Sunlight shone on the Hokage Rock, casting a soft golden glow.
On the streets, large areas were under construction. Workers were busily building new structures, with scaffolding and construction materials everywhere. The roar of machinery and the clanging of hammers filled the air.
It was truly a lively and vibrant scene, full of energy.
Team 7 was wandering the streets out of boredom. Kakashi was reporting on the over-level mission in the Land of Waves. The team hadn't been disbanded yet because he had promised to treat them to Ramen Ichiraku afterward.
"Seriously, it's only been a week! How did the village get so lively?" Naruto grumbled with his hands behind his head. "Even the statues got a fresh coat of paint!"
"You dead-last. Haven't you heard about the ninja system reform? The notice was posted right on the mission building," Sasuke said with his hands in his pockets, glancing at Naruto.
"Eh? I didn't see it, maybe I missed it," Naruto scratched his head, looking confused.
"Knew it. Still a dead-last."
"Stupid Sasuke! Who are you calling dead-last? You've said it twice now!" Naruto snapped, pointing at Sasuke's nose.
"Naruto, no yelling!" Sakura intervened, clearly taking sides. She raised her fist. "If you keep arguing, I'll have to step in!"
Naruto instantly shut his mouth. He and Sasuke glared at each other, then looked away.
Just then, Kakashi walked over from the direction of the Hokage's office. Without looking up from his booklet, he lazily waved his hand. "Yo, you're all still here."
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto ran up excitedly. "Did you finish your report? What did the Hokage say?"
Kakashi replied lazily, "Hmm… You three got scolded by the Third Hokage for quite a while. But I guess we passed."
Actually, not really.
The Third Hokage spent half an hour criticizing Kakashi's current strength compared to his youth. If they hadn't been lucky this time, Kakashi could've died in the Land of Waves. After that, the Hokage gave ten minutes on the Will of Fire and wrapped up with a five-minute update on Konoha's new policies and the upcoming Chunin Exams. He even asked about Naruto's training before they left.
"Huh? Why?" The three looked nervous.
"There were a lot of unexpected developments during the mission. It far exceeded the original task level," Kakashi began to bluff. "But the Hokage acknowledged our performance. After all, we protected the client and defeated Zabuza and Haku."
Kakashi… the mission difficulty escalated to the point where they had to fight an elite jonin. Did it not occur to you to call for backup? What if the enemy had more than one jonin or more subordinates? Every member of Team 7 is a future pillar. If anything had happened, how would you face the past Hokages in the afterlife? You were too reckless this time. You're really slipping. You even needed your students to save you. You just got lucky this time. Pull yourself together. The Third Hokage's scolding still echoed in his mind.
"So we're good then!" Naruto sighed in relief and patted his chest with a proud smile. "I told you, Team 7 is the strongest!"
"But you can't be that reckless next time," Kakashi squinted as he continued bluffing. "Mission risk assessments are important. You can't rely on luck."
"Got it, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto replied cheerfully, clearly not taking the warning seriously.
"Let's go. This time, I'm treating you all to barbecue."
"Whoa!" The three of them lit up with joy. "Wasn't it supposed to be Ramen Ichiraku? You're being generous!"
"Because this might be Team 7's last meal together," Kakashi said casually. "I've already signed you up for the Chunin Exams."
"Eh?!"
"If you don't pass, Team 7 might be disbanded early. The ones who fail will have to go back to the Ninja Academy. The new jonin manual says this is the last regular Chunin Exam under the new reforms. If you can't become chunin, you'll be sent back for retraining." Kakashi waved the small booklet in his hand.
This time it wasn't Icha Icha, it was the newly issued jonin manual, which included information on the Will of Fire reforms and the evil Akatsuki.
"Whaaaaaat?!" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all widened their eyes in shock and disbelief.
"You're kidding, right?" Naruto jumped up and pointed at Kakashi's nose. "We just finished a super-hard mission! I'm not going back to school!"
"Yeah!" Sakura added anxiously. "What would I do if I'm separated from Sasuke?"
Sasuke didn't speak, but his brows were furrowed. After finally becoming a ninja, he couldn't go back to playing house at school. How would he get revenge that way?
Kakashi still spoke lazily, "Well, those are the Hokage's new rules. Nothing I can do. And by the way, this might be the last Chunin Exam ever. The promotion system might change after this. So if you want to pass, you'll need to work hard starting now."
Honestly, he didn't mind either way. He figured it might be better if the three went back and matured more. He might even take up a teaching post at the high school division of the academy. He signed them up mainly to give Team 7 a chance to face adversity and grow.
Looking around the newly transformed Konoha, he thought, The Third Hokage really does have the bearing of a wise ruler.
"Let's go eat first. At least look forward to the barbecue. Once you're full, I'll explain everything in detail."
---
Sizzle.
Inside the barbecue restaurant, the aroma was mouthwatering. Fat from the meat slices dripped onto the charcoal, sending up wisps of fragrant smoke.
"Kakashi-sensei, can you tell us now?" Naruto, who had eaten at lightning speed, rubbed his now-round belly with a satisfied look on his face.
"Well, it's not much different from a genin exam," Kakashi replied casually, setting down his chopsticks and sweeping his gaze over the curious Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. "I can't tell you the specifics, of course. But basically, it's to test whether you're ready to become chunin. As long as you train properly, I'm confident you'll do fine."
"That's basically saying nothing at all," Sakura muttered.
"It's a pain to explain in detail, so here," Kakashi pulled out a brand-new jonin manual. "Technically, you're not authorized to read this yet, but it's not exactly top secret either. I'll let you take a look."
He handed over the newly issued manual and gave Sasuke a meaningful glance.
Sakura, the most literate among them, took it and began reading, with Naruto and Sasuke eagerly peeking over her shoulder.
"What's this about an Academy City? What does that even mean?"
"Sounds like Konoha's planning to build a bunch of different ninja schools. Will students get invitations in the future? That's kind of cool."
"Ninja Elementary School covers Clone, Substitution, and Transformation Jutsu, plus tool handling. Ninja Middle School teaches advanced jutsu and chakra nature/shape transformation. There's even a Ninja College. If we only know basic jutsu, doesn't that mean we're just elementary level ninjas?"
Sakura realized she was technically only at the elementary level.
"I can do Shadow Clones!" Naruto raised his hand proudly.
"Hmph, I know several advanced fire jutsu," Sasuke said, clearly trying to one-up Naruto.
"Ugh, I don't know anything…" Sakura said with a self-deprecating tone, though inwardly, her other personality was annoyed. But part of her also thought that going back to school with Sasuke wouldn't be so bad. A light-hearted school romance might be kind of fun.
"Whoa! The stuff in the novels was real?! There's actually an evil organization in this world!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed. "And this bad guy has the Uchiha name too!"
"He looks just like Sasuke," Sakura said, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
Sasuke's emotions flared, and his Sharingan almost activated. Clenching his fists, he snatched the manual from Sakura and read the page about Itachi alone.
Kakashi stroked his chin and thought, As expected.
Compared to the other multi-talented villains, the record on Itachi… seemed kind of ordinary.
Sasuke suddenly felt a surge of confidence about his revenge.
Even Naruto, normally slow on the uptake, noticed the shift in atmosphere. "So this bad guy is your enemy? I'll help you beat him up!"
Sakura, feeling like Naruto stole her line, quickly added, "Yeah! Me too!"
"Stay out of it. I'll kill him myself," Sasuke said with a cold sneer, harsh words, but a warm heart underneath.
Sasuke began to think: maybe it was only because he had been too young before that Itachi had seemed like an insurmountable mountain. Compared to other S-rank criminals, Itachi might just be… a not-so-special hill.
Maybe in the villain organization, he was just a low-tier grunt.
According to the notes, he was only a bit stronger than a regular jonin, maybe not even as good as Kakashi. This information had been personally written by the Third Hokage, so it had to be accurate.
Pathetic. Committed unforgivable crimes just to become a minor villain in an evil group. Watch how I avenge my clan.
But first, he needed to find out who was the strongest jonin he currently had access to.
"Kakashi, do you know Itachi?" Sasuke asked, while Kakashi was still grabbing more grilled meat.
"Ah, he used to be under my command," Kakashi said after thinking for a moment.
Sasuke was surprised. He hadn't expected the usually laid-back and unreliable Kakashi to have once been Itachi's superior. This confirmed his earlier suspicions, he had only feared Itachi because he was young at the time.
So Itachi isn't all that special after all.
"How does his strength compare to yours?" Sasuke asked bluntly.
Kakashi didn't mind. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he replied, "We're pretty evenly matched."
Looks like I underestimated him a bit. I'll need more time to reach Kakashi-sensei's level.
"Please train me," Sasuke said through clenched teeth, looking up at Kakashi with determination. He had made up his mind: become a chunin, then a jonin, and finally, take his revenge.
"Me too! The evil organization will be defeated by me!" Naruto shouted, raising his hand.
"And me," Sakura chimed in, more out of love than a burning desire to train.
"Well, I was already planning to train Sasuke and Sakura properly before the exam," Kakashi agreed. "As for you, Naruto, there's a teacher whose style suits you even better."
"Nooo! That's so unfair! I want to train with everyone too!" Naruto crossed his arms and yelled in protest.
"Don't worry. That teacher is even stronger than I am. And the Hokage himself will be giving you personal lessons from time to time."
Though still grumpy, Naruto reluctantly accepted this explanation.