Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
During this month, Sora helped the five little ones find the most suitable paths for themselves.
Hinata and Neji were exceptionally gifted, but to Sora, they were just alright—nothing particularly special.
What truly surprised Sora was that little girl Tenten. She could create her own storage scrolls and even had a decent talent for spatial manipulation.
Although her talent wasn't sufficient to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique, Sora's unique creation—the Personal Space—was a perfect fit.
Tenten didn't have much talent in high-level ninjutsu or taijutsu, but her aptitude for weapon manipulation was exceptional.
After a bit of effort, Sora helped her establish a space of over three hundred cubic meters, allowing her to store more weapons.
Just based on this alone, as long as she kept practicing, even an average Kage-level ninja might not be her match in the future.
On this day, Konoha announced the joint Chunin Exams, inviting the other Five Great Shinobi Villages to participate.
After multiple rounds of Shinobi Tournaments, the Five Great Villages finally agreed to the invitation.
The five little ones were called back by Kakashi and the others to grind through a ton of D-rank missions.
If they wanted to participate in the Chunin Exams, they needed to complete a certain number of missions. What they hadn't done before had to be made up now.
Additionally, these villages came to discuss the matter of the tailed beasts. It had been over ten years, and they still hadn't found them.
If it weren't for Konoha's dominant strength, they would have long since started fighting each other.
But nobody knew how long this peace would last, so they hoped Konoha would assist.
After the five little ones left, Sora was also summoned by Minato.
"Little Sora, the ANBU has discovered traces of the Death God Cult's leader."
"Kumaichi, where is he?"
Sora remembered very clearly the man who had almost killed him back then—not a single detail was forgotten.
Minato shook his head and said, "Not clear yet. The ANBU only found some of their followers in the Land of the Sun. They haven't seen the man you mentioned."
After pausing for a moment, Minato continued, "As far as I know, the name 'Kumaichi' is fake, and even that face of his is fake."
Minato's expression grew serious. Those who worship evil gods gained strength proportional to the sacrifices they made.
So many years had passed; no one knew just how powerful that man had become.
Sora's expression also turned grim as he asked, "The Land of the Sun? I've never even heard of it."
"The Land of the Sun is a very small country. Its total population is only around twenty or thirty thousand, located on a small island in the far eastern seas."
Minato, having been Hokage for so many years, knew these details well. He continued, "The island is quite far from the mainland. It takes two days by boat, so hardly anyone knows about it."
"Give me a map. I'll go and settle this once and for all—to eliminate future threats and avenge the past!"
A flicker of killing intent flashed in Sora's eyes, mixed with a trace of caution.
The Death God was already hard enough to deal with, but it was still manageable. However, the cult leader was not ordinary.
Back then, when his own strength was just average, that man already dared to come to Konoha to deceive ninjas and use them as sacrifices.
All these years later, how powerful could he have grown? Sora had no idea.
The only fortunate thing was that the Land of the Sun had no ninjas, so that man had no way to sacrifice them.
After a moment of thought, Minato said, "You can go, but you must bring a few people with you, just in case something goes wrong."
"Fine."
Originally, Sora had intended to refuse, but remembering how he would have died long ago without Guy and Kurenai back then, he agreed.
"The Chunin Exams are approaching, and the other villages will be coming. To prevent any mishaps, the Sannin and Clan Leader Fugaku will remain in Konoha. Let Kakashi, Might Guy, and Kurenai go with me."
Sora's decision was well thought out. Kakashi and Guy were Kage-level; their combat power was no joke and would be a big help.
Under Sora's guidance, Kurenai had also reached the level of an elite Jonin. Since she had faced the Death God Cult before, she would surely be of great assistance.
After some thought, Minato nodded and agreed, "That's fine. But with the three of them gone, Naruto and his team might not be able to participate in the Chunin Exams."
However, looking at Sora—a "Forever Genin"—Minato quickly made a decision.
"Kakashi and the others will go with you, and their teams will come along too. It's time Naruto experienced something real."
As for the Chunin Exams, Konoha held three or four a year; they could always join the next one.
But experiences like this were rare. With two Kage-level ninjas and Sora, whose strength was immeasurable, there shouldn't be any safer place than this.
"That's not good!"
"Nothing's wrong with it. It's decided. I'll notify them today, and you all will depart tomorrow morning." Before Sora could refuse, Minato cut him off.
The thought of bringing nine little troublemakers along made Sora want to cry, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.
The next morning, before Sora had even woken up, a whole crowd was waiting outside—Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai, each with their team.
Sora had sent Xiao Linglong to Kushina's place the night before. Although Xiao Linglong had started training, she was still too weak to come along.
So today, with no one guarding the door, Kakashi and Guy just barged right in.
"Hey, Sora! Get up! Time for the mission!"
"Why so early?!" Sora grumbled, but he still got up, saying, "Wait, I'll be out soon."
While washing up, Sora couldn't help but mentally complain that Guy's voice was louder than any alarm clock.
"Let's go!"
After greeting the little ones and giving Guy a side-eye, the group set off.
Among the nine little ones, five of them had trained under Sora, and he also knew Sakura, so they weren't strangers.
On the other hand, Kiba, Shino, and Lee looked at him curiously, listening as the others told tales of Sora's amazing feats.
After leaving Konoha, their speed picked up significantly as they headed east.
Sora's personal space was stocked with plenty of hot food, making it the most comfortable journey any of them had ever experienced.
It took them two full days to reach the coast.
Looking at the vast, endless blue ocean, everyone except the members of Team 7 looked visibly distressed.
"The sea is so big. How are we supposed to cross it? The local boats won't make it!"
Hearing the kids' whining, Kakashi and the others exchanged glances and gave Sora a nod.
"Wood Release—Luxury Cruise Technique!"
Thick trees grew rapidly beneath Sora's feet, slowly forming a ship over twenty meters long and ten meters wide.
When the ship was complete, the trees pushed it into the water before retreating back as if they'd never been there.
"Alright, all aboard," Kakashi chuckled as he led everyone onto the ship.
The little ones were left standing there, wide-eyed, even rubbing their eyes to make sure they weren't hallucinating.
Wood Release was supposed to be the strongest of the Kekkei Genkai, right? Didn't it disappear after the First Hokage's death? Why did Sora have it?
And as far as they knew, Sora wasn't even from the Senju Clan. How could he use Wood Release?
Unfortunately, nobody was there to answer their questions, so they could only follow along, still confused.