Admission Ticket to the Strongman's Domain

For a long time, the terrifying war of the future and all kinds of dreadful crises had left Kitahara Kaede constantly feeling as though he could barely breathe. Back then, though, he had no way to do anything about it.

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

Because back then, he had witnessed how Uchiha Itachi had stunned the Ninja Academy. Forget those in the same class—even older students had been no match for him.

Before drawing the Uchiha Clan Standard Bloodline, Kitahara Kaede probably would not have been able to defeat Uchiha Itachi from ten years ago, let alone the current Uchiha Itachi, who had likely already reached the peak of Kage Level.

If they met, he would probably be instantly killed!

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

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

But that was fine. This was only his first draw. He would have countless more opportunities in the future, and he would surely draw even more powerful Kekkei Genkai and ninjutsu.

Why couldn't one of the people standing at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World in the future be him?

The night passed without incident. The next day, Kitahara Kaede rose early. Though only one night had passed, he could still feel that his chakra reserves had increased again.

The feeling of steadily growing stronger without having to actively extract chakra was truly wonderful.

Thinking back to how he had once painstakingly extracted tiny amounts of chakra and had to use every bit carefully, those days had truly been miserable.

So this was how comfortably the children of Ninja Clans lived.

Come to think of it, setting aside the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, how absurd must it have felt for Uzumaki Naruto to possess one hundred units of chakra at only twelve years old?

Although Hatake Kakashi was often teased for having low chakra reserves, that was only relative to his level of strength. His normal chakra reserves definitely far exceeded those of ordinary Jonin. That alone showed just how astonishing Uzumaki Naruto's chakra reserves were.

Early in the morning, Kitahara Kaede got up and headed out to meet his teammates.

Inside a breakfast shop, Kitahara Kaede sat upright at a table. Across from him, a boy with a center part about his age was wolfing down breakfast, completely unconcerned with his image.

This was Soten Genryu, the teammate who had been with him for three years.

His basic circumstances were much the same as Kitahara Kaede's. He had no reputation either, just a nobody who probably would not even appear in the original story.

Beside Kitahara Kaede sat a beautiful girl around fifteen or sixteen years old. Her eyes were clearly different from ordinary people's, resembling those of someone with cataracts.

Anyone with even a little common knowledge of ninja would recognize her as a member of the renowned Hyuga Clan.

Yes, this beautiful girl was also his teammate. She was Hyuga Keiko, a member of the famous Hyuga Clan.

Though she came from a powerful clan, her talent was quite ordinary. After all, not everyone from a shinobi clan possessed sufficient aptitude as a ninja.

This was a standard three-person squad. When a middle-aged man with a scar across his face entered, every member of the squad was finally present.

He was their squad leader and instructor, Chunin Akai Akimoto, an unremarkable Elite Chunin with no particular reputation.

Although the Konoha 12 in the original story seemed to have each been assigned a Jonin, that was actually a privilege reserved for the top students of each year. The vast majority of Ninja Academy graduates only had an Elite Chunin as their squad instructor.

During wartime, when manpower was stretched thin, even newly promoted Chunin could be assigned as squad instructors.

In other words, if this had been wartime, Kitahara Kaede would already have been qualified to serve as a squad instructor. Still, he would never wish to be born in such an era.

Because if it were wartime, his teammates would likely have been replaced several times already. Even he himself might have died in some battle.

Missions in peacetime might be boring, but at least the danger was greatly reduced.

"Akai-sensei!"

When Kitahara Kaede and the others saw him, they hurriedly stood and greeted him.

Akai Akimoto waved a hand and sat down. Then he said, "I came today to inform you of something. I've been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin!"

Everyone froze upon hearing that.

Tokubetsu Jonin were ninja who could contend with ordinary Jonin in certain areas but were inferior to them overall.

Still, despite carrying the title of Tokubetsu Jonin, they had indeed left the realm of Chunin behind and had become proper Jonin. They even possessed voting rights in Konoha's major affairs.

"Akai-sensei is a Jonin now? Doesn't that mean we're disciples of a Jonin? That's amazing!" Soten Genryu said dramatically.

After all, he understood perfectly well that having a Jonin instructor rather than a Chunin instructor would make an obvious difference to their future prospects.

"It's Tokubetsu Jonin," Akai Akimoto said, patting Soten Genryu on the head.

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

"That's right. In our squad, you are already a Chunin and can independently serve as a squad captain. My duty as your instructor is complete. The higher-ups have now transferred me to the Anbu. Kaede will lead today's mission independently. Get used to what it feels like to be a squad captain first," Akai Akimoto said as he looked at Kitahara Kaede.

"But then we won't get to see sensei anymore," Soten Genryu said dejectedly.

"Idiot. Sensei has only been transferred to the Anbu. We'll still be able to meet again," Hyuga Keiko said mockingly. "Those who can be transferred to the Anbu are all elite ninja. This is a great thing."

Kitahara Kaede nodded. Although the Anbu's performance in the original story could be described as underwhelming, that did not mean the Anbu were weak.

Any ninja who could enter the Anbu was at least an Elite Chunin. Among them were many Tokubetsu Jonin and even Jonin Level ninja. They were a force directly under the Hokage's command.

Still, becoming an Anbu at this point in time might not necessarily be a good thing. The first Chunin Ninja Exams after the Konoha 12 graduated were not far off. If Akai Akimoto ended up too close to the Third Hokage then and Orochimaru casually killed him, it would be over.

But he could hardly say that Orochimaru was plotting an attack on Konoha and that staying near the Hokage was the most dangerous place. No one would believe that anyway.

"All right, I need to report in as well. From now on, listen to Kaede regarding mission arrangements."

Akai Akimoto said no more. He directly handed the squad's authority over to Kitahara Kaede, then hurried away.