Chapter 104 : Promotion and Disbanding

A few hours after the Exam ended, an Anbu ninja went underground and entered a base. The base was covered in a lot of seals to prevent detection. It was very dark. The Anbu passed through a few passages, before entering a small house.

He knelt and greeted, "Danzo sama"

Danzo looked at him and asked, "Did anything important happen during the exam?"

The root ninja replied, "No Danzo sama. Only a couple of small matters. Lord Hokage and Senju clan made a move against Gato. They got 210 million Ryo from him by betting."

This surprised Danzo. While he hadn't paid any attention to Gato, it was surprising that he made such a huge loss while hosting the Tournament gamble. He asked, "Who did the Hiruzen bet on?"

The root ninja answered, "They placed their bets on Suzuki Fujin, an orphan. He defeated a Yuki genin who knew Ice style, another Kiri genin who knew the Hydrification technique, then the Uchiha Mieko, and lastly a Steam release user from the Sakai clan. He specializes in Wind Release and Body flicker. And his chakra reserves can be considered to barely be at Jounin level!"

This surprised Danzo. He wondered, 'How did we miss such an orphan when recruiting for Root?' He asked, "How talented is he at Wind Release?" Danzo was curious about it. Ninjas with Wind affinity were rare in Konoha. And a good Wind release user in Konoha could be counted on fingers!

The root ninja answered, "He could supercharge Great Breakthrough jutsu in a couple of seconds. And he could perform all his Wind jutsus with just 1 hand seal. Except for Wind Explosion jutsu, which he could perform without any hand signs. And the power of his supercharged jutsu would be difficult for anyone under Elite Chunin level to replicate."

Danzo was impressed. However, he soon frowned, 'I heard that Hiruzen will be teaching him a jutsu. So I can't make a move on him before he is taught. And Senju Renjiro could be an annoyance as well.'

Danzo looked at his subordinate and instructed, "After he completes a couple of missions as chunin, invite him to join the Anbu."

Danzo analyzed, 'Hiruzen waits for a few months for the new chunins to realize how boring chunin life is. And then he invites the talented ones into Anbu. So even after a couple of missions, I should be the first one to approach him.'

The root ninja asked, "What if he declines Danzo sama?"

Danzo thought a bit and answered, "Try convincing him verbally. You can tell him that he will get to learn deadly Wind jutsus if he joins us. If he is insistent on declining, then return and ignore him."

The root ninja nodded and left. Danzo concluded, 'He had already grown up. So making him loyal to me will be difficult. So no need to spend a lot of effort on him.'

Three days after the exam ended, Team Renjiro was called into the Hokage office. They met outside the Hokage building. Mieko and Hoka were completely healed. Renjiro led them to the office. All four greeted the Hokage respectfully.

Hiruzen smiled and said, "Fujin, Mieko, and Hoka, all three of you have done great in the chunin exams. All three of you have been promoted to Chunin."

All the 3 genins smiled and thanked him. They had expected it to be the case, so they weren't very surprised.

Hatake Takao, a chunin working in the Hokage office, interrupted them and handed them some papers. He said, "These are your evaluations by the judges and proctors. Fujin, the judges and the proctors were impressed by you. Your promotion was unanimous. However, they recommended you to get a strong single target jutsu that can be launched quickly and can break through enemy defenses."

Fujin nodded. While supercharged Great Breakthrough jutsu alongside Wind Dragon and Gale Wolf jutsus was a good combo, they lacked the penetrating ability. If he used his sword, he could compensate for this weakness, but even that wasn't sufficient enough.

Takao looked at Mieko and said, "The judges and proctors were impressed with your strength as well. But, a couple of them were reluctant to promote you due to your impulsiveness and hot-headedness. As a chunin, you have to lead a squad. And the lives of your squad depend upon your decisions. So work on your tactical thinking and have proper control on your emotions."

Mieko frowned but nodded without saying anything. The brutal training regimes under Renjiro had dulled her arrogance quite a bit.

Finally, Takao looked at Hoka and said, "Your first fight impressed the judges a lot. However, they were of the opinion that you still need to improve your Ninjutsu skills more. They advised you to take advantage of your squad's ninjutsu skills during missions to force the opponents into close combat. Otherwise, no one would fight a Hyuga at close range."

Hoka sighed and nodded. In the entire Chunin exam, he never got to use his gentle fist! All his opponents either ran away or threw explosion tags at him.

Takao looked at the three newly promoted chunins and said, "As a reward for earning your promotions through the chunin exams, you get access to Section B in the library."

Fujin wondered, 'I wonder what sorts of jutsu are available in the library!'

Takao then handed them their chunin vests.

Hiruzen said, "Now that you have been promoted to chunin, you will be responsible to lead genins into missions. So Team Renjiro will be disbanded. You will have to lead them for completing C rank missions. There will be times when you get assigned into teams with other chunins for B rank missions. In some cases, you may also be assigned to A rank missions led by a jounin. So you will have to be prepared for any type of mission."

The three chunins nodded. They were excited at the prospects of taking A rank missions.

Hiruzen asked, "At what time do you begin your training?"

Hoka replied, "At 5 AM, Lord Hokage."

It was as Hiruzen expected. He said, "Tomorrow I will meet you guys at your usual training ground at 7 AM. So be on time and warm up before I come. You are dismissed for now."

Hoka and Mieko were about to nod and leave, when Fujin said, "Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen looked at him and said, "Yes Fujin?"

Fujin replied, "I was wondering if you could arrange for samurai swords that assist Wind chakra flow for me now."

Hiruzen thought, 'I recall saying that I will arrange a meeting with someone who can make them. And not arrange them myself.'

He nodded and said, "Don't worry. I'll arrange for a swordsmith to meet you in a few days. He'll ask you the measurements of the sword you would be comfortable with. Don't worry about the cost as it'll be paid by me."

Fujin wondered, 'Was he really not planning to pay for the sword?'

Hiruzen, on the other hand, was thinking, 'The village earned 120 million Ryo thanks to him. I can afford to spend a few million on him.'

Since there was nothing else to discuss, they left the building. Renjiro said, "Let's meet at the training ground."

He flickered. The newly promoted chunins followed him.

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