Chapter 17

"Kenji, have you finished going through the village finances?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Good, now take this pile of files. These are all the mission requests from B to S rank. All missions above C-rank are given by me. I want you to to sort through them and help me filter out all the missions that are traps for our shinobi. The nations are still recovering from the war and the wounds are still fresh, as apparent from the chunin exams. All missions that require going to the land of stone are to be rejected. You've memorized the detailed map of the Elemental Nations. It won't be difficult for you."

"Yes, sensei."

It had been two months since Kenji was made a jonin. Ever since then, Minato had been diligently using his position to put all the tedious work in Kenji's hands. No one knew about the battle between the two, but Kenji was certain that Minato held some resentment against him for trying to shove a kunai up his butt.

The boy knew what Minato was doing and he was frustrated. The blonde man had been using his free time very well as evidenced by the recent news of Kushina being pregnant for over a month.

'Horney motherfucker. I hope you finished within seconds, you shameless freak! May you get erectile dysfunction!'

"Hmmm... I feel someone is cursing at me in their heart."

*Grunt* "Must be the fence sitter."

"Ah, makes sense. Onoki suffered from huge losses at my hands." Minato laughed like a goofball as he sank his comfortable chair.

'Yes, lean back. I wish the chair breaks and you bruise your pelvis!'

So far, Kenji had improved more in two months than he had in the last year. His mission success rate was 100% and he had flawlessly completed all of his missions.

His record wasn't as impressive as the veterans like Hayama, but he was definitely paving his way.

He had also finally broken through to legendary rank in a number of his skills.

At merely an age of 11, Kenji had become strong enough to contend against the best of Konoha. Not a single shinobi in Konoha could best him in bukijutsu. His taijutsu was even better than Maito Gai and was on par with master Chen, a jonin of Konohagakure.

There was no one alive in Konoha who could best him in suiton, futon, or raiton jutsu. He was only second to Hiruzen in doton jutsu and to Minato in fuinjutsu.

One could say that he was as strong as the Hokages. All he lacked was an impressive record to back his strength.

Of course, such rumors were bound to create tension in the political landscape. Orochimaru, Hiruzen's most impressive student had been vying for the position of Hokage long before Minato was on the scene. Having been snubbed by the man, he was not in a good mood when he learnt of Kenji.

Another man was Shimura Danzo who had been after the seat from Tobirama's time.

Sarutobi Hiruzen himself was not ready to give up power. While he had made Minato the Hokage, he wasn't happy that his political pull was weakening under Minato's rule.

Same was the case with the rest of the village elders and members of the council.

"Hiruzen, something needs to be done. This is too much! Minato is trying to replace us with people that are still green! He held a test. A test! Our positions were gained through countless sacrifices. We dedicated our lives to the village. And that man is spitting on it!"

Koharu and Homura were venting to Hiruzen. Minato had been busy taking their responsibilities away and giving them to others. Their role in the council had been severely reduced and it was a huge detriment to their political pull.

Hiruzen patiently listened to the woes of his friends. He had hoped that Minato would value his experience. He expected things to change around Konoha. But Minato was being too drastic.

'Everyone is angry. I need to wait for things to calm down with time. I'm sure they will come around.'

———————————————————

'My first S-rank mission.'

Five months after Kenji became a jonin, he was finally given an S-rank mission by Minato.

He was tasked to investigate and act accordingly against a terrorist cell operating from Ishigakure, a small ahinobi village located between the Land of Earth and Wind. There was little information about them. But, it was a cell known to only operate at nights. Their movements had greatly troubled the merchent guild. There had been numerous missions pertaining to the issue, and yet, the missions had failed. After repeated assessments, the terrorist cell was given the highest threat rank, especially after a squad of one jonin and five chunin was brutally eliminated by them.

Kenji had to prove his mettle against a number of shinobi before he was given the mission. He bade farewell to his parents and left for Ishigakure. He was confident that he could successfully complete the mission before Naruto's birth.

Ishigakure was a poor village and had faced a brunt of attacks by both Iwagakure and Sunagakure. Their shinobi were known for their unique kekkei genkai which was the main reason behind the attacks. It was a way to 'control the population' as the 'Fence sitter' would say.

Kenji had no positive thoughts about Onoki. Nor did he care for Ay, the fourth Raikage. 'That muscle freak is a psychopath, and that old fucker needs to be put in his place like Minato did. All these old bastards clinging to power like leeches, not caring how it impacts people. There should be a retirement age for this shit!'

Kenji traveled for a week, taking rest stops in the Land of Rivers and Wind, entirely avoiding the Land of Rain. He knew that Hanzo was very much alive and the Akatsuki, while not radicalized, could still hinder his movements.

'Come to think of it... How strong am I really, when compared to the Salamander?'

[Name: Mimura Kenji

Age: 11

HP: 17600

CP: 17500

C-CTRL: 100% (lvl 1)

C-Regen: 10% per minute

STR: 800

DEX: 850

VIT: 880

INT: 910

WIS: 940

LUC: 40/40

Ninjutsu:

• Suiton- Legendary (40%)

• Futon- Legendary (24%)

• Raiton- Legendary (10%)

• Doton- Grandmaster (55%)

• Katon- Master (60%)

• Neutral jutsu- Legendary (10%)

• Iryo ninjutsu- Adept (30%)

Bukijutsu: Legendary (60%)

Taijutsu: Legendary (50%)

Fuinjutsu: Legendary (5%)

Genjutsu: Master (40%)

Smithing: Legendary (65%)

Cooking: Adept (60%)

Sculpting: Master (80%)

Tracking: Grandmaster (15%)

Skinning: Master (90%)

Crafting: Master (60%)

Teaching: Expert (10%)]

Achieving perfect chakra control unlocked a hidden stat. Kenji guessed that as he gained levels in the stat, his regeneration would increase to the point he would never exhaust his chakra.

'Could I? Maybe... I could save Yahiko. But, how certain am I? Can I place the village at risk on a maybe? I know that it was Danzo who manipulated Hanzo. So, it is Konoha's business. That old fucker really made a lot of enemies for Konoha.'

Kenji decided to finish his mission and see what he could do during his return journey. He needed to a little more assurance in his abilities before he strolled through Amegakure to confront Danzo's schemes. And something told him that his mission would prove to be a big challenge.