Chapter 440: The Transparent World and the Byakugan

After Obito's injuries fully recovered, he began training with all his might, spending every day except for eating and sleeping on training.

He was a bit stimulated by Might Guy.

When Might Guy forcibly opened the Sixth Gate and then entered the Rock Breathing Chakra Mode, Obito could tell from the aura emanating from Might Guy that the gap between them had grown even larger.

Although this was a technique Might Guy was forced to use when pushed to his limits, Obito knew very well that with Might Guy's diligence, he would soon turn this limit-breaking technique into his normal strength, usually just a few months' time.

Obito felt that even if he made a breakthrough in these few months, he most likely still couldn't reach the strength of Might Guy's Sixth Gate combined with Rock Breathing Chakra Mode.

The Eight Gates with the Sixth Gate opened already greatly enhanced strength, and combined with the Rock Breathing Chakra Mode which also greatly boosts the body, the two together made Might Guy's body terrifyingly inhuman.

So Obito became even more diligent; he didn't want to be left too far behind—at least he had to surpass Kakashi in their internal rivalry.

As for Might Guy, Obito would let him have the title of strongest disciple for a year; after one year, who was stronger would be uncertain.

Obito's self-imposed hellish training was soon forced to stop, because Kakashi's injuries had also fully recovered, and they were to undergo the Jonin exam together.

This caught Obito off guard; he had thought they would wait until Might Guy recovered and all three of them would take the exam together.

After being led to the designated training ground by the exam staff, Obito scanned around and found that besides him and Kakashi, there were two other ninja taking the exam.

Obito didn't know either of them, but from the white eyes of one of the ninja, Obito could tell he was a ninja from the Hyuga clan.

Not only among the examinees, but Obito also noticed that among the examiners there was actually a ninja from the Hyuga clan as well.

"Every formal Konoha Jonin possesses both strength and wisdom. The Jonin exam has two main assessment points: one is the level of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu; the other is theoretical knowledge. In the morning we assess ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu; in the afternoon we assess theoretical knowledge." Hiashi Hyuga stated the general arrangement of the exam in a calm voice.

He was the practical combat examiner for this Jonin exam, responsible for assessing the chunin's application of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu in actual combat.

However, Hiashi Hyuga only had the authority to score and evaluate; he could not decide who would ultimately become a Jonin.

Nominally, only one person in Konoha was qualified to appoint Jonin, and that was the Hokage.

Even for a Special Jonin, the Hokage's signature and seal were required for promotion.

"What? To become a Jonin we actually have to take a theory exam? It's not going to be a written test, is it?" Obito's expression turned very sour.

He had thought becoming a Jonin only required sufficient strength; he never expected they would also assess theoretical knowledge.

"That's right. The assessment will be conducted in the form of a written exam." Hiashi Hyuga nodded.

Although he was in charge of the practical combat portion, he was still aware that the theoretical part was a written test.

Obito's heart sank completely; he couldn't help looking at the few ninja beside him, but found that they were all very calm and showed no emotion about it.

"Even if the questions are a bit difficult and I can't answer them, I can use my Sharingan to copy." Obito was infected by their calmness and became calm as well.

After all, if he couldn't answer, he could still copy; he would just use his Sharingan to copy others' actions at the time.

"The assessment of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu will be conducted in the form of simulated combat. You may use any means at your disposal to attack the examiners. Try to use each of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu somewhat without affecting your combat ability; this will result in a higher final evaluation." Hiashi Hyuga explained the scoring rules for the exam.

Konoha placed great importance on its Jonin's comprehensive strength. Proficiently mastering multiple chakra nature transformations was a big plus in the Jonin exam, and balanced development of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu was also a big plus.

Conversely, if one was too specialized, even if they performed well in combat against the examiners, they might not necessarily become a Jonin.

Of course, there were exceptions to everything.

For example, ninja from clans with special Kekkei Genkai like the Hyuga clan could ignore most of the above rules; they only needed to perform well in practical combat to pass the practical portion.

After all, asking the Hyuga clan to develop comprehensively in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu would be unreasonable—why would they neglect the taijutsu passed down for a thousand years that complemented their Kekkei Genkai to practice ninjutsu instead?

"Next, those whose names I call, step forward and prepare to receive the assessment. The total combat time is fifteen minutes. Losing combat ability before the time is up will result in a deduction of points." The examining Jonin acting as referee beside them said.

"Hyuga Aoba."

After hearing his name, Hyuga Aoba quickly walked to the designated combat area and greeted Hiashi Hyuga with a respectful expression, "Clan Leader."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

He was not unfamiliar with Hyuga Aoba; this was a Hyuga branch family ninja with excellent talent and a high purity Byakugan.

"Begin combat!"

Hyuga Aoba immediately stimulated the chakra in his eyes to activate the Byakugan, causing the veins around his eyes to bulge sharply under the effect of chakra.

Then Hyuga Aoba gathered chakra in his feet and fists and dashed toward Hiashi Hyuga.

By this time, Hiashi Hyuga had already opened his Byakugan and engaged in a battle of Gentle Fist against the attacking Hyuga Aoba.

"The Gentle Fist is truly an insidious taijutsu." Obito, watching the match, complained inwardly.

Although the physical collisions between Hiashi Hyuga and Hyuga Aoba did not look intense, as if there was little force, Obito knew that being hit by the Gentle Fist was no more pleasant than being punched by Might Guy.

Back in the first semester of the fourth grade, Hyuga Hizashi's Gentle Fist had given Obito a lot of trouble, so he would not underestimate the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga clan.

Because this was an examination, Hiashi Hyuga did not use his full strength in the fight; he only used his understanding of the Gentle Fist to evaluate Hyuga Aoba's level of Gentle Fist skill.

After fifteen minutes, the examining jonin announced the end of the match.

However, Hyuga Aoba did not leave; instead, he prepared to watch the others' fights.

Although the jonin examination did not require them to fight each other, Hyuga Aoba was very interested in the abilities of Kakashi and Obito, wanting to see what kind of performance these two geniuses who had recently risen to fame in Konoha would show.

"Sakata Genji." The examining jonin continued to read out the name of the next ninja to be examined.

After Sakata Genji stepped forward, a Konoha jonin from the examiner group walked up and replaced Hiashi Hyuga.

"So it's not one examiner testing everyone." Obito looked as if he suddenly understood.

He had been wondering why there was no break time—otherwise, if the examiner had run into a chunin like Might Guy, then the person examined after Might Guy would just get an easy win.

"Doesn't feel very strong." After watching Sakata Genji's fight for a while, Obito had such a thought.

He was not specifically referring to the examinee Sakata Genji, but felt that both the examiner and the examinee were rather average in strength.

Obito was not familiar with the Gentle Fist and couldn't understand it well, but the jonin examiner used Fire Release, which Obito knew very well; the Fire Release the examiner displayed was not even as good as his.

"Match over. Next, a twenty-minute break." The examining jonin called out punctually after fifteen minutes.

Because of the war, there were not many jonin in Konoha village, and most of them had their own defense missions, so this examination had only three jonin total. The one acting as referee was a special jonin, not qualified to be a combat examiner, so the examiners had to take turns in battle.

"Kakashi, don't you also think the examiner isn't that strong?" Bored, Obito whispered to Kakashi.

Kakashi gave Obito a faint glance. "Which examiner do you mean, the Hyuga clan head or Jonin Mimura?"

Obito was surprised—it sounded like Kakashi actually knew both of them.

"Where did you get to know them?" Obito couldn't help asking, curious about where Kakashi got his information.

He could understand the famously strong ones, but Hiashi Hyuga and Mimura Yomaki were not the kind of powerhouses like Pakura and Minazuki Kan.

"I'm more curious why you don't know. The Byakugan is a Kekkei Genkai on par with the Sharingan. Also, Mimura Yomaki is a jonin with some fame in Konoha; he was once featured in the Konoha News." Kakashi replied with a helpless expression.

He was not Information Kakashi, but Obito was truly a 'keni' (a foolish person).

Regarding jonin from other villages, Kakashi generally only knew those with reputations, like the Suna hero Pakura or the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

As for his own village's jonin, Kakashi knew many, since a ninja village didn't have that many jonin, and narrowing it down to full jonin made the number even smaller.

Obito smiled sheepishly. If there was no one related to him in the newspaper, he could hardly muster interest in reading it—it was too boring.

"I'm talking about that Mimura Yomaki. It feels like his Fire Release isn't as strong as mine." Obito continued the previous topic.

Although Obito didn't know any of them, there were only two combat examiners, one of whom had the Byakugan. Using process of elimination, Obito could figure out that the jonin using Fire Release was the Mimura jonin Kakashi had mentioned.

"Two reasons. First, Jonin Mimura is fighting with the purpose of examination and hasn't used his full strength." Kakashi explained.

"Second, you don't actually think your Fire Release is weak, do you?"

Although Obito often lost badly in internal battles, that didn't mean his Fire Release was weak—rather, the others had superior overall strength.

Kakashi thought that if the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode's boost was factored in, very few people in Konoha could surpass Obito in Fire Release.

Of course, this was only calculating the power of Fire Release when going all out, not actual combat ability. It didn't mean Obito had become a top Fire Release user in Konoha, because when Obito under Flame Breathing Chakra Mode unleashed Fire Release at full power, he quickly ran out of steam.

"Hehe, so you mean my Fire Release is considered strong and excellent among jonin?" A smug smile appeared on Obito's face.

Getting a word of praise from Kakashi was not easy. Obito racked his brains but couldn't recall a single instance of Kakashi praising him.

This made Obito a little smug—since even Kakashi praised him, it meant his Fire Release really was strong.

"It's just that Teacher Muyue taught well. If it weren't for Teacher Muyue's Flame Breathing, how could your Fire Release have that kind of power?" Seeing Obito getting a bit swollen-headed, Kakashi immediately added.

"Of course I know that, so I'm very grateful to Teacher Muyue." Obito admitted generously.

Before Muyue appeared, he was the dead last of the Uchiha. Only after becoming Muyue's student did he gradually become the Uchiha genius of today.

"Also, your Fire Release is strong, but your brain is holding it back. Otherwise, your overall strength should be a bit higher, and you wouldn't have lost so many times." Feeling it wasn't enough, Kakashi added another jab.

Kakashi knows Obito too well; if he says Obito's ninja talent is lacking, Obito just laughs it off, but if he says Obito's brains are lacking, Obito truly gets red-hot.

Obito's face froze, his cheeks gradually turning red, as if a series of "warnings" echoed in the void.

"Damn Kakashi!" Obito roared in his heart; if not for being in the jōnin exam, he would want to gather chakra and land a flaming fist on Kakashi's face.

What Kakashi just said was too harsh; not only did it mock his intelligence, but it also made Obito recall the memory of losing the inner war and doing exam papers, adding pain upon pain.

"Break over, Hatake Kakashi, prepare for battle." The referee jōnin called Kakashi's name.

Kakashi quickly stepped forward to the combat site, and Hyūga Hiashi from the examiner group also stepped forward.

"I wonder how the Transparent World compares to the Byakugan." Looking at Hyūga Hiashi's pure white eyes, Kakashi thought to himself.

The Byakugan can see through things, and the Transparent World can also see through things, but both have other special effects; it can only be said that some abilities are similar.

Hyūga Aoba and Sakata Genji quickly turned their eyes to the battlefield, curious about how Kakashi, this "White Fang Jr.," would perform.

"Begin battle!"

After hearing the referee jōnin's shout, Kakashi immediately focused his breathing and entered the state of the Transparent World.

Actually, the rules of the jōnin exam were somewhat unfavorable for Kakashi and the others, because they were better at fast-paced battles, using powerful bursts to catch opponents off guard; fifteen minutes was even a bit long for them.

But Kakashi was well aware that this was a simulated combat; he didn't need to consider the fastest and most efficient way to defeat his opponent; what he needed to do was to display all of his own strengths.

Kakashi's high consumption was different from Obito's high consumption; Obito's was because the Flame Breathing chakra mode consumed chakra too quickly, while Kakashi's was because lightning-natured chakra electrifying the body required a lot of chakra; it wasn't that the Transparent World consumed a lot.

If Kakashi used the ultimate Lightning Flash Divine Speed, his chakra would actually still be sufficient.

Since his opponent was a ninja not from the Hyūga clan, Hyūga Hiashi did not immediately activate the Byakugan.

But after exchanging two moves with Kakashi, Hyūga Hiashi's expression changed slightly, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Usually, it was he who saw through the enemy's attacks, made the enemy's attacks miss, and seized the opportunity to hit the enemy; but just now, the opposite happened: the palm strike he aimed at Kakashi missed, while Kakashi's fist landed solidly on his body.

It couldn't be that Kakashi, a ten-year-old child, had more taijutsu experience than him, could it? Unwilling to accept it, Hyūga Hiashi did not activate the Byakugan and tried again.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Kakashi unceremoniously used a whirlwind kick, sending Hyūga Hiashi stumbling back three meters.

At this moment, the scene was extremely quiet, and Hyūga Aoba was staring dumbfounded at the sight.