Promotion

Yami landed a safe distance away, watching as Ryoma's leg exploded. The blast sent Ryoma to the ground, writhing in pain, his foot a mangled mess.

A subtle smile crept across Yami's lips before disappearing. He glanced behind him and saw a special-made kunai pointed at his head. Minato had already managed to sneak behind him without a moment's notice.

"Impressive speed," Yami praised, showing no tension despite the weapon so close to him.

"What have you done?!" Minato's eyes were sharp. "Yami, do you understand the gravity of your actions?"

Yami turned slowly, facing Minato. "What do you mean? I was merely defending myself."

Minato's kunai didn't waver. "This isn't just about self-defense. You've escalated the situation far beyond what was necessary. If you had just waited until he was imprisoned, we could have discovered why he was targeting you."

"Well, he's still alive, so you could still extract information from him," Yami said, looking at the unconscious and pale Ryoma. "Besides, even if you question him and know who's behind this, I doubt you could do anything to them."

Before Minato could respond, a squad of Konoha Guards arrived on the scene, led by a Uchiha Jonin. His Sharingan eyes scanned the area, taking in the aftermath.

"Minato," he greeted formally. "We've received reports of an incident during the exams."

Minato nodded. "This examiner used an explosive tag on a Genin. His actions were highly irregular and suspicious. He even tried to attack me when I stopped him."

The man's eyes narrowed. "We'll handle the situation from here."

Minato stepped aside, allowing the Uchiha and his team to approach the injured Ryoma. The Uchiha's Sharingan would ensure that every detail was scrutinized, and every hidden truth revealed.

Yami watched silently as the guards worked. He wasn't worried about being punished for his actions; he doubted Ryoma would even make it to the prison to tell the tale. Danzo would ensure he stayed quiet, likely by eliminating him and feigning innocence.

'But that Danzo guy really put me in a difficult spot.'

Now that his fight was witnessed by many people, the Hokage would surely reevaluate his strength and not treat him as a simple Genin.

That meant he could be assigned to dangerous missions he didn't want to partake in.

Damn you, Danzo.

For the first time since coming to this world, Yami hated someone so badly that he wished he could kill him right now. But he held back, knowing he couldn't act based on his emotions.

After a month of training and developing his Kekkei Genkai, plans started to form in Yami's mind, plans he would have never thought of without this specific Kekkei Genkai. Most importantly, these plans required the assistance of certain people, and Danzo was one of them.

'Even though killing him will halt my plans for a while, I don't care. If he tries to pull this again, I'll kill him before his usefulness ends.'

Yami hid his killing intent and tried to slip away, but he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Minato.

"Despite this incident being the examiner's fault, I'm still going to have to ask you to come with me," Minato said, his tone firm and leaving no room for refusal.

"Sure, where are we going?" Yami shrugged and showed no concern.

"To the Hokage."

On the way, Kakashi and Rin came down and reunited with Minato.

"Sensei, what's the situation?" Kakashi asked while stealing a fleeting glance toward Yami. Rin did the same, but not as secretively as Kakashi.

"I don't know yet what caused the examiner's actions, but the guards already took him away and should know the truth soon."

'They won't know a thing,' Yami thought but didn't voice his opinion and instead looked around, seemingly searching for someone.

'It looks like Obito isn't here.'

Yami was particularly interested in this future villain. Many times he deliberated whether to slit his throat to prevent the future tragedies and troubles he would cause.

"I'm taking Yami to the Hokage now," Minato said. "We'll meet up later to celebrate Kakashi's successful promotion to Jonin."

"Yes, Sensei." Rin nodded, and Kakashi showed no particular interest in the celebration.

After instructing his students, Minato glanced at Yami and nodded. Then both of them disappeared, heading toward the Hokage's building.

****

"Failed?!"

Sitting in a dimly lit room and looking at the half-played chessboard in front of him, Danzo's eyes became gloomy after he received the news that Ryoma had failed his mission and was captured as well.

A Root special Jonin with years of training couldn't even deal with a mere Genin. It looked like the selection of Root members wasn't strict enough.

Thinking about the trouble he would be in if Ryoma got his mind read, Danzo crushed the chessboard in front of him with a punch.

"Why didn't he commit suicide after failing his mission?" Danzo asked the ninja who rushed to report the news. "Did he think he had the chance to stay alive after failing such an insignificant, useless mission?"

"Namikaze Minato was watching the match and interfered after Ryoma failed to kill the Genin with explosive tags," the Root's ninja responded, showing no reaction to the chaos Danzo created and reporting everything that happened.

"Minato…"

Hearing the main reason behind the mission's failure, Danzo calmed down a little.

Indeed, if Minato had been there, the chances of the mission's success would have greatly diminished.

"He's a troublesome ninja just like Sakumo," Danzo muttered before ordering his subordinate. "Give the order: the Root headquarters is temporarily closed; no one is allowed to enter or leave. As for the Hokage... I will handle him!"

"Yes!"

The subordinate who brought the news turned into a black shadow again and left the dark room.

---

Meanwhile, Minato and Yami quickly arrived at the Hokage's building, and it didn't take them long to meet Hiruzen.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Minato," Hiruzen greeted with a nod, then turned his attention to Yami. "Yami Asano, I've heard about the incident during the exams. And I can assure you that I'll do everything in my power to bring down the one responsible."

'Bullshit!'

Yami's eyes glowed faintly as he used Soul Perception and saw an orange hue surrounding Hiruzen, representing a lie. This meant that Hiruzen was currently bullshitting him, which made him secretly curse the hypocrite in his head.

'This bastard already knew who was responsible, but he couldn't do anything to him because no harm was done to me, and I'm just a civilian ninja.'

Despite his displeasure with the Hokage's attitude, Yami didn't show it on his face. Along with the lie emotion surrounding Hiruzen, he could see a few yellow spots representing regret and apology.

He understood that Hiruzen was in a difficult spot as he couldn't fall out with Danzo, especially during this period when the war was on the way.

"But, to be able to almost defeat a special Jonin, your strength is really impressive." The Hokage praised him and attempted to change the subject after he saw Yami's silence. "You have long surpassed the Genin level; you should have taken the promotion test earlier."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Yami replied, inclining his head slightly. "But my priority has always been to improve my skills and serve the village. The rank is secondary to me."

Hiruzen smiled. "A commendable attitude, Yami. Still, your abilities should be recognized appropriately. According to the report, your comprehensive strength should be beyond that of a regular Chunin. And considering you almost defeated an elite special Jonin, it would be no lie to say your current strength has reached the lower end of special Jonin, so I hereby give Special Jonin ra—"

'Fuck you, Danzo.' Yami couldn't help but curse in his head as he hurriedly stopped the Hokage before he finished officially promoting him. "Wait, wait!"

Yami quickly interjected, trying to keep his tone respectful yet urgent. "Wait, Hokage-sama. I appreciate your recognition, but I believe there's still much for me to learn and refine. I'd prefer to focus on honing my skills further before considering a promotion."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, surprised by Yami's interruption. "You're turning down a promotion?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Yami replied, inclining his head respectfully. "I feel that rushing into a higher rank might be premature. I want to ensure I'm fully prepared and deserving when the time comes."

Hiruzen considered this for a moment before turning his head toward Minato. "What do you think?"

Minato was surprised that Yami refused the opportunity to be promoted to special Jonin, but hearing his reasons, he couldn't help but nod in agreement. Thinking about it more logically, even though it was true that Yami almost defeated a special Jonin, it was only due to tricks and wrong judgment on the examiner's part. On a real battlefield, where he would be surrounded by tens of enemies, he couldn't repeat the same tricks.

So currently, Yami didn't deserve the special Jonin rank.

"Hokage-sama, Yami has shown great promise and maturity by prioritizing his development. I believe granting him more time to train and grow will be beneficial for both him and the village."

Hiruzen considered this for a moment before nodding slowly. "Very well. Perhaps it's still too early for you to take charge of a team as you lack the necessary experience for that."

Yami tilted his head slightly. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"But," the Hokage continued, "it would be a waste for you to remain a Genin, which doesn't match your strength. So, I hereby officially appoint you as a Chunin."

Even though this wasn't what he wanted, Hiruzen didn't seem willing to accept no for an answer, especially after knowing Yami's real strength.

Yami could only resign himself to his fate and accept the promotion to Chunin before leaving the Hokage's office.

*****

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