The Shameless Third Hokage

Thus, the restaurant Shiro went to did not really have much to eat either. It was still ramen, the food that best suited his tastes; he still was not used to the other dishes.

After eating, Shiro did not go home to sleep and rest. If he went back to sleep now, he would likely sleep until evening and miss the afternoon training.

But he could not just sit around doing nothing, either. That would do little to restore his energy; he might as well sleep.

However, Shiro had another option. He could recover his energy through meditation while also cultivating his state of mind.

Well, this meditation was not something Shiro had brought from his previous life. In his previous life, he had not had access to anything so advanced.

He had found it among the knowledge gained from projecting Noble Phantasms. It was a genuine Meditation Method, not the fake stuff Shiro had seen online in his previous life.

Still, this Meditation Method was not all that mystical. It did not greatly enhance mental power; its effects were more focused on one's state of mind.

If practiced persistently, the ultimate result would be a mind as still as water.

The calm composure to remain unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before one's eyes.

Of course, reaching that realm required a long period of cultivation. For now, its use to Shiro was to somewhat speed up his energy recovery and silently temper his will.

But matters of the mind were the most elusive. Even with the original owner's experience and insights, Shiro had still not gotten started by the end of the lunch break.

But Shiro was not in a hurry. This was something that had to be taken slowly; rushing would not help anyway.

That afternoon, Shiro and the others still trained separately. If they had questions, they went to Nakamura.

After this mission, Shiro and the others had discovered many of their shortcomings. Their current priority was to make up for those areas; team coordination could be practiced later.

Besides, all three of them were currently learning new ninjutsu. There was no need to pursue teamwork now, only to have to readjust later. It did not mean much.

That afternoon, Shiro continued training with both his Shadow Clone Technique and his main body. Though it was a little painful, the efficiency was high.

Honestly, only after Shiro truly began training with Shadow Clones did he realize how insanely strong Naruto's will was. Naruto had trained with hundreds of Shadow Clones at once!

Therefore, his achievements were absolutely not just because he had cheats. The old man who gave him cheats had only given him power; what truly allowed that power to be fully unleashed was Naruto's powerful heart.

That was also what Shiro longed for. That was why he pushed past his limits again and again: to make himself stronger, both in body and spirit!

That night, after training all day, Shiro and the others were exhausted. They had no other plans and went home to rest.

"I'm back."

"Why are you back so late? You need to watch the time when training too. What if you wear your body out?"

"It's fine, Mom. Captain Nakamura was watching nearby. Nothing will happen."

"But even so, you can't train like this. You only just got back, and you aren't even resting properly." Keiko looked at Shiro's exhausted expression and spoke worriedly.

"It's fine, Mom. I'm going to rest first."

"Ah, we never should have let him become a ninja. Look at him, he's exhausted himself like this." Keiko watched Shiro's weary retreating figure and said.

"Enough. This is the path he chose himself, and he knows what he is doing. This child has had his own ideas since he was young. Besides, you should be happy, because only this way will he have enough ability to face more difficulties in the future."

"I know, but my heart aches for him. Shiro is still so young."

"He has his own plans. Don't show it in front of him in the future. This is the child's choice, and we should support him. Don't make him worry about us. All right, it's late. Go get some rest. Get up a little earlier tomorrow and make Shiro some breakfast."

"Mm, I understand."

After saying that, the two returned to their rooms to rest.

In truth, Makoto also felt terrible for Shiro. But he was the head of the household, and no matter what, he could not show it. He worried that it would dampen Shiro's enthusiasm.

He could only help Shiro in this way. Though they were said to be a ninja clan, the only difference between them and ordinary civilians was their ancient family name. Other than that, there was nothing they could do to help Shiro.

Meanwhile, even though Shiro was already extremely exhausted, he still insisted on completing his evening practice, training both Reinforcement Magecraft and Projection Magecraft once.

Afterward, he added another task: meditating for an hour.

By the time Shiro had finished all of that, it was only a little past nine. It was not late for him, so he could still endure it.

What mattered most now was persevering and forming a habit. Only then could he move toward success.

Two days later, Shiro and the others gathered in front of the Hokage Office Building, waiting for the others before heading to Sunagakure together for the Chunin Exams.

Over these two days, Shiro and the others were basically the same as on the first day, each training on their own. Only when they were tired would they occasionally sit together and discuss things.

Unfortunately, Shiro still had not mastered Thousand-Faced Wind. After all, a B-rank ninjutsu was not so easy to learn, and Nakamura had not practiced this ninjutsu much either, so he could not offer Shiro much advice. Shiro had to figure it out himself.

Even so, Shiro was already halfway there. He estimated that he would more or less master it after arriving in Sunagakure.

As Shiro stood before the Hokage Office Building and surveyed the people around him, he suddenly realized that he had underestimated how shameless the Third Hokage could be. Looking at the middle-aged ninja wearing a straw hat over there, Shiro silently lit a candle for the ninjas of the other villages.

That was right, he was the officially recognized strongest Genin, Kosuke!

Shiro had seen him before while training with Minato and the others, and the impression had been deep.

That was why he recognized him at a glance. Kosuke was not yet as old as when he appeared in the original story, but his strength was definitely greater than it had been then!

Because he was currently at the peak of his condition as a ninja. Compared to then, the only thing he lacked slightly was experience.

But that still did not affect Kosuke's strength. He could still be called the strongest participant in this exam!

Shiro had originally thought that sending Minato, who knew Flying Thunder God, was already shameless enough of the Third Hokage.

As it turned out, the Third Hokage's bottom line was even lower than Shiro's.

But Kosuke really was suitable, because although he was very strong, he was not actually famous. He had always been active along the borders of the Land of Fire and acted independently, so few people knew his strength.

Other countries had even less information on him. As the foremost of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Fire rarely had powerful ninjas daring to cause trouble here. Those who usually came were ignorant fools who did not know their own limits.

And such people were certainly no match for Kosuke. One came, one died.

Naturally, not many people knew how strong he was.

Moreover, according to the records that could be found, he was merely an old Genin who had never advanced to Chunin and had completed a pile of low-rank missions.

He looked very easy to bully.

But Shiro guessed that he had been sent to hold the line. After all, judging by the original story, Kosuke still had little reputation outside the village at that time.