Chapter 443 You Are the Challenger

Obito, who had entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, gave Mimurabe Ketsu a very unusual feeling.

Before entering Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Obito’s performance was still that of a genius, but it was within Mimurabe Ketsu’s acceptable range.

However, after Obito activated Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Mimurabe Ketsu had a misconception that he was the examinee and Obito was the examiner.

It was no wonder Mimurabe Ketsu would have such an outrageous thought; Obito’s demonstrated abilities simply exceeded his comprehension.

He could release Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique without hand signs while simultaneously using Shuriken to seal off Mimurabe Ketsu’s escape routes. Obito could even attach flames to his body and use a Fire Release body technique that Mimurabe Ketsu had never seen before.

“Fire Release: Flame Fist!”

Under Mimurabe Ketsu’s bewildered gaze, Obito’s fist erupted in a large amount of flames and he charged forward, then punched the large tree next to Mimurabe Ketsu, breaking it.

At this point, Mimurabe Ketsu had completely lost the ability to use Fire Release to counteract Obito’s Fire Release.

The two of them simultaneously released a fireball, but Obito’s fireball surged forward, engulfing Mimurabe Ketsu’s fireball and continuing to smash towards Mimurabe Ketsu, who could only awkwardly dodge after his clash failed.

“What’s going on? Did he not use his full power before?” Mimurabe Ketsu was utterly bewildered.

Just a moment ago, their Fire Release techniques were evenly matched, but Obito’s Fire Release suddenly became much stronger.

“I don’t have much Chakra left. I’ll have to use my full power next.” Obito saw that Mimurabe Ketsu was still stubbornly resisting and decided to use his most powerful Fire Release.

After all, Mimurabe Ketsu was not just any ordinary Jonin; if this dragged on, Obito would truly lose his fighting capability due to lack of Chakra.

“Uncle, be careful next; I’m going to use my ultimate move.” Before attacking, Obito kindly warned him.

He wasn’t very proficient with this technique either, so he couldn’t control it like Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

Mimura Ketsu’s face suddenly changed; he was already this strong and not even at full power? Who was the Chunin, and who was the examinee?

“Fire Release: Great Flame Ring – Flame Emperor!”

Obito unleashed all his Chakra, raising both hands, as circles of flames appeared at his feet, rapidly forming a spiraling sea of fire.

Immediately after, the flames from the ground quickly surged towards Obito’s hands, forming a fireball. The fireball continuously expanded and grew, eventually becoming a super-large fireball over ten meters tall, looking extremely terrifying.

Obito would call Great Flame Ring – Flame Emperor a Super Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique Max; this Fire Release had nothing else going for it except immense firepower and destructive power.

The dazzling firelight emitted by the gigantic fireball illuminated the entire examination area, turning everything crimson. Mimurabe Ketsu and the observing Ninja were all staring in shock at the terrifyingly powerful fireball.

“How can one cultivate Nature Transformation to such a level in such a short amount of time?” Sakata Genji felt an overwhelming sense of defeat.

Compared to Obito, his Ninjutsu, which he had cultivated for over ten years, seemed like a joke.

“Such a powerful Fire Release! If it were me, I’d probably be burned to death directly.” Hyuga Qingyu imagined himself fighting Obito and realized he had no chance of winning.

One could only say that there were differences even among examinees; some examinees were being evaluated by the examiner, while others were evaluating the examiner.

“It all comes down to this one Ninjutsu.” Kakashi stared at the battleground.

After releasing Flame Emperor, Obito’s Chakra was almost completely depleted. If he couldn’t defeat Mimurabe Ketsu, then Obito would end the battle by losing his fighting ability fifteen minutes earlier.

“No wonder he told me to be careful.” Cold sweat dripped from Mimurabe Ketsu’s forehead as he looked at the incredibly exaggerated super-large fireball.

The scorching heat waves, like ocean waves, silently declared that this fireball was not just a slightly larger Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”

Mimura Ketsu first gathered a large amount of Chakra to perform Earth Release Nature Transformation, controlling the ground to create a tall, thick earth wall.

Immediately after, Mimurabe Ketsu rapidly retreated. He had no confidence in his Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall and didn’t believe that a single Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall could block this terrifyingly powerful gigantic fireball.

Although Mimurabe Ketsu tried his best to overestimate the power of Flame Emperor, when the gigantic fireball struck, Mimurabe Ketsu realized he had still underestimated it.

Boom!!

The moment the fireball touched the Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, a violent explosion and a flash of fire appeared, followed by a roar, and for a moment, dirt and rocks flew, and dust filled the air.

Mimura Ketsu had never expected a single Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall to block the attack, but he also hadn’t expected his full-power Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall to shatter on impact, as if it were a piece of tofu that crumbled when squeezed.

Mimura Ketsu’s face became very grim; the fireball, having broken through the Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, continued to hurtle towards him.

Given the size of Flame Emperor, Mimurabe Ketsu didn’t need to calculate carefully to know that he absolutely could not escape Flame Emperor’s attack range.

“Hiashi Jonin, it’s our turn to act, otherwise Ketsu might be seriously injured.” The referee Jonin said to Hyuga Hiashi while gathering Chakra.

There weren’t many Konoha Jonin left at the moment, and it would be a shame if one was severely injured because of an exam.

Hyuga Hiashi nodded, striking a pose and extending both hands, ready to perform Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm Wall.

“Water Release: Water Formation Wall!”

The referee Jonin formed hand signs and spewed out a stream of water to weaken Flame Emperor’s terrifying fire power.

“Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!”

Seeing this, Kakashi also stepped in to help, gathering Chakra to raise an earth wall to help block the fireball.

With the combined efforts of the three, Mimurabe Ketsu successfully escaped danger, avoiding the outcome of being severely injured by Flame Emperor.

Obito, who had finished releasing Flame Emperor, was breathing heavily. Currently, his Chakra was only enough to release Flame Emperor once, and combined with some Chakra consumed earlier, he was essentially drained.

“Huff, huff, Uncle, how should this be counted now? We’re not still going to fight for fifteen minutes, are we?” Obito adjusted his breathing, then asked Mimurabe Ketsu.

Obito was truly done for now; if they continued to fight, he could only lie down for Mimurabe Ketsu to see.

“The battle ends early; you win.” Mimurabe Ketsu sighed, saying with a melancholic expression.

Even the other examiners and the referee had intervened in the battle, so how could they possibly continue? Mimurabe Ketsu wasn’t that thick-skinned.

Defeated by a ten-year-old Chunin examinee in his capacity as an examiner, Mimurabe Ketsu’s mood was extremely complex at this moment.

Fortunately, the Jonin examination wasn’t like the Chunin Exams, with a crowd of people watching, otherwise he would truly be too ashamed to stay in the Ninja World.

“Yay! So, can I go back now?” Obito excitedly pumped his fist; the operation was a great success, and his path to Jonin had advanced a big step.

“Yes, you can all go back now. Just come back at 2 PM for the written exam.” Mimurabe Ketsu nodded.

Hearing Mimurabe Ketsu’s positive reply, Obito sprinted home and began his review journey.

“It’s too late to start worrying now.” Kakashi looked at Obito’s full-speed sprint with a hint of speechlessness.

Although he hadn’t participated in a Jonin examination, Kakashi knew without thinking that the difficulty was absolutely incomparable to the Chunin Exams’ written test.

The answer was simple: because Jonin and Chunin were completely different concepts. The distance between Chunin and Jonin was several times greater than that between a Ninja Academy student and a Chunin.

Normal Ninja Academy students could generally be promoted to Chunin within eight years after graduation, but most Chunin couldn’t become Jonin, not even Special Jonin, after eighteen years.

“Even if I don’t pass the examination, it’s not a loss; I’ve seen the true strength of a genius.” Sakata Genji thought to himself.

Obito and Kakashi were already so talented that he couldn’t even bring himself to try and catch up. He was almost a generation older than them, yet the difference in strength was so vast; how could he possibly catch up?

“If only I could learn Rotation and Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm.” Hyuga Qingyu recalled Kakashi’s battle with Hyuga Hiashi, a hint of longing in his eyes.

Although Gentle Fist’s Chakra disruption effect was strong, lacking long-range attack methods in battle was a great disadvantage. Moreover, because the branch family had the Caged Bird seal, their Byakugan actually had a very small blind spot, and the absolute defense of Rotation could greatly compensate for this deficiency.

…

After returning home, Obito locked himself in his room and immersed himself in reading.

Of course, Obito couldn’t truly immerse himself; he was just forcing himself to read and memorize.

For him, reading was not a good thing; it was a tedious process that required immense patience to endure.

The only books Obito could immerse himself in were Ninja novels. He particularly loved Ninja novels where the protagonist was an ordinary person or a dead last with no Ninja talent who defied the odds to become the Ninja World’s savior.

Such novels had many classic tropes, such as finding ancient secret techniques in a library that no one else discovered, a worn-out Ninja tool bought from a Ninja tool shop turning out to be a legendary Six Paths Sage’s Ninja tool, and finally, the indispensable defeat of the villain and rescue of the princess.

“But rescuing the princess is usually in the mid-game. Next is saving the world. Speaking of which, I’ve also saved a princess before. When will it be my turn to save the world? The world feels like a giant Ninja novel.” Obito thought about Ninja novels as he read.

“No, I’m supposed to be studying and reviewing!” Obito, snapping back to reality, ran his hands through his hair.

Obito was a bit confused himself; how could his mind drift to Ninja novels while looking at “Ninja Tactics”?

Obito shook his head, seemingly wanting to shake all distracting thoughts out of his mind and then focus completely on his review.

When Obito’s alarm clock rang, he stood up with a confident expression. After several hours of studying, he was terrifyingly confident now.

“Obito, good luck with your exam.” His grandmother said with a smile to Obito, who was about to leave.

“I’ll pass.” Obito patted his chest, answering confidently.

With his Sharingan and having reviewed, it was simply too stable.

“After the exam, you can spend more time with Rin. Cultivation and studying should also be moderate. My body is getting weaker and weaker. I wonder if I’ll be able to see you have your own child before I pass away.” After speaking, his grandmother sighed.

Obito’s face instantly turned red. To have a child, wouldn’t he have to do *that* with Rin? It was too desirable—oh, no, it was too unhealthy!

“Grandma, you’re thinking too much. I’m only ten! Besides, Grandma, you’ll definitely live a long life.” Obito replied, blushing.

“Grandma, I can’t talk anymore; I’m going to the exam.”

Obito, fearing his grandmother would say something else that would make him blush, fled as if escaping.

The location of the written exam was also the Training Ground from the morning, but it wasn’t outdoors; it was inside a seemingly ordinary wooden house.

“Next, those whose names are called will follow their examiner. The written part is separate; each of you will take the exam in a different private room.” The examiner said after Obito and the others entered the wooden house.

“Huh?” Obito was dumbfounded after hearing the rules. Each person would have a private room? Then his Sharingan would be useless!

The old Obito believed Sharingan was far superior to Byakugan, but the current Obito strongly wished he had a Byakugan, because Byakugan could see through things.

“Uchiha Obito, do you have any questions?” The examiner asked, seeing Obito’s confused expression.

“No, I’m just a bit surprised. One person per room seems like a waste of space.” Obito thought for a moment and said.

“Alright then, Kakashi Hatake, step forward.” The examiner looked at his handwritten list and said.

Hearing his name, Kakashi followed the examiner to his designated examination room.

“Hyuga Qingyu.”

“Uchiha Obito.”

The other examiners also called out the names of the students they needed to evaluate, leading them to their respective examination rooms.

“Good thing I reviewed at home. If I had only relied on my Sharingan, I definitely wouldn’t have passed this time.” Obito felt lucky that he had worked hard today.

When Obito saw the test paper in his hand, sweat involuntarily started secreting from his forehead. The difficulty was a bit high.

【You are a Jonin leading a team on a classified S-rank Mission. Although you successfully obtained the required confidential documents, you are now surrounded by enemies. Based on the map in Figure 1, plan the optimal route and breakthrough tactics, and explain your reasoning.】

Obito glanced at the diagram and pondered for a while, hesitant to start writing. This map was a bit complicated; he couldn’t quite understand it.

“Forget it, Muzuki-sensei said to skip questions I can’t do first; I can’t waste time.” Obito recalled Muzuki’s words, gave up on the first question, and moved to the second.

【There are two tasks, A and B, to be completed by Ninja Squad A and Ninja Squad B, respectively. On a sunny day, Ninja Squad A takes 12 days to complete a task, and Ninja Squad B takes 15 days. On a rainy day, Ninja Squad A’s work efficiency decreases by 50%, and Ninja Squad B’s work efficiency decreases by 25%. Both Ninja Squads start simultaneously and complete both tasks. How many sunny days were there during the completion of the tasks?】

Upon seeing the second question, Obito’s vision blurred. This was precisely his weakest subject, mathematics! If he got anxious, he might be able to defeat a Jonin, but no matter how anxious he got, he couldn’t solve a math problem.

Obito decisively skipped to the next question and instantly felt numb; compared to the others, the second question was actually the simplest math problem.

When Obito skipped five consecutive questions and saw the history question as the sixth, he showed an excited expression. He knew this one too well!

Obito had never felt that a history question could be so adorable. He wished the entire test paper would turn into history questions.

Happy times are always short-lived. After finishing the history questions, Obito’s heart sank as he looked at the questions that followed. This exam was not going to be easy.

“Muzuki Sage, please grant me the supreme wisdom to answer these questions.” Obito closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and prayed devoutly.

“Examinee, please do not make strange movements and focus on the exam.” The examiner knocked on the table, interrupting his prayer.