Chapter 129: The Chūnin Exam Roster
It was early morning. Hoshikawa took out his key and opened the door to Tsunade's house. He glanced at the gloomy sky outside, closed the door, and let out a puff of warm air. Since December began, the temperature in Konoha had dropped sharply. He figured it wouldn't be long before the first snow of the year arrived.
Hoshikawa took off his shoes and walked into the living room. As expected, Tsunade was not yet awake.
"Sensei!" Hoshikawa shouted, knocking on her bedroom door.
"I hear you! Be quiet!" Tsunade's annoyed voice came from inside.
The classic morning grumpiness. Hoshikawa was used to it and turned to walk to the kitchen.
Half an hour later, a steaming bowl of pork bone ramen was freshly made. But to his surprise, Tsunade still hadn't appeared. Hoshikawa placed the ramen on the dining table and simply opened her bedroom door. Tsunade was curled up under her blanket, sleeping soundly. Hoshikawa walked up, reached out, and pinched her nose.
A few seconds later, a fair, fleshy leg shot out from the blankets with incredible speed, aiming to kick him. Hoshikawa quickly retreated, narrowly avoiding the dangerous strike. He met Tsunade's annoyed glare and, with a straight face, said, "It's time to eat, Sensei."
"I know!" Tsunade sat up, her oversized pajamas revealing themselves. "You're so annoying, you brat!"
"You're just too lazy, Sensei," Hoshikawa said, shaking his head.
"Get out!" Tsunade glared at him. "I need to get dressed."
"Right." Hoshikawa turned and left, closing the door behind him.
Tsunade got out of bed. She had been wearing a nightgown last night, and nothing else. Remembering the kick she just threw, a hint of embarrassment flashed on her face. It looks like the brat didn't see anything, though. Tsunade changed into her clothes and went to the bathroom to wash up.
When she returned to the living room, she saw Hoshikawa sitting at the dining table with his hands cupped around the bowl of pork bone ramen.
"What are you doing? Warming yourself?" Tsunade asked, confused.
"I'm reheating it," Hoshikawa said, raising his hand. A faint wave of heat swirled in his palm. It was Fire Release chakra.
"Thanks," Tsunade said, a little stunned. She sat down across from him and asked, "Did you already eat breakfast?"
"I ate at home," Hoshikawa said, and then added, "Kurenai's dad made it."
Home? For a moment, Tsunade had an impulse to tell him to move in, but it quickly faded. She picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a mouthful of ramen, and slurped it down.
"I think the flavor's gotten even better," Tsunade said, her eyes widening as she praised the dish.
"As long as you like it, Sensei," Hoshikawa said with a smile.
Tsunade's feeling wasn't wrong. It was because of a new title he had recently acquired.
[C-rank Talent Title: Master Chef.]
[Trigger Condition: Reach proficiency in cooking.]
[Effect: Flavor is increased by 50%.]
After cooking for so long, Hoshikawa 's cooking had finally been upgraded from the D-rank title Intermediate Chef to the C-rank title Master Chef. It looked like the next upgrade would likely be to Special-Grade Chef. Am I following the path of the "Cooking Master Boy"?
"What are we training today?" Hoshikawa asked, coming back to the present.
"First, we're going to the Hokage's office," Tsunade said, taking a break from eating. She felt the ramen was so delicious that she couldn't stop.
"To take a mission?" Hoshikawa asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Tsunade said, sipping the ramen broth. "We're submitting the application for the Chūnin Exams."
"I see," Hoshikawa nodded. "I wonder how many people will be participating."
"You're my student. If you don't get first place, you're going to be in for it," Tsunade said with a smile, looking at him. But the smile was full of malice. He knew it couldn't be anything good.
"First place will definitely..." Hoshikawa stopped himself. Talking like that before a competition was not a good omen. He didn't want to become a general on a theater stage, stuck with a bunch of flags.
"You'll see when the time comes," Hoshikawa said with a light cough.
"I'll be watching with high expectations," Tsunade said. She had a lot of confidence in Hoshikawa . After all, he had been first in his class for six years at the Academy. Although there were many geniuses in his generation, none of them were his match.
"I'm full!" Tsunade licked her lips, savoring the flavor. "Today's ramen was really great."
"I'll do the dishes," Hoshikawa said, taking the bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen.
Soon, the two of them closed the door and headed for the Hokage's office.
Bang! The door was kicked open.
Tsunade walked into the Hokage's office with a calm expression.
"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, quickly taking a puff from his pipe to steady his nerves.
"The application form," Tsunade said, flicking her wrist. The form landed neatly on the Hokage's desk.
"It's a shame we can't hold the joint Chūnin Exams this time," Hiruzen sighed, looking at the application form.
Tsunade understood what he meant. The joint Chūnin Exams were held with multiple ninja villages participating. They were usually held only during times of relative peace to demonstrate each village's strength to the daimyō and nobles. The better they performed, the more mission requests they could potentially get. Hiruzen meant that with Hoshikawa 's strength, he should be participating in the joint exams to bring honor to the Leaf Village. But with the Cloud Village making aggressive moves, the Leaf Village naturally didn't dare to hold a joint Chūnin Exam.
"Alright, let me see the list of genin participating in the Chūnin Exams," Tsunade said, glancing at Hoshikawa .
"What? Getting a head start on intel for your student?" Hiruzen couldn't help but smile. "That's not like you." After Nawaki's death, Tsunade had always been a loner. Although she still lived in the Leaf Village, she had severed most of her bonds. Now, with Hoshikawa , she was starting to return to her normal self.
"Stop with the nonsense!" Tsunade said, frowning.
"See? You're so impatient," Hiruzen said with a chuckle, pulling out a document. Tsunade ignored him, grabbed the file, and took a look. There were indeed no genin worth noting. She handed it to Hoshikawa without a second thought.
Seeing this, Hiruzen's smile grew even wider. He knew she had asked for the list because of Hoshikawa . He was, of course, happy to see Tsunade's change. After all, his two other students were becoming more and more of a headache. Jiraiya, without a doubt, spent his days outside the village looking for a prophesied child. As for Orochimaru, when he wasn't on missions, he was holed up in the village doing experiments and research. To be honest, neither of them was fit to be Hokage; only Tsunade was the most suitable.
Hiruzen didn't know how long he would be Hokage. A ninja war might break out, and he might die in an accident just like his sensei, Tobirama Senju. All in all, it was better to have a Hokage successor ready.
Hoshikawa opened the document. It was full of familiar names: Kakashi Hatake, Shisui Uchiha, Asuma Sarutobi, and Shizune. He quickly scanned the list and found a few unfamiliar but recognizable genin: Ibiki Morino, Ebisu, Mizuki, and Genma Shiranui. Besides Mizuki, they were all graduates from the previous year.
Ibiki Morino was a member of the Leaf Village's ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force and the proctor for the written portion of Naruto Uzumaki's Chūnin Exam.
Ebisu was the personal tutor for Hiruzen's grandson, Konohamaru Sarutobi.
Genma Shiranui had served as the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze's, personal guard and could use the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, a jutsu that required three people.
Of course, all of these were future events. For now, they were just ordinary genin.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Hoshikawa said, closing the document and returning it to Hiruzen.
"It's nothing," Hiruzen said casually. "It's all going to be announced soon anyway."
"We'll be going now," Tsunade said, waving her hand.
"Don't be late. The Chūnin Exams start next Monday," Hiruzen reminded them.
Bang! The door was slammed shut. Hiruzen's mouth twitched slightly. Not a single one of his three students had any manners! In contrast, his students' students, like Minato Namikaze and Hoshikawa , were very well-mannered.
Maybe I should get Orochimaru to take on a student? Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe and fell into thought. Tsunade had moved on from Nawaki's death, but he felt that Orochimaru hadn't.
"Let's go back," Tsunade said, glancing at the Hokage's office, and turned to leave.
Hoshikawa quickly followed her. When they returned home, they found the house was very lively. Besides Rin and Kurenai, Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi's ninja squads were also there. All six of them had gathered.
"You guys chat," Tsunade said, not wanting to disturb them.
"When did you get back?" Hoshikawa asked with a smile.
"Yesterday," Asuma said with a look of pride. "Our team completed a B-rank mission!"
"What's so great about that?" Obito Uchiha said, not to be outdone. "We've completed several B-rank missions!"
"Us too," Kurenai said, her hands on her hips. "And me and Rin did it on our own."
"What?!" Obito exclaimed. "Rin, were you in any danger?"
"A little," Rin said with a smile. "But Kurenai took care of it."
"..." Asuma's face froze. Ordinary genin teams had to wait three or four years to take on a B-rank mission, but it was clear that they were all exceptions.
Life is as lonely as snow, Asuma sighed. He just wanted to show off, but why was it so hard?
"Oh, by the way, do you guys know the rules for the Chūnin Exams?" Asuma's eyes suddenly lit up.
"No," Rin and Kurenai both shook their heads. Kakashi and Obito also looked at him.
"I know!" Asuma said excitedly.
"Hurry up and tell us!" Obito said impatiently.
"The first stage is a written test," Asuma said, holding up one finger.
"Huh?!" Obito cried out. "Why are there written tests in the Chūnin Exams?" His grades in theory had always been bad, and he hadn't touched a book since graduating. Now that he had to take a written test, he could already foresee the tragic outcome.
Guy also looked troubled. Only Hoshikawa and the others were unbothered; they were all top students.
"The second stage is a team battle, and the third stage is a one-on-one battle," Asuma continued.
...
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