Chapter 131: The Wind Is Picking Up
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The room was filled with a sound like a typewriter rattling away.
Asuka leaned against the doorframe and peered inside.
A dozen or so white-haired elderly women were packed into the small room, each wearing an identical pair of glasses. Their mature figures gave them an unmistakably intellectual air.
At the center of the room, a white-haired woman was working with a child in her mouth and a paintbrush between her teeth.
Asuka clicked his tongue thoughtfully.
"Kana is really working hard."
After all, she was earning money for herself and her newborn child. The more she earned, the better. And the speed at which she was accumulating wealth was simply beyond imagination.
How long had it been?
She had already bought a house in the clan district.
On the other side of the doorway, Ryōichi leaned against the frame and glanced through the magazine Asuka had handed him.
As the pages turned, the old man's heated heart began to race.
Asuka turned his head and listened to Ryōichi's increasingly irregular breathing before teasing him.
"Old man, your youngest son is almost thirty. If you have another child now, I estimate your son will have to raise them."
Ryōichi's mouth twitched.
The warmth surging through him as he read the magazine gradually faded.
"This proves this old man is still young. My way of thinking is perfectly compatible with you youngsters. If I showed these things to the old man, do you think he'd understand them?"
"Even if he did, his body couldn't handle it."
"Unbelievable. An old man like you is still serving as the clan's second-in-command…"
"The Uchiha only respect the strong. Are you planning to beat the Elder down?"
"Not exactly. Sanrō has an incredible recovery ability. You kicked him last time, and he was still bouncing around afterward like nothing had happened."
"Bird-kun. Ryōichi."
Kana finally came back to herself.
She looked toward the two men at the doorway and stood up to greet them.
"Tch."
Hearing Kana call him "Uncle," several dark lines appeared on Ryōichi's forehead.
He waved his hand at her and turned around.
Honestly. My cousin acts so impulsively. He doesn't care about this old man's feelings at all.
Watching the old man walk away, Asuka entered the room.
He casually picked up one of the completed sketchbooks and flipped through several pages. After examining a drawing of a slug-like woman spitting on someone, he asked,
"Kana, how's life in the Uchiha clan?"
Kana gently rocked the little girl in her arms before looking up at Asuka.
"It's good. From the moment I was born until now, I've never experienced what it feels like to be treated equally."
"People in the shinobi world regarded us as monsters, like floods or wild beasts."
"But in a clan that was once our enemy, I finally experienced equality."
"They treat me like an ordinary person, just like the villagers around them."
???
Asuka tilted his head, several imaginary question marks appearing above him.
How did I not know the Uchiha were this outstanding?
Didn't they generally discriminate against clan members who hadn't awakened the Sharingan? Didn't they look down on anyone weaker than themselves?
Is my grandniece really treated that well?
After a moment of silence, he pulled over a chair and sat opposite Kana while continuing to flip through the sketchbook.
"When you have time, go outside and take a walk. Staying indoors for too long isn't good for your health."
"Understood."
Waaah! Waaah!
The little Karin suddenly burst into tears.
Kana froze for a moment, then glanced at Asuka, who was still seriously studying the drawings. She adjusted her clothes, gently lifted the baby in her arms, and said quietly,
"A few days ago, I went shopping and happened to meet the clan head's wife. I asked her for some advice about raising children."
Asuka's eyelid twitched.
Without thinking, he blurted out,
"You can ask her for advice about raising a child, but don't expect any advice about educating one."
Kana sighed inwardly.
Karin's unexpectedly powerful appetite had left her somewhat astonished, but her expression became puzzled.
"Lady Mikoto is so gentle. She shouldn't teach children anything bad, should she?"
Thinking of the scene several years later, when her children would destroy the clan, Asuka clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"There really is such a thing as children being filial to a loving mother. The ancients weren't lying to modern people."
Thump!
The moment he finished speaking, heavy footsteps came from outside the window.
They sounded almost like a cat's.
"Fatty, you've gotten fatter again."
Without even looking up, Asuka had correctly guessed who had arrived.
An orange cat sauntered in with elegant steps, its round belly swaying from side to side. It jumped onto Asuka's shoulder and settled comfortably.
Then it spoke in a clear voice.
"Today is the recommendation period for the Chūnin Exams."
"Yutaka sent me to ask whether their team should participate this year."
The orange cat turned toward Kana and politely waved a paw at her.
"Hm?"
When the cat saw the smooth white skin in its field of vision, it blinked.
Then it leaned close to Asuka's ear and whispered,
"Don't you feel embarrassed?"
"Embarrassed?"
"I've seen most of the people in Konoha. Why would I be embarrassed?"
With that thought, Asuka finally lifted his gaze from the book.
He stood and looked toward Uzumaki Kana.
"If you need anything, come across the street and find me. I'll probably be staying in the village for a while."
"Okay!"
Kana's pretty face flushed slightly as she nodded.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
As Asuka's footsteps gradually faded into the distance, Kana hurriedly ordered one of her clones to close the door.
"If you hadn't said anything after she finished feeding the baby, we could've pretended nothing happened."
"I was only reminding you so you wouldn't feel embarrassed."
"As a medical ninja, I've already trained myself to have a strong heart. There's no way I'd feel embarrassed."
"I was worried Kana might feel embarrassed."
"Then why did you remind me?"
With the orange cat perched on his head, Asuka continued arguing all the way to the Hokage's office.
Creak!
He pushed open the door.
Quite a few jōnin and chūnin were already gathered inside.
"Jōnin Asuka!"
"Asuka-kun!"
"…"
After briefly greeting the people inside, Asuka pointed toward Minato's desk.
"Has this proposal already been implemented?"
The person beside him shook his head and answered quietly.
"Not yet. Lord Minato just finished discussing the matter concerning Orochimaru."
"There's still no conclusion regarding Orochimaru?"
"I heard Lord Jiraiya lost contact with him."
"Ah. Lord Jiraiya might have been too focused on his research and neglected it for a while."
"Ahem."
The moment Asuka finished speaking, Minato stood up.
He looked around the room at everyone and cleared his throat.
"Sorry to have kept everyone waiting."
"Since everyone is here for the Chūnin Exams, I'll keep this brief."
"As for the examination format, any genin who have completed eight or more missions may be recommended to participate in the exams at their instructor's discretion…"
"…"
As Minato explained the Chūnin Exam procedures in detail, Asuka recalled his own experience of becoming a chūnin and couldn't help shaking his head.
It really was easier to get promoted during wartime.
What exams did they even have back then?
Completing missions was enough.
After finishing his explanation, Minato stepped forward.
He raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together before his lips, his expression becoming solemn.
"Team Two, led by Uchiha Asuka and consisting of Yugao Uzuki, Hanahana Hyūga, and Iruka Umino, graduated six months ago."
"They have completed 627 D-rank missions and one C-rank mission."
"Therefore, I hereby recommend them for the Chūnin Selection Exam on behalf of Uchiha Asuka."
???
"What? More than six hundred? If I remember correctly, those three only graduated a little over six months ago."
"You forgot about Uchiha Asuka? He's a monster. He completed more than three thousand D-rank missions himself. Add these six hundred and he's probably over four thousand by now."
"Wait, isn't that ridiculous?"
"There's nothing we can do. He really can finish missions that quickly, and no one has ever complained about him."
"I remember that the Third Hokage once worried he'd take away all the D-rank work from the village's genin, so he forcibly stopped Asuka from accepting D-rank missions."
The atmosphere in the room instantly became extremely awkward.
It was as though even the air had frozen.
No one said anything, but discomfort spread through the silence.
The instructors who had accompanied Asuka all lowered their heads and stared at their students' files.
D-rank missions: twenty.
D-rank missions: nineteen.
D-rank…
Damn it!
Thinking about Asuka's terrifying record of thousands of missions, the instructors' expressions darkened.
Asuka himself being an absolute outlier was one thing.
But somehow, even the students he trained were becoming outliers.
Their own stupid students could spend an entire day just finding a single cat.
"Um… well…"
Minato also noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
He looked at the instructors.
Their faces were flushed, their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open, and a bead of sweat slowly appeared on Minato's forehead.
How did he complete such an absurd number of missions?
When I took the Chūnin Exams, I think I'd only completed a little over forty missions.
No wonder the Third Hokage wouldn't let him take D-rank missions.
Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead, scratched his head awkwardly, and said,
"Approved!"
Hearing that single word, Asuka proudly glanced at the instructors.
Seeing all of them lower their heads in shame, he turned around and looked out the window.
Just then, a black cat suddenly leaped onto the rooftop.
When it saw Asuka standing inside the Hokage Building and noticed his gaze falling upon it, the cat immediately raised a paw and waved.
"Thank you!"