Chapter 332: Promotion
The Chunin Exams ended, and the examinees slipped back into their usual routines.
By the very next day, special training had resumed as if nothing had happened.
Only this time, something had clearly changed.
Perhaps inspired by Obito and the others, many of the special training students suddenly became much more diligent.
Geniuses were nothing new in Konoha. There were always prodigies somewhere.
But Obito and Might Guy felt different.
It was like a group of poor kids who had struggled together, only for two of them to suddenly turn into millionaires in just one year.
Because Obito and Guy had climbed step by step alongside them, the others felt a strange mix of pressure and hope.
Even if they could not become as strong as Might Guy, surely they could not just stay where they were now.
Asuma, who was close to Obito, was especially fired up. Their bond only made his competitive spirit burn hotter.
Mugetsu was very satisfied with this result.
This had been his goal in arranging the leave for the Chunin Exams in the first place: to let these students see, with their own eyes, what the very best of their generation looked like.
From his observations, the S Rank system rewards were tied to the students' overall growth. The more they improved, the better the rewards he received.
The rest depended on individual skill levels.
Perfect level Fire Release barely moved, its proficiency inching forward at a snail's pace. But Lightning Release and Earth Release, which were still at proficient level, improved quickly as he trained and used them.
Thanks to Mugetsu's clearly demonstrated teaching ability, genin like Nara Shiosui continued to throw themselves into special training without holding back.
To Shiosui's surprise, Mugetsu was not only strong in all five basic Nature Transformations, but also proficient in special ones like Yin Release.
Mugetsu could not teach him the Shadow Secret Technique, of course. But whenever Shiosui ran into conceptual problems related to Yin Release, Mugetsu could still calmly explain the principles behind it.
Five days after the Chunin Exams concluded, the list of those promoted to Chunin was finalized.
By then, the Hidden Mist ninja had already left Konoha.
Konoha would not issue Konoha headbands to foreign ninja, and Hidden Mist also needed their own people back home to handle promotions there.
Mugetsu suspected Hidden Mist might not have strawberry ice cream for a while, because before their departure he had seen Mei Terumi frantically buying up every strawberry ice cream she could find.
Before she left, she even handed three servings back to him.
"You treated me to two last time. I, Mei Terumi, always repay kindness. So this time I am treating you to three!" she said proudly.
She had not had much money of her own. But right before they set off, the Mizukage's adviser had given them funds to buy specialties from the Land of Fire as souvenirs and local products.
Mei had promptly spent almost all of that money on ice cream.
In her view, it was perfect. Hidden Mist had nothing like it, and it tasted wonderful.
To her, this entire trip to Konoha had been a success.
She had eaten delicious strawberry ice cream, gained the appreciation of the Mizukage's adviser, and aside from being eliminated in the quarterfinals, she had no regrets.
"Then I will gladly accept," Mugetsu said, giving a small smile as he took the ice cream and turned to leave.
He was not very interested in sweets himself, but his students would certainly not mind the extra treats.
Mei watched Mugetsu's departing back with a thoughtful expression.
She had always found him a little strange. Not in the silly, clumsy way Obito was, but in a subtle, hard to name way that made her feel slightly off balance.
Just now, she finally understood the source of that strange feeling.
When Mugetsu interacted with her, he did not treat her like an outsider from another village.
Because she wore a Hidden Mist forehead protector, even a simpleton like Obito made her feel a clear sense of distance.
Mugetsu was not exactly close to her, but when she talked to him, it felt more like speaking to a stranger or a villager from her own home rather than a foreigner.
If she had not stayed in Konoha for a while, Mei might never have noticed the difference.
"What a strange guy…" she muttered, then shook her head.
Maybe she was just overthinking it.
…
"To the Hokage Office? Does that mean there is some very difficult mission for us?" Obito asked, eyes sparkling after hearing Minato's summons.
"Is it going to be rescuing a kidnapped princess? Or repelling an enemy invasion?"
Minato smiled and shook his head.
"Those kinds of missions are not for you yet. Besides, Kakashi has not fully recovered. How could I assign serious missions to you now?"
With Tsunade's treatment, Kakashi and Might Guy had been discharged from the hospital on the fourth day, but their bodies were still far from fully healed and needed more rest.
Kakashi glanced at Obito, speechless.
Ninja novels really were harmful. Since when were kidnapped princesses so common?
"Then what is it?" Obito slumped, clearly disappointed. He had thought his performance in the Chunin Exams had finally made the Third Hokage see him in a new light.
"You will know when we get there," Minato said with a mysterious smile.
Kakashi caught that expression and almost immediately guessed what this was about.
It was probably their Chunin promotion.
Thinking of that, Kakashi's expression turned a little strange.
He wondered if the village was going to give him another Chunin flak jacket, and whether he should accept it.
In the end, he decided that if they really gave him one, he would take it.
He had won first place, after all. And Chunin vests were technically consumables.
On the way to the Hokage Building, Obito and the others ran into a few familiar faces from the exam grounds.
"Yo, Kakashi, how is your recovery?" Might Guy greeted them with a smile, his spotless white teeth shining under the sun.
"We were discharged from the hospital just yesterday. What kind of recovery do you think we have had?" Kakashi replied, feeling helpless.
"Hahahahaha!" Guy did not feel awkward at all. He simply laughed loudly.
"That is because I cannot wait for our next battle, my dear friend!" he said, looking at Kakashi with eyes full of blazing fighting spirit.
For Guy, failure was not frightening. For most of his life so far, he had lost far more often than he had won.
What he pursued was not an unbroken winning streak.
He sought to learn from defeat and forge greater victories, climbing step by step toward his goal as the strongest taijutsu user.
Now that Kakashi had gone from pursuer to front runner, Guy naturally had to surpass him again as soon as possible.
"Talk to me again after my body has fully recovered," Kakashi said, shaking his head.
The only reason he had not already gone to challenge Shisui was because his body was still in bad shape.
Back when he had lost to Guy, Obito, and Shisui one after another, Kakashi had silently vowed that once his strength caught up, he would defeat every one of them.
Now that he had finally reached that level, he would not miss such a good opportunity.
Mugetsu's disciples were all too competitive. Kakashi did not believe he could stay ahead forever.
If Guy learned to maintain Four Gates stably and further refined Leaf Dragon God, then even the Transparent World that Kakashi had yet to fully master might not be enough to guarantee victory.
For now, Kakashi's plan was simple: first achieve complete control over entering and exiting the Transparent World at will.
Since his body could not endure intense training yet, it was the perfect time to pour all of his effort into researching the Transparent World.
"Hey, you are all here too," Asuma called out when he noticed them, walking over.
"Might Guy, Asuma, were you also summoned to the Hokage Office?" Obito asked after greeting him.
Guy and Asuma both nodded.
Seeing that, Obito's mind started spinning at once.
"Could it be that we were all too outstanding, and the Third Hokage wants us to join some secret department?" he said, eyes widening as if he had grasped some grand truth.
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
He had to admit, Obito's thought process was impressively creative.
If it were only Obito, Guy, and himself, that level of mission might not be impossible. But with Rin and Asuma included, it made no sense.
"It is probably about Chunin promotion," Kakashi cut in before Obito could run further with his imagination.
"That seems more likely. Otherwise there would be no reason to call me all the way to the Hokage Building," Asuma agreed with a nod.
"But Kakashi, are you not already a Chunin?" Obito stared at him in confusion.
"I also participated in the Chunin Exams, you know. Once we get to the Hokage Building, you will find out whose guess is right," Kakashi replied, not eager to argue.
A Chunin taking the Chunin Exams again did look a little odd on the surface.
When they finally reached the Hokage Building and Kakashi saw Nara Shiosui and Aoba Yamashiro waiting as well, he became even more certain of his guess.
Everyone entered the Hokage's office together.
It was Obito's first time here, and he could not help but look around curiously.
What he saw, however, was nothing like what he had imagined.
In his mind, the Hokage's office should have been filled with dangerous, forbidden scrolls, powerful ninja tools hanging from the walls, and strange artifacts everywhere.
Reality gave him one large desk, several wide windows, and almost nothing else.
There were not even extra chairs.
"Your performance in the Chunin Exams was excellent," Hiruzen said, getting straight to the point. "Not only the exam proctors, but also the officials and clients who came to watch recognized your strength. So, I have decided to promote all of you to Chunin."
Nara Shiosui, Aoba, and Asuma had all been eliminated in the first round, but each had performed to their limits.
When overall records and performance were taken into account, they still made the promotion list.
As for Kakashi and the others, they did not even need to be discussed.
They had perfectly embodied Konoha's spirit, and the strength they had shown far surpassed that of ordinary Chunin.
Kakashi remained completely calm and tuned most of the speech out.
In his mind, he was only here to accompany Obito and the others. He was already a Chunin. What more was there to promote?
Asuma, on the other hand, felt quietly relieved.
This proved that it was not that he was too weak, but that Obito, Kakashi, and the others were simply outrageous.
Shiosui smiled faintly. His efforts had not been in vain.
Even though he had fallen slightly behind Rin in their match, he had still secured promotion.
Aoba also relaxed.
He had always been confident in his strength, but running into Kisame in the first round had been bad luck. He had been worrying for days about whether he would still be promoted.
"I am now the same rank as Father. I will work hard to be promoted to Jonin alongside him soon!" Guy said, barely able to hide his excitement.
Because his father had been mocked as a Genin for a thousand years, Guy cared a lot about ninja ranks.
"We all passed together," Rin thought, her face softening with a gentle smile.
Before the exam, she had worried about dragging the others down.
But after the third round, those feelings had faded.
She had fought with everything she had. No matter the outcome, she could accept it.
"So it really is a Chunin promotion," Obito muttered, thinking that Kakashi had gotten lucky this time with his guess.
"What is it? Are you not satisfied with becoming a Chunin?" Hiruzen asked with a chuckle. "If you want to be promoted to Jonin, you still have a long road ahead. Keep working hard and aim for Mugetsu and Minato's level."
"Hehe, it is not that I am dissatisfied," Obito said with a sly grin. "I am just thinking, now that everyone in our squad is a Chunin, can we take higher level missions?"
Of course Obito was happy.
Kakashi had always used his Chunin status to pressure him. Now that they were the same rank, that advantage was gone.
"In theory, missions below A Rank should be no problem," Hiruzen said, stroking his beard. "As for A Rank missions, that will depend on Minato's arrangements."
With three Chunins, Obito's team could now accept B Rank missions independently.
But A Rank missions were different.
Those required at least one Special Jonin. S Rank missions required an experienced Jonin as leader without exception.
"A Rank is good too," Obito said, grinning from ear to ear, selectively ignoring the last part of Hiruzen's explanation.
Even though he had A Rank and S Rank missions written into his record, those had been adjusted later. Strictly speaking, he had not yet officially accepted an A Rank mission himself.
"These are your promotion forms and Chunin flak jackets," Hiruzen said solemnly. "From this moment on, you are Konoha Chunin. You will shoulder greater responsibility and undertake more dangerous missions."
He stood up and handed each of them their promotion forms.
As for the vests, since they were all identical, everyone simply picked one up themselves.
Becoming a Chunin meant not only gaining more authority, but also accepting a heavier burden.
Except for extremely crucial missions, Jonin were rarely sent out in large numbers. Most of Konoha's grind work fell on the shoulders of Chunin.
"As long as I can protect Konoha, no matter how dangerous the mission is, it does not matter," Obito declared, full of the will of fire.
Hearing this, Hiruzen nodded inwardly.
He could not help but think that Obito might one day become another Uchiha Kagami.
Once the promotions were done, Hiruzen had nothing more to say to the group as a whole, so everyone except Asuma soon left the office.
"Rin, I told you there was nothing to worry about," Obito said as they walked out, turning his Chunin vest over and over in his hands, admiring it from every angle.
"Mhm. You were right, Obito," Rin answered with a warm smile.
As the voices of his companions faded down the corridor, Asuma turned back to Hiruzen.
"Is there anything else? If not, I am going to go train," he said bluntly.
He was just about to step out when Hiruzen called him back.
"The airflow of your Vacuum Sphere is too scattered," Hiruzen said, lifting his pipe. "If it were more focused, it could have pierced through Fire Release, Phoenix Sage Fire Technique. And there are still issues with your Secret Technique, Great Fire Technique. The flame temperature is too low."
"Tch. You really do see everything," Asuma muttered, his face darkening as he turned to leave.
Just as he opened the office door, Hiruzen spoke again.
"However, that last combination ninjutsu was well done," he added. "Your overall performance was not bad."
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