Chapter 26: Selection

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Selection

Guy possessed no kekkei genkai of his own, but as someone who had devoted himself to mastering the Strong Fist, his powers of observation were by no means weak. With Hyuga Kagami using Wheel of Will at such close range, there was naturally no way to hide it from him.

However, Guy didn’t think too deeply about it. Hearing Kagami call it a secret technique, he immediately exclaimed in admiration, "I didn’t even notice when you activated it. That secret technique of yours is amazing!"

Like Pain’s Shinra Tensei, the strength of Wheel of Will lay in the fact that it required no hand seals and could be activated entirely at will. The instant the thought arose, the technique could be unleashed.

Someone who knew nothing about it could very easily be caught off guard the first time they encountered it.

Back then, even an expert as powerful as Sasori had been caught unprepared, allowing Hyuga Kagami to seize the Third Kazekage Human Puppet from him in a single move and instantly turn the entire battle around.

At this point, Kagami’s smile disappeared. With a serious expression, he warned, "Remember, this is my secret. You’re not allowed to tell anyone else about it, not even our comrades in the village!"

Protecting the secret of Wheel of Will was also one of the reasons Kagami had chosen not to capture the mission targets alive, instead killing them on the spot.

Guy nodded. "I understand. I won’t tell anyone."

When it came to Guy, Hyuga Kagami was fairly reassured. Although the guy often looked somewhat ridiculous and comical, at heart, he was actually a ninja who took rules and promises very seriously.

After returning to the village, Hyuga Kagami and Guy headed straight for the Mission Center.

Once they had turned in the mission, the Mission Center raised Kagami’s team’s authorization level yet again, granting him access to all high-difficulty A-rank missions, including assassination missions.

That was because Kagami had performed exceptionally well on this mission.

Not only had he swiftly eliminated every mission target, he had also brought back the corpse of a Kirigakure ninja with a kekkei genkai. It could be said that he had gone above and beyond the mission requirements.

To a certain extent, a ninja’s corpse was itself a source of intelligence.

The corpses of kekkei genkai users were especially valuable for research. Because of this, during wartime, the major ninja villages had all formed specialized corpse-retrieval squads whose sole purpose was to collect the bodies of kekkei genkai users left behind on the battlefield for research.

Over the next few months, Hyuga Kagami and Guy practically turned into mission maniacs. Despite being only chunin, the two of them completed two A-rank missions and five B-rank missions in succession. Their remarkable efficiency even made them minor celebrities within the village.

The receptionists at the Mission Center had even begun proactively screening missions for Kagami, making things more convenient for him.

After completing yet another B-rank mission, Kagami was on his way home when he suddenly felt as though someone was watching him...

Without showing any reaction, he quietly surveyed his surroundings, his brows furrowing slightly.

The streets around him were bustling with people, but there was no one secretly observing him from the shadows. Of that, Kagami—possessing the Tenseigan—was absolutely certain.

And yet, the sensation of being watched remained.

That couldn’t help but leave him puzzled.

Very quickly, a certain secret technique came to mind—

A secret technique the Third Hokage had once used.

Telescope Technique!

"Is the Third Hokage spying on me? Looks like all my hard work lately has finally brought me to his attention!"

After guessing that it was probably the Third Hokage observing him, Hyuga Kagami stopped paying much attention to it.

The Third Hokage’s surveillance was clearly part of an evaluation before deciding whether to make use of Kagami. Otherwise, given the village’s current situation, the Third Hokage was far too busy with official duties to waste time observing a mere chunin.

This occasional surveillance continued for roughly a month.

Kagami had always been cautious to begin with. After realizing that the Third Hokage might be watching him, he became even more careful. He displayed no unusual behavior whatsoever, spending every day doing one mission after another. Because of that, he was confident the Third Hokage wouldn’t uncover anything suspicious about him.

Sure enough, before long, Hyuga Kagami received an internal assessment notice for promotion to Special Jonin.

Special Jonin could already be considered part of the village’s upper-level combat forces. Although the village could mobilize more than ten thousand ninja during wartime, in reality, there were only a few hundred jonin in total, even when Special Jonin were included.

In other words, out of every hundred ninja in the village, only a handful were Jonin or Special Jonin. The remaining ninety-plus were all Chunin and Genin.

Such a ratio meant that Special Jonin were firmly part of the command structure. During wartime, a single Special Jonin could even command several four-man squads on a mission.

The assessment was being held at an ANBU base.

And when Hyuga Kagami arrived, he spotted quite a few familiar faces.

Among them were Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Iruka, Anko Mitarashi, Genma Shiranui, Hayate Gekko, and many other chunin around his age. There were also plenty of elite chunin who had already reached middle age.

He even spotted a genius of the Uchiha clan who was several years younger than him—

Shisui Uchiha.

From a distance, Guy shouted, "Kagami, over here! Over here!"

Hyuga Kagami walked over and greeted the group of former classmates gathered together.

In the past, Kagami would have felt somewhat uncomfortable around this group. After all, being a ninja was a profession where strength mattered greatly. Without strength, even former classmates wouldn’t necessarily grow close to you.

But now, Kagami could interact with them calmly and naturally.

In terms of mentality, he even faintly felt as though he were looking down on them from a higher vantage point.

Seeing Kagami’s completely unruffled expression, Asuma pulled a face and asked, "Hey, I heard you and Guy completed several A-rank missions together. Is that really true?"

At Asuma’s words, Kurenai, Iruka, Anko, and the others immediately crowded around. Clearly, they were curious about it as well.

Kagami nodded. "Yeah."

Guy burst into hearty laughter. "See? I told you I wasn’t lying! We really did complete several A-rank missions!"

As someone who was constantly being mocked by everyone else, Guy had always been the one forced to listen to other people brag.

Today, it was finally his turn to show off for once, so naturally, he was in an exceptionally good mood.

Having Guy—the dead last of all people—brag in front of them naturally didn’t leave the others feeling particularly pleased. A competitive spirit immediately rose in their hearts.

And as the conversation continued, the topic inevitably shifted toward the upcoming Special Jonin assessment.

Asuma glanced around before lowering his voice and saying to the others beside him, "I heard there are more than two hundred chunin taking this assessment, but there are only around fifteen spots for Special Jonin!"

"Hiss..."

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

More than two hundred people competing for only around fifteen positions meant that roughly thirteen or fourteen people were fighting for each spot. The intensity of the competition was easy to imagine.

Iruka said dejectedly, "Looks like I don’t stand a chance."

Genma and Hayate sighed as well. Clearly, they were just as lacking in confidence as Iruka.

Seeing Iruka and the others sighing in defeat, Asuma looked dissatisfied. "Hey, can’t you guys have a little confidence? That bastard Kakashi is already a Jonin! How can we be getting discouraged over a mere Special Jonin assessment?!"

As the Hokage’s son, being constantly overshadowed by Kakashi had always been a sore spot for Asuma. Sometimes, the Third Hokage would even use Kakashi as an example when lecturing him, which frustrated Asuma to no end.

Guy, who shared the same sore spot, clenched his fist and agreed enthusiastically, "That’s right! We have to catch up to Kakashi!"

Meanwhile, Hyuga Kagami took the opportunity to observe the other competitors.

After roughly counting them, he confirmed that there really were more than two hundred chunin participating in the assessment. However, among them, there was practically no one whose chakra reserves exceeded his own.

Because of that, Kagami remained quite confident in his chances.

At that moment, Shisui Uchiha walked over and said, "Senpai, thank you for looking after Itachi before. He’s mentioned you to me several times and said that you’re an exceptionally outstanding ninja!"

Hyuga Kagami studied him for a moment. "You’re Shisui Uchiha?"

Shisui replied somewhat apologetically, "Please forgive my rudeness, Senpai. Yes, I’m Shisui Uchiha."