Chapter 848 : Promotions!

The reason why Fujin felt the tactic of declining any requests until Hiruzen voluntarily offered something was useless was rather simple. He was no longer just an upcoming ninja who could lead Konoha's forces in the future. Despite his young age, he had already become such a ninja.

As such, there was no longer any need for Fujin to scheme, play games or barter to get what he wanted. He would directly ask for it, just as he did a few moments ago. Of course, he couldn't go overboard and there would still be some techniques that the village may not give him, but Fujin understood that properly.

Tsunade glanced at Hiruzen. From the way Fujin framed his words, it felt like Hiruzen had already agreed to ask Tsunade to help him with this when she returned to the village. Hiruzen could only nod in return. After all, he had promised Fujin, even though it had been several years.

Tsunade turned her attention back to Fujin and said, “I can, but that technique has a terrifying drawback if used incorrectly. I'm afraid that it'll be more disadvantageous to you instead of increasing your strength.”

Fujin frowned and asked, “It happens only if I overexert my cells, right?”

Tsunade nodded. Fujin said, “Then it's fine. I'll be careful.”

Tsunade sighed and explained, “Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have opposed. Unfortunately, your training method is anything but normal. You still use Shadow Clones to increase your training efficiency. That technique is inherently dangerous to use in this manner. If you learn how to extract more chakra from your cells, you'll be tempted to do so while you train. Even though you won't feel the side effects immediately, you'll regret it years later. That's why…”

Fujin cut Tsunade off, “I think you're missing a point.”

Tsunade asked, “Hmm, what do you mean?”

Fujin answered, “I train to increase my strength. What's the meaning in training if it makes me weaker? So, you don't need to worry. Unless my life is in danger or the village is in great danger, I won't resort to doing that.”

Tsunade frowned thinking, ‘That is logical… Unfortunately, maintaining a clear head during an intense moment isn't very common. I have seen too many ruin their future by doing something stupid during training.’

“It's fine, Tsuna…” Hiruzen muttered, giving his approval once again. Tsunade sighed, “Alright, but please be mindful, Fujin.”

Fujin nodded, “I will. So, when can we start?”

Tsunade replied, “It is a complicated process and I'll need half a day or more to help you energize your cells. We have a meeting in a few hours. You haven't forgotten, have you?”

Fujin muttered, “Not really. Ibiki sent a messenger to me earlier. It shouldn't take too long, but I suppose we can't stop in between.”
Tsunade nodded, “That's right. Meet me on the top floor of the hospital tomorrow at 7.”
Fujin replied, “Alright.”

He glanced at the trio and asked, “So, can I leave or is there anything else?”
Hiruzen answered, “You can leave.”
Fujin replied, “Alright, take care,” before disappearing from the room.

Silence engulfed the room once again, before Jiraiya broke it by asking, “Say, how did the meeting change from us asking a request from him to him asking a request from Tsunade?”

Hiruzen sighed, “Now you get a little of what I mean… This is still fine. Tsunade, be very careful with the words you use around him. There's no telling how he may interpret them. I have regretted not doing so more than a few times.”

Tsunade thought, ‘I knew it!’

——

A few hours later, a meeting began in one of the meeting rooms in the Hokage Building. Leading the meeting were Tsunade and Hiruzen, who sat next to each other around a long table. Fujin sat on the opposite side, thinking, ‘Interesting, I always wondered how these meetings went…’

Hiruzen glanced at everyone in the room. Ibiki, Anko and Hayate sat on his left while three old Jounins from Hyuga, Yamanaka and Aburame clan sat on his right. Hiruzen said, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, this meeting was delayed for too long. It's time to decide whom to promote to Chunin based on their respective performances.”

The Chunin Exams had taken a backseat after Orochimaru and Sunagakure's assault. Konoha was forced to devote all its energy to focus on the aftermath, be it Fujin leading Konoha's armies, the negotiations with Sunagakure or preparing the village for another unexpected war.

It was only after Fujin and the Sannins returned to the village that things calmed down. However, with Hiruzen in a coma and Tsunade focused on healing him, this meeting got delayed again.

Ibiki said, “Six of the nine finalists were our Genins. The ones under consideration today are Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Neji, Uzumaki Naruto, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru and Uchiha Sasuke...”

Anko interrupted him, “Let's get the obvious one out of the way before discussions heat up, shall we? Sakura isn't ready to be promoted.”

Hayate coughed and said, “Her plan against Gaara was quite good. It might have worked if he wasn't a Jinchuriki. Unfortunately, she failed to react once her plan failed.”

The old Yamanaka Jounin commented, “I'm not sure whether the plan was created by her…”

“It wasn't…” The eyes in the room moved to Fujin, who added, “The plan was created by Kurama Illumi-san, who trained her for the finals. However, considering how unfair the matchup was, I wouldn't consider this a negative point. Of course, it's a moot point since she failed to think of any back up plans, which was the hidden test he created for her. It'll be better for her to remain a Genin and gain more experience and strength.”

Everyone nodded. Tsunade looked around and said, “Since no one opposes, Sakura will remain a Genin.”

She glanced at Anko and asked, “Any more obvious ones?”

Anko thought for a bit and replied, “No, the rest are a bit complicated. The Nara kid may be, but he lacks strength. Then there's the Aburame kid. He performed very well in the first two rounds and the preliminaries but didn't get any opportunity in the finals due to the attack.”

Ibiki said, “Let's consider the Nara first. Though Shikamaru doesn't have outrageous strength or stamina, what he displayed shows he'll be an excellent team leader.”

Hayate added, “I agree. His plan was too ingenious. Even though I was the proctor, I didn't see it coming.”

The others in the room also praised Shikamaru's quick thinking and his ability to use the terrain to the maximum effect. Fujin didn't bother speaking since the result was obvious. With no one opposing, Tsunade decided that Shikamaru would be promoted.

Ibiki turned the pages in his files and asked, “So, what do we do with Shino? His performance in the preliminaries was eye-catching. He showed sufficient strength as well as good planning, playing with his opponent like he was an academy student.”

Anko added, “His team completed the second round very quickly as well. Considering his clan, he must have played an important part...”

Hiruzen sighed and said, “Be that may, we can't promote someone who didn't fight in the finals. Though no one will say anything, it'll raise some eyebrows among the guests we invited. He'll have to participate in the next Chunin exam.”

With Hiruzen speaking up, no one else said anything. Fujin thought, ‘It looks like Konoha gives a lot more importance to the guests than other villages. From what I remember, Kankuro and Temari were promoted to Jounins despite not participating in any more Chunin exams. On the other hand, Konoha kept Naruto at the Genin rank for who knows how long despite there being several provisions for promoting ninjas without participating in the Chunin exams…’

Hayate said, “The next one is Hyuga Neji. He's a rather interesting one. At the start of the exam, he was considered as the strongest Genin from our village. Yet, he lost his first fight in the finals. Then again, we can't entirely blame him for it. Most Jounins would do worse against a non-stop barrage of supercharged Infinite Breakthrough jutsus.”

No one disagreed with Hayate. Everyone recalled how pitiful Neji looked against Naruto, the host of the terrifying Nine Tailed Beast! Even more absurd was the absence of any traces of exhaustion on Naruto's face. Even the ninjas in the meeting room, apart from Fujin, Hiruzen and Tsunade, would be troubled while dealing with such a barrage. Other than hiding underground and attacking from there, they didn't have many other options.

The old Hyuga Jounin spoke, “While the Hyuga clan has methods to deal with opponents who fight at range, those techniques aren't taught to our Genins. Besides, even the ones who are taught may not be able to withstand such a barrage without resorting to Earth Release jutsus. His performance, despite being at such a disadvantage, was very good. We can promote him just like Shikamaru.”

“I don't agree with your observations.”

[A/N: Next chapter is partially done as well. I should complete it in 4-5 hours.]