PS: I remembered incorrectly before. The Three Basic Jutsu do not include the Body Flicker Technique. Let us assume Ethan learned the Body Flicker Technique from his teacher during private lessons, but the teacher did not know he had mastered it to such a level.
Aoba's vital point was struck heavily, and he immediately turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared.
Ethan clearly understood what had happened, but he still forced a surprised expression onto his face and tried hard to control himself from glancing toward Aoba, who was hidden in the dark observing him.
From the very beginning, Aoba had created a shadow clone and then hidden himself.
In the eyes of this Special Jonin, a shadow clone was more than enough to deal with a Genin who had just graduated from the academy, even if this Genin seemed to have considerable potential.
However, he truly did not expect that the one at a disadvantage during the fight would be himself. Ethan's mastery of the Body Flicker Technique had reached the level of a Jonin. Among all the Jonin in Konoha, only those who were extremely famous could steadily suppress Ethan in this aspect.
In any case, Aoba himself was far inferior to Ethan in terms of the Body Flicker Technique alone. Still, Ethan was just a child who had recently graduated. Limited by his body not yet being fully developed and his low chakra reserves, he was currently unable to pose a real threat to a Special Jonin like him.
"But… it is hard to say after some time. What an amazing talent."
Aoba's own talent could not be considered top tier, but it was not bad among ninja. Combined with his calmness, composure, and ability to observe and learn, he had mastered a great deal of ninjutsu knowledge. This knowledge also allowed him to comprehensively evaluate combat situations and opponents. Naturally, using it to judge a student's potential was no problem.
Although the two had only exchanged blows briefly, from the start of the battle to the destruction of his shadow clone, it took only about ten seconds. That was already enough for him to make a judgment.
Ethan's potential was absolutely worth Konoha's focused training.
As for character and personality assessment, for someone like Ethan who came from a civilian background, this was not urgent. It was almost impossible for him to immediately enter Konoha's core circle. Konoha had enough patience to slowly observe what kind of person Ethan was.
If Ethan displayed even greater aptitude in the future, then Konoha might consider accelerating this process.
For now, focusing on training him was enough. Having a Special Jonin like Aoba personally guide and teach him one on one was already an excellent allocation of resources.
The Third Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru, currently had a Special Jonin as his private teacher. Yūhi Kurenai, who was responsible for Hinata Hyuga of the Hyuga main family, as well as Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, was also a Special Jonin. Kurenai would later be promoted to Jonin before the Chunin Exams.
Although he had already reached a conclusion in his heart, Aoba did not immediately appear to announce the end of the assessment. He remained hidden, wanting to continue observing how great Ethan's potential truly was.
At this time, Ethan stood in the training ground after defeating the shadow clone and stopped, thinking about how to proceed.
Should he stay here and lure Aoba out?
That was one possible method, but it would seem too arrogant and conflict with his usual fighting style, which might arouse suspicion from this cautious teacher.
In that case, things could only develop in a more boring direction.
"Tsk."
With a flash of movement, Ethan also found a place to hide.
Ninjas were about who could endure longer. If you want to play, then I will play with you.
The training ground, which had briefly shown signs of activity, became silent and desolate once more. A gentle breeze passed through, stirring fallen leaves and dust, covering the already sparse traces. If an ordinary person wandered in at this moment, they would never guess that two people were still hidden here.
"His concealment ability is quite good, very outstanding among Genin, and his chakra control is excellent…"
More importantly, Ethan was extremely calm, without any impatience, as if he truly wanted to see who was more patient, himself or Aoba, the Special Jonin.
Aoba waited for a full hour, and Ethan confronted him in the same area for an entire hour as well. Feeling that this part of the assessment was sufficient, Aoba decided to test other abilities. He deliberately made some noise and released chakra to test Ethan's detection ability.
To his surprise, almost the moment he left traces, Ethan discovered him.
"His sensory ability is not bad… is this also a talent?"
Ninjas with strong sensory abilities had always been extremely valuable. If a team had an outstanding sensory type ninja, its survival capability would increase many times over. If Ethan truly possessed this talent, he would be given focused training based on this alone.
As a Special Jonin, Aoba still had the mental capacity to think and judge while facing Ethan's storm like offensive. He could even observe Ethan's attack patterns.
"They are all basic movements taught at the Ninja Academy, but they are very solid. He has invested a lot of effort into taijutsu."
After taking several hits, Aoba made another judgment.
"For a child who just graduated, this level of strength is already very good. It seems his physical foundation is excellent. If he continues training, taijutsu may become his strongest ability."
After fighting a while longer, Aoba released several more ninjutsu to test Ethan's reaction to powerful offensive techniques, and finally used a genjutsu.
In the end, he concluded that as a ninja from a civilian background, Ethan had limited options when facing ninjutsu. His first choice was to rely on his outstanding speed and his Jonin level Body Flicker Technique to evade attacks, then look for an opportunity to get close and strike.
As for genjutsu, Ethan had decent resistance. The genjutsu Aoba used only left him dazed for two seconds before he used the method of dispelling genjutsu to break free.
Overall… when Aoba summarized, he realized that this was not a Genin who had just graduated. Even if Ethan were promoted to Chunin now, aside from lacking mission experience, there would be no issues with his strength.
"Alright, that is enough."
Looking at the training ground, which now had several more craters and scorched areas, Aoba gestured for Ethan to stop.
"Although you… huh?"
Aoba confidently reached for the bells on his waist, but when he touched them, he discovered that one was missing. Out of habit, there should have been two. When he looked closely, he saw that the rope had been cleanly cut by a sharp blade. He immediately realized that he had been tricked by this kid during the fight.
Ethan shook the bell in his hand, revealing the proud expression a young man should have.
"Alright, although… no, since you obtained the bell, this test can be considered passed."
Even if Ethan had failed to take it, with the strength he displayed, Konoha would never allow him to return home and live as an ordinary person. Such an outstanding young man had to be firmly bound to Konoha.
Next, Aoba carefully explained the various issues Ethan had shown during the battle and told him how to correct these shortcomings.
He also explained how Ethan should better use his speed and reaction advantages to make up for his limited chakra reserves and lack of proficiency in ninjutsu.
"Taijutsu training is often boring and repetitive. You have an excellent foundation, but if you think this is enough and become lax, your taijutsu will never improve and may even decline."
For taijutsu training, Aoba could only provide methods and leave the actual training to Ethan himself. Even with vast ninjutsu knowledge, he could not help much in this area.
He did not know that Ethan did not need to train at all. He only needed to use a bit more strength at the right time to create the illusion of steady progress.
As for ninjutsu, Aoba casually took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ethan, telling him to inject chakra into it.
Chakra paper. It was clear that Aoba had prepared this in advance. Otherwise, who would carry such a thing around for no reason?
Ethan pretended not to know, took the paper, hesitated for a few seconds, and the chakra test paper shattered directly.
"Earth Release…"
Aoba glanced at Ethan and suddenly felt that this kid was a bit unlucky.
"What is wrong?"
"Nothing. I will teach you how to better control Earth Release chakra and some basic Earth Release ninjutsu next. As for genjutsu…" Aoba thought for a moment and felt that learning too much at once was not ideal. "Do not worry about that for now. Being able to dispel genjutsu is sufficient at this stage."
What he did not tell Ethan was that Earth Release ninjutsu consumed a large amount of chakra. This attribute required abundant chakra to truly display its power.
Fortunately, there were some auxiliary Earth Release ninjutsu that did not consume much chakra and were very practical. They could be used for defense and interference, which was enough to support Ethan's taijutsu at this stage.
As for the future…
Ethan's current chakra level was indeed that of a Genin. Although he was not someone with extremely low reserves, he was still a newly graduated rookie, and his chakra would need time to accumulate.
"That is all for today. Remember not to be late tomorrow."
"Okay, Aoba sensei."
Aoba nodded at Ethan one last time, then his figure flashed and disappeared.
Ethan could go home and rest, but Aoba could not. He still had to report to the Third Hokage. Presumably, Hiruzen was also very curious about this genius from a civilian background named Ethan.
In fact, Hiruzen had already been observing the match through his crystal ball, and all of Ethan's performance had been seen by him.
"Ah, a young genius from a civilian background…"
For some reason, he saw the shadow of that person in Ethan.
(To be continued.)