Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

In a seemingly calm pond yet stirring with hidden currents, time reached the fifteenth of January in Konoha Year 39.

The day this year's internal chunin exams would begin.

On this very day, Hyuga Soushu—who had been lounging around the Jonin Unit dormitory for several days—received a new assignment:

Temporary assignment: Jonin-level Forest Security Patrol Officer.

Might Duy mulled over the strangely worded title repeatedly, turning it over from every angle. Yet he ultimately accepted the task.

According to the mission document's requirements, he would lead twenty-one chunin examiners and three Anbu liaison officers responsible for maintaining security throughout the Forest of Death examination area. Should any genin candidates encounter danger, he must organize rescue operations accordingly.

Among the lower-ranked genin participants who entered the exam as teams, Might Duy stood out dramatically by taking the test alone.

But Might Duy paid no mind to the curious stares he got—he was too caught up in his own excitement to care!

Although he'd first heard about the chunin exams during an E-ranked mission, when he received the application notice personally delivered by Soushu, Might Duy never imagined himself actually participating in this round of exams.

Because according to regulations, chunin exams required contestants to participate as three-member squads!

Therefore, upon receiving the official exam notification and guidelines delivered through administrative ninja channels, Might Duy practically jumped through the roof with joy!

Now, standing at the Forest of Death's entrance, Might Duy couldn't stop bouncing up and down in front of everyone—examiners included—as he let out all his built-up energy.

"Might Duy, Genin!"

After a series of checks, it finally became Might Duy's turn for identity verification.

"Present!"

While squatting and doing frog jumps with his knees hugged, Might Duy immediately sprang upright like a bolt of lightning, darting to the examiner so fast he almost looked like he used Body Flicker!

"Please present your candidate materials for verification."

Startled, the chunin examiner hesitated slightly before making his request.

"Yes sir!"

Might Duy quickly handed over a file folder containing all documents he'd meticulously prepared per exam guidelines.

After confirming everything was in order, the chunin examiner passed Might Duy a scroll while explaining, "This is your team's exam scroll. You mustn't open it during the exam. You'll also need to acquire another scroll inside the Forest of Death."

"I have the Earth-element scroll, so I need to gather the Heaven-element scroll, correct?"

Overjoyed, Might Duy asked directly.

"That's exactly right. However…"

The chunin examiner trailed off ambiguously before simply waving him toward the preparation zone entrance.

As for other examinees nearby who heard Might Duy's words—particularly those squads carrying Heaven-element scrolls—they openly stared at Might Duy's solitary figure one by one, their gazes brimming with undisguised delight!

While Might Duy's name wasn't exactly echoing across Konoha, just about every genin knew who he was—the unique warrior famous for weak overall capabilities but obsessive devotion to taijutsu alone. Especially after Duy himself announced his scroll type, reinforcing everyone's existing stereotypes about him even further.

But come to think of it, was Might Duy really that oblivious?

Though he still grunted with each hop, Might Duy carefully noted everyone who had shown interest in him—especially those Genin who took a second glance at their scrolls.

Once he entered the Forest of Death, all he needed to do was track down the Genin teams he'd memorized the chakra signatures of and defeat them. That would guarantee his advancement!

This confidence came after countless relentless training sessions under Hyuga Soushu—an experience that had dramatically sharpened Might Duy's Taijutsu skills.

"Jonin Soushu, if I'm not mistaken, Examinee Might Duy should be your direct subordinate, right?"

Inside the monitoring room at the central tower of the Forest of Death, Hyuga Soushu sat idly watching examinees on surveillance footage while an Anbu liaison officer beside him decided to make small talk.

"Yes."

Hyuga Soushu glanced at the screen where Might Duy was hopping around, then nodded slightly.

"To be honest, his Taijutsu is actually quite impressive."

Clearly, this Anbu liaison possessed some level of perception—not completely dismissing Might Duy as a hopeless failure.

"He does have definite limitations in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu," Soushu admitted with a slight tone of regret.

"That's true. Compared to you, Jonin Soushu, he still has quite a long way to go. Although you've always stayed in the village, I've also heard stories about your heroic feats on the western front line."

There was a hint of flattery in the Anbu's voice.

"Your information seems pretty sharp then," Soushu replied indifferently.

At the same time, he subtly raised his guard.

It wouldn't have mattered much if it were just random chatter, but now the conversation was clearly going beyond casual talk between people barely acquainted. If they were both Martial Faction ninja, it might've made sense—but why was an Anbu officer talking so much?

If Hyuga Soushu hadn't failed to detect the Root Division's characteristic stench of corruption around this Anbu liaison, he might have already suspected Danzo was plotting something against him.

Although he could confirm through voice and body language that they'd never met before, the overly familiar tone the man used now felt strangely unsettling. Soushu didn't recall ever meeting such a person!

As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free chat—the fact that this unknown Anbu officer approached him for idle conversation meant he definitely had an agenda.

Perhaps investigating his background, or intentionally distracting his attention—it definitely wasn't because he was bored!

Thus, after hesitating briefly, Hyuga Soushu swapped out [Ignite], one of his existing Summoner Skills, for [Purify].

His current combat techniques were essentially sufficient. At best, [Ignite] merely added extra damage—more of a luxury than necessity. Exchanging it for [Purify] would be better, providing a crucial life-saving option when danger arose.

Moreover, in case of any unexpected incident, the greatest danger often came from one's closest surroundings—especially from an Anbu Communications Officer whose true identity remained unknown.

Although his current precautions might seem like paranoia or even borderline obsessive, Hyuga Soushu believed it was just about right—not excessively nervous to the point of seeing enemies everywhere, nor too relaxed due to being within the village while in the middle of a mission. He managed to keep that sharp wartime alertness.

That said…

Despite never turning around, Soushu could still clearly see without activating his Byakugan the Anbu Communications Officer standing silently in a corner of the room, gazing at his back with quiet and thoughtful scrutiny.

"Keee!"

With a sharp and prolonged whistle, a signal flare shot into the sky. The Genin gathered at the entrance of the Forest of Death immediately sprang into action like arrows released from bows, dashing into the forest!

"All stationed units pay attention—the exam has officially begun!"

Hyuga Soushu picked up the microphone and announced, "All surveillance posts should remain hidden. And if any Genin encounter danger, you must provide timely assistance—understood?"

"Understood!"

"Received!"

Seven Chunin observation teams spread across the Forest of Death responded in unison.

"The exam has started."

Standing behind Hyuga Soushu, the Anbu Communications Officer lifted his head and looked toward the clock on the wall.

12:15 PM, January 15th.

Fifteen minutes had exactly passed since their first conversation.

"It should be enough by now," the Anbu Communications Officer thought inwardly as he watched Soushu continuously issue orders while monitoring the screens.

Next would be the Chunin Exams phase—and time for the Guardians of the Daimyo's Court to shine!

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