Promotion

The next morning.

Beneath the rising morning sun, Uchiha Yuzhen and Namikaze Minato met at their agreed meeting place.

Together, they headed to the Hokage Building.

With Namikaze Minato leading the way, already familiar with the route,

Uchiha Yuzhen arrived at the Hokage's office.

"So you're Uchiha Yuzhen? Not bad—you're a handsome young man." Sarutobi Hiruzen gave Yuzhen a warm smile as he spoke.

Yuzhen didn't presume on the compliment. He gave a slight bow. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

He had a pretty good impression of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After all, when the head of an organization greeted you warmly,

it was hard not to come away with a good impression.

"Don't be so formal. I called you here today..." Sarutobi Hiruzen set down the pipe in his hand, ready to get down to business. "Mainly to reward you."

As he spoke, he picked up an appointment letter from his desk.

"In recognition of your outstanding performance on this mission, you are hereby promoted to Special Jonin."

"Additionally, you may learn one forbidden jutsu from the Forbidden Jutsu Library."

He had settled on these rewards after discussing them with Minato.

Special Jonin was a rather unusual title.

It ranked above Chunin but below Jonin.

It fell somewhere between the two.

It was a title given to someone who had reached or surpassed Jonin level in a particular area.

They could enjoy most of the benefits available to Jonin.

They just didn't have the authority to recommend new Jonin.

That's right. Konoha's Jonin had the authority to make recommendations and offer advice.

After all, in name,

the Jonin of every ninja village were members of its upper echelon.

But for Uchiha Yuzhen at this moment,

this promotion

was an enormous leap forward!

In an instant, he had gone from Genin to Special Jonin.

Honestly, it was an astonishing rise.

Take Nara Shikamaru in the original story, for example.

He had helped save the day during the Chunin Exams and taken part in the mission to retrieve Sasuke.

Even though he had been promoted to Chunin after the exams,

those accomplishments still hadn't earned him a promotion to Special Jonin, let alone Jonin.

And on top of that, he could learn a forbidden jutsu from the Forbidden Jutsu Library.

That was excellent news.

There were two main ways to learn forbidden jutsu in Konoha.

One was the Scroll of Sealing. How to put this...

Its symbolic value was greater than its practical value.

Why?

Simple. All the forbidden jutsu in the Scroll of Sealing could also be found in the Forbidden Jutsu Library.

At that moment, Uchiha Yuzhen thought of Orochimaru.

He remembered the scene in the anime

where that genuine Genius secretly learned forbidden jutsu in the Forbidden Jutsu Library.

By then, Yuzhen had already decided which forbidden jutsu he wanted to learn.

He put those thoughts aside.

Suppressing his excitement, he turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen

and said solemnly:

"Thank you very much for the village's trust in me. From now on, I'll give my all for Konoha Village, even if it costs me my life!"

Inside the Forbidden Jutsu Library,

Uchiha Yuzhen sat cross-legged on the floor.

He slowly unrolled a scroll.

As it unfurled, the image of an eight-headed giant serpent came into view.

"The Eight Branches Technique... Amazing!"

He wasn't exaggerating!

The Eight Branches Technique, developed by who knew whom,

could be said to touch upon the Otsutsuki's most closely guarded secrets!

The essence of the technique was that, once mastered,

you could turn your thoughts and soul

into chakra imbued with your Obsession.

Combat was actually the less important aspect of the technique.

All it took was pairing it with a jutsu that could transfer your body.

Sound familiar?

Orochimaru's Immortality Curse Seal, and the Otsutsuki's reincarnation Karma.

In principle, didn't they all work the same way?

That was what Uchiha Yuzhen valued about it.

Once he mastered the Eight Branches Technique, he would surely be able to digitize his own information!

Only then could he delve into the very core of chakra.

This energy system wasn't some mystical thing like spiritual power, magical power, or true qi.

Chakra—

was the Otsutsuki Clan's tangible technological achievement!

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations made that clear.

Those cloned demigods were incredibly powerful.

As for talk of state of mind or level of mastery, Yuzhen thought it was all nonsense.

All he saw was that when the technology was there and the chakra energy was there,

the strength naturally followed.

"But the trouble is, even Orochimaru said it takes a month to learn this technique."

"I wonder how long it'll take me. I'll have to count on the system."

With that, he rolled up the scroll.

He left the Forbidden Jutsu Library and returned to the Hokage's office.

"Are you sure you want to choose this jutsu?" Sarutobi Hiruzen held the scroll of the Eight Branches Technique, looking puzzled.

As a professor of ninjutsu, he was familiar with the Eight Branches Technique.

This jutsu...

How to put it?

It was said to be capable of going toe-to-toe with a Tailed Beast.

But he had long since realized that activating it only made you clumsy.

You couldn't match a Tailed Beast's agility at all.

As for its ability to strengthen one's Obsession,

he didn't think a Uchiha with the Sharingan needed anything like that.

In response to Sarutobi Hiruzen's question, Uchiha Yuzhen nodded earnestly.

"That's right, Lord Hokage. I want to learn this jutsu."

Honestly, he would have preferred to get his hands on Impure World Reincarnation.

But even thinking about it made it obvious that wasn't possible.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a fairly reasonable man.

When it came to a jutsu that went against the natural order,

he hadn't even taught it to Orochimaru, his most beloved student.

Orochimaru had learned it by stealing it himself.

If Yuzhen asked for it, there was even less chance he'd get it.

"Very well. Take this scroll home with you, then. Remember to return it once you've learned the jutsu." Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head and sighed before tossing the scroll to Yuzhen.

Yuzhen caught it and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Lord Hokage!"

The benefits of being part of the Hokage Lineage were now clear.

An ordinary person who wanted to learn this jutsu would have to memorize the scroll.

Then they'd have to go home and practice on their own.

But as Sarutobi Hiruzen's student's student,

Yuzhen could simply take the scroll home and study it.

Namikaze Minato, who had been silent for a long time, patted Uchiha Yuzhen on the head.

"All right. Now that you've been promoted and gotten the jutsu you wanted, hurry home and start studying."

"Lord Hokage and I still have a few things to discuss."

That was a lie.

He had been quiet for so long because he wanted to observe his student, Uchiha Yuzhen, closely.

He wanted to see how he would behave from start to finish when tempted by a forbidden jutsu.

Judging by the result, he was very satisfied.

His student hadn't been particularly greedy in the face of a forbidden jutsu.

And when choosing what to learn, he had only wanted a jutsu that interested him.

Yes, Minato had taken a look at the Eight Branches Technique himself.

He could only say that it was a jutsu suited to a particular interest.

He couldn't understand why Yuzhen, like him, belonged to the speed-oriented school,

yet had chosen such a huge, clumsy technique.

Still, that didn't matter. He was very satisfied with Yuzhen today.

Next, he and Lord Third would discuss his "approach to teaching."

Naturally, Yuzhen shouldn't hear any of that.

So he might as well make up an excuse to send him away.

At that, Uchiha Yuzhen happily strode out.

With a jaunty step, he headed back to the clan compound.

Meanwhile,

Uchiha Fugaku had also received the news.

Since Namikaze Minato hadn't hidden Yuzhen's achievements,

the village was sure to notify the Uchiha clan leader when one of his own was promoted to Special Jonin.

When he heard from a team member that Uchiha Yuzhen had already returned to the clan compound,

he hurriedly sent someone to summon Yuzhen.

Uchiha Yuzhen couldn't help thinking:

"Talk about perfect timing! This is great!"

He had still been racking his brains over how to ask Fugaku for a loan to upgrade his equipment.

Now Fugaku seemed so eager to see him.

It looked like he might be able to spend a little less after all.

Yuzhen felt that...

joining the Hokage Lineage had been exactly the right move.