Chapter 40 Journey to the Land of Rain
The next morning, in front of Souji's house.
Tsukiyo held Souji's newly obtained Jonin appointment certificate, her mouth slightly agape, her face filled with shock!
"Souji, you actually became a Jonin!"
"What's so strange about me becoming a Jonin?"
The Souji chuckled lightly:
"Actually, the test isn't that difficult.
The Hokage won't go all out. As long as you're strong enough, it's not hard to win."
"Win? Hokage?"
"During the assessment, the Hokage let me go first, and I was lucky enough to win against him."
"..."
Listening to the Tsukiyo made me feel like my brain had shut down.
For the villagers of Konoha, the Hokage is synonymous with the strongest. To defeat the Hokage, even in a mere contest, is still an unbelievable feat!
When did my boyfriend become so amazing?
Looking at the chaotic Tsukiyo, Souji chuckled to himself.
"Hmm... Anyway! This is a Jonin appointment certificate! I have to frame it and keep it safe!"
Tsukiyo abandoned her thoughts on defeating the Hokage and turned her attention back to her Jonin appointment certificate.
Her eyes sparkled as she wondered where she should hang it after framing it.
Souji pulled Tsukiyo into his arms and gently hugged her.
"I have to go..."
"Hmm... Be careful."
After lingering with Tsukiyo for a few more moments, though reluctant, Souji had no choice but to let go and bid her farewell.
...
The gate to Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf Village).
The leader of this reinforcement force, Mitokado Homura, one of Konoha's advisors, and twenty Jonin, including Souji, gathered here.
Mitokado Homura is a bespectacled middle-aged man with a stern face and the air of a shrewd, elite intellectual.
According to the original story, both Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu possessed strength and wisdom comparable to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Souji expressed serious doubts, saying that no matter how you looked at it, the level was far too low.
However, it's still possible if it's just someone like the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who is at the lowest level of Kage.
As for the other Jonin, about half of the twenty had been seen in the Land of Rivers, while the other half were newly added to replace those with serious injuries.
I've heard that the three famous ninja clans of Konoha are the Ino-Shika-Cho trio: Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka.
Currently, the clan leaders and the main line of the clans are all on the front lines in the Land of Rain.
Therefore, quite a few of these newly recruited Jonin come from these three clans, totaling six, with two from each clan.
Even among these powerful ninja clans, Jonin (high-ranking ninja) are still quite rare.
Among these, Jonin Souji recognized a few people.
Fugaku Uchiha, Shiki Aburame, and the three Jonin I met during yesterday's assessment.
The Souji greeted each of these people one by one.
Last night, I met with Uchiha Fugaku as arranged.
We had some drinks, and although we didn't talk about anything substantial, it was just a lot of mutual flattery and back-scratching.
However, since we were both interested in making friends, we had a very pleasant conversation and our relationship seemed to have grown closer on the surface.
The Uchiha clan eventually came to the point of extermination mainly because of the Nine-Tails' attack, which dealt a heavy blow to their uncles and elders.
During this period, although the Uchiha clan was not favored by the Konoha leadership, it was still relatively well-off.
At most, they could not integrate with the highest level of leadership, but in the eyes of ordinary Konoha villagers, they were still considered one of the two great ninja clans, alongside the Hyuga.
The Uchiha clan currently harbors no rebellious intentions, and Fugaku's plan is simply to cultivate relationships with figures like Minato or Souji, who are likely to become high-ranking officials in Konoha in the future, to improve the Uchiha's awkward situation.
However, when he greeted Aburame Shiki.
The Souji extended his hand, a smile on his face, and said:
"Mr. Aburame, it's nice to see you again. We may have more opportunities to cooperate in the Land of Rain in the future.
Please give me your guidance."
"..."
However, Aburame Shiki did not react at all.
After a long pause, he spoke in a low voice:
"You...after that battle in the Land of Rivers, you completely forgot about me, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
"You wretched bastard, I'll remember you."
After finishing his sentence, Aburame turned his face away. Although his expression was not visible, he seemed quite displeased.
"this..."
The Souji felt a bit speechless.
Although I did forget about him after that battle... in such a chaotic battle, who would remember someone they didn't have much of a relationship with?
I never expected to be resented.
You Aburame people have no presence, and you can't blame anyone else for that!
After a while, seeing that the time was up, Mitokado Homura said in a deep voice:
"Alright, it's time to go."
"You are all Jonin, the most elite ninjas of Konoha. I believe there are many things I don't need to say."
"Just before we set off, I'd like to remind everyone one last time that our three main rivals in the Land of Rain—Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Amegakure—are all formidable and should not be underestimated.
You must be extremely careful and remain vigilant at all times!"
"Yes!" the crowd replied.
"Set off!"
...
The Land of Rain, a peculiar little country where it rains every single day, without ever stopping.
Because it is located at the intersection of the fire, wind, and earth regions, the Land of Rain often becomes a battlefield for these three countries.
The Second and Third Shinobi World Wars were fought here, and small-scale battles occur frequently on ordinary days, making it a very unlucky place.
Jiraiya was injured this time, and Jonin-level ninjas went to provide support ahead of schedule...
It seems we can't let our guard down this time either. Although Souji can now easily defeat even Jonin, there are still elite Jonin above him, and most importantly, Kage-level powerhouses!
[Defeat Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi in a duel, reputation +10000]
[Defeat Kage-level ninja Orochimaru in a duel, reputation +10000]
[Reaching 40,000 reputation points will reward you with Poison Resistance (S-rank)]
[Reaching a reputation of 50,000 will reward you with mastery of poison knowledge]
[Renowned reputation reaches 60,000, reward: Medical Ninjutsu (S-rank)]
Name: Mochizuki Souji
[Identity: Jonin]
Chakra: 20,000
[Ninjutsu: Three Body Technique, Body Flicker Technique, Genjutsu (Rank A), Five Elements Ninjutsu (Rank A), Konoha Style Fluid Technique, Mochizuki Style Kunai Combat Technique, Mochizuki Style Kunai Throwing Technique]
[Reputation: 60400 (Famous throughout the region)]
[Example: Never misses a shot: Ignoring the difference in strength and all means, it will always hit the target (no limit)]
[Ultimate Kill (Level 4): Ignores all methods, guaranteed to kill the target, only effective against Jonin level and below (Kunai limited)]
[Upgrading the Ultimate Kill skill to level 5 requires 100,000 Prestige]
The Souji glanced at the system panel.
The system was quite strict. Neither the Hokage nor Orochimaru took it too seriously, and he had only been able to easily defeat them by taking advantage of the rules.
Therefore, the system judged it as a defeat in the competition, and even though they were such powerful figures, it only gave each of them 10,000 reputation points.
In addition, the commander later sparred with Might Guy and earned another 600 reputation points, making up for the shortfall in the reward.
His reputation has now exceeded 60,000, and he has received three new rewards.
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End of this chapter...