Chapter 82: ANBU Comprehensive Assessment Mission
The Naka Shrine suddenly fell quiet. The Uchiha, who had been bustling to leave, stopped in their tracks, looking in astonishment at the clan member who had asked the question.
What on earth was going through this guy's head!
Was he trying to ask how Uchiha Itachi awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, or was he trying to ask what price he paid to awaken it...
The little boy shook his head, "I don't know why I awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan... I also never felt that our clan's Sharingan needed someone to sacrifice for it."
"Then it must not be the Mangekyo!"
"Oh, if it's not, it's not..."
The little boy slowly walked to Shisui's side and said softly, "Shisui, if we go to the village now, we should still be able to make it to the sweet shop, right!"
"Probably..."
Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but smile looking at his performance, "After all, this clan meeting was unusually short!"
The two genius youths, one tall and one short, left the Naka Shrine, leaving behind a group of people looking at each other in dismay. No one had thought Itachi truly didn't care about his Sharingan's reputation.
Someone suddenly spoke up, "Then if what Itachi awakened isn't the Mangekyo Sharingan, are we still going for drinks?"
"..."
The clan actually had an honest person! Let's make him treat tonight!
This interlude at the Naka Shrine clan meeting disappeared without causing any waves. Later, even if someone used their close relationship with Fugaku to ask a similar question, there was still no answer.
A rumor began to spread within the Uchiha clan that the clan head's family had discovered another way to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan but wanted to secretly hoard it, monopolizing the Mangekyo's power to control the clan.
Fugaku was practically furious. He had been the clan head for so long, how did he not know what power he had in the Uchiha clan!
This rumor was quickly replaced by more important matters. The first winter snow of the year arrived. This was the third winter the crow and the cub it raised had spent together.
Konoha became lively again.
Through open policies, Hiruzen Sarutobi guided Konoha to become lively again, finally making Konoha appear prosperous on the surface.
Uchiha Itachi was building a snowman with Sasuke. The little cub joyfully watched a white snowman grow larger and larger... hopping and running around the snowman.
Boom!
The snowman's head suddenly exploded. The flying snow buried Sasuke, and he didn't even have time to let out a cry...
"..."
Uchiha Itachi frantically dug his younger brother out of the snow pile, looking at the crow at the doorway that had just woken up and was looking around, momentarily speechless.
The nearly two-year-old Sasuke furiously rushed towards Kitahara!
The little cub didn't think about why the snowman would explode, but instinct drove him to know what he should do! Unfortunately, he wasn't even very used to walking yet and ultimately just fell in the snow with a bruised nose and a swollen face.
The little cub immediately burst into tears, "Waaah..."
"Caw~"
The crow, like a victor, looked smugly at the little cub crying loudly in the snow, then turned and flew into the room. The weather is so cold, I don't want to go out...
Unfortunately, matters were not up to it to decide. Afraid it would continue to wreak havoc on Sasuke at home or be bullied by Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi still chose to take it out of the house in the afternoon.
Uchiha Shisui was waiting for them at the door, looking doubtfully at the crow in Itachi's arms, "It's just a training mission, how could Kitahara be willing to go out?"
"No, Sasuke was angered to tears by it. He couldn't eat breakfast or lunch..."
Shisui squatted down with great interest and looked at the somewhat reluctant crow, "Eh? Did Kitahara actually win today?"
The way he said it... as if it was so hard for it to win once!
It was only because Sasuke was ignorant before. When the little cub got older, after passing the friendly novice period, the great Crow Sage would personally teach him how cruel PvP was.
Lest the little cub want to go out and get a beating as soon as the weather cleared up.
Today was the training mission for Uchiha Shisui and Itachi before entering ANBU, mainly assessing their wilderness survival skills, the thoroughness of their intelligence gathering, and their enemy tracking.
The assessment time would last from the afternoon until the evening.
For such a long time, the temperature at night would drop sharply, and it was still snowing sparsely in Konoha. No wonder Kitahara was unwilling to come out with Itachi.
"Actually, the snowy season should be an advantage for our assessment. After all, the hardest parts are gathering intelligence and tracking the enemy's trail. Snowy days are the easiest to spot anomalies. In this situation, even the senior responsible for setting things up would find it tricky, right!"
"Mm!" Uchiha Itachi nodded, his attention still on the crow, "Kitahara, don't be angry anymore. Shisui and I will try to finish early so we can go back!"
"Caw..."
Kitahara nodded meaninglessly, climbed up from Uchiha Itachi's arms, opened Itachi's small backpack, and crawled inside.
The person in charge of this aspect of the training assessment in ANBU was, once again, Kakashi Hatake.
Because if Shisui and Itachi entered ANBU, they would be assigned under his command by the Third Hokage, so he also wanted to use this opportunity to assess the strength of these two.
Ever since Uchiha Obito was exposed, Kakashi's life seemed to have not changed at all, but it also seemed to have a subtle change that people couldn't yet perceive.
At least the frequency of his visits to the Memorial Stone had increased.
And he also often went to Hiruzen Sarutobi's house to visit Naruto.
Ultimately, the Third Hokage chose to suppress the truth of Uchiha Obito's invasion. Whether it was Uchiha Itachi's family or Kakashi and the others, they all received a gag order.
After all, only a few people knew and recognized a 'Flying Thunder God user' like Zetsu. Uchiha Obito's identity was clearly different.
The Third Hokage's disciple, Orochimaru, had just defected. The Fourth Hokage's disciple, Uchiha Obito, then stole the village's Tailed Beast... This was too great a blow to the Hokage's prestige.
Another aspect was that an Uchiha clan member appearing as a Mangekyo rogue ninja would also deepen the rift between them and the village, which was something none of them wanted to see.
Thus, Uchiha Obito became a secret they didn't speak of, left for Kakashi and the Uchiha clan to resolve through negotiation, most likely falling on Shisui and Itachi's shoulders.
"Today is pretty much just a formality..." Kakashi began habitually, "Even if you are not qualified, you will still enter ANBU, but you will need to undergo a short period of training."
Uchiha Itachi: "..."
Although you said the same thing during the last Chunin Exams, I won't believe you this time.
"Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi."
"Training Mission: Pursue the trail until you reach the enemy's final destination."
"Assessment Time: Effective immediately, until tomorrow afternoon."
The moment Kakashi's voice fell, a crow's caw was heard.
"Caw!"
Kitahara's head poked out of the backpack. Didn't you say we could go back tonight? Does this mean we have to spend the night outside in this icy weather?
Kakashi Hatake looked at the crow's crimson eyes and impassively closed his notebook, "This ANBU comprehensive assessment... has no prohibitions."
(End of this chapter)