Chapter 63 – Selection
At dusk, as the sky gradually darkened, Ryuya left Konoha Hospital and walked along the road back home.
In the blink of an eye, a full month had already passed since Ryuya returned to the village.
After coming back to Konoha, Ryuya hadn't spent time taking on missions. Instead, he immediately threw all of his focus back into what he called his "technological" exploration, moving back and forth every day between the Sealing Corps and the hospital.
He needed to develop a pill capable of enhancing life energy in the shortest possible time.
During the establishment of Otogakure, Yoshida Jin had been forced—under the pressure of the two great hidden villages backing Ryuya and Pakura—to pour in a large amount of money.
But it was impossible for Yoshida Jin to continue investing endlessly in Otogakure.
Ryuya had to create a stable source of income for the village himself.
And the key to that stable financial lifeline lay in this pill.
After a period of research, the development of the pill had already begun to take shape.
Still, Ryuya wasn't satisfied with the pace. There was simply too much to do, and he was stretched thin.
It seemed he would have to find a way to obtain the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
The standard Shadow Clone Jutsu had a hard limit on the number of clones that could be created. Since Ryuya had already left several shadow clones behind in Otogakure, and had also maintained one clone in Konoha to continue ninjutsu training, he could no longer create any additional clones.
If he could acquire the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, he would be able to freely assign clones to various research tasks.
With the Sealing of Glutony in place, as long as he had enough money, Ryuya didn't need to worry about insufficient life energy or chakra.
The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was a forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage and stored within Konoha's sealed jutsu archives. Obtaining it would not be easy.
Stealing or robbing it was out of the question.
The only option was to accumulate enough merit and exchange those achievements with the village.
Lost in thought, Ryuya arrived at a quiet, tree-lined alley.
"Come out."
As soon as he stepped into the alley, Ryuya stopped and spoke in a low voice.
Whoosh—
"Chūnin Akimichi Ryuya."
A figure flashed through the alley, and a masked ninja appeared in front of him.
"Who sent you?"
Ryuya raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked at the newcomer.
Ever since returning to the village, Ryuya had felt that he was being watched during the first half month.
The sensation was strange—coming and going without warning, with no visible signs of surveillance nearby.
Ryuya suspected that this was most likely the Third Hokage using the Telescope Technique to observe him.
That didn't surprise him.
After all, Sage Arts, techniques that led straight to the peak of the shinobi world, were impossible to ignore.
However, that sense of being watched had disappeared some time ago.
The ANBU-dressed ninja before him had deliberately revealed himself.
"Chūnin Akimichi Ryuya, Danzō-sama requests your presence."
Hearing Ryuya's question, the masked ninja stated his purpose.
"I'm sorry, but I'm easily scared.
Without an order from the Hokage, I won't be meeting Elder Danzō."
Ryuya shook his head and refused outright.
Danzō was the kind of man who would do anything. Ryuya had no intention of putting himself in danger.
"You dare to defy Danzō-sama's command?"
The ninja's voice dropped, turning cold.
"Elder Danzō is merely a village advisor.
He doesn't have the authority to directly command Konoha's shinobi."
A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Ryuya's mouth.
A faint killing intent began to spread through the air.
In the alley, Ryuya's expression remained calm as he stood his ground.
Whoosh—
A moment later, the Root operative vanished in a flash.
"Tch."
Ryuya clicked his tongue in disdain and turned to head home.
Since they had already torn away all pretense, Ryuya had no expectation of easing his relationship with that old fox.
Besides, he was confident that within the village, Danzō wouldn't dare make a move against him.
Back at the clan compound, while having dinner at Uncle Rōu's house, Ryuya received news that the village had selected him to participate in the Special Jōnin Selection.
Konoha's Special Jōnin selection was not a public event. Instead, the village internally selected suitable candidates and conducted a closed evaluation.
Special jōnin were already considered part of the village's high-end combat power.
Even though the village could mobilize tens of thousands of shinobi during wartime, the actual number of jōnin—including Special jōnin—was only a few hundred.
In other words, out of every hundred shinobi in the village, only a handful were jōnin or Special jōnin. The remaining ninety or so were mostly chūnin and genin.
This ratio meant that Special jōnin were firmly part of the command tier.
In times of war, a single Special jōnin could even command several four-man squads on missions.
Because of this, the village leadership had always been extremely cautious when it came to the promotion of Special jōnin and jōnin, conducting thorough background checks on every suitable candidate beforehand.
Generally speaking, only shinobi who possessed both strength and merit were eligible for promotion to Special jōnin.
It seemed that he had passed the Third Hokage's "political screening."
No wonder Danzō had rushed to send someone to contact him—was he trying to recruit Ryuya into Root before the Third Hokage could act?
Ryuya couldn't help but think so.
The Special jōnin examination was held at a concealed ANBU base.
When Ryuya arrived at the testing grounds, he discovered that more than a hundred shinobi were participating in the selection. Among them, he recognized quite a few familiar faces.
Might Guy, Yūhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma, Iruka, Mitarashi Anko, Shiranui Genma, Gekkō Hayate…
A large group of chūnin around his own age were present, while the rest were mostly older elite chūnin.
What surprised Ryuya slightly was that among all the participants, he saw almost no shinobi from the Uchiha Clan or the Hyūga Clan.
These two top-tier noble clans of Konoha hadn't sent anyone to participate in this Special jōnin selection.
Was the village leadership deliberately targeting them?
Ryuya couldn't help but think maliciously.
"Ryuya! Over here!"
From a distance, Might Guy spotted him and shouted loudly.
In an instant, Ryuya felt countless gazes focus on him.
He was no longer the invisible nobody he used to be. Many people were now curious about him.
With black lines practically forming over his head, Ryuya walked over and began greeting Kurenai, Asuma, Anko, and the others.
Even if they hadn't been especially close before, they had been classmates once. Pretending not to see them would've been awkward.
Their reactions to Ryuya varied.
Might Guy and Iruka were extremely enthusiastic.
Kurenai, Shiranui Genma, and Gekkō Hayate were curious.
Asuma and Anko, on the other hand, looked somewhat displeased.
Ryuya didn't pay it much mind.
After all, he wasn't currency—there was no way everyone would like him.
After chatting for a while, Ryuya gained a clearer understanding of the Special jōnin selection.
According to Asuma—the so-called "second generation"—a total of over 160 chūnin were participating this time, yet only twenty would pass.
That meant a brutal 8-to-1 elimination ratio.
And that was after the village had already conducted an initial screening.
If the entire chūnin population of the village had been included, the pass rate would have been downright tragic.
As for why no Uchiha or Hyūga shinobi were present, it turned out that both clans had recently promoted two Special jōnin each under emergency conditions.
As a result, they hadn't sent anyone to participate in this round of selection.