The Chunin Exams lasted over a month, so the Jonin exam naturally took even longer—many Jonin exams were directly tied to S-rank missions.
Four months had passed since Bai first met Asuma Sarutobi.
And it had been three months since Bai last saw Kurenai and Anko.
An S-rank mission lasting three months was undeniably grueling, yet Bai worried very little.
First, Asuma Sarutobi’s presence guaranteed the safety of the mission; the Third Hokage naturally wouldn’t let his only surviving son risk his life needlessly.
Second, Kurenai became a Jonin in the original series anyway, so bar any accidents, she would not only pass the exam but shine brilliantly!
After all, among Kurenai, Anko, and Hayate, only Kurenai was a genuine Jonin candidate.
Finally, Anko Mitarashi’s ceiling was at Kage-level; Ryuchi Cave contained numerous Kage-level ninja snakes.
Anko avoided summoning them normally simply because she didn’t want to recall her past with Orochimaru, but if a true crisis arose, Anko wouldn’t foolishly allow herself to be captured!
Yakumo Kurama’s side was also showing signs of losing control.
With Kurenai away, the task of visiting Yakumo fell naturally onto Bai’s shoulders.
Under Bai’s deliberate guidance, Idou within Yakumo’s heart gradually took form.
Sometimes, while Bai shared Academy stories with Yakumo, he could even sense an evil, ominous Yin-natured chakra leaking from her body!
To Bai’s surprise, Idou actually possessed Kage-level intensity!
Probably because Bai had deliberately stimulated its growth!
Each time, Bai quietly suppressed Idou inside Yakumo’s heart without making a scene—a trivial effort for him, but something Kurenai could never suppress, as the Yin-natured chakra monster now rivaled a Kage!
When Kurenai visited Yakumo next time, it would be the moment Idou went rampant!
Everything was set; all that was missing was Kurenai!
And the reason Bai was so confident was naturally because his Sharingan had officially evolved into a Mangekyo!
Though consolidating his Shinobi Way system hadn’t succeeded yet—only showing early signs—and his Zanpakuto hadn’t achieved Shikai, Bai simply continued refining chakra shape and nature transformations as usual, naturally becoming a genuine Kage-level powerhouse, which unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan as a result.
Looking back now, Bai had initially assumed he’d have to wait until graduating from the Academy to reach this height.
After all, back then, Bai never expected to receive the full, unreserved teachings of Anko and Kurenai, nor could he have predicted his second cheat would be the Sharingan, enabling him to directly copy all kinds of ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and taijutsu!
Having unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan, Bai now truly understood the Uchiha clan’s arrogance firsthand.
Simply too powerful!
Izanagi to reject all unfavorable outcomes, Izanami for infinite loops, the ultimate offense and defense of Susanoo, plus the unique dojutsu belonging to each pair of Mangekyo!
Bai naturally possessed his own Mangekyo dojutsu.
However, unlike most Mangekyo Sharingan, his was similar to Obito Uchiha’s: both eyes awakened a single divine authority, which split into two mutually supportive techniques.
Strictly speaking, Obito Uchiha’s Mangekyo Sharingan only held Kamui; Bai was the same, his Mangekyo possessing only a single divine authority named Amenominakanushi, but he was extremely satisfied with its capabilities!
The left eye’s Amenominakanushi ability could accelerate a person’s flow of time.
If Bai wished, regardless of eye strain, he could force a newborn infant to age to death from natural causes in just a few breaths!
Furthermore, this time acceleration was irreversible, and lost lifespan could not be recovered—except by Bai himself!
The right eye’s Mangekyo ability could rewind a person’s time—of course, only rewinding physical condition, while memories and experiences remained untouched.
This perfectly countered the left eye’s time acceleration, or could revert a dying old man back to the state of a fertilized egg.
And Amenominakanushi’s effects worked on Bai himself as well…
Looked at from a certain perspective, Bai was now immortal!
And beyond granting himself immortality, as long as Bai willed it, he could free anyone from the constraints of lifespan!
The divine power awakened by every pair of Mangekyo followed clear emotional traces.
For instance, Obito Uchiha’s Kamui stemmed from his desperate urge to tear apart and escape a world without Rin; Fugaku Uchiha’s future sight arose from his burning desire to know if the Uchiha coup would succeed.
The moment Bai learned Amenominakanushi’s abilities, he knew why his Mangekyo Sharingan had awakened such power!
Though the added bonus of immortality was tantalizing, Bai knew the fundamental reason he awakened Amenominakanushi was probably not something as ethereal as immortality.
It was worth mentioning that on the very first day he obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan, Bai curiously used the time acceleration ability on himself—not for anything evil, but simply to see where the peak of his Sage Body lay.
Ultimately, Bai confirmed his body’s peak state ranged from twenty-five to thirty years old: possessing a monstrous chakra pool of several hundred Kakashis, boundless stamina, terrifying raw power rivaling Chakra Enhanced Strength, and monstrous recovery speed.
Bai held no sadomasochistic tendencies, so he hadn’t tested the upper limit of his Sage Body’s healing, but slicing a cut across his palm with his Zanpakuto healed back completely within a few breaths!
With these passive traits, twenty-five to thirty-year-old Bai’s strength sat in the upper-tier of Beyond-Kage powerhouses—and that was without his Sharingan evolving into an Eternal Mangekyo, since time acceleration was ultimately a Sharingan dojutsu.
At the same time, Bai confirmed his Sage Body leaned toward the Senju clan.
As everyone knows, the Sage Eyes split into Sharingan and Byakugan, while the Sage Body split into Senju Sage Body and Uzumaki Sage Body.
The Senju clan’s Sage Body was inferior to the Uzumaki clan’s in raw chakra reserves—when Naruto was fifteen or sixteen, even while suppressing the Nine-Tails, his chakra reached a terrifying hundred Kakashis.
However, the Senju Sage Body surpassed it in recovery rate and physical resilience; the Uzumaki Sage Body, beyond huge chakra reserves, could awaken bloodline traits like Mind’s Eye of the Kagura and Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Both Sage Bodies had pros and cons, but when talking about what suited the Sharingan best, it was undeniably the Senju Sage Body!
In the original series, Madara Uchiha awakened the Rinnegan on his deathbed only after transplanting Hashirama’s cells.
The Uzumaki Sage Body suited the Byakugan better—wasn’t Boruto in the original series the prime example?
Not that Uzumaki bodies couldn’t support the Sharingan; Nagato’s situation in the original story was purely mounting a Ferrari engine onto a tractor!