The meeting room was quite large. When Haseo entered, the Third Hokage and several advisors were already seated inside, along with the clan leaders of the Uchiha and Hyuga—handsome ninja, not-so-handsome ones—nearly thirty people in total.
Shimura Danzo made his way toward a front seat while Haseo quietly settled into a corner. Before long, everyone who needed to arrive had gathered.
The meeting was hosted by Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. They were set to discuss various post-war issues facing the village.
For example, different from the wartime system, how should the volume of external missions and corresponding rewards be reorganized now? How should injured ninja who had lost their combat abilities find new roles? And would the return of large numbers of ninja from the Front Line cause any potential problems?
After all, even ninja could suffer psychological effects after war. A drastic shift from the bloody frontline back to peaceful village life could lead to significant emotional fluctuations, so the village must invest more effort into psychological support and maintaining public order.
Regarding village security, generally speaking, this meant another opportunity for the Uchiha Clan to receive negative feedback… The daily security of Konoha was handled by the Konoha Patrol Force, which was essentially an exclusive domain of the Uchiha Clan. They had routine law enforcement duties, mostly handling civil disputes. Managing other ninja with ninja power? That was always a thankless job, no matter how you sliced it.
During these discussions, Haseo simply sat quietly in his corner without uttering a word. At first, listening to these people bicker had been quite entertaining; after all, watching decisions being made step-by-step within the village was a novel experience for him.
However, after two hours... then four... then eight... passed, no matter how colorful or creative the nonsense became, it simply couldn't hold Haseo's attention anymore.
He started zoning out, thinking about his own stuff while only half-hearing the chatter around him.
Suddenly, though, just as he was almost dozing off, he sensed someone staring directly at him. Haseo instinctively lifted his gaze and saw none other than the Third Hokage watching him intently.
At this moment, the topic under discussion was postwar rank promotions for ninja. During the Great Ninja World War—and indeed since the formation of the Hidden Leaf Village until the end of the war—promotions within Konoha had primarily relied upon battlefield achievements—a survival-of-the-fittest system where capable ninja rose and the mediocre fell behind. This straightforward, efficient, and clear method had convinced everyone.
Yet the recent war had drained massive human resources across all ninja villages. As such, most believed that the devastating conflict would bring at least fifteen years of peace. Without large-scale warfare, battlefield performance could no longer serve as a reasonable promotion criterion for ninja.
If there's no battlefield, how can anyone earn achievements?
So the evaluation criteria for ninja are definitely going to change. The focus must shift from war that involves real bloodshed to highly realistic simulation exams. Everyone agreed on this point, but exactly how the exam should be arranged hasn't been decided yet.
"Haseo, you've always had good ideas. Tell us what you think."
At this moment, the Third Hokage called upon Haseo by name… This once again proves that when you feel the teacher's gaze during class, never make eye contact—otherwise he'd jump on you like a pop quiz.
Of course, this also had something to do with Haseo's keeping quiet all along. Everyone else was enthusiastically discussing the village's future, while it was as silent as a black hole around him. Even worse, he occasionally looked like he was just sitting back enjoying the monkey business, making it hard for the Third Hokage not to notice him.
"Who is this guy? So young—is he your son?"
"No, I don't know him. Isn't he your son?"
"Wait a minute... Haseo... That name sounds familiar."
Two ninja exchanged glances silently within the Meeting Room like this.
In such a setting, those who recognized Haseo were ultimately only a minority.
Since the Third Hokage already called his name, Haseo had no choice but to become serious. He sat up straight, cleared his throat, and got ready to speak.
I appreciate the invitation... but honestly, I was light-years away until just now.
"The promotion of ninja ranks may generally involve only a few stages: from graduates to Genin, Genin to Chunin, and Chunin to Jonin. But this is a matter of utmost importance. After all, the village has different requirements regarding combat capabilities at each rank. Therefore, methods to select ninja qualified for these ranks are crucial.
"In the near future, world peace seems increasingly likely, so requiring ninja to prove themselves in actual battles indeed seems outdated. The introduction of examination methods is inevitable.
"But regardless, being a ninja is a harsh profession revolving around combat, so all promotion exams must emphasize practical fighting abilities, preferably simulating battlefield environments... Without wars, the strength of ninja still needs to be maintained. In fact, these exams can serve as evaluations to check and gauge overall ninja strength."
What Haseo said was technically sound—but a little too vague. People were looking for real, actionable solutions—not just a recap of what was already discussed. Fortunately, he wasn't done speaking yet.
"Therefore, I believe the best approach would be practical sparring matches—simple yet effective. We should select qualified ninja as basic benchmarks for each rank. If a candidate manages to defeat such a benchmark ninja during training combat, he earns promotion; otherwise, he reverts to his former rank.
"For example, for Genin, students graduating from the Ninja Academy could graduate if they defeat an average Genin opponent… Why not use Orochimaru as an example? If a graduate can defeat him, they're clearly ready for Genin status—or maybe even higher.
"As for Chunin... isn't Sakumo Hatake still a Chunin? A Genin who defeats Sakumo Hatake can be promoted to Chunin."
As for the Jonin rank, this was a level of combat strength he wasn't familiar with, so he could temporarily set himself as the benchmark. After all, he'd just become a Jonin himself—so someone like him could set the perfect standard for the Jonin rank.
By selecting only the best among the best, these carefully chosen ninja would surely have solid combat abilities—they could even surpass those hardened by brutal battlefield trials...
What Haseo said made perfect sense. Setting himself aside, the Genin and Chunin handpicked by Orochimaru and Sakumo Hatake were definitely the kind with explosive power.
So this method seemed feasible, but there was just one issue... For the next ten years, no one from the Ninja Academy might qualify as a Genin at all. No Genin would be able to advance to Chunin either—and even Orochimaru himself would probably remain stuck at the Genin level forever.
Everyone first thought carefully about Haseo's suggestion, occasionally nodding in agreement. But when Haseo mentioned that he had just recently been promoted to Jonin, most people finally realized—*Oh crap, isn't that the guy who defeated a Jinchuriki?*
It seemed like the standard for becoming a Jonin had just gotten significantly higher.
So unless you could defeat him, nobody else could become a Jonin anymore? Then everything he said was basically just empty talk. What everyone wanted was a way to evaluate promotions, not a method of keeping a ninja stuck at their current rank indefinitely.
The Third Hokage rubbed his temple, already feeling a headache coming on, and pointed directly at Haseo, clearly indicating, "That's enough from you." The Hokage had already given Haseo enough face—he didn't outright kick him out.
Haseo was speechless. Why couldn't they understand how carefully he had thought this through? Every Genin that Konoha retained contributed even slightly to their overall combat strength.
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