Graduation

Three months later, Qianye Lan officially graduated.

"Lan, why were neither of us paying attention in class, yet you still ranked in the top three?"

At Kushina's home, Kushina stared at the report card in bewilderment.

Her beautiful eyes fixed on Qianye Lan, looking as though she would not let him off without an explanation.

Her own failure was frightening enough, but a friend's success was even more distressing.

Neither of us paid attention in class, and we stayed together after school too. Why were your grades so much higher than mine?

Although Kushina had also graduated successfully, she still found it very strange.

Qianye Lan raised his head and appeared to think for a moment, though he was actually holding back laughter. "Because I'm a genius, probably."

This answer made Kushina deeply unhappy. Her cheeks puffed up with anger, and she turned away, refusing to pay Qianye Lan any more attention.

Seeing this, Qianye Lan could not resist walking over to Kushina and poking her cheek.

Kushina immediately broke her composure, put down the report card, picked up a cushion, and swung it at him.

Qianye Lan picked up a cushion too and fought back.

Tsunade sat beside them, watching the two horse around with a smile.

After a while, Tsunade finally spoke. "All right, stop messing around. It's time to get ready for the memorial service for the Second Shinobi World War."

As her words fell, the lively atmosphere grew much quieter.

The two each went back to change into their clothes for the memorial service.

Tsunade took them to the site of the memorial service.

The war had ended a month earlier, and this memorial service was simply to commemorate those who had died in it.

This war was also known as the Second Shinobi World War.

At the memorial service, everyone wore black and held fresh flowers.

The atmosphere was very somber.

Then Qianye Lan suddenly felt raindrops falling onto his face.

He looked up and found that a light, scattered rain had begun to fall.

The Third Hokage stood at the front, reading the eulogy.

He concluded the memorial after reading the final, familiar line: "Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire shall burn on."

Everyone silently placed the flowers in their hands at the Memorial Stone.

That brought the memorial to an end.

On their way back, they encountered Jiraiya, and the two greeted each other.

Tsunade then looked at him and asked, "Where's Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya replied, "I'm not sure. He's been keeping to himself lately, ever since that incident..."

Tsunade sighed softly after hearing this, then asked, "What about you? What are you planning to do now that the war is over?"

Jiraiya answered without hesitation, "Travel around gathering material, of course. What about you?"

Tsunade hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'll have to stay in the village for a while longer."

Jiraiya gave her a cheerful smile. "Then I'll be off."

With that, he turned and left, remembering to wave.

Tsunade then took the two home.

Meanwhile, in the Hokage Office, the Third Hokage looked over the team assignments and found himself in a bind.

At this thought, he lightly tapped the desk, and an Anbu outside the window spoke respectfully. "Lord Hokage."

The Third Hokage told him, "Bring Jiraiya here."

The Anbu nodded, then vanished using the Body Flicker Technique.

Unaware that he had already been singled out, Jiraiya was enthusiastically packing his luggage to leave.

Then the Anbu appeared beside his window and knocked on it.

Jiraiya turned around, saw that it was an Anbu, and immediately had a bad feeling.

The Anbu spoke. "Lord Jiraiya, the Third Hokage wishes to see you."

Jiraiya heaved a sigh. "Understood."

He put down his luggage and followed the Anbu all the way to the Hokage Office.

Jiraiya took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The Third Hokage's voice came from inside. "Come in."

Jiraiya pushed the door open and walked in. "Teacher, what did you call me here for?"

The Third Hokage looked at him and said, "I intend to make you a jonin instructor."

Jiraiya pointed at his own face in disbelief. "Me, a jonin instructor?"

He was just about to refuse when the Third Hokage interrupted him. "This is a mission your teacher is assigning you as Hokage, not a discussion."

Seeing how firm his teacher was, Jiraiya could only comply.

The Third Hokage smiled. "It'll also let you find out just how much trouble being an instructor is."

With that, he handed him the list.

Jiraiya took the list, which read: Minato Namikaze, Dekai, Zuo Qing Maoshu.

He said cheerfully, "No problem. I'll be going, then, Teacher."

The Third Hokage watched him leave and was just about to deal with some paperwork when another knock came from outside.

"Come in."

The door opened, and upon seeing who had arrived, the Third Hokage said warmly, "Oh, it's you, Sakumo. Is there a problem?"

Hatake Sakumo said, "I'd like to become an instructor."

The Third Hokage was secretly delighted. He had been worrying about finding a reason to assign Hatake Sakumo as Qianye Lan's instructor, only for him to volunteer himself.

At this thought, he asked, "Have you chosen your student, then?"

Hatake Sakumo nodded, then said, "I'd like to be Qianye Lan's instructor."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage was ecstatic inside, but he still shook his head.

Puzzled by the Third's reaction, Hatake Sakumo asked, "Lord Third, why..."

The Third Hokage smiled. "Taking just one won't do, of course. You need at least three."

Only then did Hatake Sakumo breathe a sigh of relief. "No problem."

Seeing that he had no objection, the Third Hokage handed him a list he had prepared long ago.

At this sight, Hatake Sakumo immediately felt as though he had been thoroughly taken for a ride.

He could not help giving a wry smile. "Third, would you have forced them on me even if I hadn't said anything?"

The Third waved his hand. "Why worry so much about that, Sakumo? Aren't we all contributing to Konoha?"

Hatake Sakumo smiled helplessly and left the Hokage Office.

Having resolved the matter of Qianye Lan, the Third Hokage looked thoroughly at ease.

He leaned back in his chair, picked up his pipe, and took a puff.

He muttered to himself, "If I hold on for a few more years, it should be time to hand this position over to Jiraiya. But Orochimaru..."

Thinking of Orochimaru gave the Third Hokage a headache. His original plan had been to have him take over.

Yet after Nawaki's death, Orochimaru himself seemed to no longer care much about the position of Hokage.

At this thought, the Third Hokage's mood soured again.

Unaware of any of this, Qianye Lan was practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique at the training ground.

After three months of training, he had basically mastered the use of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Qianye Lan closed his eyes and sensed the spatial coordinates.

In an instant, he resonated with space and teleported to the coordinates' location.

He teleported into the front courtyard in an instant, startling Kushina, who was there.

She looked at Qianye Lan with delight. "Did it work?"

Qianye Lan nodded, then shook his head.

This left Kushina puzzled.

Only then did he explain, "I only managed to activate it. I'm still a long way from using it in actual combat."

Qianye Lan did not feel much joy over this, because his results had come from standing on the shoulders of those who came before him.

Whenever he failed, he could find the reason for his failure by looking through Tobirama's notes and improve accordingly.