Chapter 441: Jonin Evaluation

"What's going on? The clan leader actually..." Hyuga Aoba said in disbelief.

The Hyuga clan's combat strength is greatly affected if they don't activate the Byakugan, but Kakashi hadn't used any special techniques either; with such basic taijutsu exchanges, Hyuga Hiashi shouldn't have lost.

"As expected of a genius who fought the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist on the battlefield, Hiashi was too careless this time." Mifune Yumaki thought as he watched the training ground.

The dignified clan leader of the Hyuga clan being outmatched in taijutsu by a ten-year-old chunin—no one would believe that news if it got out; it sounded too fake.

"Use the Gentle Fist, give Kakashi a good beating." Obito silently cheered for Hyuga Hiashi in his heart.

He hoped that this clan leader of the Hyuga would show the powerful strength befitting a clan head and thoroughly thrash Kakashi.

As if hearing Obito's thoughts, Hyuga Hiashi gathered chakra in his eyes, and the moment he activated the Byakugan, veins bulged instantly around his eyes, and his aura changed.

Once might be a coincidence, but several exchanges made Hyuga Hiashi realize that Kakashi was no ordinary opponent; if he didn't activate the Byakugan, the one who might lose combat capability early wouldn't be the examinee, but him, the examiner.

However, what surprised Hyuga Hiashi was that even after activating the Byakugan, ordinary taijutsu still couldn't get the better of Kakashi. Kakashi was like an old, battle-hardened ninja, accurately predicting all of Hyuga Hiashi's attacks.

Hyuga Hiashi's Byakugan also saw through Kakashi's movements, and for a moment, the two were locked in a stalemate.

Actually, by this point, Hyuga Hiashi had already given Kakashi a perfect score in taijutsu in his mind, because Kakashi's performance was even better than Hyuga Aoba, who had the Byakugan—this was truly impressive.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

After a brief thought, Hyuga Hiashi gathered chakra and assumed a stance, preparing to use the secret technique of the Hyuga clan's main house. At the same time, the clan's younger members were watching, so he had to regain the face he had just lost.

The Gentle Fist was a secret taijutsu passed down by the Hyuga clan for a thousand years, a taijutsu all Hyuga ninjas had to learn.

However, the branch family only learned the most basic part of the Gentle Fist; above that were advanced techniques only the main family could learn, and the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms was one of them.

"Flash!"

Sensing that Hyuga Hiashi was about to get serious, Kakashi didn't hesitate. He instantly converted all the chakra gathered in his legs into lightning-natured chakra, activating his cells to enhance his body. The moment Hyuga Hiashi swung his palm, Kakashi turned into a bolt of lightning and left the attack range of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, causing Hyuga Hiashi's attack to hit only air.

"Such a fast Lightning Body Flicker."

Hyuga Hiashi suppressed the surprise—which had already struck him countless times—and burst with chakra to pursue.

Just as the two were closing in, Kakashi, who was running, suddenly braked, swiftly drew his White Light Short Blade, and swung it back at the pursuing Hyuga Hiashi.

Hyuga Hiashi's expression remained unchanged as he stopped and halted just outside Kakashi's slashing range. He had already seen through Kakashi's attack based on the changes in Kakashi's muscle movements.

ZZZZ!!

A large amount of lightning-natured chakra flowed from Kakashi's hand into the White Light Short Blade, gradually extending into a lightning blade.

"Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Rotation!"

Sensing the danger, Hyuga Hiashi immediately executed the Hyuga clan's absolute defense, transforming into a continuously spinning chakra sphere that blocked the incoming blade.

Kakashi wasn't disappointed that his attack was blocked again; after all, his opponent was the Hyuga clan leader—it would be abnormal to succeed easily.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness."

Kakashi retreated swiftly, gathered chakra in his mouth, and spat out a lightning great spear aimed at Hyuga Hiashi.

False Darkness required a lot of chakra, so Kakashi rarely used it in actual combat because it wasn't as cost-effective as Lightning Release blade techniques.

But this was a simulated battle; the goal wasn't to win but to pass the exam, so Kakashi used False Darkness, a high-level Lightning Release technique, to demonstrate his lightning release ninjutsu proficiency.

"Eight Trigrams Air Wall Palm!"

Facing the fierce lightning great spear, Hyuga Hiashi immediately burst chakra and used his most powerful taijutsu.

The Eight Trigrams Air Wall Palm was actually a combination taijutsu—two people releasing the Eight Trigrams Air Palm simultaneously formed the Eight Trigrams Air Wall Palm—but Hyuga Hiashi had trained the Eight Trigrams Air Palm to such mastery and had such powerful chakra that he could perform the Eight Trigrams Air Wall Palm alone.

Whoosh!!

Boom!!

A terrifying shockwave was generated. The trees around Hyuga Hiashi were flattened by the fearsome impact, and the gale-force wind from the powerful shock made the trees in the training ground rustle loudly.

Swoosh!

Without hesitation, Kakashi immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to relocate.

The next moment, the shockwave shattered the lightning great spear and struck the ground where Kakashi had just stood, creating a crater.

"It's still a bit difficult for me to defeat a jonin of this level alone right now. If it were Gai, he might stand a chance." Kakashi thought as he looked at the destruction caused by Hyuga Hiashi's taijutsu.

For Kakashi, Hiashi Hyuga was a very troublesome opponent. With a high-purity, high-proficiency Byakugan and a Gentle Fist that was both offense and defense, Hiashi Hyuga seemed to have no openings.

Kakashi completely gave up on the idea of defeating the examiner to end the battle, taking the exam in the manner of an ordinary examinee, doing his best to display his abilities in all areas.

Taijutsu, Lightning Release ninjutsu, Lightning Release sword technique, Earth Release ninjutsu, Genjutsu — within these fifteen minutes, Kakashi used all the abilities he had mastered.

"If it's him, he might even surpass Lord White Fang." Mimura Yokan praised in his heart.

He was a veteran jōnin, having become a jōnin during the Second Great Ninja War.

Mimura Yokan had once seen White Fang reaping enemies on the battlefield; due to the overwhelming impact, he still couldn't forget it to this day.

When Mimura Yokan saw White Fang wielding a short blade and slaughtering enemy ninja forces like cutting melons and chopping vegetables, he then understood what a true genius was.

Mimura Yokan had also been praised as a genius, but after that, he considered himself at best merely talented, far from a true genius.

But even White Fang, who had given Mimura Yokan such a great shock, still wasn't as good as Kakashi now. At least, Mimura Yokan had never heard of White Fang being able to go back and forth with an excellent Konoha jōnin at the age of ten.

"Uchiha Obito." The proctor jōnin read out the name of the last examinee.

Mimura Yokan put away the thoughts in his mind and walked into the battlefield, preparing to conduct the combat examination.

Hiashi Hyuga had given him a reminder: when facing these geniuses who were different from ordinary people, never be careless, otherwise you might lose face.

"Finally, it's my turn." Obito stretched his body and walked into the field.

At this time, Obito was a little anxious; he wanted to finish early and go back to read.

With his Sharingan, it wouldn't be hard for him to cheat, but Obito would still try to work hard first; cheating was a last resort.

Although reading now might seem a bit late, Obito felt that he had accumulated some experience from doing tests usually, and if he read a bit more on the fly, he might just barely scrape a passing grade.

"If the examinee loses combat ability before fifteen minutes, points are deducted. If the examinee defeats the examiner before fifteen minutes, is that considered a normal end to the battle or how is it calculated?" Obito asked directly.

Normally, an examinee defeating the examiner would definitely be a bonus. But just in case, Obito still asked. If he didn't fail the theory but failed the practical, Obito would be really pissed.

"It will be a high score." Mimura Yokan answered with a faint smile.

Currently, there hadn't been any case of an examinee defeating the examiner in the jōnin exam. After all, jōnin qualified to be examiners for the jōnin exam were not ordinary jōnin. If an examinee had the strength to defeat them, logically they should have become jōnin long ago.

"Then you'd better be careful, Uncle. My flames are strong." Obito thought Mimura Yokan had a good attitude, so he kindly warned him.

"After all, you're a genius." Mimura Yokan did not dismiss it, but instead took note.

"Begin battle!" the proctor jōnin shouted.

"Flame Breathing, total concentration!"

Obito quickly focused his breathing, then, while retreating, gathered chakra in his throat and released a Fire Release ninjutsu.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A large amount of high-temperature flame was expelled from Obito's mouth, rapidly forming a giant fireball five meters tall that hurtled toward Mimura Yokan.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!

Immediately after, Obito activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and rapidly threw shuriken to block Mimura Yokan's evasive positions, forcing Mimura Yokan to take his Great Fireball head-on.

Mimura Yokan was, after all, an experienced veteran jōnin. He held a kunai to block some of the shuriken and used the nearby trees to block others. With a few agile movements, he dodged out of Obito's attack net.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Mimura Yokan leaped onto a tree, springing from tree to tree while spitting out numerous fist-sized fireballs at Obito.

Because he struck from high ground, those fireballs formed a fire net from different angles. Even Obito with his Sharingan couldn't completely dodge.

Upon learning this, Obito directly gave up on dodging. Compared to defense and evasion, he was still better at offense.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A large amount of chakra in Obito's throat was all converted into fire-natured chakra in one go, then turned into high-temperature flame and expelled by Obito.

The continuously expelled flame quickly formed a small sea of fire. Under Obito's control, the fire sea split into three fire dragons that rose up like a wall of fire, setting across in front of him to block all the incoming fireballs.

"His control over Fire Release is indeed impressive." Mimura Yokan nodded inwardly. Being able to control a high-level offensive Fire Release this way was no small feat.

"And its power is also extraordinary." When the fire dragons came, Mimura Yokan found that Obito's flames were very hot.

"But if this is all, it's not enough to defeat me." Mimura Yokan released the large amount of chakra he had gathered.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

A huge, thick wall of earth suddenly rose before Mimura Yōkan, completely blocking the incoming flames. Although its surface became charred black, it still stood firm.

Besides Fire Release, Mimura Yōkan was also skilled in Earth Release. In battle, he usually liked to attack with Fire Release and defend with Earth Release.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Mimura Yōkan leaped onto the Earth Flow Wall, formed hand seals, and spat a fire dragon at Obito.

Obito was no stranger to this technique—it was the first Fire Release jutsu he had learned from Mu Yue.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Obito ultimately chose to use the same technique to test Mimura Yōkan's Fire Release skill.

When the same nature transformation and the same jutsu clashed, if you lost, there was no excuse—it was simply a lack of strength.

Boom!!

The two fire dragons collided, causing a violent explosion. A dazzling red light flared, and in the end, both dragons vanished simultaneously, leaving only scorched earth behind.

"No wonder these two are the geniuses who killed Suikazan Hebigiri together—they're too strong," Sakata Genji couldn't help but exclaim as he watched.

The result of this jutsu showdown almost proved that Obito's Fire Release was no worse than Mimura Yōkan's.

Although Mimura Yōkan was not a jonin famous for his strength, he was still an experienced veteran jonin. Sakata Genji felt that Obito had already passed the practical assessment at this point—with such performance, he was surely getting high marks.

"Old man's Fire Release is not weak either, but I still have one final trump card." Obito showed a pleased expression after seeing the dragons cancel each other out.

Mimura Yōkan's Fire Release was about the same level as his in Total Concentration state—then he would definitely be inferior to Obito's Fire Release under the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.

Obito silently pushed the Flame Breathing to its limit and entered the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, his chakra continuously being consumed and transformed into power that strengthened his body.

After entering the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, Obito charged straight at Mimura Yōkan without any guard.

Mimura Yōkan looked at Obito, who was full of openings, and felt something was off. Given Obito's performance just now, he shouldn't have been so reckless.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Obito didn't form hand seals—simply with a thought, the chakra in his throat instantly transformed into flames and he spat it out.

Swish, swish!!

At the same time, Obito's hands weren't idle; he threw shuriken at extremely tricky angles.

"Seal-less release, using a jutsu while throwing shuriken?" Mimura Yōkan was startled.

In his over twenty years as a ninja, he had never seen such a flashy move. Not using hand seals was one thing, but using a jutsu while simultaneously handling shuriken?

After all, using a jutsu required mental effort to control the chakra in the body. Mimura Yōkan truly couldn't understand how Obito managed such an operation—being able to multitask by planning shuriken throws while using a jutsu.

Obito wasn't just casually throwing the shuriken, something anyone with hands could do—he was using the Uchiha's special shuriken throwing technique, which required brainpower.

Caught off guard, Mimura Yōkan was sent into a fluster by Obito's attacks. Fortunately, his experience was rich enough that he adjusted in time and only suffered minor superficial injuries.

"He's using the Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, huh?" Kakashi saw through Obito's current state at a glance.

If Kakashi had mastered the Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode, he wouldn't use it during the jonin exam, because once used, there were only two possibilities: either he would lose combat capability after fifteen minutes, or he would defeat the examiner.

An ordinary performance would be a more stable way to pass the exam.

However, their opponents were different. Kakashi thought Obito had a good chance; Mimura Yōkan was older than Hyūga Hiashi, but his strength was inferior to Hiashi's.