[Ding!]
[Chakra Paper detected.]
[You will be allowed to choose your own affinity.]
[Select one of the below:
Fire
Wind
Lightning
Earth
Water]
[Choose wisely.]
How am I supposed to choose so suddenly? Naruto thought with raised eyebrows. Why is it even giving me the option in the first place?
Naruto raised his eyes to the expectant look on Kakashi's face, whatever amount was visible and looked down immediately afterward.
"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked curiously, folding his arms together.
"Hehe…I'm nervous, y'know!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to sound as timid as possible.
"For what? It's not like whichever element you get decides your future or something—oh wait, it kind of does." Kakashi chuckled. "Eh, take your time. I guess I'll read in the meanwhile, but I must say, it isn't like you to be so slitting about these types of things. Normally, you would be jumping up and about to find your affinity, isn't that so?"
Naruto mentally facepalmed, before looking back at his system; leave it to Kakashi to be so observant around these things. He genuinely didn't know what to pick, but maybe…he could try and fish out an answer from Kakashi?
"Don't worry, Kakashi sensei, it's just that I don't want to get a lame affinity like…earth or something, so I'm sort of anxious right now!" Naruto bluffed, trying to give a valid reason for…whatever he was doing.
"I wouldn't underestimate any element, Naruto. Often, it's the surrounding and the opponent we face against that chooses the effectiveness of an element."
Yeah, that makes sense. When he had fought Haku and Zabuza, using jutsus like fire would be practically useless against the water behemoths they created with the hand signs they spun through.
So no direct answer from Kakashi on what element I should pick…
Naruto wrapped a hand around his head as he began to focus.
The big question still remained unanswered. Which element should Naruto realistically pick? He had already taken an absurd amount of time just to fuel some chakra to the paper, and any longer Kakashi would get suspicious. Not that it really mattered, of course, but it was still awkward, to say the least.
I should go through all the elements one by one, and by the process of elimination, pick the ideal element! Naruto declared to himself, nodding in satisfaction at the idea.
First was Fire. It was a valid choice, and certainly the most flashy one. Naruto was sure that selecting Fire would increase his firepower a lot, both literally and figuratively, but he was afraid of the flexibility of using such an element. So far, all the opponents he had faced were Water-users, making Naruto wary of the element in general.
Though, it would help me learn Sasuke's jutsu…
Next was Wind.
Naruto wasn't sure what to think of this one. He had never seen anyone use a Wind jutsu of any kind, so he couldn't really accurately gauge the strength and weaknesses of such an element.
Might be best to cross this out for now.
Lightning, it looked promising. Probably the coolest one out of them all. Considering it was Kakashi's own element, it would be useful in the training aspect.
Earth? Nope. Never.
Naruto personally didn't see the appeal of earth-style jutsus, not that he was trying to downplay their role, but again, he never really saw them in action. Unless he counted the jutsu where Kakashi came from underneath the ground to surprise him, but that was just a sneak peek of its potential.
Then came water.
Clearly, this was the most valid choice present. Naruto had seen the true potential of water jutsus when Zabuza and Kakashi fought for the first time, which was a very eye-opening experience for the Genin. The flexibility and ferociousness of Water was completely on display during the matchup, which seemed to matter a lot more now during his decision.
But the main factor influencing his decision was certainly the training factor. While Lightning gave him the option to get training from Kakashi, the Jonin was only one man, and rarely had the time to solely focus on jutsus. However, Zabuza and Haku, whose summoning was on the tip of Naruto's fingers, could train him much more easily. Considering both their aptitude in the element of water, there was no better option.
That's it, my mind is set.
Naruto took a deep breath, pinching the paper tightly. I choose water.
[You have chosen.]
[Congratulations! Your Elemental Affinity is Water!]
[Info: +5 Stats when using Water-Style Jutsus, +25% Chakra Efficiency when using Water-Style Jutsus.]
Naruto felt water creep along the side of his fingers as the chakra paper turned wet in response to his chakra.
Kakashi let out a grunt of surprise. "Ah! You've finally done it, huh? Water? Can't say I expected that, to be honest."
"Yeah, me neither."
Kakashi closed his book with a resounding snap.
"You know how jutsus work, right? We bring chakra out of our core and manipulate to our needs, creating what we know as jutsus."
Naruto hummed in agreement. "Yep, that's obvious enough!"
"Well, this is where it gets a bit tougher. Nature transformation, have you ever heard of it?"
Naruto suddenly felt like he was being pulled into a new world of knowledge and training. Oh no…
[Ding!]
[New Title: "Stormbringer" Achieved]
[Title: "Stormbringer" gives +15% Chakra Efficiency when using both Water-Style Jutsus and Lightning-Style Jutsus, along with increasing all other stats by 5%.]
What? This title…it has to be the strongest one yet! Five percent increase in all of my other stats, and fifteen extra points in water….adding that up sums to me being forty percent more efficient with water! And the completely random increase in lightning—it's only ten percent away from actually having an affinity. So I have the ability to focus on lightning as well. Naruto thought with both awe and happiness that he was finally getting some, in his opinion, well-deserved gifts from the system.
Equip Stormbringer.
[Equip Title: "Stormbringer"?]
[Equipping "Stormbringer" means the "Genin of Konoha" title will be replaced, as the user does not have the multi-title ability unlocked yet.]
[Yes/No]
Multi-title? Whatever. Yes!
Naruto zoned his way back to Kakashi.
The clone stepped forward. "Well, you're about to find out. For your first jutsu, it's a bit unorthodox, but how about we learn…"
[—]
Meanwhile…
Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared himself.
As the Hokage of the Leaf, he rarely did so.
But when pitted against one man, it was mandatory to do so.
Or else, the consequences would be dire…
The man in question entered his room without permission, seating himself in the chair across from Hiruzen. With half of his face bandaged, Hiruzen could only tell what he was thinking by the man's left eye.
"Danzo."
And so the bout started.
They talked like old friends, but they both knew that it wasn't the case, truly. Maybe once, but certainly not anymore. The atrocities Danzo had done in the name of Konoha had made sure of that.
"Hiruzen, I have a proposal."
Sarutobi knew it was coming, for Danzo always placed a hand on his cane for a brief second before asking for something. But"Hmm, which is?"
"For the upcoming Chuunin Exams, the council and I have decided to implement a new rule."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "Without the Hokage to approve?"
Danzo chuckled, the deep voice echoing throughout the small room. "Of course not, Hokage-Sama. This is why I have come here to tell you our idea. I believe you will agree with it as well once you hear of it."
"Speak."
"The mandate is as follows. All teams that wish to enter the coming and future Chuunin exams must have a compulsory B-rank mission completed."
That's…unusual. Hiruzen noted with a frown.
"And why is that?"
Danzo smirked slightly. "For many reasons. I'm sure you've noticed by now, but the rate of death in the Chuunin Exams is, quite frankly, more than high. Not only is a Konoha shinobi dying a horrible thought in its own right…it would be an embarrassment for us when other villages enter."
I'm sure you wouldn't care for the first reason…but I can't be given the right to speak as well.
Hiruzen snapped himself out of his thoughts. "Regardless, why change such a rule now? And what effect would applying such a rule even have?"
"It would be fishing out the good teams from the rest, wouldn't it? Only teams which are capable enough to successfully complete a B-rank mission would be fine during the Chuunin Exams, wouldn't they? Not only would this decrease the death rate in the exam, but it would also more accurately show the strength of Konoha to the other villages."
Unsurprisingly, he gives valid points. I really can't give an honest rebuttal…
"I see no other choice. Thank you, Danzo, you and the rest of the council have done well."
Danzo nodded humbly, but the faint smile was still present on his face.
"Now, what is the real reason for all of this?" Hiruzen demanded.
Danzo's smile faded. "Why would there be any other reason? You and I both know I care about this village just as much as you, regardless of who is the Hokage or not."
Hiruzen just sighed. He was getting too old for this political play.
He took a long drag from his pipe, before letting it out from the window of his room.
Can't wait to finally retire…
Hiruzen smiled warmly.
Naruto, I'm placing my bets on you!
[—]
One month later…
Naruto roared in determination, he wouldn't lose here. He had already lost count of how long he had been under the sun, but at this point, it didn't matter. Next to him was his rival, Sasuke Uchiha, who was in the exact same position as the blond.
Both of them were in the plank position, sweat pouring down their chins and falling to the soft grass underneath as time continued to pass on, and the pain continued to build relentlessly.
"You can do it, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered from the sideline.
Naruto gritted his teeth. Goddamn annoying teammates! But I won't waste my energy speaking.
Kakashi came back to the real world next, peeking up from his regular book. "You guys are still doing the exercise? I never said it was a competition—"
"Shut up!"
"Shut up!"
Both Naruto and Sasuke shouted out loud as the last of their energy started to deplete.
[Ding!]
[Vitality has increased by one level]
Naruto dismissed the message immediately.
Just…a…few more…
"Ugh!"
Sasuke fell to his stomach first. Naruto immediately fell right afterward, glad to be finally done with the whole exercise. It was a basic one, but it certainly still hurt when done for prolonged periods of time.
"Told you I'd win," Naruto said smugly through his panting state.
Sasuke didn't even look like he could speak as he clutched his stomach.
A month had passed since Naruto had chosen his elemental affinity, and in that time, Team Seven as a whole had continued their training at a moderately fast rate. Faster than what they had been doing before the Wave Mission, of course. At least once a week, Kakashi would conduct a private training session with each member of the trio, something which drastically improved the lacking points of each Genin.
For Naruto, the Jonin had worked on a way to improve his lack of firepower. Whenever his affinity had been revealed to be water, he began training the blond in a specific jutsu which he thought may reveal itself sooner or later to be incredibly crucial in the future.
For Sakura, Kakashi had not done much except for work on her taijutsu and strength in general. Whether it was in the form of exceedingly long spars and gruesome exercises for hours straight, he made sure Sakura was stronger by the end of the day.
Sasuke was a much more complicated issue when compared to the other two. To begin with, he didn't have the right mindset. His loss to Lee was greatly devastating to his ego and pride as a shinobi. And thus, Kakashi had to waste some time beating the broken ego out of the Uchiha, before the actual training he was put through.
At least, that was all that Naruto himself knew. He had tried to poke out the secret of the training Sasuke had gone through, but the whole deal was lip-sealed.
This was why Naruto was incredibly curious to finally see all of his teammates' stats. He had abstained from doing so during the first month of training because he wanted to test his own improvement against the others.
Without any more hesitation, he first made an observation of Sakura.
[Observing…]
[Observation successful!]
Name: Sakura Haruno
Title: N/A
Occupation: Genin of Konoha
Level: LV6
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Chakra: 100/100
STR: 4
VIT: 4
DEX: 3
INT: 6
WIS: 3
LUK: 5
Hmm…that's a pretty good improvement. Naruto thought, eyes creased, thinking about back when he had first gotten the ability. He shuddered as he reminisced about the pink-haired girl's stats back then—they were practically no different from a civilian. Hell, they were less than Naruto's own, who at that point had no real ability if he didn't count his shadow clones.
He glanced at Sasuke, swiping his head to the right, where the Genin was still flat on his stomach.
Observe.
[Observing…]
[Observation successful!]
Name: Sasuke Uchiha
Title: "Last Uchiha"
Occupation: Genin of Konoha
Level: LV14
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Chakra: 250/250
STR: 10
VIT: 8
DEX: 16
INT: 7
WIS: 4
LUK: 2
Hmmm…not too shabby. He definitely improved at a steady pace. It's not surprising his rate of leveling up was lower than mine considering he was already at a higher level. Naruto noted with a thoughtful frown.
Naruto's own stats—
"Hey, Naruto! Quit slacking around!" Sakura shouted from somewhere further away then where she once was.
Naruto was so deep in his thoughts that he unconsciously toned out everything else, something which seemed to happen a lot more recently when he opened his system.
The blond began running towards the rest of the team. "Wait for me!"
Kakashi patted Naruto's hair affectionately. "As if we would leave with you, Naruto."
"That sounds exactly like something you would do," Naruto deadpanned in return.
Kakashi exaggeratedly placed a hand on his heart. "Your words hurt me, my dear student!"
Sasuke coughed into his elbow. "Sensei, please get to the matter at hand."
Sakura nodded in agreement.
"You're right, Sasuke," Kakashi said, his voice instantly switching to what Naruto called 'Jonin-mode', signaling that he was finally about to say something serious. "We have been called directly to the Hokage's office."
"The Hokage's office for something other than a mission?!" Sakura questioned in disbelief, the look of surprise on her face easily noticeable.
Sasuke and Naruto were also surprised, but for different reasons. Both of them had been to the office several times, and were used to the humbly small and functional area.
"And for what reason?" Sasuke asked, voicing Naruto's own question faster.
"And this is when it starts getting into more serious territory." Kakashi adjusted his walking pace, slowing down so it would be easier to talk. "I guess I have to start from a month ago, don't I? There were talks about a new mandate which would drastically change shinobi traditions."
"How come we didn't come to know about that?" Naruto asked.
"Well, it was top-secret at that time. Not even Jonins had the right to know."
Naruto wasn't going to ask how Kakashi knew, and it looked like neither of his teammates wanted to either. He didn't blame them.
Sakura hummed thoughtfully, wringing her fingers together. "And what exactly does the mandate entail, sensei?"
"I don't know the entire details, to be completely truthful. All that I know is that it details towards the Chuunin Exams, which is the reason you much pay extra attention towards whatever the Hokage tells you."
Naruto grinned. "You can count on us, sensei."
They went out of the training fields after that, engaging in some small talk here and then.
Then they finally reached their destination.
The Academy. The office was located in the administrative section of the Academy, so it was quite a nostalgia trip to go through the rooms once again, this time as a real ninja.
"To think that I couldn't do a clone jutsu back then…" Naruto whispered to himself, chuckling.
Kakashi passed by the secretary without a word, not needing to actually show an ID card or anything else. Without hesitation, he knocked on the door to the Hokage's office.
"Come in."
Naruto enthusiastically went in right after, wanting to tell the old man about what all he learned in his few months as a Genin. That was, until he saw that there was another man in the office besides Hiruzen.
Kakashi bowed. "Hokage-sama, Danzo-sama."
Naruto and the rest of Team Seven did the same.
Naruto eyed the man called Danzo warily, but that wasn't without reason. The innate aura that the person emitted was enough to scare out Jonins themselves. It was…creepy, almost. Like a sense of dread overcoming him. The feeling that someone could be behind you at any moment in time, forcing Naruto to keep a shield of paranoia active.
But he was still going to conduct the observe, obviously.
[Observing…]
[Observation failed.]
[Target's level is too high.]
[Would Player like a partial observation?]
[Yes/No]
Yes.
Name: Danzo Shimura
Title: "The Darkness of the Shinobi"
Occupation: Leader of Root
Level: ?
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Chakra: ?
STR: ?
VIT: ?
DEX: ?
INT: ?
WIS: ?
LUK: ?
What…does this all mean? Naruto asked himself, eyes wide at what he saw.
Darkness of the shinobi? Leader of root? It was something above his current pay grade. Naruto had a vague feeling that he wasn't supposed to actually know anything of what he saw, so decided to ignore it for now.
It's best I look before I leap for now.
He looked at the Hokage questioningly. The man had an odd apologetic look on his face, but the comforting smile was still present.
To think of it…I've never used observe on the old man, did I?
[Observing…]
It's obvious how this will end up.
[Observation failed.]
[Target's level is too high.]
[Would Player like a partial observation?]
[Yes/No]
Yes.
Name: Hiruzen Sarutobi
Title: "The Professor"
Occupation: Hokage
Level: ?
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
Chakra: ?
STR: ?
VIT: ?
DEX: ?
INT: ?
WIS: ?
LUK: ?
Eh…nothing new to learn here.
"You were called in here to learn about the new mandate which will be effective starting from today, but I'm sure you already knew that, Kakashi?" Danzo said, his soft laugh unnatural with his rough look.
Kakashi feigned ignorance, but knew it was pointless. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."
"I'm sure you don't, considering your insight into the Anbu. Regardless, let me recite the mandate to you." He cleared his throat. "Those teams wishing to compete in the Chuunin Exams must have at least a B-rank mission recorded in their activity list."
A B-rank mission?
Kakashi's face immediately lightened up in recognition. So that's their goal…
"Isn't a B-rank mission too high for some of the Genin teams, regardless of their ability? Kakashi asked curiously.
Hiruzen spoke up next. "While it is stated as B-rank mission, they are—to be honest—more so C-rank than B. The missions are mostly non-combat related, and won't consist of too much fighting."
That's what you said for the mission in Wave! Naruto thought incredulously. It had to be a curse at this point.
Naruto tried to ignore Danzo and his piercing gaze as he spoke. "If I may ask, Hokage-sama, haven't we already finished an A-rank mission before?"
Hiruzen laughed at the use of "Hokage-sama" from Naruto of all people. "Yes, it's true. It's recorded that Team Seven have successfully completed an A-rank; however, other villages won't see it that way. They are only counting the missions from this month onwards, for whatever reason."
"Will we be assigned the mission right now?" Kakashi inquired.
"Correct," the Hokage said, pulling out a stack of papers.
He flipped through some pages in a binder before stopping.
"Your mission is to capture a group of bandits and bring them back alive to Konoha forces in a maximum of two weeks—that is the only objective. You must be wondering why it is a B-rank mission, right?"
Naruto nodded.
"The bandits…are sanctioned near Iwa borders."
Kakashi immediately swerved his head towards the Hokage in shock, looking between him and Naruto rapidly.
The Hokage merely nodded, recognizing the Jonin's predicament, but refrained from answering.
Is he insane? Kakashi thought with confusion. The chances of Iwa shinobi appearing, and recognizing Naruto is quite low, but the risk is just as high—no, much higher. If they wage war against the Jinchuuriki of all people…. Yet, there has to be a different reason. The two people in front of me are too smart to make such a drastic mistake, but what could it be?
"Iwa…isn't that one of the other shinobi nations?" Naruto asked no one in particular.
Danzo smiled, but not in a condescending manner. "Correct, Naruto."
"So why this mission in particular?" Kakashi asked, dreading the answer.
Danzo's smile seemed to widen even further. "The truth is, you aren't the only team who received this mission."
Naruto's face scrunched up. "Eh? Who else is there? Lee's team? Shikamaru? Kiba?"
"They aren't from Konoha. Yes, someone from Iwa received the same mission. You see, this mission isn't really a mission. It's an early competition between the participating villages of the Chuunin Exams."
Kakashi's thoughts were correct. These madmen…there's more than Suna attending?
Danzo smirked as he got up from his chair, his voice grandiose as ever, sending chills down Naruto's spine.
"Next month, Konoha will be hosting the first ever International Chuunin Exam!"
[Ding!]
[New Quest: "International Chuunin Exam" Created]
[Quest Details: Join as a contender in the upcoming Chuunin Exam.
[Quest Rewards: Exp. 1000, Perk: "?" Unlocked]
[Failure: Die.]
[Does Player Accept The Quest?]
[Yes/No]