Through

The Hokage position was ultimately passed down through a single lineage. It could never fall into someone else's hands.

Starting with the First Hokage, the Second Hokage had been his younger brother, the Third Hokage had been his disciple, and so on through the Fourth and Fifth Hokage.

From Tsunade's words, it was clear that, barring any surprises, Naruto would be the next Hokage.

Everyone present understood that.

They were somewhat surprised, unable to understand why Tsunade thought so highly of Naruto.

Meanwhile, on Naruto's side.

Having already tested Naruto's strength, Kakashi had no desire to risk his life again.

So he deliberately dropped the bell onto the ground.

Naturally, Naruto saw it.

With a stretch of his hand, the bell on the ground flew into his palm.

This left the others even more confused.

"Good job, Naruto. So, who will you choose to stay?"

Kakashi slowly walked out.

Hinata gazed at Naruto with pleading eyes. Even kindhearted as she was, she chose to be selfish at that moment. She hoped Naruto would choose her.

Sasuke merely gave a cold snort.

Yet his heart was far from calm. If my brother finds out I failed even this test, will he laugh at me?

Without saying anything, Naruto casually tossed the bell to the two of them.

They instinctively caught it.

"Hey! Bastard, what do you mean by this? Are you looking down on me?" Although he had wanted the bell badly, being handed it so carelessly made Sasuke furious. He felt humiliated.

"Naruto."

Hinata did not understand either.

"I'm strong. Even if I don't graduate this time, there'll be another chance. Since you got them, don't waste them."

Naruto spoke without the slightest concern.

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

Before Sasuke could say anything, Hinata directly tossed her bell to him.

"Bastards, are you both looking down on me?"

Sasuke's face turned red with anger.

Kakashi, standing beside them, was satisfied.

To Kakashi, as long as the three of them did not turn against one another, they had already passed.

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

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

"What???"

The two turned to Kakashi in confusion.

"But, Sensei, didn't you say...?"

Hinata asked in surprise.

"That's right. This is the first lesson I wanted to teach you. In the ninja world, those who break the ninja rules are considered trash, but those who do not cherish their companions are worse than trash."

Those famous words struck their hearts like a heavy hammer.

At that moment, they understood Kakashi's intentions.

"Companions?" Sasuke frowned as he looked at Naruto.

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

Sasuke thought of what his brother had told him.

Companions... Naruto, I'll definitely keep up with you.

"Heh, companions? Only being strong yourself is the true hard truth."

Naruto thought only of Hashirama.

But he did not argue.

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

Naruto was the first to react, turning his gaze toward Kakashi.

Kakashi froze, and his face twitched.

But he still could not bring himself to refuse.

"Ah, what a troublesome brat."

Kakashi did not object. One was his teacher's son, another was his friend's younger brother, and Kakashi was naturally much more indulgent toward the three of them.

Itachi Uchiha was still serving in the ANBU.

"Great! Let's go eat barbecue."

A smile finally appeared on Naruto's face. Taking Hinata along, he headed toward the barbecue restaurant.

Kakashi helplessly scratched his broom-like hair.

Sasuke gave another haughty snort.

For some reason, he always felt completely out of place.

Laughing and chatting, they headed toward the center of Konoha.

At the barbecue restaurant.

"Naruto."

The moment Naruto entered, someone called out to him.

Turning around, he saw Choji, Shikamaru, and the others.

"You're having a gathering too?"

Naruto was surprised.

"Want to join us?" Choji invited him.

A drop of cold sweat immediately ran down Asuma Sarutobi's face.

Though he was the former Hokage's son and a jonin, even he could not afford to spend money so freely. This barbecue restaurant was not somewhere ordinary people could afford to visit. It had been jointly developed by the Ino-Shika-Cho clans: one side supplied meat, another medicinal ingredients, while the Akimichi clan handled the operations. The prices here were expensive, and most customers were ninja.

"Haha, no need. Today is our teacher's first time treating us."

Naruto smiled and pointed at Kakashi, who stood not far behind him.

Choji immediately understood.

Shikamaru curiously glanced at Kakashi.

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

Before long, the barbecue arrived.

Naruto began grilling meat for Hinata.

However, they were soon drawn in by Kakashi's way of eating.

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

They could not see him making any eating motions at all. They could only see the mouth beneath his mask constantly chewing.

"Oh, stop talking and eat."

Kakashi casually brushed the question aside, clearly unwilling to explain.

Naruto was not particularly curious about it and continued grilling meat for Hinata.

Hinata had not lost her big eater trait. It was simply that with enough chakra to replenish her, she no longer felt hungry.

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

Having quickly finished eating, Kakashi finally had the leisure to ask Naruto about the technique he had used earlier.

"That was something I created myself when I had nothing better to do. It's a little troublesome to explain."

Naruto scratched his head, unsure how to explain Eightfold Reversal.

"Then explain it."

Sasuke immediately stopped eating as well.

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

Naruto explained casually. Of course, he was making it all up.

Sasuke looked thoughtful, though he had not understood a thing.

Kakashi frowned as well. The explanation was far too vague.

Seeing that no one understood, Naruto could only spread his hands helplessly. He had explained it, after all.

While they were distracted, all the barbecue on the table had vanished.

"What happened?"

Kakashi was startled. He looked at the others, before his gaze finally fell on Hinata, who resembled a hamster.

He understood, but said nothing.

Naruto was not surprised in the slightest and continued putting more meat on the grill.

By the end of the meal, Kakashi felt his hands trembling.

He had not expected the little girl to be the most unfathomable one among them.

If Choji had not happened to be there today and gotten them a discount, Kakashi would definitely have suffered a massive loss.

Even so, it still made Kakashi's heart ache.

"Gather at the mission hall tomorrow morning."

After saying that, Kakashi vanished.

Naruto felt like Kakashi had fled in defeat.

As expected of little Hinata. She really is adorable.

Even as a refined young lady, little Hinata's eating manner was adorable. It made Naruto keep feeding her.

Sasuke turned and left. He had already made up his mind to go home and find his brother. He absolutely had to learn some powerful ninjutsu.

Meanwhile, in the Akatsuki of the Rain Country, Nagato's plan had entered its second stage.

They were not far from capturing the tailed beasts, so he had specifically summoned Zetsu today.

In the dark space, Deva Path Pain stood there.

"We now need to keep track of every tailed beast's movements."

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