Becoming a Special Jonin

"Looks like everything was over. Mizuki had been beaten senseless by Naruto after he learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, Iruka gave Naruto his forehead protector, and my life as a Ninja Academy teacher had come to an end."

Masayo returned home. After cleaning and maintaining the Light-Concealing Sword, he drifted off to sleep.

Upon waking the next morning, Masayo got everything in order and headed to the Hokage Building to report in. His assignment at the Ninja Academy was now over.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was in the Hokage's Office, his hands clasped before him as he leaned against his desk. Looking at Masayo, he said, "It seems you have grown quite a bit over this past year of training. Even I can feel a sense of pressure from you."

"That is all thanks to your indulgence, Lord Hokage. Otherwise, how could I have spent an entire year so leisurely?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked over Masayo's file and said, "Masayo: one S-rank Mission, three A-rank Missions, sixteen B-rank Missions, one hundred and two C-rank Missions, and zero D-rank Missions."

Masayo nodded, muttering inwardly, The Land of Snow incident was made into a movie, so everyone knew about it. Otherwise, how could it have been so easily upgraded from A-rank to S-rank?

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked seriously at Masayo and asked, "How is your training in the Spirit Transformation Jutsu and the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags coming along?"

Masayo made an OK gesture and smiled. "There are no problems anymore. The Spirit Transformation Jutsu suits me exceptionally well, so please rest assured, Lord Hokage."

Masayo silently added, Besides that, I have mastered another S-rank ninjutsu comparable to the Rasenshuriken. That is the result of this period of training with Shadow Clones.

Dan Katō came to Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind. He had never expected the Spirit Transformation Jutsu to see the light of day again.

"Your performance in the Land of Snow has already proven that you are qualified to be a Jonin. Your mission record also meets the requirements. Masayo, you are hereby appointed as a Special Jonin of Konoha."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

Masayo did not show much joy. He had expected this already, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's deliberate questions about the Spirit Transformation Jutsu were precisely why he had been promoted to Special Jonin.

In truth, they were both Jonin. The word "Special" was added because one possessed an especially outstanding ability in a particular field. With Masayo's mastery of the Spirit Transformation Jutsu and his mission record, he fully met the requirements. Even the two Konoha elders who liked to nitpick would not be able to find grounds to object.

"Take a look at these three people."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a list and handed it to Masayo.

"Lord Hokage, are you joking? I just became a Jonin, and you are already asking me to lead students?"

Resistance was written all over Masayo's face. He crossed his hands into an X to show his refusal. He had seen how miserable Konoha's teachers had it. If some teachers had not realized that he was a favored connection personally arranged by the Third Hokage, a great many of them would have long since grown jealous and ostracized him.

"Don't you want to look at the list first?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at the graduation list, wearing an expression that suggested there was more to it.

Curious, Masayo picked it up. When he saw the names on it, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"It's him? Didn't he give up on becoming a ninja?"

Masayo's expression became complicated. The situation left him with an indescribable feeling. He still could not forget the scene from back then; it remained vivid in his mind, something he would never forget.

Inoue Mura was a student who had graduated alongside him that year. They should have become teammates, but at the time, only Masayo had become a Genin and passed Kakashi's test. Inoue Mura and Matsumoto Kei had been sent back to school.

Besides Inoue Mura, there was Sakiban, a classmate from Naruto and Sasuke's class. The third was a female student with long purple hair tied in a scorpion-tail braid named Mimai. She was not in the same class as Sakiban, excelled at genjutsu and healing, and had even ranked first in her class.

As for Sakiban, he was the student who had spoken up when Masayo had substituted for Iruka in class. His grades were poor. Naruto had been the dead last student, but he excelled in physical ability and other areas; he was merely weak in theory, the Clone Technique, kunai throwing, and the like.

Sakiban, on the other hand, was bad at nearly everything. He hovered between fifth-last and second-last in class. Like Sakura, he came from a civilian background, yet he looked down on Naruto, who ranked dead last. It seemed he could only find a sense of superiority from people worse than himself. He was the sort of ordinary person one could find anywhere.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Masayo with interest and said, "Isn't it interesting? A classmate who nearly became your partner in the past is now becoming your student. Masayo, what do you say? Are you willing to become Team 12's Supervising Jonin?"

Masayo's gaze never left Inoue Mura's name on the list. After pondering for a long time, he finally nodded.

"I agree to serve as Team 12's supervising teacher. However, if they are not up to standard, I will send them back to school to repeat their studies, just like Teacher Kakashi."

"That is the duty of a Supervising Jonin. Students who do not qualify naturally cannot become ninja."

Hiruzen Sarutobi replied. This was the first time he had seen such a dramatic turn of events. Generally, many students who were advised to leave could not bear the blow and chose to give up on becoming ninja. Moreover, hardly anyone could grow as quickly as Masayo, rising from Genin to Chunin in less than a year before becoming a Jonin now. And even fewer could persist after being sent back to school twice.

"Then I will take my leave, Lord Hokage!"

Masayo nodded, took the ninja roster, and left the Hokage's Office. The classmates who should have become his partners had ended up like this instead.

News of Masayo becoming a Jonin also reached Kurenai Yuhi, Kakashi, and the others. They specifically gave him gifts to celebrate his promotion.

Kakashi gave him two bells with special meaning. Kurenai Yuhi gave him a bottle of high-end red wine. Asuma Sarutobi gave him a specially made chakra-conducting kunai, possessing the same properties as his chakra blades. Ebisu gave him the equivalent of a medium-sized library's worth of books and bookshelves, filled with all kinds of ninja-related works. Masayo set aside a room specifically as a library.

Might Guy and Rock Lee each gave him a dumbbell. Knowing Masayo liked blue, Tenten gave him a blue kunai as an ornament, which Masayo hung on the wall. Neji gave him a set of books about the body's acupuncture points.

The day for the ninja gathering soon arrived. That day, Masayo and the other Supervising Jonin gathered in the Hokage's Office.

"Red Sis, Teacher Kakashi, Senior Asuma, I'm not late, am I?"

Masayo smiled and greeted them.

Kurenai Yuhi smiled and waved her hand. "No, you are not. The graduation briefing starts at nine."

Kakashi had his hands in his pockets, his voice lazy as he said, "That's right. Let's wait for a while first."