clones couldn’t do that; he would still be very tired after dispelling them, affecting his learning efficiency.

“Number one, Uchiha Shisui versus Uchiha Tekka.”

While the two were chatting, the referee called out the names of the contestants for the first match.

“This Uchiha Shisui is your disciple, Muzuki, isn’t he? How does he compare to Uchiha Obito?” Hiruzen Sarutobi looked towards the center of the venue, an intrigued expression on his face.

Because the Anbu monitored the Uchiha Clan Compound, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Shisui was a genius, but Muzuki didn’t know about the Anbu monitoring the Uchiha. Moreover, Hiruzen Sarutobi also wanted to hear how Muzuki would evaluate his own disciple.

“In combat, they each have their strengths and weaknesses. Obito is better at creating miracles, while Shisui is more thoughtful and calmer in battle,” Muzuki replied after some thought.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded thoughtfully.

“Shisui’s battle is about to begin, Itachi. You must watch carefully; he is the goal you will chase in the future,” Uchiha Fugaku said, pointing towards Shisui’s position.

Uchiha Itachi obediently tried to widen his eyes and looked in the direction Uchiha Fugaku pointed.

Actually, the current Uchiha Itachi didn’t understand why he had to chase Shisui. Shisui wouldn’t snatch his dango like the Grandma in Obito’s stories, but if his father told him to watch carefully, he would watch carefully.