The Entry Ticket to Strongman's Domain

For a long time, the terrifying wars of the future and all kinds of dreadful crises had left Kitahara Kaede constantly feeling as though he could not catch his breath. Back then, however, he had simply had no way to change anything.

In this Shinobi World, the gap between people was practically greater than the gap between people and dogs. He had understood that ten years ago.

That was because he had once witnessed how brilliantly Uchiha Itachi had stunned the Ninja Academy. Let alone his peers—even those older than him had not been his match.

Before drawing the Uchiha Clan Standard Bloodline, Kitahara Kaede estimated that he would not even have been able to defeat Uchiha Itachi from ten years ago, much less the Uchiha Itachi who had presumably already reached the peak of Kage Level.

If they met, he would probably be killed instantly!

Clearly, Uchiha Itachi's talent and his development of the Mangekyō Sharingan far surpassed those of ordinary members of the Uchiha Clan. If not for his Bloodline Disease, it would not have been impossible for him to advance even further and reach Super Kage Level someday.

The current Kitahara Kaede had merely obtained an entry ticket to Strongman's Domain.

But it did not matter. This was only his first draw. He still had countless opportunities ahead of him, and he would definitely be able to draw more powerful Kekkei Genkai and ninjutsu.

Why could one of the people standing at the peak of the Shinobi World in the future not be him?

After a quiet night, Kitahara Kaede rose early the next day. Although only one night had passed, he still felt that his chakra reserves had grown again.

The feeling of steadily growing stronger without needing to extract chakra himself was truly wonderful.

Thinking back to how he had once painstakingly extracted even the tiniest bit of chakra and then had to use it cautiously—what kind of miserable life had that been?

So the children of Ninja Clans had such comfortable lives.

Thinking about it, aside from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, how outrageous must it have felt for Uzumaki Naruto to possess a hundred units of chakra at only twelve years old?

Hatake Kakashi was often teased for having little chakra, but that was only in comparison to his level of strength. His normal chakra reserves definitely far exceeded those of ordinary Jonin. From this, one could also see just how astonishing Uzumaki Naruto's chakra was.

Early in the morning, Kitahara Kaede set out to meet up with his teammates.

Inside a breakfast shop, Kitahara Kaede sat upright at the table. In front of him, a Middle-parted Hair Boy around his age was wolfing down his breakfast, completely unconcerned about his image.

He was Soten Genryu, a member of the team who had been his teammate for three years.

His basic configuration was about the same as Kitahara Kaede's. He was likewise unknown and might not even have appeared in the original story—a Cannon Fodder.

Beside Kitahara Kaede sat a beautiful girl of roughly the same age, around fifteen or sixteen. Her eyes were clearly different from ordinary people's, resembling Cataracts.

Anyone with even a little common sense about ninjas could recognize that she was probably a ninja of the renowned Hyuga Clan.

That was right. This beautiful girl was also his teammate, as well as a member of the famous Ninja Clan, the Hyuga Clan. Her name was Hyuga Keiko.

Although she came from a powerful clan, her talent was quite ordinary. After all, even within Ninja Clans, not everyone possessed sufficient talent for being a ninja.

This was a standard three-person squad. Once a middle-aged man with a scar across his face entered, everyone in the squad had gathered.

He was their squad leader and teacher, Elite Chunin Akai Akimoto, an obscure figure without much fame.

Although it seemed that every member of the Konoha 12 had been assigned a Jonin in the original story, that was actually a privilege reserved for the top students in each year. The vast majority of Ninja Academy graduates only received an Elite Chunin as their squad leader and teacher.

There had even been cases during wartime, when manpower was tight, of newly promoted Chunin being assigned as squad leaders and teachers.

In other words, if this had been wartime, Kitahara Kaede could already have served as a squad leader and teacher. However, he certainly would not have wanted to be born during wartime.

Because if this had been wartime, these teammates of his might already have been replaced several times over. He himself might even have died in some battle.

Missions during peacetime were boring, but at least the danger was greatly reduced.

"Teacher Akai!"

When Kitahara Kaede and the others saw him, they hurriedly stood up to greet him.

Akai Akimoto waved his hand and sat down before saying, "I called you here today to tell you something. I've been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin!"

Everyone froze for a moment when they heard this.

Tokubetsu Jonin were ninjas who could already go toe-to-toe with ordinary Jonin in certain fields, but were inferior to ordinary Jonin overall.

However, although they bore the title of Tokubetsu Jonin, they had indeed already left the realm of Chunin and were genuine Jonin. They even had voting rights in Konoha's major affairs.

"Teacher Akimoto is a Jonin now? Doesn't that mean we're disciples of a Jonin? That's fantastic!"

Soten Genryu said exaggeratedly.

After all, he knew very well that having a Jonin as a teacher and having a Chunin as a teacher would clearly lead to different prospects for their futures.

"I'm a Tokubetsu Jonin," Akai Akimoto said, patting Soten Genryu on the head.

"Then doesn't that mean you're leaving, Teacher?" Kitahara Kaede suddenly realized something and spoke up.

"Yes. In our squad, you're already a Chunin and can serve as an independent squad leader. My duties as your teacher are complete. The higher-ups are transferring me to the Anbu, so today's mission will be completed under Fu's independent leadership. Get used to what it feels like to be a squad leader first." Akai Akimoto looked at Kitahara Kaede as he spoke.

"But then we won't be able to see Teacher anymore," Soten Genryu said dejectedly.

"You idiot. Teacher was only transferred to the Anbu. We'll still be able to see him again," Hyuga Keiko said with a scoff. "All the ninjas who can be transferred to the Anbu are elite ninjas. This is a great thing."

Kitahara Kaede nodded. Although the Anbu's performance in the original story could be called mediocre at best, that did not mean the Anbu was not formidable.

Ninjas who could enter the Anbu were at least Elite Chunin. Among them were plenty of Tokubetsu Jonin and even Jonin-level ninjas. They were a force directly under the Hokage.

However, becoming an Anbu member at this point in time might not necessarily be a good thing. After all, the first Chunin Exams after the Konoha 12 graduated were not far away. If he happened to be too close to the Third Hokage at that time and got casually killed by Orochimaru, it would all be over.

But he could not exactly say that Orochimaru was plotting to invade Konoha and that staying beside the Hokage was the most dangerous place. No one would believe him even if he did.

"All right, I have to report in as well. From now on, just listen to Fu when it comes to arranging missions."

Akai Akimoto did not say anything else. He directly handed the squad's authority over to Kitahara Kaede, then hurriedly left.