Chapter 331: Promotion

Ninja Academy Teacher: Teaching Makes Me Stronger, Chapter 249: The Chunin Promotion Exam ended, and the examinees returned to their daily routines.

The special training continued as usual the next day.

Perhaps inspired by the results of Obito and others, many trainees became exceptionally hardworking.

Geniuses are nothing special, because Konoha has always had geniuses.

But Obito and Might Guy were different. It was as if everyone had once been struggling together, and then Obito and Might Guy became a bit richer. After a year, Might Guy and Obito turned into multimillionaires.

Since they had risen step by step right beside them, they felt that even if they couldn't become as strong as Might Guy, they shouldn't be like this.

Asuma, who had a good relationship with Obito, gained even more boundless fighting spirit because their feelings were more profound.

Mu Yue was very gratified by this, because this was precisely the purpose of his specially arranged break—to let these students see what level of strength the most outstanding people of their age had achieved.

According to Mu Yue's observation, S-rank rewards were based on the students' progress; the more the students learned, the more rewards he got.

For the rest, it depended on skill levels; for example, it was very difficult to increase proficiency in Perfect-level Fire Release, while Proficient-level Lightning and Earth were very fast.

Because of the teaching ability Mu Yue displayed, genin like Nara Shio and others obediently continued to receive special training.

What surprised Nara Shio was that besides being strong in the five basic nature transformations, Mu Yue was also not weak in special nature transformations like Yin Release. Although he couldn't teach the Shadow Imitation Technique, he could still answer some questions about Yin Release.

Five days after the end of the Chunin Exam, the list of promoted chunin was finalized.

At that time, the Kirigakure ninja also left Konoha, after all, Konoha wouldn't give Kirigakure headbands. The Kirigakure ninja also had to go back to promote their own ninja.

Mu Yue guessed that Kirigakure probably didn't have strawberry ice cream now, because before the Kirigakure ninja left Konoha, he saw Terumi Mei frantically buying strawberry ice cream.

She even generously gave him three strawberry ice creams as a return gift for earlier.

"You treated me to two portions before, and I, Terumi Mei, return kindness for kindness, so I'll treat you to three!" Terumi Mei said proudly.

Originally she didn't have much money, but because they were leaving, the Elder had given them a little money to buy Konoha specialties, so they could buy some Fire Country souvenirs or local products.

So Terumi Mei used all that money to buy ice cream. She thought it was really good, something Kirigakure definitely didn't have, and it was delicious.

Terumi Mei was very satisfied with this trip to Konoha. She ate delicious strawberry ice cream and gained the Elder's regard. Except for being eliminated in the top eight, there was nothing to regret.

"Then I'll accept it without hesitation." Mu Yue smiled lightly, accepted it, and left.

Although he wasn't particularly interested in such sweets, he could give them to the students.

And Terumi Mei looked at Mu Yue's back with a thoughtful expression.

She had always thought Mu Yue was quite strange—not the kind of silly, simple-minded strangeness like Obito, but a kind of weird feeling.

Just now, Terumi Mei finally understood what that weird feeling was: Mu Yue didn't treat her as an outsider or a foreigner when interacting with her.

Because of the Kirigakure headband, even from someone as silly and simple as Obito, Terumi Mei could feel a clear sense of distance.

Mu Yue wasn't particularly close to her, but when Terumi Mei communicated with him, she felt like she was talking to a strange villager from her own village.

If Terumi Mei hadn't stayed in Konoha for a while, she really wouldn't have noticed the difference.

"What a strange guy..." Terumi Mei muttered inwardly, then stopped thinking about it; maybe she was overthinking.

"Go to the Hokage's office? Could it be that there's a very difficult mission for us to complete?" Obito asked excitedly after hearing Minato's words.

"Is it to rescue a kidnapped princess or to repel an invading enemy army?"

Minato smiled and shook his head, saying: "This kind of mission is not something you can take on. Besides, Kakashi's body hasn't recovered yet; how could I assign a mission to you?"

Although with Tsunade's treatment, Kakashi and Might Guy were discharged on the fourth day, their bodies hadn't fully recovered yet; they still needed to rest for a while.

Kakashi looked at Obito with a speechless expression, thinking that ninja dramas were harmful; where were there so many kidnapped princesses?

"Then what is it?" Obito was a bit disappointed. He had thought his good performance in the Chunin Exam made Hiruzen Sarutobi see him in a new light.

"You'll know when you get there." Minato didn't tell Obito and the others directly, but smiled mysteriously.

Looking at Minato's expression, Kakashi basically guessed what they were going to do—they were probably going to be promoted to chunin.

Thinking this, Kakashi's expression was subtle. He wondered if the village issued him another chunin vest, whether he should accept it.

Kakashi felt that if they really issued it, he might as well accept it; after all, he had taken first place, and vests were kind of consumables.

On the way to the Hokage building, Obito and the others ran into a few acquaintances from the Chunin Exam.

"Yo, Kakashi, how's your recovery?" Might Guy grinned, his two rows of shiny white teeth sparkling especially bright in the sunlight.

"We only got discharged from the hospital one day ago; what kind of recovery do you expect?" Kakashi replied with a helpless look.

"Hahaha!" Might Guy laughed heartily without feeling the least bit embarrassed.

"That's because I can't wait for our next battle, my rival!" Might Guy said with sparkling eyes fixed on Kakashi.

For Might Guy, failure wasn't scary; after all, throughout his life so far, he had lost far more often than he had won.

What he sought wasn't an undefeated record, but to learn from failure and forge future victories, thus walking the path to becoming the strongest.

Since Kakashi had gone from being a chaser to a leader, naturally Guy had to quickly surpass Kakashi again.

"Let's talk about it after we've recovered," Kakashi said with a shake of his head.

In other words, if his body had fully recovered, Kakashi would have already challenged Shisui to avenge his previous defeat.

Earlier, after losing consecutively to Might Guy, Obito, and Shisui, Kakashi had thought that once he caught up in strength, he would definitely defeat them all. Now that he had finally managed to catch up, Kakashi wouldn't miss such a good opportunity.

After all, Muyue's disciples were too driven; Kakashi didn't think he could stay ahead forever.

If Might Guy could stabilize the Fourth Gate and then refine Konoha's Dragon God further, Kakashi's not-yet-fully-mastered Transparent World might not be able to win.

Kakashi planned to first achieve the ability to freely open and close the Transparent World. Since he couldn't engage in intense training recently, he would devote all his time to studying the Transparent World.

"Hey, you're here too." Asuma spotted Kakashi and the others and greeted them.

"Guy, Asuma, were you also notified to go to the Hokage's office?" Obito asked after responding.

Might Guy and Asuma both nodded.

Seeing this, Obito immediately activated his little brain and began guessing the reason.

"Could it be that our performance was so good that the Third Hokage wants us to join some secret division?" Obito said with an expression of sudden realization.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched; he had to admit Obito's train of thought was unusual.

If it were just Obito, him, and Might Guy, then it might be possible, but since Rin Nohara and Asuma were also included, that was impossible.

"It's probably about the Chunin promotion." To prevent Obito from continuing to imagine strange things, Kakashi directly gave his plausible answer.

"That should be it; otherwise, there's no need to specifically call me to the Hokage building," Asuma nodded.

"But Kakashi, aren't you already a Chunin?" Obito looked at Kakashi in confusion.

"I also participated in the Chunin Exam. Once we get to the Hokage building, you'll naturally see whose guess is right." Kakashi didn't want to argue too much with Obito about this, since it was indeed a bit awkward for a Chunin to take the Chunin Exam.

Upon arriving at the Hokage building, Kakashi became even more certain of his guess, because he also saw Nara Shiomizu and Yamashiro Aoba, two other examinees who had taken the Chunin Exam.

Everyone entered the Hokage's office together. It was Obito's first time there, so he looked around curiously, only to find that the Hokage's office was completely different from what he had imagined.

Obito had imagined the Hokage's office full of extremely dangerous scrolls containing secrets, with powerful ninja tools hanging on the walls.

In reality, the Hokage's office had a large desk, many windows, and nothing else—not even extra chairs.

"All of you performed excellently during the Chunin Exam. Not only the scoring ninja, but also the officials and clients who came to watch recognized your performance. Therefore, I have decided to promote all of you to Chunin!" Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't waste words and got straight to the point.

Nara Shiomizu, Yamashiro Aoba, and Asuma had all been eliminated in the first round, but they had displayed their true level. Based on their overall performance, they were ultimately included in the promotion list.

As for Kakashi and the others, there was no need to mention them—they had showcased the spirit of Konoha, and the strength they displayed was already beyond that of ordinary Chunin.

Kakashi was extremely calm. He automatically ignored Hiruzen's words and just treated it as accompanying Obito and the others—he was already a Chunin, so what promotion was there for him?

Asuma's expression was one of relief; it really wasn't that he wasn't strong enough, but that Obito and Kakashi's group were too insane.

Nara Shiomizu showed a faint smile. It wasn't for nothing that he had fought so hard. Although he had slightly lost to Rin Nohara, he had finally achieved promotion.

Yamashiro Aoba also smiled. He had been confident in his strength, but unfortunately, he had run into Kisame in the first match. These past few days, he had been worried about the promotion.

"I'm now the same rank as my father. I'll strive to be promoted to Jonin together with him soon!" Might Guy was a little excited.

Since his father had been mocked as an eternal Genin, Might Guy cared a bit about ninja ranks.

"We passed together." A gentle smile appeared on Rin Nohara's face as she thought to herself.

Before the exam, she had been worried about dragging the team down, but after it was over, Rin had no more pressure. In the third round, she had fought with all her might, and she could accept whatever the result was.

"So it really is a promotion to Chunin." Obito thought Kakashi was lucky today, and he had guessed it correctly.

"What, aren't you satisfied with becoming a Chunin? You still have a long way to go for Jonin. Keep working hard with Zhao Muyue and Minato." Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a chuckle.

"Hehe, that's not it. But since our whole team is Chunin now, can we take high-rank missions?" Obito grinned as he replied.

Obito was naturally very happy about becoming a Chunin—after all, Kakashi used to lord his Chunin status over him, but now they were both Chunin, so Kakashi had lost that edge.

"In theory, anything below A-rank should be fine. But for A-rank, it depends on Minato's arrangements." Sarutobi Hiruzen stroked his beard and said.

Now Obito and the others could take missions on their own without Minato, because they were already three Chunin; they could handle B-rank missions by themselves.

But A-rank was different—A-rank required at least one Tokubetsu Jonin, and S-rank needed an experienced full Jonin to lead the team.

"A-rank sounds good too." Obito grinned excitedly, selectively ignoring the last few words of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Although Obito's mission record included A-rank and S-rank missions, those were edited in later; Obito had never officially taken on an A-rank mission yet.

"These are your promotion forms and Chunin vests. From now on, you are Konoha Chunin. You must bear more responsibility and take on more dangerous missions!" Sarutobi Hiruzen said seriously, then stood up and handed the corresponding promotion forms to each of them. As for the vests, since they were all the same, they just took one.

Becoming a Chunin not only brought more privileges but also required taking on more responsibilities.

Except for extremely important missions, Jonin were rarely deployed exclusively; the main fighting force was the Chunin.

"As long as it protects Konoha, no mission is too dangerous." Obito declared he wasn't afraid of danger.

Seeing Obito make such a speech full of the Will of Fire, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, thinking that Obito might become the next Uchiha Kagami.

Sarutobi Hiruzen really had nothing to discuss with them, so aside from Asuma, the others quickly left the Hokage's office.

"Rin, I told you we had nothing to worry about." Obito said to Rin Nohara while flipping the Chunin vest over in his hands.

"Mm-hmm, you're right, Obito." Rin Nohara replied with a soft smile.

As their voices faded away, Asuma directly asked Sarutobi Hiruzen, "Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to train."

He was about to leave but was called back by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Your Vacuum Sphere has too scattered a nature, otherwise it could have pierced through the Phoenix Flower. Your Great Flame Technique also has problems—the flame temperature is too low." Sarutobi Hiruzen said while picking up his pipe, pointing out Asuma's issues in the Chunin Exam.

"Tch, you sure know a lot." Asuma scowled and turned to leave.

Just as Asuma opened the door to the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke again.

"Still, that last combined ninjutsu wasn't bad. Overall, your performance was acceptable."

I wanted to write more, but I've got a slight fever today. Though it's not serious, the heat in my head makes it hard to write. Hope I'll feel better after sleeping.