After all these troubles, the mission was certainly in vain.
Shikaku informed Asuma and Kurenai about the true purpose of the mission, which left them both surprised.
Returning to Konoha to report the mission, not only did they not have another failed C-rank mission on their records, but they also had a successful S-rank mission added.
It turned out that the Third Hokage believed Shikaku and his team had driven away all the hidden Kirigakure ninja in the Land of Waves.
Although it wasn't clear what they were doing in the Land of Waves, it at least confirmed the authenticity of the information that there was a significant number of Kirigakure Ninja in the Land of Waves.
Since this mission involved peace issues between two major ninja villages and the deployment of the other side's troops far exceeded Konoha's, the mission was rated as S-level and considered successful.
As for the original C-rank mission, it was just a fake mission used by the village to cover from others.
However, in this mission, Shintaro's greatest gain wasn't the S-rank mission reward but rather the Sharingan.
He awakened the Sharingan when he was ten years old, and his talent was considered the best in the entire Uchiha Clan.
Of course, compared to his own talent, his Sharingan's talent did not stand out.
Fortunately, it didn't matter if it didn't shine, as long as he didn't hold himself back.
This awakening also proved that unlocking the Sharingan did not necessarily mean losing relatives and friends. The key seemed to lie in one's own emotions.
Shintaro remembered that he seemed to be controlled by his own emotions at that time, and such violent emotions were something he had never felt before.
His total Cursed Energy even increased from that point.
So perhaps the key to unlocking and advancing the Sharingan was not necessarily through tragic events. The point was to experience emotional stimulation, but most of that stimulation often came from tragic events.
Therefore, Shintaro believed that most Uchiha Clan members reversed the cause and effect of the Sharingan's awakening.
To verify this hypothesis, Shintaro carefully studied his brain structure with the Six Eyes.
He found that the chakra connection to the Sharingan was indeed centered on emotions.
The principle of unlocking the Sharingan was actually that the emotional center was stimulated and released a special type of chakra that acted on the optic nerve, causing the eye's shape to change.
After understanding the principle, an idea came to Shintaro's mind.
If the negative energy in the Cursed Energy was used to stimulate the emotional center, the effect might be similar.
So he immediately began to try it, and sure enough, he observed the secretion of that special chakra with the Six Eyes.
Unfortunately, with such stimulation, the release of special chakra would be very slow.
After a year of hard work, Shintaro turned his single magatama eye into a double magatama eye.
Although this method was not as fast as the traditional eye-opening method, it was stable.
A single magatama at the age of ten, a double magatama at the age of eleven.
If he continued at this rate, he would be able to unlock three magatama by the time he was twelve or thirteen years old.
As for the higher level Mangekyo Sharingan, Shintaro wasn't sure if this method would be effective.
During this year, he not only improved the level of his Sharingan but also his overall body strength.
Shintaro now believed that at the Jonin level, an ordinary Jonin was no match for him, except for special individuals like Shikaku and Minato.
[Kagemane no Jutsu] Shikaku's control could ignore Shintaro's Infinity defense. [Hiraishin no Jutsu] Minato appeared and disappeared. Shintaro had not used the Six Eyes to see its principle yet.
Especially Minato, he felt the other party's strength had surpassed the Jonin level.
Even if Minato became Hokage one day, Shintaro would not be surprised.
However, it didn't mean he was afraid of Shikaku and Minato. It was hard to say whether they would win or lose in a real fight.
At least, neither of them could directly defeat Infinity.
With his strength improved to this level, Shintaro also felt it was time to choose a promotion, and the Chunin Exam was coming soon.
❀❀❀
On this day, Shintaro came to Shikaku's house.
Shikaku's wife, Nara Yoshino, opened the door. She wore a classic motherly hairstyle, a neat low ponytail. It would be more classic if she tied it in a braid.
Yoshino was very strict with her husband but very gentle with outstanding juniors like Shintaro.
"Shintaro, why are you here?"
Shintaro bowed and smiled, "I'm here to see Shikaku-sensei."
He noticed with the Six Eyes that Shikaku was at home, and with him were two other Jonin-level chakra auras.
He met Shikaku under Yoshino's guidance.
He saw Shikaku playing shogi with Yamanaka Inoichi on the tatami.
Shikaku touched his beard with an inscrutable expression, while Inoichi opposite him scratched his head and ears, clearly at a disadvantage.
Next to them was a burly man with red hair, looking both cute and naive. His body could be described as big. His face was full of flesh, but he showed a gentle and friendly smile.
Ninja of this size generally came from the Akimichi Clan in Konoha.
This man was Akimichi Choza.
Shintaro now understood all the large and small families in Konoha, knowing that the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi Clans had been friends for generations and were collectively known as the great Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Among them, Yamanaka was the boar, Nara was the deer, and Akimichi was the butterfly.
"Shikaku-sensei, Uncle Inoichi, Uncle Choza."
Shintaro greeted them first.
Shikaku and the others greeted him warmly. He gestured for Shintaro to sit down and said, "Come and sit for a while while I finish this game."
Shintaro sat obediently and watched the shogi match.
Shikaku's shogi skills were obviously better than Inoichi's, and he couldn't be stopped at all, while Inoichi scratched his head but had no power to fight back.
"I win."
Shikaku smiled proudly, and the two scars on his face changed.
Inoichi sighed deeply and said he didn't want to play anymore, which made Choza beside him watch the joke with great joy.
Shikaku turned to Shintaro and said, "You're here for the Chunin Exam, right?"
Shintaro was slightly surprised and confirmed, "As expected from sensei, you guessed what I was thinking."
His flattery only made Shikaku chuckle and say, "You're not a difficult kid to guess, so what's the matter with me?"
"The latest thing that could make you come to me is the upcoming Chunin Exam."
"Don't worry, the recommendation letter for you has been written. I asked Inoichi and Choza to come to my house to discuss the Chunin Exam because I am also one of the examiners."
Shintaro then wanted to ask for the recommendation letter. To participate in the Chunin Exam, he needed a recommendation letter from a superior to register.
"Come and play a game with me, and I'll give it to you. You can play, right?"
Shintaro approached the shogi table, nodded, and said, "Asuma taught me."
"Asuma's shogi skills are not very good either. In that case, I'll let you go first."
Inoichi and Choza also continued to watch the game with a mentality of watching the fun.
Shikaku didn't care at first and just treated Shintaro as a pastime.
But he soon realized something was wrong. The game became increasingly difficult to play, so he quickly used all his shogi skills from the past twenty years.
In the end, their result was 50-50, and in the end, Shikaku narrowly defeated Shintaro by a slight margin.
Shikaku wiped the cold sweat on his forehead calmly, seeing Shintaro's calm expression, he thought to himself: 'I'm afraid this kid was holding back on me just to save face.'
"Looks like I need more practice." Shintaro humbly admitted defeat.
"Indeed." Shikaku replied with a guilty conscience, then took out three recommendation letters from his hand and said, "The Chunin Exam will be easy for you. I don't need to worry about you three."
Shintaro took the recommendation letters and said, "I'll try to pass the exam the first time and not embarrass Sensei."
He then left with the recommendation letters for the Chunin Exam.
"You have a remarkable student." Inoichi sighed.
Shikaku nodded and said, "Yes, he is remarkable."