Chapter 55: The Exposed Notebook
Jiraiya was just making a routine notification to his disciple. As a ninja possessing Sage Mode, he was clear that Itachi's strength could easily handle and pass... This stemmed from confidence in his abilities.
However, ten years later, Jiraiya would despairingly discover something: even some ninjas who had activated Sage Mode might remain at the Genin level, and there might even be a rule prohibiting the use of Sage Mode in the Chunin Exams because of that Genin...
The matter was rather complicated. No one would believe that someone could jump directly from Genin to Hokage... The span was so vast, seeing it once in a lifetime was enough.
Uchiha Itachi was even more confident than Jiraiya. The little boy had been developing his own Sage Art recently. The Chunin Exams, no matter how difficult, could they be harder than stopping a crow and Sasuke from arguing?
And if you calculated carefully, any Uchiha clan ninja who could awaken the Sharingan was not a Genin. Even a certain dead-last who had been much criticized back then had participated in the exams multiple times and successfully advanced to Chunin.
That fellow was pretty much a rare dead-last in the Uchiha clan...
The little boy, of course, wouldn't have thought that in the original history, a certain little brat would once again lower the Uchiha's bottom line. The last remaining Uchiha in Konoha would probably be a Genin for life...
Two "eternal Genin," with their reckless operations, successfully caused a divergence in people's perception of Konoha's ninja ranking system. Konoha Genin... finally became synonymous with strong individuals in the ninja world.
"Is Itachi-kun going to be a Chunin soon, just like Shisui-kun?" Uchiha Izumi looked at this one, then that one, and finally at herself... The Ninja Academy student's face turned a little red.
"If there aren't any major problems..." Itachi scratched his head and looked at his friend, "Shisui should be getting promoted to Jonin, right?"
Uchiha Shisui wouldn't hide it either, "Mm, after returning from the Land of Grass, Lord Hokage talked to me. It will probably be announced along with the Jonin appointments of others..."
"Even more amazing than Senior Kakashi Hatake!"
Uchiha Itachi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. Shisui wasn't very active in the village, yet he always unknowingly achieved things others couldn't accomplish in a lifetime.
"Itachi will definitely be more amazing than me in the future!" Shisui, taking advantage of his distraction, reached out and patted the little boy's hair, gently continuing the topic of the Chunin Exams.
"Many people participate in the Chunin Exams, including those from outside ninja villages. I wonder if there will be any changes to the rules... Itachi, be careful. You might get ganged up on by those people!"
"Well, I can't bring Kitahara into the exam, can I..."
"The exam rules allow it..."
As Uchiha Shisui and Itachi talked, they unconsciously walked outwards side by side... This was a habitual action after their training sessions together.
However, there was still one person in the training grounds... Uchiha Izumi, unable to join the conversation, felt somewhat dejected. In the blink of an eye, those two had already walked quite far.
The lonely Izumi was in low spirits, "...What kind of people are these! One after another... ruining someone's date, if it's not Shisui, it's the younger brother..."
"Caw..."
The crow, having finished its snacks and fruits, left behind a mess and took flight, catching up with them.
Izumi barely lifted her eyelids, watching the pitch-black bird land on Itachi's shoulder, "...Even... a crow..."
Her voice sounded somewhat sad... That fellow Shisui was a bit too black-hearted.
The registration requirements for the Chunin Exams were very high. Ninjas on the list needed to have their number of completed commissioned missions reviewed. After Jiraiya got the news, he shamelessly pestered the Third Hokage to find a way.
The original mission to retrieve Orochimaru hadn't actually been completed. However, through the Third Hokage's maneuvering, Uchiha Itachi had completed two high-level missions: destroying Orochimaru's base and gathering intelligence.
One after another, they all worried themselves sick for their disciples... They were even capable of "getting on the bus first and buying the ticket later" (doing something first and dealing with formalities later)...
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't exactly engaging in favoritism; this matter was profitable... and the profit wasn't small. For example, the earnings from the mission process had to be handed over to the village.
Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi eagerly looked at the little boy's ninja tool pouch. He had initially thought it was just a routine inquiry, but unexpectedly, Uchiha Itachi successively took out seven or eight sealing scrolls.
Besides a huge sum of money, there were also other ninja tools and experimental equipment. What a treasure boy!
Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought these were things Orochimaru had taken from Konoha, never imagining they were painstakingly accumulated by his renegade disciple.
"These are all the spoils from Orochimaru's base..." Uchiha Itachi unsparingly took out the last sealing scroll and a photo frame.
The crow clicked its tongue. Its own cub had never had any concept of money. When he truly needed to earn money...
He would realize... how hard money was to earn, and also how quickly it was spent.
"Good job on the mission, Itachi." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded sanctimoniously in praise, then casually flipped through the contents of the sealing scrolls, tallying the data.
Konoha's finances were never not tight. The monetary value alone was enough to buy that foolish Asuma's head dozens of times...
Hiruzen Sarutobi contentedly picked up his pipe, "Is there any other intelligence besides this? I read the subsequent battle report; the scene was still very tragic..."
"Time was too tight, I couldn't search the entire base in time. These are all I found." Uchiha Itachi shook his head; he had only been thinking about rescuing the little turnip heads at the time.
Jiraiya looked at the photo frame on the table with some surprise and said softly, "I didn't expect him to still have this photo..."
"Orochimaru just took the wrong path!" Hiruzen Sarutobi grabbed the photo frame. Ever since Asuma was born, he hadn't seen this photo for a long time either.
The old man was filled with emotion. He had spent very happy times with his three disciples back then; they were young and vibrant... until he saw the marks on the back of the photo frame indicating it was often opened.
A thin notebook fell out...
Hiruzen Sarutobi became engrossed in reading it, attracting Jiraiya's curious approach, "Are these his experimental research notes from these years?"
"No... see for yourself..."
The Third Hokage placed the notebook on the table and walked to the window, "Although someone conspired to reveal to me that Orochimaru was privately conducting forbidden experiments, the evidence for this matter is conclusive."
"Who reported it?" Jiraiya flipped through the diary entries in the notebook, muttering incessantly, "Bastard! How dare he look down on me! I saved him once before too!"
"It was clearly his own weakness that got him injured by Tsunade! And he blames it on me..."
"He actually had a good relationship with Tsunade before... and he kept it from me!"
As Jiraiya spent more and more time reading, the Hokage's office gradually quieted down... The Third Hokage didn't answer Jiraiya's question, merely lowering his head and fiddling with the photo frame.
The dead-last of Konoha's Sannin read with increasing focus. Due to often training at Mount Myoboku, there were many things Orochimaru experienced that he didn't know about...
Until he completely finished reading, he looked up and saw Uchiha Itachi, who had been standing quietly in place all along, and said fiercely, "Kid, have you read what's in here or not?"
(End of this chapter)