From Street Head to Street Tail

"Since you know why I've come to find you, you should also know that this matter requires no one but you."

"I not only know that it requires no one but me, but I also know that it doesn't have to be done at all."

Commissioned to woo Pakura—that truly didn't have to be done. No matter how important Pakura was, she could never be as important to Konoha as Jiang Feng was.

Orochimaru pulled over a chair and sat by the window as well. "So the teacher told me a way, a way that might make you agree to do it."

"What way?"

"Do you know that the Hokage holds the final say in a ninja's rank assessment within the village?"

Orochimaru said, "A ninja, even if they pass the Chunin Exam and the Jonin Exam, cannot be promoted if the Hokage deems them unqualified. Conversely, if the Hokage believes a ninja is worthy of an important task, they can promote that ninja to Jonin without any reason."

This power was like the President of America's pardon authority—rarely used by the Hokage, but it existed nonetheless.

Jiang Feng sneered coldly. "If the Hokage thinks that keeping me from ever being promoted to Jonin can coerce me into submission, then he's mistaken!"

Fame and fortune were like floating clouds to me. Suffering unfair suppression from the Hokage Office would only make me, Jiang Feng, look like a promising progressive youth, wouldn't it?

"No, the teacher got it right this time."

Orochimaru smiled. "He means that if you refuse, he'll immediately promote you to Jonin. If you agree, you'll stay a Chunin for life."

What?

Refusing means immediate promotion to Jonin!?

Jiang Feng was shocked. What a move from Hiruzen Sarutobi—truly worthy of his old friend. He'd precisely grabbed Jiang Feng's sore spot.

Once promoted to Jonin, the "full-attendance" missions he'd have to carry out would not only be more numerous and troublesome, but he'd also lose a praiseworthy "trait."

Being a powerful ninja renowned across the Ninja World yet only a Chunin—that was Jiang Feng's trait. Experts always had traits. Without this one, what difference would there be between him and other Ninja World experts?

Jiang Feng suddenly sighed. "Those who know me say my heart is troubled; those who don't know me ask what I seek."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was one who knew him.

Orochimaru suddenly laughed. Even he wanted to see Jiang Feng stumble and break his streak for once. The old man's plan seemed to be working this time.

"But I refuse." Jiang Feng's face turned cold again.

Even if promoted to Jonin, Jiang Feng was confident he'd still be handsome and distinctive. Hiruzen Sarutobi's "threat" had indeed hit his sore spot, but not his fatal weakness.

"It seems your mind is made up. Unless the teacher issues you a formal written order in the Hokage's name, you won't agree."

"My mind is indeed made up, and even if the Hokage issues me a formal written order in his name, I still won't agree."

Orochimaru knew, of course, that the Hokage couldn't possibly issue such a written order. Sending the village's young genius to woo Sunagakure's hero—that was hardly something that sounded good no matter how you put it.

Orochimaru also knew that even if the Hokage issued such an order, Jiang Feng would still refuse.

If he didn't want to do something, no one could force him—not even the Hokage. At worst, he'd pull a Jiraiya or Tsunade and run away. Konoha couldn't exactly declare Jiang Feng a rogue ninja.

"It seems there's no turning back on this matter." Orochimaru stood up to take his leave.

"No, there's still a chance."

"Oh?" Orochimaru stopped and looked at Jiang Feng with confusion.

Jiang Feng gazed out the window at the courtyard full of cherry blossoms and asked calmly, "How is Minato doing now?"

"Pretty badly. On my way here, I happened to see him. Kushina had him by the ear, beating him from one end of the street to the other."

"From one end of the street to the other?" Jiang Feng was puzzled.

Kushina had a fiery temper and had long been known as Bloody Red Pepper, but beating him from one end of the street to the other—wasn't that a bit too much?

"Yes, from one end of the street to the other."

That voice came from outside the room. Minato Namikaze walked through the courtyard's splendor into the house, his handsome face covered in purple bruises and swelling, one eye socket blackened—clearly just having taken a severe beating.

"Hiss~"

Jiang Feng sucked in a cold breath. "I thought Kushina would at most throw a little tantrum at you."

Minato Namikaze sighed. "A few days ago, Kushina was indeed just throwing little tantrums at me."

"Then why did she beat you from one end of the street to the other today? Kushina wouldn't hit you for no reason."

"Because she thinks I lied to her."

Minato Namikaze recounted the story just past with great grievance. "Just now, Kushina asked me why I spend every day with Pakura, even neglecting my own girlfriend. I said it was an order from the Hokage—he told me to set aside personal feelings for now and focus on accompanying Sunagakure's envoys, making sure Pakura feels at home. Then Kushina hit me. She said the Hokage would never give such an order."

What kind of Kage meddles in a village ninja's family affairs?

Hiruzen Sarutobi would. He was never a particularly proper person. To strengthen Konoha's power, he could even come up with the rotten idea of having Jiang Feng woo Pakura.

Minato Namikaze felt deeply wronged. This beating was essentially one he'd taken for Hiruzen Sarutobi. It was all the old man's fault for maintaining such a righteous image that even when Minato told the truth, Kushina didn't believe him.

"Now I've reached the point where I have no choice but to beg you. To get you to step in, I've also come up with a brilliant idea."

"What idea?"

Minato Namikaze pointed at the full bloom of flowers outside the window. "Your garden is called Sakura Manor, so it must have cherry blossoms to live up to the name. If you refuse to help me, I'll sneak in tonight and dig up every cherry tree in this courtyard by dawn."

"Well dug!" Jiang Feng clapped in approval.

I'm threatening to uproot your cherry trees, and you're cheering me on—what exactly are you thinking?

Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru looked at Jiang Feng, faces full of confusion.

Jiang Feng once again exuded a thick aura of pretentiousness from the inside out, explaining, "I often wonder—calling it Sakura Manor just because the courtyard is full of cherry trees—isn't that a bit too cliché?

What if there wasn't a single cherry tree in the yard, either completely empty or planted with other flowers and plants, yet it was still called Sakura Manor? Wouldn't that be far more intriguing?"

As everyone knew, Ximen Chuixue's Ten Thousand Plum Manor had no plum blossoms, and Ximen Chuixue did not blow snow—he blew blood, the blood on his sword.

Minato Namikaze was utterly disheartened. "It seems there's no way I can convince you to come out of retirement."

He had racked his brains for a brilliant scheme, only for it to fuel the other man's pretentiousness even further—where was the justice in that?

Jiang Feng suddenly smiled. "Actually, there's one more way you can move me."

Minato Namikaze's eyes lit up. "What way?"

"From now on, all the techniques you derive from the Rasengan and the Flying Thunder God must not be given any fancy names. They can only be called Mod 1, Mod 2, Mod 3, Mod 4... and so on.

If you agree to this condition, I'll help you with whatever you ask."

This time, Minato Namikaze did not laugh, but Orochimaru suddenly did. Forcing Minato to use such plain technique names was worse than killing him.