"If it's him, he might be even more outstanding than Lord White Fang," thought Mimura Hamaki to himself.
He was an experienced Jonin, having become one during the Second Ninja World War.
Mimura Hamaki had once witnessed White Fang harvesting enemies on the battlefield. The impact was so overwhelming that he finds it hard to forget even today.
When Mimura Hamaki saw White Fang effortlessly slaughtering enemy ninja squads with a short blade, he realized what a true genius was.
Mimura Hamaki had also been praised as a genius, but after that, he only considered himself talented at best, far from a true genius.
Yet, even White Fang, who had greatly shocked Mimura Hamaki, was still not as good as Kakashi now. At least, Mimura Hamaki had never heard of White Fang being able to hold his own against Konoha's elite Jonin at the age of ten.
"Uchiha Obito," the Jonin proctor read out the final examinee's name.
Mimura Hamaki put aside his thoughts and walked into the combat area to prepare for the battle assessment.
Hyuga Hiashi reminded him that he should never underestimate these extraordinary geniuses, or else he might lose face.
"Finally, it's my turn." Obito stretched his body and stepped into the arena.
At this moment, Obito was a bit anxious; he wanted to finish quickly and go back to reading.
Having the Sharingan made it easy to cheat, but Obito would still try hard on his own first, resorting to cheating as a last resort.
Even though reading at this time might seem a bit late, Obito felt he had built up some accumulation from usual test papers, and reading a bit temporarily might just help him scrape a pass.
"If an examinee loses combat ability in less than fifteen minutes, points will be deducted. If the examinee defeats the proctor in less than fifteen minutes, how is that calculated—is it considered a normal end to the fight, or what?" Obito asked bluntly.
Logically, defeating the proctor should add points, but just in case, Obito asked the question. It would be infuriating if he failed the theory part only to excel in practice.
"It would be a high score," Mimura Hamaki replied with a slight smile.
So far, no examinees have defeated the proctor in the Jonin assessments. After all, those qualified to be proctors in Jonin assessments are not ordinary Jonin. If someone had the strength to defeat them, they should have become Jonin already.
"Then you'd better be careful, uncle; my flames are strong," Obito felt that Mimura Hamaki's attitude was nice, so he kindly reminded him.
"After all, you're a genius," Mimura Hamaki noted this without dismissing it.
"The battle begins!" the Jonin proctor shouted.
"Breath of Flame, Full Concentration!"
Obito quickly focused his breathing, and then, while retreating, he gathered Chakra in his throat and released a Fire Release Ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive fireball, five meters tall, spewed forth from Obito's mouth, hurtling towards Mimura Hamaki.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
Immediately after, Obito activated his Three Tomoe Sharingan and rapidly threw shurikens to block Mimura Hamaki's escape route, forcing him to confront the Great Fireball head-on.
Mimura Hamaki, being an experienced old Jonin, used a kunai to block some of the shurikens while using nearby trees to block others, nimbly evading Obito's attack network.
"Fire Release: Impatiens Fire Jutsu!"
Mimura Hamaki leaped onto a tree, hopping between different branches, spewing out numerous fist-sized fireballs at Obito.
Since he was attacking from a height, the fireballs formed a net from various angles. Even with the Sharingan, Obito found it impossible to completely dodge them.
Realizing this, Obito immediately abandoned evasion. Compared to defense, he was better at offense.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bomb!"
A large amount of Chakra in Obito's throat was instantly transformed into Fire Attribute Chakra and expelled as high-temperature flames.
The constantly spewed flames quickly formed a small sea of fire. Under Obito's control, the sea divided into three fire dragons that rose up like a wall of fire, blocking all the incoming fireballs.
"The control over Fire Release is indeed quite impressive," Mimura Hamaki nodded to himself, acknowledging that it wasn't easy to control an advanced attack Fire Release to such an extent.
"And the power isn't ordinary either," when the fire dragons approached, Mimura Hamaki realized Obito's flames were very hot.
"But just this much isn't enough to defeat me," Mimura Hamaki released a large amount of gathered Chakra.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
A huge, thick wall of earth rose suddenly in front of Mimura Hamaki, blocking all incoming flames. Though its surface was charred, it stood firm.
Aside from Fire Release, Mimura Hamaki was also skilled at Earth Release. In battle, he preferred using Fire Release for attack and Earth Release for defense.
"Fire Release: Mighty Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Mimura Hamaki leapt onto the Earth Flow Wall, forming hand seals, and breathed out a fire dragon towards Obito.
This Ninjutsu wasn't unfamiliar to Obito; it was the first Fire Release Ninjutsu he learned with Mokgetsu.
"Fire Release: Mighty Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Obito ultimately chose to use the same Ninjutsu to test Mimura Hamaki's Fire Release level.
The same nature transformation and the same Ninjutsu clashing—if he lost, there would be no excuse; it was simply a lack of strength.
BOOM!!
The two fire dragons collided, causing a fierce explosion. Bright red flames burst forth, and finally, the two dragons vanished, leaving only scorched earth behind.
"These two are indeed geniuses who together killed Suikazan Fuguki; they're too strong," marveled Sakata Genji at the sight.
This Ninjutsu contest practically proved that Obito's Fire Release was on par with Mimura Hamaki's.
Although Mimura Hamaki wasn't a Jonin known for his strength, he was an experienced old Jonin after all. Sakata Genji felt that Obito had already passed the combat assessment at this point. With such a performance, it surely deserved a high score.
"Uncle's Fire Release isn't weak either, but I still have my ultimate move," Obito showed delight after seeing the fire dragons perish together.
Mimura Hamaki's Fire Release level was similar to his in Full Concentration state, so he certainly was inferior in the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode.
Obito silently pushed his Breath of Flame to the limit and entered the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, his internal Chakra continuously depleting to enhance his body.
After entering the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, Obito charged directly at Mimura Hamaki without any defense.
Mimura Hamaki felt something was wrong as he watched Obito, whose whole body seemed full of openings. Based on Obito's earlier performance, he shouldn't do something so reckless.
"Fire Release: Impatiens Fire Jutsu!"
Without forming any hand seals, Obito transformed the Chakra in his throat into flames with just a thought and spewed it out.
Whoosh whoosh!!
Meanwhile, Obito's hands stayed busy, tossing shurikens at tricky angles.
"Releasing without seals and using Ninjutsu while throwing shurikens?" Mimura Hamaki was astonished.
In over twenty years as a ninja, he had never seen such an audacious move. Not forming seals was one thing, but using Ninjutsu while simultaneously using shurikens?
It's known that using Ninjutsu requires mental effort to control internal Chakra. Mimura Hamaki couldn't comprehend how Obito managed this feat, being able to multitask devising shuriken throws while using Ninjutsu.
This wasn't just casually tossing shurikens with a little thought; Obito used the Uchiha's specialized shuriken-throwing technique, which required brains.
Caught off guard, Mimura Hamaki was momentarily flustered by Obito's attack, but thanks to his extensive experience, he quickly adjusted, receiving only minor injuries.
"He used the Breath of Flame Chakra Mode, huh?" Kakashi immediately recognized Obito's current state.
If Kakashi mastered the Breath of Thunder Chakra Mode, he wouldn't use it in the Jonin assessment because once used, only two outcomes are possible: either lose combat ability before fifteen minutes or defeat the proctor.
An ordinary performance would more steadily pass the exam.
However, since their opponents were different, Kakashi believed Obito had a good chance. Mimura Hamaki was older than Hyuga Hiashi, but not as strong as Hyuga Hiashi.