---Shikuro P.O.V---
Shikuro watched the three genins sparring against each other in a three way battle. Tomorrow would be the start of the Chunin Exams and he wanted his students to be ready for what all was to come.
He wanted them to perform brilliantly for various reasons. The most important reason was that they were his students. The better they performed the more rewards he would receive. If they showed a good showing in the exams, the Damiyos and nobles would be happy and would give the village more funding and missions. The other villages would know that Konoha still had talented people that would go on to become strong shinobis which would prevent them from angering Konoha. Of course that would mean more assassination attempts at the kids but he was there to protect them from such things.
'From what I have seen, these three won't have any problem going to the round three of the chunin exams. But after that, it would be a matter of luck and their determination. They need to get lucky with their matchups. If their skillsets have an advantage against certain genins they would prevail otherwise it would be tough for them.' Shikuro thought as he thought about the chances of each of his students individually in the exams.
'Ken would have the least problems against his opponents. I don't know how good is his ice release since he is hiding it even for me. Kiddo said that if I know about his capabilities then I would tell it to Itachi and then Itachi would be prepared for it. Well, he is not wrong, I would love to see Itachi beat his ass for all the troubles that he had given me. But sadly the kid is strong.'
'With his Lava release alone, he could take care of most of his opponents. I doubt even the Tsuchikage's grand daughter is as proficient as him in Lava release. With his rubber, Deidara explosions would also be harmless. His kenjutsu skills are also quite good and he would most likely be evenly matched against Ameyuri and Mangetsu. And with his Ice release, the Hozuki technique wouldn't work. I might even teach him some lightning release during the one month break between the second round and third round.'
'Itachi too should not have much problem. His talent in genjutsu is as terrifying as Ken's talent in ninjutsu. With his three tomoe sharingan, he would be able to defend himself from most of the ninjutsu attacks. He would also have an advantage in taijutsu fights with it. Coupled with fire and water ninjutsu, he should be able to reach at least the semis with Ken unless both of them face each other in an earlier round. Still, Mangetsu would give him a lot of trouble. That would be a tough fight for Itachi unless he manages to catch him in a genjutsu.'
'That leaves only Kabuto who would have the most trouble. He says that he has a trump card but still his capabilities are limited. He has the defensive jutsu to protect himself but not the long range offensive Jutsus. With his knowledge of medical ninjutsu and his efficiency with using chakra scalpel in taijutsu, he would have advantage in close range combat as opposed to long range fights.'
'All in all, they should make a good showing unless something unexpected happens.' Shikuro smiled at that thought as he then focused on the ongoing spar.
Itachi was using the advantage of his sharingan which has evolved to three tomoe over the years to see through Ken attacks in slow motion and dodge them. While Kabuto took advantage of the two fighting each other to hide himself waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
Despite Itachi dodging against most of the ninjutsus thrown at him, there was a limit to it. One water jet still struck him and slammed him to a tree.
'Ken chakra reserves are truly massive. They are just too much for his age. Heck, he has even more reserves than me. How can he have so much reserves? It has only grown in the past couple years. While he has the genes of the third Hokage, I doubt even he had this much chakra during his youth.' Shikuro was always flabbergasted at the amount of chakra Ken has. Unknown to him, the chakra reserves was due to Ken's should being stuck in void before it came in the world with the previous world memories. Due to the unknown amount of time spend by its soul in void, Ken's spiritual energy had increased by a lot. And as Ken's physical strength increases, the amount of chakra healing has increases corresponding to the amount of spiritual energy his body could handle.
Shikuro stopped his thinking as he was flabbergasted at what happened next in the fight.
Itachi had gotten up from the water style jutsu and immediately hit Ken with a genjutsu who was caught off guard. Itachi was going to knock him out but Ken released himself from the genjutsu.
Seeing Itachi so close to him, he made just one hand sign.
*Poof*
"Big brother Itachi, You are not going to hit me, are you?" Ken shyly said while transformed as a toddler Sasuke.
Itachi too was caught off guard as he stopped in his tracks. Ken took advantage of this fact as he punched Itachi right in the face followed by a punch in the gut knocking Itachi out.
He smirked still in the form of little Sasuke "Who says you need genjutsu to cause emotional damage to your opponent? A smart and evil brain can also do the trick."