"Senior, if I'm done, can I submit my paper early?" Kakashi asked the examiner after thoroughly checking his exam paper.
Although he'd still have to wait for Obito outside, it would be a little more freeing, so Kakashi decided to hand in his paper early.
"So fast, don't you want to check it again?" The examiner, a bit surprised, walked over to Kakashi and looked at his exam paper.
Upon seeing it, the examiner was even more surprised. Kakashi had answered several familiar questions very well, hitting the marks accurately.
As an experienced examiner, he knew well that for young geniuses, the biggest obstacle to becoming a Jonin was never their strength, but the written exam.
Because being strong in combat doesn't necessarily mean one can do well in theory, if it weren't for the mechanism in Konoha that promoted people to Jonin outside the regular exams, he believed there would be at least a third fewer Jonin in Konoha, perhaps even more.
"Your Jonin assessment is over. You can leave directly, or wait outside for the exam to end." The examiner put away Kakashi's paper and said.
Kakashi nodded and left the exam room to wait outside. Based on his understanding of Obito, he'd wait until the exam ended.
Obito, although not knowledgeable in many areas, would never give up. Even if he couldn't do it, he'd try until the time was up.
As predicted by Kakashi, it wasn't until the exam time was over that he saw Obito walk out of the exam room.
However, Hyuga Aoba and Sakata Genji also handed in their papers last, making Kakashi, who submitted early, an outlier.
Obito walked out of the exam room with a drooping head, looking a bit down.
"Damn, if I don't pass the exam, Rin's ninja level will be higher than mine," Obito suddenly thought.
The notification stated that Nohara Rin didn't need to take the exam, and she was directly promoted to Special Jonin.
If Obito passes the exam and becomes an Official Jonin, he'd be one level higher than Nohara Rin. If he doesn't, then his ninja level will be lower than hers.
Thinking further, Obito realized a more terrifying thing: if Kakashi passed the exam, then in the Mokgetsu Squad, or rather Minato's team, he'd be the only Chunin.
Obito could already imagine what kind of face Kakashi would put on at that time.
"There's a loser in the squad who didn't become a Jonin. I won't say who it is." Kakashi said with a smirking tone.
"That naturally evil Hatake brat, when my strength grows stronger, I'll definitely..." Just imagining it made Obito's blood pressure rise, and he felt his Sharingan almost coming to the surface.
Kakashi looked at Obito, who was walking over in a daze, his expression switching between indignation and elation, and slightly frowned. He had a feeling that Obito was thinking something not quite good.
"The exam's over, are you still thinking about the questions?" Kakashi interrupted Obito's thoughts.
Obito showed a hint of regret. In his imagination, he had fast-forwarded to the point where he'd cultivated the Breath of Flame to its peak, surpassing Mokgetsu and was just about to beat Kakashi when he was interrupted.
"How did you do? Do you think you can pass?" Obito pondered and then asked.
Though in his memory, Kakashi had never failed a written exam, this was the Jonin assessment, which covered a wide range of knowledge and was difficult, so maybe Kakashi could also mess up this time.
"It was okay, I suppose I could pass." Kakashi nodded calmly and replied.
During his time in the hospital, Kakashi had been reading various books, and he already had considerable knowledge, so handling the Jonin exam was more than sufficient.
"Haha, Kakashi, you really don't know how to be modest," Hearing Kakashi's confidence made Obito a bit sour.
"After all, the exam wasn't too difficult, I don't think anyone couldn't pass." Kakashi said somewhat pointedly.
Obito's fists clenched involuntarily.
Although Kakashi hadn't mentioned his name, Obito felt like Kakashi was almost calling him out by name.
"If you're so confident, tell me how you did the exam," Obito suppressed his urge to punch Kakashi in the face and asked.
It's one thing to get angry, but first, he needed to compare answers.
Even though he thought Kakashi was unbearably arrogant, he had to admit Kakashi was better at written tests, probably getting more right than him.
"The first question is like this, and then..." Kakashi didn't hold back and explained all his answers and thought processes.
Without comparing answers, it was still okay. After comparing, Obito felt increasingly uneasy as many of their answers differed.
There were three possible outcomes: the first Kakashi was right and he was wrong; the second, he was right and Kakashi was wrong; the third, both were wrong.
Obito hoped for the second scenario but his thinking brain told him the first scenario was more likely.
Once the examiners left, the ones grading the papers immediately began to review them.
"Kids these days can't be underestimated; they're practically skilled both in combat and in brains." The examiner who proctored Kakashi couldn't help but sigh.
He found it hard to imagine how a ten-year-old could juggle cultivation and theoretical study.
"That's not entirely the case; Uchiha Obito seems unlikely to advance. Except for the history questions, his responses were a disaster." The examiner for Obito laughed.
The examiner who had graded Kakashi's papers curiously peeked over, "If the written exam is only at this level, it seems like he might have to gain promotion through merit before completing the supplemental exam."
During peacetime, advancing to Jonin without passing a Jonin assessment is quite difficult. However, in times of war, it is different. During war, circumstances are special and require special measures; with enough military merits, one can be directly promoted to Jonin.