"Congratulations to all of you for making it this far."
"The fact that you are standing in front of me today means you have overcome a year of grueling Anti-Personnel combat training, completed your academy missions, grown stronger, and successfully held your positions and privileges as S-class students."
A gentle, soothing voice echoed through the air, reaching the ears of all the students present in a large, open training ground at the Central Ninja Academy.
The speaker was a seemingly gentle woman in her late twenties. She had a trained figure and a moderately beautiful face. A pair of glasses rested on her nose bridge, making her facial features even more delicate.
But none of the students dared to take her lightly, including Seimei.
Because behind the delicate features hid a ruthless Elite Jonin, who was going to decide their practical assessment topic.
She was the head of the Anti-Personnel Combat Division—Iori Nanako.
She was a fearsome ninja on the battlefield and a strict instructor.
Although she looked gentle now, she was also the main culprit behind all the abnormal practical assessments over the years, making the students, including Seimei, wary of her.
Seimei knew that this Nanako-sensei carefully hid gunpowder behind her smile, ready to explode at a moment's notice.
Who knew what kind of absurd practical assessment this madwoman planned this year?
Seimei, Reina, and the minority of the students who had already achieved at least Jonin-level skills were relatively at ease.
But the other students?
Their postures were rigid. They were practically sweating as they stood before her.
Iori Nanako scanned the crowd of 15 students. Of course, more S-class students had signed up for the Anti-Personnel Combat Division this year.
But to conduct the assessment smoothly, they had divided the students into multiple batches, each containing fifteen students.
They had decided to assess one batch per day.
Seimei, Reina, Shikamo, and Haneda happened to be the ones getting spots in the first batch of S-class students today.
After scanning the students, Nanako pushed the frame of the glasses up on her nose bridge with her left index finger. The glasses seemed to reflect the light at that moment, momentarily obscuring her eyes.
She said, "Alright. I know you are curious about the assessment format. So, I will get to the point."
Hearing this, the students tensed even more.
Nanako obviously saw this and chuckled. "Don't worry. The assessment is very simple this time."
"So, you won't need all that heavy backpack or anything too outrageous. Yes, I am talking to you, Mitokado Daichi."
Mitokado Daichi, one of the fifteen students of the first batch, felt a little embarrassed for being singled out.
His face was flushed as he quietly put the oversized backpack down from his shoulders.
"Heh!"
Nanako chuckled again before adopting an amused expression.
"Anyway, back to the point. The topic of the assessment isn't complex at all."
"You just have to participate in a single one-on-one combat."
"Your combat partners would be none other than a few selected official ninjas of Konoha."
"The only twist: we have picked opponents who counter the art, aspect, or technique you are most proficient in."
"Once you are stripped of your biggest advantage, you will be forced to rethink your combat strategies. And that's exactly what we would like to see."
Iori Nanako stopped. She gave the students a few moments to digest the gravity of their situations.
A few moments later, Nanako spoke again. Her voice was tinged with a hint of coldness.
"Can you create real-time combat strategies against a formidable opponent who counters your core skills and prevail?"
"Or…"
"Will you panic and be crushed under uncertainties and relentless assault?"
"Let's find out. Shall we?"
As soon as she finished saying her last words, she radiated a tide of chakra outward, making the already tense atmosphere even more oppressive.
The weaker students gulped a mouthful of saliva nervously.
And then Nanako lifted the oppressive chakra herself, clapped her hands together, and shifted back to her gentle, harmless demeanor.
"Alright. Let the assessment begin."
Seeing this, Seimei's lips twitched in exasperation.
Damn! This woman…
She changes her expression and demeanor faster than my eyes can blink. Isn't she a perfect spy and infiltration material?
If Danzo from the original anime saw her, he would immediately invite her to Root.
[Danzo in the original Naruto anime: ♨︎_♨︎ (Eyes blazing in greed at the prospect of finding another super spy like Yakushi Nono.)]
Fortunately, this world has no Root division. One ANBU is enough—no need for another secret organization within Konoha.
Seimei mused.
At the same time, Iori Nanako was reading the details of each student standing before her.
She held a sheet containing details on every student's strengths, weaknesses, known Jutsu, strongest chakra nature transformation affinities, combat tactics, and battle habits.
It also had the students' academy mission records and a detailed analysis of individual performance during the Anti-Personnel division classes.
Those details helped her find the right official ninjas to pit the students against and evaluate the key details during the assessment.
Iori Nanako put the sheets aside and said, "We have selected your opponents carefully, so don't be alarmed."
"What you have to do here is simple: Fight your opponent with all your might."
"Your goal is to last for five minutes against your opponent or defeat them outright within that timeframe."
Nanako's voice had a mischievous undertone as she continued, "Though I doubt you will achieve the second goal. If you do, I will give you full marks. I promise you that."
"Well, that's it about the assessment theme."
"Any questions?"
The students either remained silent or shook their heads.
Nanako smiled and said, "No questions? Good."
"In that case, we will begin the assessment."
With that, Nanako snapped her fingers.
And a few moments later, eighteen more ninjas swiftly appeared beside and behind her.
Fifteen of them hid their faces behind strange masks, filling the atmosphere of the training ground with a hint of mystery.
The message was clear to the students: Want to recognize us in advance to make combat plans early on? Heh, in your dreams.
The other three ninjas standing beside Nanako were Anti-Personnel Combat Division teachers, who were here to help Nanako assess the students' performance.
One of them handed an exam board containing multiple sheets of paper to Nanako.
Nanako scanned the content of the board for a couple of minutes and discussed something with the other examiners in a hushed voice, leaving the students clueless about what they were talking about.
This definitely made a few students uneasy.
However, Seimei wasn't worried at all. He had already activated his Tenseigan, allowing him to see the faces of the fifteen ninjas.
Masks couldn't hide their faces from Seimei's eyes.
Nor could they hide their chakra reserves, nature transformation affinities, and chakra quality, allowing Seimei to gain a primary insight into their approximate strength.
He even felt like declaring, "In front of these eyes, your pitiful attempts of concealment are meaningless," but he reined in such thoughts.
Such behavior would be so chunnibyo that he would surely die in shame.
Just as Seimei was thinking that, he heard Iori Nanako's voice echoing in the air once more.
"The assessment starts now."
"Ishimori Haneda, step forward."
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