What surprised Uchiha Yoru was that there were actually sixty-three young shinobi being promoted to chunin this time.
The youngest was only thirteen.
And, incidentally—
The oldest was already the "advanced age" of eighteen.
Yes.
That was him.
Uchiha Yoru.
Being surrounded by a bunch of little brats, all of whom looked at him like "how did this guy end up in our group of geniuses?" would normally make anyone feel awkward.
But not Yoru.
After twenty years of community policing in his previous life, how could his skin possibly be thin?
Besides—
Three years ago, a certain nine-year-old white-haired brat had openly become a chunin, dazzling countless people.
Because of that incident, Yoru had been summoned repeatedly by the clan head and elders.
Some scolded him.
Some encouraged him.
All of them said the same thing—
He must not disgrace the Uchiha name.
And yet, he had continued eating, drinking, and going about his duties as usual.
As for becoming a chunin?
He didn't care.
Did the clan head not understand how dangerous chunin promotion was outside of wartime?
There were only two paths.
One was to apply directly to the Hokage for a special evaluation—
Fight a chunin or even a jonin, and if you won or performed well enough, you'd be promoted.
This method was open and fair.
As long as an Uchiha genin had awakened their Sharingan, their chances were quite good.
Even if they failed, they wouldn't be killed.
Safe.
Unfortunately—
The Third Hokage had never once approved such applications from the Uchiha.
That road was closed.
The only remaining option was the annual chunin exam.
And that—
Was full of hidden traps.
There were countless ways to manipulate the outcome.
Uchiha Lan.
Uchiha Guangzhao.
Uchiha Naoto.
Three of Yoru's cousins, all with strength far exceeding ordinary chunin.
Naoto, in particular, had awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan even earlier than Yoru.
His combat ability was practically the ceiling of chunin-level.
And yet—
After one exam—
All three of them were gone.
If someone said there was no one targeting the Uchiha—
Not even a dog would believe it.
But the clan head and elders acted as if they were blind.
They continued urging young Uchiha to take the exam.
Ridiculous.
No matter how much they encouraged or threatened him—
Yoru had stood firm.
He refused to participate.
Honestly, his expulsion from the Military Police Force might have stemmed from that.
Uchiha Setsuna was likely just the one who stepped forward to act.
And now—
With war beginning—
Everything had fallen neatly into place.
He accepted a mission.
Completed it.
And was naturally promoted.
He also knew that the newly promoted chunin were not limited to these sixty-three.
There were others.
But this group—
All under eighteen—
Many of them having earned merit in the still-limited fighting of the current war—
Were all considered geniuses.
And geniuses received special treatment.
Naturally, Hiruzen Sarutobi would personally meet them—
And deliver yet another long speech about the Will of Fire.
No one knew when the war would fully erupt.
Gathering these talents again later to reinforce that ideology would be extremely difficult.
Yoru had survived this long for a reason.
His greatest skill—
Was lying low.
The fact that he had blended into a group of sixty-plus children without being noticed by the Third Hokage—
Was because the moment he sensed danger, he slipped into the crowd and bent his knees into a stance—
Compressing his 183 cm frame down to what looked like 145 cm.
Even if Hiruzen's eyesight was sharp—
He wasn't a Hyuga with the Byakugan.
He wouldn't notice someone hidden in the back half of the group.
The Hokage was busy.
Managing the village.
Playing political games.
Dealing with countless matters.
As long as he didn't see Yoru—
He wouldn't remember him.
And if he didn't remember him—
There would be no trouble.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a situation where Yoru could slip away.
ANBU were watching from all directions.
He couldn't even move to the very back—
Only shrink into the middle of the crowd.
And now—
There was only one problem left.
The Third Hokage's speech.
His voice was loud.
His rhetoric repetitive.
To shinobi of this world, it was inspiring—
But to Yoru—
It was torture.
Sleep-inducing torture.
I can't fall asleep. If I start snoring, I'm dead.
I can't enter stillness either. I can't control the timing yet.
Even if he rambles, he won't go on for two hours…
This won't work. That won't work. This is so annoying!
His thoughts grew restless—
Like a monkey flailing its arms.
Then—
He paused.
No… my monkey mind is getting stronger again.
Is it because of his nonsense about the Will of Fire?
Yes. My heart fire is rising. When heart fire surges, the monkey dares to rebel.
Just like the Monkey King… it naturally wants to overturn everything the moment it gains strength.
I need to be careful.
Yoru began circulating natural energy.
With his breathing and heartbeat, he adjusted the rhythm—
Letting it pulse through his meridians and resonate within his dantian.
Inside—
The red pool had grown larger.
No longer just a puddle—
It had become something like a shallow basin.
Within it, yellow earth-aspected energy gathered like muddy deposits, scattered across the surface like patches of silt.
The vibrations from his meridians echoed continuously within the dantian.
When those vibrations passed through the "mud," their frequency changed—
Becoming deeper, heavier.
Gradually—
The relationship reversed.
The dantian's resonance overtook the meridians.
Like the toll of a great bell—
Its waves swept through his entire body.
They influenced his heartbeat—
Washing away the restless agitation brewing within.
In his inner world—
Yoru seemed to see a giant crimson-furred ape.
It was being struck again and again by the vibrations of heaven and earth.
Each impact shattered golden fragments from its body—
Scattering impurities like sparks—
Shrinking it bit by bit.
The ape roared in fury—
Hammering its chest like a war drum—
Fighting back against the force of the world.
Its resistance was wild—
So wild that it disrupted the surrounding vibrations.
That disruption reflected outward—
Causing instability in Yoru's meridians.
Sometimes sluggish.
Sometimes violent.
The change in his meridians ignited even greater agitation within him—
An overwhelming urge to stand up and scream.
Fortunately—
He was not truly eighteen.
He knew very well—
If he lost control here—
Everything would be over.
The first problem—
The setting.
A sudden outburst would draw everyone's attention.
He would instantly become the most conspicuous person in the entire village.
Regardless of how the Uchiha handled it—
Both Hiruzen and Danzo would realize something was wrong.
They would understand that they had overlooked an Uchiha.
And that—
Would be a huge problem.
After that—
Surveillance.
Testing.
Assassination.
Kidnapping.
Imprisonment.
His peaceful life would end completely.
But the greatest danger—
Was not external.
If he failed to suppress the monkey mind—
If that beast overturned everything—
Then he would truly be finished.
The monkey mind was his inner demon.
If it ran wild—
Yoru would be like a fallen emperor with no one to save him.
And what that meant was—
After that moment of madness—
Uchiha Yoru would no longer be himself.
The monkey—
Would take his place.
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