Day 8 of the mission.
Team Eleven finally delivered their client safely to a town in the Land of Hot Water.
The streets were lively with all kinds of pedestrians. Since the Land of Hot Water had no direct conflict with Kumogakure, the region remained relatively peaceful.
The climate here was very different from the Land of Iron.
Mist lingered both day and night, and the temperature stayed low. Even while wearing coats, everyone could still feel the chill—around 7–8°C.
This town was known as the Hot Spring Capital of the country.
There were hot spring resorts everywhere.
After the encounter with the Kumogakure ninja, Mizutani Shōto finally revealed his true wealth.
He invited Bai Xing's entire team to his luxury hot spring resort for one full day and night, all expenses paid.
That hot spring pass alone was worth 200–300 thousand ryō in Hot Water currency, or roughly 100,000 ryō in Fire Country currency.
Bai Xing almost wanted to sell it and simply stay one night at a cheap inn before leaving the next morning.
After all—
Ninja Rule #1: Traveling at night is asking for death, especially during wartime.
"No way!"
Uchiha Mikoto and Yakushi Nono crossed their arms in a big "X" gesture.
Even Might Dai briefly considered selling the ticket after hearing its value.
"What a hassle," Bai Xing muttered.
"How about this—you two enjoy the hot springs, and we sell the tickets?"
"Absolutely not!"
"This is our last C-rank mission together, Teacher Bai Xing! How can you be so cruel?!" Mikoto fake-cried dramatically.
"Pfft. Last C-rank mission as teammates," Nono corrected internally.
Why do both Teacher Bai Xing and Mikoto like saying such ominous things…
At this point, almost no one believed Mikoto would fail the upcoming Chūnin Exams.
So the four of them enjoyed one luxurious day and night at the resort:
professional back scrubbingcountless Hot Water delicaciesprivate hot spring roomsDay 11 – Mission Completed
After the escort mission ended, Mizutani Shōto personally increased the reward by 20,000 ryō.
He also sent a several-thousand-word letter of gratitude to Konoha.
The letter eventually arrived on the desk inside the Hokage's office.
"Cloud Village ninja…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured.
"Bai Xing, you really surprised me."
In the ninja world, intelligence leaks were extremely common.
Even the Wave Country mission had allowed Zabuza to deduce Team Seven's movements.
So Hiruzen didn't suspect that Konoha had leaked information.
Instead, he wondered:
Did that gang suddenly hire Kumogakure ninja at a high price?
Regardless—
This mission could now reasonably be upgraded to B-rank.
But Hiruzen still couldn't understand how Bai Xing's team defeated those Cloud ninja.
Were there jōnin among them?
Only Bai Xing could answer that.
Still—
He could already register the team for the Chūnin Exams.
One Day Before the Chūnin Exam
At the village gate, Team Eleven finally returned to Konoha.
The three students felt like their bodies no longer belonged to them.
Bai Xing, however, looked relaxed.
If he hadn't slowed down for them during the journey, he would have arrived days earlier.
"The Chūnin Exam registration has already closed," he said.
"I'll pull some connections and register you three."
"Also, go home and rest."
"Tomorrow, report to the Ninja Academy conference building for the first exam."
"That's all."
He completely ignored the resentful stares from Mikoto and Nono behind him.
During the journey, he hadn't allowed them to skip training.
He had even secretly learned two C-rank elemental techniques from observing them.
As for Might Dai—
With Dai's chakra reserves, traveling alone had already exhausted him.
More training would only cause unnecessary injury.
Still—
Dai had finally mastered the basic chakra control technique every genin should have:
Tree climbing.
In the original story, Naruto and Sasuke—both blessed with bloodline advantages and destiny-level cheats—needed several days of nonstop practice to master it.
But Dai—
Without considering the Eight Gates, his chakra talent was actually worse than that of an average genin.
So even tree climbing had been a huge challenge.
Hokage Office
After Bai Xing finished his report, Hiruzen's pupils shrank when he heard about the dual-blade Lightning Release user.
From Bai Xing's description, the enemies were probably chūnin.
But Hiruzen remembered hearing about a Cloud jōnin who once called himself "Thunder Lion."
"Cough."
"You sold those two swords?"
Hiruzen stared at Bai Xing as if asking Are you kidding me?
Bai Xing nodded honestly.
"They were Cloud ninja weapons. To avoid being tracked, I sold them immediately in a nearby town in the Land of Iron."
"…Sold them…"
Hiruzen covered his face.
Sometimes Bai Xing was extremely reliable.
Sometimes he was too reliable, to the point it made things troublesome.
Now Hiruzen couldn't confirm whether the enemy team had a jōnin leader.
"Normally," Hiruzen said slowly,
"a team executing missions requires a higher-ranking ninja to lead them."
"So Bai Xing—"
"The ninja you killed were not chūnin."
"At minimum, one of them was a Special Jōnin."
Bai Xing instantly activated Oscar-level acting.
His body trembled slightly.
A flash of excitement appeared in his eyes—then quickly faded into disappointment.
"Even so," he said earnestly,
"I still hope to pass the Chūnin Exam tomorrow."
"In fact," Hiruzen said,
"You are already a qualified chūnin."
Bai Xing shook his head firmly.
"Sorry, Lord Hokage. I can't take shortcuts."
"If a ninja can't maintain stable performance throughout a normal exam…"
"Then he isn't a qualified chūnin."
"A teammate like that could easily endanger others during battlefield missions."
Hearing this, Hiruzen suddenly asked:
"Do you think Dai can become a chūnin?"
Bai Xing shook his head.
"He barely qualifies as a genin."
"Then why did you—"
"He lacked the courage to take the exam because of his previous team."
"I only did what a teacher should do."
Hiruzen fell silent.
Even if Bai Xing never became a genius ninja—
In Hiruzen's eyes, Bai Xing had perfectly inherited the Will of Fire.
He could become an excellent teacher someday.
Perhaps even a Ninja Academy instructor.
"This mission reward will be increased to 120,000 ryō," Hiruzen said.
"It will be recorded as a B-rank mission in your file."
They discussed the entire mission.
Then Hiruzen reminded him:
"The Chūnin Exam location tomorrow is the usual place."
"The same teams will be participating."
Later
Not long after Bai Xing left—
Hiruzen's son Sarutobi Shinnosuke stormed into the office.
"What?! A B-rank mission?!"
"Why does he deserve that?!"
"That must have been Uchiha Mikoto carrying the whole fight! What does Bai Xing have to do with it?!"
Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Looking at his still immature eldest son, he sighed internally.
If only Bai Xing were my child…
"Shinnosuke," he said calmly,
"don't think becoming a jōnin makes you extraordinary."
"You still have a lot to learn."
"Learn?" Shinnosuke scoffed.
"From a genin who trips during the Chūnin Exam survival test?"
"…."
"Bai Xing's exam performance is unstable," Hiruzen replied.
"But during missions, he is flawless."
"Then why not promote him directly?"
"…."
The rapid-fire questions left Hiruzen silent again.
"Geniuses have personalities," he said finally.
"If I force him, it may extinguish his will to improve."
Shinnosuke clenched his fists.
"I've completed so many missions."
"You've never praised me once."
"But you praise an outsider, an orphan, a genin."
Finally, he asked the question he had buried in his heart:
"Father…"
"Who is your real son?"
"Me?"
"Or Bai Xing?"
Hiruzen fell silent again.
For the third time.
Meanwhile — Bai Xing's House
Bai Xing knew nothing about the father-son drama.
He was busy thinking about how to perform tomorrow.
"The five-element affinity… only those three know about it."
He had even told them to keep it secret so he could reveal it dramatically after becoming a chūnin.
That suggestion had earned him two synchronized eye-rolls from Mikoto and Nono.
Their silent blessing:
May you never pass the Chūnin Exam.
"Well then."
"Time to train."
Bai Xing walked to the living room corner.
There stood a custom full-body mirror.
The mirror reflected his tall figure and handsome face.
The black-haired youth raised one hand and formed a seal.
"Transformation Technique."
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