Passed

When all was said and done, the Hokage position was passed down through a single line. It could never fall into anyone else's hands.

Starting with the First, the Second Hokage was his younger brother, and the Third Hokage was his student. The line continued through the Fourth Hokage and the Fifth Hokage.

From what Tsunade had said, it was clear that if nothing unexpected happened, Naruto would be the next Hokage.

Everyone present had picked up on that.

They were somewhat surprised and couldn't understand why Tsunade thought so highly of Naruto.

Meanwhile, over on Naruto's side...

Having tested Naruto's strength, Kakashi didn't want to push himself any further.

So he deliberately let the bells fall to the ground.

Naruto saw them, of course.

He stretched out his hand, and the bells flew from the ground into his palm.

The others were once again left utterly confused.

"Nice work, Naruto. So, who do you choose to stay?"

Kakashi strolled out at an unhurried pace.

Hinata gazed at Naruto expectantly. At that moment, even she, kind as she was, chose to be selfish. She hoped Naruto would choose her.

As for Sasuke, he merely snorted.

But he was hardly calm inside. If his brother found out he hadn't even passed the test, would he make fun of him?

Naruto said nothing. He casually tossed the bells to the other two.

They caught them instinctively.

"Hey! What the hell do you mean? Are you looking down on me?" Sasuke really wanted to get the bells, but having them tossed into his hands so carelessly made him suddenly furious. He felt humiliated.

"Naruto."

Hinata didn't understand either.

"I'm strong. If I don't graduate this time, there'll be another chance. Now that we've got them, we shouldn't waste them."

Naruto said it without a care.

"No, I don't want them either. I want to stay with you."

Before Sasuke could say anything, Hinata tossed the bells straight to him.

"Damn it! Are you two looking down on me?"

Sasuke's face turned bright red with anger.

Kakashi, standing beside them, was pleased.

As far as Kakashi was concerned, as long as the three of them didn't turn on each other, they had passed.

"All right, I hereby declare that all three of you have passed."

Seeing that the three were about to start arguing, Kakashi stepped forward and announced the result.

"What?!"

The two of them turned to Kakashi in confusion.

"But, sensei, didn't you say—" Hinata asked, sounding a little surprised.

"That's right. This is the first lesson I wanted to teach you. Those who break the rules of the ninja world are considered scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

The famous words landed like a heavy blow to their hearts.

At that moment, both of them understood Kakashi's intentions.

"Comrades?" Sasuke looked at Naruto and furrowed his brow.

If it's this guy, then I accept you.

Sasuke remembered what his brother had said.

Comrades... Naruto, I'll catch up with you.

Heh, comrades? Being strong yourself is what really matters.

The only person Naruto thought of was Hashirama Senju.

But he didn't argue.

"All right, Kakashi-sensei. Now that the test is over, shouldn't we celebrate?"

Naruto was the first to come around. He looked at Kakashi.

Kakashi froze, the corner of his eye twitching.

But he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

"Good grief! What a troublesome brat."

Kakashi didn't object. One was his teacher's child, and another was his friend's younger brother, so he was naturally indulgent toward the three of them.

At this point, Itachi Uchiha was still serving in Anbu.

"Woohoo! Let's go get barbecue!"

A smile finally spread across Naruto's face. He took Hinata by the hand and headed for the barbecue restaurant.

Kakashi helplessly scratched his unruly hair.

Sasuke let out another haughty snort.

For some reason, he always felt like he didn't fit in.

The group headed toward the center of Konoha, chatting and laughing.

At the barbecue restaurant.

"Naruto."

As soon as Naruto walked in, someone called out to him.

He turned and saw Choji and Shikamaru.

"You're having a get-together too?"

Naruto was surprised.

"Want to join us?" Choji invited him.

Asuma Sarutobi, sitting nearby, immediately broke into a cold sweat.

He was the former Hokage's son and a jonin, but even he couldn't afford to keep spending like this. This barbecue restaurant wasn't somewhere ordinary people could afford to eat. It had been developed jointly by the three clans of Ino-Shika-Cho: one clan supplied the meat, another the medicinal herbs, and the Akimichi Clan handled the business. It was expensive, and the people who ate here were generally ninjas.

"Haha, no thanks. Today's the first time our teacher's treated us."

Naruto smiled and pointed at Kakashi, who was a short distance behind him.

Choji immediately understood.

Shikamaru looked at Kakashi with curiosity.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Naruto and the others found a place to sit.

The barbecue was served soon after.

Naruto began grilling meat for Hinata.

But before long, everyone was captivated by the way Kakashi ate.

"Kakashi-sensei, how do you do that?"

They couldn't see him eating at all. They could only see his mouth moving beneath his mask as he chewed.

"Oh, don't talk. Hurry up and eat."

Kakashi brushed off the question, clearly unwilling to explain.

Naruto wasn't especially curious about it and continued grilling meat for Hinata.

Hinata's big appetite hadn't gone away; she just no longer felt hungry now that she had enough chakra.

"Naruto, what was that technique you used earlier?"

Kakashi had quickly eaten his fill, and only then had time to ask Naruto about the technique he'd used.

"I came up with it myself when I had nothing better to do. It's a little complicated to explain."

Naruto scratched his head, unsure how to explain Reverse Eight Directions.

"Give it a try."

Sasuke stopped eating as well.

"It uses chakra to disrupt the magnetic field, creating a special kind of force."

Naruto casually explained, making the whole thing up, of course.

Sasuke pondered his explanation, though he hadn't really understood any of it.

Kakashi furrowed his brow too. The explanation was confusing.

Seeing that no one understood, Naruto could only spread his hands helplessly. Well, I explained it.

While everyone was still trying to make sense of it, the barbecue on the table had already vanished.

"What happened?"

Kakashi was startled. He looked at everyone, then finally set his gaze on Hinata, who was eating like a little hamster.

He understood, but didn't say anything.

Naruto wasn't surprised in the least and kept putting more meat on the grill.

By the time the meal was over, Kakashi's hands were trembling.

He hadn't expected that the most astonishing eater among them would be that little girl.

If Choji hadn't happened to be there that day and given them a discount, Kakashi would've been in for a serious hit to his wallet.

Even so, he still felt the pain of the bill.

"Meet at the mission office tomorrow morning."

Kakashi said this, then disappeared.

Naruto couldn't help feeling that Kakashi had fled in a panic.

As expected of little Hinata. She really is adorable.

Little Hinata ate in such a ladylike, cute way that Naruto couldn't stop feeding her.

Sasuke turned and left, having already decided to find his brother as soon as he got home. He had to learn some powerful ninjutsu.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, Nagato's plan in the Akatsuki hideout in the Land of Rain had entered its second phase.

They were close to capturing all the Tailed Beasts, so today he had called Zetsu in specially.

In the dark chamber, Deva Path Pain stood waiting.

"From now on, we need to keep track of every Tailed Beast's movements."

"Don't worry. I've already sent people out."