"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore."
Minato Namikaze smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.
He looked at Aokawa, who had remained calm the entire time, his eyes filled with admiration and expectation.
"Given Aokawa's outstanding performance in this battle and his significant contributions to the war effort..."
His voice became solemn: "Hokage-sama has specially approved..."
"Aokawa does not need to participate in the Chunin Exams."
"Skipping three ranks, he is promoted to—"
"Konoha Jonin!"
As his words fell.
"Whoosh..."
A collective exhale instantly echoed across the training ground.
The sound was so loud, it was as if dozens of pressure cookers were releasing steam simultaneously.
Saved.
Alive.
Uchiha Obito even exaggeratedly patted his chest and plopped down on the ground: "You scared me to death... I thought I really had to fight that pervert. If that were the case, I'd rather confess to Kakashi."
"Congratulations, Aokawa!"
"Great, you're a Jonin now, so you won't be competing with us for spots!"
"Long live Jonin-sama!"
For a moment, congratulatory shouts rose and fell, but somehow, these congratulations sounded like the joy of
Below the high platform, the Konoha Genin were still immersed in the ecstasy of "not having to compete with a monster." Some even wiped virtual sweat from their foreheads, disregarding their image.
Minato Namikaze looked at these youths, shaking his head helplessly, but he also knew that Aokawa's fierce reputation on the Battlefield was indeed something this group of still-immature youths couldn't handle.
He reached into a scroll he carried and took out a brand new, neatly folded green Jonin vest.
"Aokawa, come up."
Minato Namikaze's voice wasn't loud, but it had a magnetic quality that made people quiet down.
Aokawa stepped forward, slowly but steadily walking onto the high platform under the gaze of countless eyes mixed with awe, envy, and complex emotions.
His pure white training uniform looked a bit striking in the morning light, but this couldn't hide the composure on him that was completely inconsistent with his age.
Minato Namikaze shook out the vest and personally draped it over Aokawa's shoulders.
"In Konoha's history, promotion to Jonin usually requires lengthy assessments and countless accumulated missions. But war is a special touchstone; your performance exceeded everyone's expectations, even my understanding of the word 'Genius.'"
He adjusted Aokawa's collar, lowering his voice to a speed only the two of them could hear: "This is a rare unanimous decision by the Sandaime Hokage and the Elders. Although I know you probably don't care much about this honorary title."
Aokawa felt the weight on his shoulders—the thick, heavy feel of multiple protective layers, and also a stepping stone to the power hierarchy.
He glanced down at the Ninja Tools slots on his chest and the Seal scroll hooks on the side, and said in a calm tone, "With this uniform, I won't need to write those lengthy reports about exceeding authority when commanding personnel anymore, right?"
Minato paused for a second, then gave a wry smile: "As long as it doesn't violate the Hokage's will, you can now command most of the Front Lines squads."
"That's enough."
Aokawa turned to face the Ninja formation below.
At that moment, the wind stirred the hem of his clothes, symbolizing his Jonin status.
In the crowd, Hyuga Ryosuke straightened his back, clapping louder than anyone else, as if eager to tell everyone that the monster on the stage was his brother.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the distant forest, some veteran Jonin who hadn't gone far stopped in their tracks.
A Jonin with thick bandages wrapped around his arm watched the scene, exhaling a puff of smoke that blurred his face.
"A thirteen-year-old Jonin..." He tugged at the corner of his mouth self-mockingly. "I squatted at Sunagakure's outpost for three years, wiped out five Puppet master squads, and did missions for several more years to earn this title. That kid... wasn't he just a freshly graduated Genin a while ago?"
"Don't compare, you're just asking for trouble." Another Jonin beside him retracted his gaze, a hint of powerlessness in his voice. "That new fighting style he used on the Battlefield last time, what was it called, 'Fire, Fire something?'"
"Firepower Saturation!"
"Right, Firepower Saturation. We've witnessed the terrifying lethality of this new fighting style with our own eyes. When the Chakra Arrows rained down, even from a distance, I could feel the ground shaking. Those Kumogakure Ninja couldn't even send out distress signals. With such a record, let alone us, even the elite under Hokage-sama might not escape unscathed."
"So this is the Genius gap! The honors we earned through life and death are just fruits he can pluck casually."
These veteran Ninja, who had undergone numerous missions and repeatedly danced on the line between life and death, now felt little jealousy, but rather a sense of desolation after coming to terms with reality.
When someone is slightly stronger than you, you feel jealous; when they are so strong that you can't even see their back, you only feel it's a miracle.
On the training ground, Minato Namikaze signaled the squad leaders to depart with their teams.
With bursts of smoke caused by the Body Flicker Technique, the bustling camp quickly emptied.
The Genin followed their Chunin captains, filing out with anticipation of returning to the Village for the Chunin Exams, while only Aokawa was kept behind by Minato.
"Aokawa, I still need to take up some of your time."
Minato Namikaze put away his earlier sunny smile, his expression becoming somewhat serious as he pointed to the strategic map behind them.
"Originally, you should have returned to the Village with the first large contingent, but now there's been a slight change."
Aokawa, hands in his pockets, raised an eyebrow: "Kumogakure went back on their word?"
"Not exactly." Minato Namikaze explained: "Although some details haven't been finalized, the ceasefire is certain. Kumogakure is currently in a period of power transition, so they don't have the capability to go back on their word. It's just that our advance was too fast this time, and many fortresses and resource points within the Land of Frost that originally belonged to Kumogakure have now become power vacuums."
He walked to the map, pointing at several canyons and strongholds marked with red dots.
"Our people are taking over important towns, but these remote defense lines need to be garrisoned. There was a mix-up with the personnel transfer list at Konoha Headquarters, creating a vacuum period of about a week."
Minato Namikaze looked at Aokawa, a hint of pleading in his eyes: "I don't trust those ordinary garrison (garrison) squads. For this week, you'll take a few temporarily assigned people and hold these points. There are supplies that Kumogakure didn't have time to move, and they are very important to the Village."
Aokawa looked at the locations on the map.
These fortresses were less than fifty li from the Land of Lightning border, making them extremely sensitive areas.
"What about supplies?" Aokawa looked up.
"You can freely take them from the warehouse."
"Deal."
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