How could this be possible?
Naruto and the others had only graduated three months ago! And they could already defeat him in seconds?
It was no wonder Iruka didn't believe it. It was simply too unbelievable!
Of course, Iruka had heard of Hyuga Tenka's great reputation, but... just because he himself was formidable didn't mean he was good at teaching students!
"L-Lord Hokage, i-is this true?"
Iruka turned to the Third Hokage for confirmation, hoping to hear a different answer!
But... he was disappointed. Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a stack of mission certificates from his drawer!
"Iruka, I don't know exactly how strong they are!"
"But... since Tenka said so, it's probably true."
"These... are Team 7's mission certificates. They've completed twenty C-Rank Missions, one B-Rank Mission, and one A-Rank Mission!"
"You can take a look. Their very first mission was C-Rank, and they haven't done a single D-Rank Mission!"
Although Tenka hadn't mentioned upgrading the mission rank when he returned from the Wave Country.
The Third Hokage had still upgraded it on his own. He had no intention of upsetting Tenka over such a trivial matter!
Iruka blankly accepted the stack of mission certificates and began flipping through them one by one.
The other ninjas were also shocked. What had they just heard?
"A... A-Rank?"
"Did I hear that right?"
"I heard Jonin Tenka never takes action himself. Those three kids handle everything on their own!"
"Gasp... are newcomers these days really that fierce?"
"Good thing I didn't recommend the ones I lead and embarrass myself!"
Amid the crowd's discussion, Iruka finally finished reading the mission certificates!
He still found it hard to imagine. How had those three grown so quickly?
Well, he hadn't seen Naruto since he graduated. So he'd been this busy all along. He should go see him later!
"Alright, since no one has any objections, come collect the application forms and take them back to your students!"
Tenka's group collected their application forms, and the meeting came to an end. Looking at the form in his hand—
Tenka activated his Byakugan and looked toward Ichiraku Ramen. Sure enough, he spotted Naruto!
His figure flashed, and he vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, he was already standing before Naruto!
"T-Teacher!"
Naruto jumped in fright. The ramen in his mouth fell out the moment he opened his mouth to speak!
"Finish eating, then go get Sasuke and Sakura. Meet at the usual place!"
"Yes!"
Naruto nodded in acknowledgment, but when he looked up, Tenka had already vanished!
"Uncle Ichiraku, I'll pay you next time. Something urgent came up..."
"Sure, no problem!"
How could Naruto dare delay any longer? He didn't even finish the rest of his ramen. He created a Shadow Clone to help out, then hurried off to find Sasuke and Sakura!
He silently prayed, Please, no. Don't let it be an emergency mission. I haven't rested enough yet...
Tenka had only waited five minutes at their usual spot before the three came running over, drenched in sweat!
Half of it was from rushing there, while the other half was because, like Naruto, they were worried they would have to start another mission!
"Teacher!" ×3
"These are the Chunin Ninja Exams application forms!"
"Take them home and fill them out!"
"Missions are suspended for now. We'll talk after the Chunin Ninja Exams!"
"Time: five days from now, three in the afternoon. Ninja Academy, Classroom 301!"
"If you can't even pass the Chunin Ninja Exams!"
"Then you won't need to follow me on missions anymore!"
After Tenka finished speaking, he vanished before the three could react!
"Phew..."
The three of them let out a collective sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness—it wasn't a mission!
But the Chunin Ninja Exams?
"So soon... we're going to become Chunin?"
Naruto was a little dazed. Since graduating, they had been fighting and killing almost every day, and he hadn't really paid attention to the passage of time!
"Yeah!"
"It's already late. It's been three months!"
"Yeah!"
"Very late!"
"Don't forget, our teacher was already an Elite Jonin capable of fighting the Hokage when he was nine!"
"And that Kakashi became a Jonin at twelve!"
"We're already twelve, and we're still Genin..."
"No, Chunin!"
"Right, Chunin!"
It was only the Chunin Ninja Exams. None of the three took it to heart. If they really couldn't even pass this—
Then even without Tenka saying anything, they would have no face left to continue training under him!
"Let's go!"
"Go home and rest. We have five days, enough time to get ourselves into shape!"
"Let's rest today. Tomorrow, we can go out together!"
"Okay!"
"Tomorrow, I'll treat you to ramen!"
After the three children made their plans, they each headed home. They had just returned from a mission today and were all quite exhausted, with no desire to do anything else!
After the other two left, Naruto thought for a moment and decided to go back and finish his ramen. He had barely eaten any earlier!
"Uncle, I'm back. Make me another bowl, the same as before!"
"Coming right up!"
Otsutsuki Squinty-Eyes replied with a cheerful smile and quickly started making Naruto's noodles!
Before the ramen was served, Iruka entered the ramen shop and walked toward Naruto's table!
"Naruto, waiting for ramen?"
"How about your teacher treats you?"
"Iruka-sensei!"
Naruto was delighted to see Iruka again. Just as he had said earlier, he had been busy ever since graduating!
He hadn't noticed the time passing. It was only when Sakura and Sasuke mentioned it earlier that he learned three months had already gone by!
Over those three months, forget Iruka-sensei—even his classmates had only seen him two or three times!
"Iruka-sensei!"
"You don't have to treat me this time!"
"I've saved up lots of money from missions. I'll treat you!"
"Alright!"
Iruka looked at Naruto with a gratified expression. Suddenly, he felt that Naruto had grown up!
"Uncle, another large bowl of pork miso chashu ramen!"
"Coming right up!"
Otsutsuki Squinty-Eyes began making Iruka's noodles as well. Even while preparing ramen for both of them at once, he showed no sign of fluster!
It was only two people. When business was busy, he had made noodles for ten or twenty people at the same time!
So you could never underestimate squinty eyes, especially Otsutsuki Squinty-Eyes!
"Naruto, have you been doing well lately?"
"Your team seems pretty busy. I've run into all the other students, but never the three of you!"
"Huh?"
"That?"
"How should I put it?"
"I guess I've been doing pretty well!"
"Teacher may be very cold, but he treats us well. He taught us lots of ninjutsu and techniques!"
"The really, really amazing kind!"
"I'm really strong now. I feel like I'm no weaker than Sasuke anymore!"
"But Sakura is still stronger!"
"Both Sasuke and I have been saved by her several times!"
"Really?"
"Sakura has already become that strong?"
"Yeah, she's incredibly strong!"
Naruto was talking about medical ninjutsu, but Iruka understood it as combat strength!
That greatly surprised him. It wasn't that Sakura was bad; the girl was quite smart too. But Iruka had never imagined that even Sasuke would need her to save him!
"Are missions... dangerous?"
"They're alright!"
"As long as we fight with everything we have, we can win them all!"
Only if they fought with everything they had... could they win?
Before you continue