The Chunin Exam Participant Who Was Broadcast Live!

"I didn't entrust the village to him for this."

"Minato, I support you on this."

Minato Namikaze: "Thank you, Second Hokage-sama."

Hashirama Senju: "Ah... my dream..."

Hashirama was crushed again.

He had hoped for peace in the shinobi world, for ninja to live normal lives without dying young on the battlefield.

But decades later, that dream was just empty talk.

So the one in the group who felt the most pain... was actually him.

Tobirama Senju: "Fifth Mizukage, seeing the Hidden Leaf's secrets, anything to say?"

Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: "No, I'm just thinking every village has its struggles."

"Our Kirigakure went through a bloody reign. The Fourth Mizukage ran the village into the ground, and all the new recruits he trained became rogue ninja."

"And there were signs the Fourth Mizukage had been controlled by someone else long ago."

"So my Kirigakure has no right to speak."

"Now I've gathered the remaining people, but... it's a long story."

"This is a complete mess."

Mei Terumi spoke quickly.

As she had planned from the start, she immediately played up her village's weakness and insignificance in the group.

Though honestly, it really was that weak.

The remaining Kirigakure ninja... she could take them all down by herself.

Because the high-quality ones had all defected. The rest... well, no need to elaborate.

Minato Namikaze: "So even after joining this group, your Kirigakure won't oppose the Hidden Leaf?"

Minato was sharp, immediately sensing Mei Terumi's mindset.

Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: "Of course! My Kirigakure is willing to have peace with the Hidden Leaf for fifty years!"

Tobirama Senju: "Then go write up a peace treaty."

Unmarriageable Older Single Woman: "Ah, well... okay!"

Mei Terumi switched sides in an instant.

At the same time, she breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that the past Hokage were willing to let her state her position was a good thing.

At least... thank goodness.

Who would want to fight the First Hokage—the God of Shinobi, the Second Hokage—the Ocean, and the Fourth Hokage—the Yellow Flash?

Would they have to be kicked in the head by a donkey?

And as she thought this, she noticed a new change on the screen before her.

Code
[Daily Observation of Kitahara Kaede: 3 hours activated.]

An image appeared before her eyes, and then... she finally saw Kitahara Kaede.

The Kidney-Deficient Hokage, Kakashi.

That matched the records.

Wearing a forehead protector over one eye, and a mask.

Then there was the person the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, called Naruto—Naruto Uzumaki.

This was Minato's son.

From their conversation, it seemed Naruto had been told he was a jinchuriki, but his identity as the Fourth Hokage's son was hidden.

And as Mizukage, the information she had was that Naruto Uzumaki was the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.

But the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails not being told he was the Fourth Hokage's son... he must have had a rough life.

Of course, Kirigakure had it worst. They didn't even have a tailed beast anymore.

The Three-Tails had been released after the Fourth Mizukage's death.

And then...

Her gaze landed on the face of a handsome young boy with black hair, standing proudly with his arms crossed.

This was Sasuke Uchiha.

The survivor of the Uchiha Clan.

When she discovered that the Fourth Mizukage, Yashura, had been controlled, Mei Terumi had considered whether it was the Uchiha Clan's doing. But the Uchiha Clan had destroyed itself...

So this became a point of confusion.

Mei Terumi's gaze continued forward, and then she spotted a youth with short black hair and golden eyes.

The youth didn't seem to be in high spirits, his face always wearing a calm expression.

And when Mei Terumi stared hard at him, she noticed him instantly lift his head and glance in her direction.

Wha—

Mei Terumi quickly lowered her head on reflex.

Then she quietly raised it again.

Was this youth really that perceptive?

And also.

That calm demeanor, those tranquil eyes.

If he were ten years older, he'd definitely be her type.

Right now, Kakashi was asking his students.

"So what do you think of this mission?" Kakashi inquired.

He had noticed something off.

Chapter 016: Water Dragon Bullet, Do You Form Hand Seals? I Don't! Part 2!

Kakashi asked if they'd noticed anything wrong.

Naruto jumped in to answer!

"Wrong?"

"Isn't this a protection mission?"

"According to mission ranks, there's Super S-rank, S-rank, A-rank, B-rank, C-rank, D-rank."

"The requirements are different too. Super S-rank needs Kage-level fighters to participate, while S-rank and A-rank both require Jonin, B-rank requires Chunin, C-rank requires Chunin, D-rank requires Genin."

"And protection missions are C-rank, so... this is just escort duty, with no ninja from other villages involved."

"Old man Tazuna also said their Land of Waves doesn't even have ninja."

"So..."

"This mission is super easy!"

"But I've never left the village, and I really want to go see the outside world!"

Naruto seemed excited.

Still, it had to be said that after Naruto's sudden breakthrough, he even remembered this textbook stuff.

Of course.

It might also be that he'd suddenly awakened—once a person's interest grew, everything went smoothly.

In other words, Naruto was actually developing in a good direction.

As the bodyguard who'd protected Naruto since before he was born, Kakashi felt gratified inside.

······

"So what about you, Sasuke?"

Kakashi found Sasuke a headache.

Because he had an inextricable bond with the Uchiha Clan. His left eye was his comrade Obito's Sharingan.

So some people called him Kakashi of the Uchiha.

Not only that.

When he was in the Anbu, his junior Itachi Uchiha was his subordinate.

And now Itachi had slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan, leaving only Sasuke.

Sasuke's heart was filled with nothing but hatred, so he was having a hard time too.

He felt Itachi wasn't that kind of person. Itachi had even asked him, [Is a friend's wish something that must be answered?]

Not long after he asked, the massacre of the Uchiha Clan happened, and this made Kakashi wonder... if he himself had been involved somehow.

It made him feel guilty.

But the current Sasuke... still couldn't match someone on Itachi's level.

So hatred for an unwinnable fight was useless.

········

"I just want to get stronger fast," Sasuke said.

His answer was a bit sharp, clearly expressing his hatred for his brother Itachi Uchiha's massacre of their clan.

"Huh..." Kakashi paused.

Then he turned his gaze to the last and most noteworthy student.

"So, Kitahara, what do you think?"

"Me?"

Kitahara Kaede looked toward Tazuna, who stood at a distance waiting to depart, drinking sake with one hand.

"If we're looking at it from the village's perspective of accepting a mission, then the client Tazuna definitely lied."

"But if we're looking at it from the perspective of us three fresh Genin taking on this mission, it's clearly worth continuing."

"Chasing cats, catching dogs, harvesting rice—things like that aren't insulting, but they have no value for self-improvement."

"They're things you don't even need a ninja license to do."

"I don't want to do them."

Don't want to.

He didn't want to do low-level missions.

Observing Kitahara Kaede's (^_-) small group

Hashirama Senju: Ooh, this kid's pretty interesting.

Tobirama Senju: I think that understanding is quite correct.

Training a ninja isn't easy. If you make all ninja do that kind of work, what's the point of training them?

You have to remember that only a few people can become ninja. If you make those few do the common folk's labor, it's a real waste.

Tobirama Senju supports Kitahara Kaede's view.