I, Who Participated in the Chunin Exam, Was Broadcast Live!

Then, images surfaced in his mind... scenes of Naruto being bullied, called an orphan and a bastard.

Minato Namikaze: I'm very emotional right now.

Tobirama Senju: If what you're saying is true, then I'm very emotional too.

Minato Namikaze: Lord Second, you...?

Tobirama Senju: Because I can't make sense of it.

If we're looking at it from the village's perspective, announcing that Naruto is the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails was the right move for Hiruzen.

But afterward... if the goal was to protect Naruto by not revealing his identity as the Fourth's son, then Hiruzen's actions are something I can't understand.

Hashirama Senju: Why would protecting Naruto mean not telling people he's the Fourth's son?

Minato Namikaze: Well, because I was pretty active during the Third Shinobi World War and the war before that, so I had a lot of enemies.

Tobirama Senju: Minato died back then. If Naruto's identity were exposed, it could invite assassination attempts.

But since they already announced Naruto as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, assassins would come anyway—eliminating an enemy's Jinchuriki is a standard tactic for the major villages.

Moreover.

Even if Hiruzen used that excuse to hide Naruto's identity... then why, if he was hiding it, didn't he give Naruto some kind of cover story?

He could have claimed Naruto was his own grandson, or something like that.

That way, he could have looked after him, couldn't he?

After all... Naruto's parents, you two, gave your lives for the village.

Minato, how old were you when you died?

Minato Namikaze: Me? I was twenty-four.

Hashirama Senju: Huh, so young...

Tobirama Senju: Right. Minato died so young, and for the village... and this is how the village treats his orphan?

Keep in mind, Naruto introduces himself as having been alone since birth. That means he faced coldness from others at a very young age.

How much damage must that do to a small child!

Looking at it this way... Hiruzen's actions don't meet the standards of a Hokage.

So.

He doesn't qualify to join the small group.

Hashirama Senju, Minato Namikaze, Minato Namikaze: ...

The other three fell silent.

And Minato just felt numb.

Listening to the Second's analysis, he increasingly wondered if his sacrifice for the village had even been worth it. The Third had completely failed to keep his promises, and his Naruto-chan... not only struggled a hundred times more than others in training ninjutsu, but even his quality of life was the lowest...

He was completely numb.

Tobirama Senju: Minato, calm down.

Minato Namikaze: Sorry, Lord Second. I got too emotional.

Hashirama Senju: Minato, you've been through a lot. Sigh...

Hashirama Senju had already sighed three times.

Joining this group to learn about the Hidden Leaf Village's development after his death had made him happy at first, but now he felt... like his sacrifice had been meaningless too.

The village was still full of orphans.

It completely contradicted his original ideals—letting the village's children grow up normally, not forcing them to fight as kids, and letting young people live to old age.

Could it be that Madara's path was the right one?

For the first time, Hashirama Senju doubted himself.

And then, a new notification appeared before everyone.

[Because Hiruzen Sarutobi failed to meet the requirements to join the small group, the conditions have been relaxed. Changed to randomly pulling one Kage into the Kitahara Kaede Observation (^_-) Small Group.]

Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the screen.

`

Ps: Friends who send flowers, grow two centimeters tonight!

Chapter 012: Fifth Mizukage Terumi Joins!

The Kages in the small group immediately turned their attention to the system's notification.

[Randomly pull one Kage into the Kitahara Kaede Observation (^_-) Small Group]

Tobirama Senju: Randomly pull one Kage... does that mean it could be the Fifth Hokage?

Very likely.

Because now the First and Second Hokage, then the Third was eliminated, the Fourth is here, and Kakashi was identified by the observation group as the Sixth Hokage.

So...

Doesn't that mean we're just missing the Fifth Hokage now?

[The new member will be randomly selected, with the identity being a current Kage from among the Five Great Ninja Villages: Kirigakure, Kumogakure, or Iwagakure.]

The system replied to Tobirama.

But it made Minato and the others frown.

Minato Namikaze: So that means it might not be someone from our Konoha?

Hashirama Senju: It's just that this group is supposed to focus on that kid Kitahara Kaede. He awakened Wood Release, and his identity is unique... And now Kitahara Kaede is in the same team as Naruto, so...

The First didn't finish, but the other three already understood.

This meant... if the new member was a Kage from another village, wouldn't they instantly gain access to Konoha's secrets?

Kitahara Kaede, who can use Wood Release, plus the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, and the Uchiha survivor.

These are Konoha's most classified secrets... and they're about to be exposed like this.

[The system already gave Konoha a chance, but Konoha failed. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, did not meet the qualifications to join the group.]

[So a Kage can only be randomly selected from another village.]

Well.

Everyone could only wait in silence for the new member to arrive.

So, the new member?

··········

Kirigakure.

"Lady Mizukage--"

Chojuro, with his crew cut hair, carried a stack of documents to the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi.

Mei Terumi was a stunningly beautiful woman with gorgeous red hair.

Her phoenix eyes were long and sharp, her features dignified and proper.

When she smiled, it felt like a spring breeze.

She was a remarkably beautiful woman.

At 27 years old, despite her excellent looks, she had actually missed her prime marriage window for a kunoichi.

So she was always very sensitive to words like "marriage" and "wedding date."

Chojuro piled the documents on the desk and noticed the Mizukage was asleep, face-down on the papers.

"Lady Mizukage is really good-looking. If she just paid a little more attention to her image, she'd have no trouble getting married," he murmured softly.

"Ah--"

But Mei Terumi jolted awake as if from a nightmare.

"What did you say?" she asked immediately.

"Ah... no, I didn't say anything." Chojuro quickly shut his mouth to save his own skin.

He felt he had underestimated the sensitivity of the Mizukage, who had missed her marriage window.

There was a reason Mei Terumi had never married—she had inherited a mess.

She was the Fifth Mizukage, but the most unfortunate one.

Their Kirigakure had weathered many storms.

During the era of the Fourth Mizukage, talent withered, and combined with various wrong decisions, Kirigakure turned all the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, cultivated by the Second Mizukage, into rogue ninja.

Now, while there were still some jonin left, their strength had taken a massive hit.

"These are the registration records of Kirigakure's ninjas that you asked me to compile."

Chojuro handed over the documents.

"..." Mei Terumi.

"Thirty-three jonin, sixty-eight chunin, one hundred genin." Mei Terumi's head ached.

"This data would look pretty strong for a small village, but this is our Kirigakure."

The weak ninjas of Kirigakure stayed behind—they were the fakes.

But the strong ones all became rogue ninja.

It wasn't that Kirigakure had no good seeds, but they all turned rogue.

"I barely managed to defeat the Fourth Mizukage and take control of Kirigakure."

"But... turning this around... it's so hard."

She slumped her head onto the desk.

Just then, she suddenly noticed a screen appearing before her eyes.

[Myriad Realms Chat System, also known as Observing Kitahara Kaede?(^_-) Small Group, invites you to join. Do you accept?]

A line of text popped up.

Mei Terumi blinked lightly.

She glanced toward Chojuro, but found he seemed not to see it. Could it be that only she could perceive this?

Well... in that case, the answer was obvious.

"I choose yes!"

Mei Terumi was someone who knew how to seize an opportunity.

She was from Kirigakure, but before her time, the Blood Mist Village Era had reigned, and the Fourth Mizukage had pushed that brutality to its extreme.

During the Fourth Mizukage's rule, all Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had betrayed the village.

Kirigakure's very foundations had taken a devastating blow.

She didn't want to see Kirigakure destroyed, so she took over after defeating the Fourth Mizukage and became the Fifth Mizukage—that was her patience and her chance to seize an opportunity.

So now, discovering something this far beyond the ordinary... of course she'd accept it outright!

············

Observing Kitahara Kaede?(^_-) Small Group

[Welcome Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi to the Observing Kitahara Kaede Small Group. Group members increased to 5.]

[Because Mei Terumi is the first female member of this group, a special title has been added.]

[Congratulations to Mei Terumi for obtaining the new title—Unmarriageable Older Single Woman!]

The scene before Mei Terumi's eyes had already shifted.