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Guy had no kekkei genkai, but as someone who had refined the Strong Fist, his insight was not weak. At such close range, he naturally noticed Naoki using Revolving Will.

But he did not think too deeply about it. Hearing Naoki call it a secret technique, he immediately praised him. "I didn't even notice when you activated it. Your secret technique is amazing!"

Like Pain's Shinra Tensei, the power of Revolving Will lay in the fact that it required no hand signs and could be used as freely as thought. The moment Naoki willed it, the technique could activate.

Anyone who did not know about it was extremely easy to catch off guard the first time they encountered it.

Back then, even a master as powerful as Sasori had been careless for an instant and lost the Third Kazekage human puppet to Naoki, instantly reversing the battle.

Naoki put away his smile and warned Guy seriously, "Remember, this is my secret. You are not allowed to reveal it to anyone, not even comrades in the village."

Protecting the secret of Revolving Will was one of the reasons Naoki had not chosen to capture the mission target alive and had instead killed him on the spot.

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

Naoki was fairly reassured when it came to Guy. Although he looked a little ridiculous, at his core, he was a shinobi who followed rules.

After returning to the village, Naoki and Guy went straight to the Mission Center.

Once they handed in the mission, the Mission Center once again raised Naoki's squad permissions, opening all high-difficulty A-rank missions to him, including assassinations.

That was because Naoki had completed this mission extremely well.

Not only had he quickly eliminated all the mission targets, he had also brought back the corpse of a Hidden Mist kekkei genkai shinobi. It could be considered completing the mission beyond expectations.

To a certain extent, a shinobi's corpse was an intelligence source.

This was especially true for the corpse of a kekkei genkai shinobi, whose research value was even greater. During the war, every major village had formed capable corpse-retrieval teams specifically to collect the bodies of kekkei genkai shinobi left on battlefields for research.

Over the next few months, Naoki and Guy turned into mission fanatics. As chunin, the two completed two A-rank missions and five B-rank missions one after another. Their efficient completion rate made them a minor topic of conversation inside the village.

The reception staff at the Mission Center even began selecting missions for Naoki in advance and offering him convenience.

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

Without showing anything, he observed his surroundings. His brow furrowed slightly.

The streets around him were full of people coming and going, but no one was watching him from the shadows. Of that, Naoki, who possessed the Tenseigan, was absolutely certain. Yet the feeling of being watched still existed, which made him puzzled.

Very quickly, he remembered a secret technique, one the Third Hokage had used.

The Telescope Technique.

'Is the Third watching me? It seems my efforts lately have already brought me into his sight.'

After guessing that the Third Hokage might be observing him, Naoki stopped paying too much attention to it.

The Third's observation was clearly a review before deciding whether to make use of Naoki. Otherwise, with the village in its current state and the Third buried in official business, he would have no free time to observe an ordinary chunin.

This occasional observation continued for about a month.

Naoki was already cautious by nature. After guessing that the Third Hokage was watching him, he became even more careful. He showed no abnormal behavior. Every day was missions, and then more missions. So he was certain the Third would not find any flaw.

Sure enough, before long, Naoki received an internal assessment notice for promotion to special jonin.

Special jonin could already be considered high-level combat power in the village. Although Konoha could mobilize tens of thousands of shinobi during wartime, the number of jonin, including special jonin, was only a few hundred.

In other words, among every hundred shinobi in the village, only a few were jonin or special jonin. The remaining ninety-plus were chunin and genin.

That ratio meant special jonin were already part of the true command class. During war, one special jonin could even command several four-person squads on a mission.

The assessment site was an ANBU base. There, Naoki saw many familiar faces.

There were chunin around his age, including Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Iruka Umino, Anko Mitarashi, Genma Shiranui, Hayate Gekko, and others. There were also many elite chunin who had already reached middle age. He even spotted Shisui Uchiha, the Uchiha clan genius who was several years younger than him.

Guy shouted from far away, "Naoki, over here! Over here!"

Naoki walked over and greeted the classmates gathered together.

In the past, Naoki would have felt somewhat restrained around this group. After all, shinobi respected strength. Without strength, even classmates from the same year would not become truly close.

But now, Naoki could interact with these classmates calmly. In terms of mindset, he even faintly looked down from above.

Seeing Naoki's calm expression, Asuma pulled a face and asked, "Hey, I heard you and Guy completed several A-rank missions together. Is that true?"

Hearing Asuma's words, Kurenai, Iruka, Anko, and the others all gathered around. Clearly, they were interested in the matter as well.

Naoki nodded. "Yes."

Guy laughed loudly. "See? I wasn't lying! We really completed several A-rank missions!"

As someone who was always mocked by everyone, Guy had spent all his time listening to other people boast. Today, it was finally his turn to boast, so his mood was extraordinarily good.

Having Guy, the dead-last, show off in front of them naturally made everyone feel complicated. Competitive thoughts rose in their hearts, and as they continued chatting, the topic shifted to the special jonin assessment.

Asuma glanced around, then whispered to the people beside him, "I heard there are more than two hundred chunin taking this assessment, but only around fifteen special jonin slots."

Everyone drew in a breath.

More than two hundred people competing for around fifteen slots meant thirteen or fourteen people fighting for each place. The intensity of the competition could be imagined.

Iruka said gloomily, "Looks like I don't have any hope."

Genma and Hayate sighed as well. Clearly, like Iruka, they lacked confidence.

Seeing Iruka and the others sighing, Asuma looked dissatisfied. "Hey, can you have a little confidence? That bastard Kakashi is already a jonin. How can we hang our heads before a special jonin assessment?"

As the Hokage's son, being surpassed by Kakashi had always bothered Asuma. Sometimes, the Third Hokage even used Kakashi to lecture him, which left him depressed.

Guy, who had the same knot in his heart, clenched his fist and agreed, "Right! We have to catch up to Kakashi!"

Naoki used the chance to observe the other competitors. He roughly counted them and confirmed that there were indeed more than two hundred chunin participating in the assessment. However, almost no one's chakra volume exceeded his, so he remained quite confident.

At that moment, Shisui Uchiha came before him and said, "Senior, thank you for taking care of Itachi earlier. He has mentioned you to me several times and said you are an outstanding shinobi."

Naoki observed him. "You are Shisui Uchiha?"

Shisui said apologetically, "Forgive my rudeness, senior. I am Shisui Uchiha."

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