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Takigawa could no longer serve as a ninja. After stabilizing his emotions, his complexion remained ashen, planning to submit a retirement application upon returning to the village.
Shigeru tried to persuade him twice, but to no avail.
Takigawa was considered talented, especially in barrier techniques, capable of creating barriers that concealed traces and scents. This skill alone was what allowed him entry into Shigeru's team.
Even if he had left the reconnaissance team, he could have applied to join the Barrier Team.
However, now that Takigawa had no desire to be a ninja at all, joining the Barrier Team was out of the question.
"The Uchiha clan truly is difficult to get along with. Those words were a bit too harsh," Jiraiya commented during a casual conversation with Shikaku.
He acknowledged Takigawa's talent in barrier jutsu but noted that a few words from Yoichi had dissuaded him from being a ninja entirely.
"Being criticized like that, especially by a prodigy like Yoichi, it's understandable he couldn't bear it," Shikaku remarked.
"Back in Konoha, this kid seemed to have had a similar incident at the Hokage's office, attacking a peer. Although his talent is undeniable, his temper is not."
Jiraiya thought of his pupil, believing Minato would have handled the situation better.
Shikaku sighed, acknowledging the pity of Takigawa's situation but also recognizing his mistake, especially towards Yoichi, who completed the mission.
Completing an S-rank mission alone within a month, and considering its difficulty, granted them a significant advantage in negotiations with Sunagakure. Calling Yoichi a hero of Konoha was not an exaggeration.
Blaming Yoichi for a teammate's death, even out of grief, was unacceptable. Allowing such accusations would enable future misuse of this excuse to attack others.
Shikaku felt Takigawa was more at fault, yet people often sympathize with the weaker party, overlooking the true right or wrong.
"Lord Jiraiya, let's discuss our negotiations with Sunagakure. Though we can't completely remove them from the River Country, we can still seize a share of their missions."
Shikaku shifted the topic back to negotiations, their main mission. Takigawa's issue was just a minor interruption.
The two then discussed negotiations with Sunagakure. Messages from Konoha suggested using the Third Kazekage's intelligence to pressure Sunagakure.
Konoha's higher-ups believed the Kazekage's disappearance would weaken Sunagakure not just in strength but also in morale, especially since the assassination was an inside job, potentially leading to internal conflict.
Under such circumstances, stabilizing their own village would be Sunagakure's priority, leaving them no room to provoke Konoha.
The third round of negotiations began with Jiraiya and Shikaku feeling confident.
However, this had little to do with Yoichi, who wasn't part of the negotiation team. After completing his mission, he just needed to wait for Jiraiya and Shikaku to finish and return to Konoha with them.
Yoichi spent his days scratching off lottery tickets and training lightly, careful not to exhaust himself.
Being in the River Country, he needed to remain combat-ready, although the likelihood of Sunagakure turning hostile was slim.
Over several days, he scratched off five tickets, four of which were useless items. The fifth, however, gave Yoichi a huge surprise.
[Passport of Satan (Limited to Three Uses)]: This item induces a mental hypnosis on anyone other than the user, forgiving any misdeeds committed by the user.
[PS: The affected will come to their senses before death.]
Yoichi remembered this item well from Doraemon. No matter the deed, presenting this passport would ensure forgiveness.
He decided to save this item, planning to steal the Sealing Book once he returned to the village. It was a pity it could only be used three times; otherwise, Yoichi could potentially rule the world.
---
"Everyone, the mission is over. We can start our journey back to the village the day after tomorrow."
Jiraiya announced cheerfully to those involved in the mission, his expression hinting at their success despite not sharing specifics.
Shikaku added, "Although the mission is complete, we must not lower our guard. Until the replacement team arrives the day after tomorrow, everyone must remain vigilant and continue with the patrol duties as previously arranged."
After nodding in understanding, the team received a few more reminders from Jiraiya and Shikaku before being dismissed.
One team left early to escort the Fire Country's Minister of Finance out of the River Country.
The new Daimyo of the River Country, unlike his father, was not fixated on his own ninja village but was concerned for his safety, thus hiring an elite ninja team from Konoha to protect the Daimyo's residence.
He also extended a similar request to the Rain Village but overlooked Sunagakure, given the rumors of the previous Daimyo's death at Suna's hands.
Despite Suna's denials, the River Country's Daimyo and his aunt maintained these claims, leading to distrust towards Sunagakure.
Two days later, with the border outpost established and the team for the River Country Daimyo in place, Yoichi and the troops finally returned to Konoha.
This Jonin exam mission wasn't particularly challenging for Yoichi, who knew of the Third Kazekage's likely demise. If tasked with gathering intelligence on the Third Raikage alone, even Uchiha would have declared the mission a failure.
Upon returning, Yoichi, along with Jiraiya and others, first reported to the Hokage Building about the mission.
He wasn't privy to the negotiation details, only Jiraiya and Shikaku reported those. After waiting for hours, the Third Hokage invited Yoichi and seven others in.
Besides Yoichi, the remaining six were reconnaissance team leaders.
The Third Hokage, smiling, praised them, "I've heard the details from Jiraiya. You all did very well, especially Yoichi-kun, who unexpectedly found the most crucial intelligence, greatly aiding the successful negotiation."
"Uchiha Yoichi, your Jonin exam mission is a success. From today, you are Konoha's second ninja to be promoted to Jonin at fourteen."
(End of Chapter)
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Becoming a Jonin at fourteen, this was a record in the Leaf Village before Kakashi became a Jonin.
In future Jonin meetings, Yoichi will also be able to participate and even propose suggestions.
With his identity as a member of the Uchiha clan, as well as his achievements in capturing the Shimura family within the village, no one dared to underestimate him.
After announcing Yoichi's promotion to Jonin, Hiruzen also encouraged the other six Jonin of the reconnaissance teams, praising their contributions to the successful negotiation.
However, it was clear to everyone that this reconnaissance mission was virtually completed by Yoichi alone.
The contributions of the six teams were not even enough to be considered icing on the cake, and the incident where a member of Shigeru's team harbored resentment towards Yoichi and engaged in an argument was seen as a disgraceful matter.
Although Shigeru knew that Hiruzen did not intend to think deeply about it, he still felt somewhat ashamed when he heard the praise.
"Yoichi-kun, do you have any plans to become a leading Jonin? There are many Genin in the village who need to be trained. If they could join your team, they would surely grow rapidly," Hiruzen asked, which took Yoichi by surprise.
Training Genin, such a troublesome task, was something he did not want to do. It would be better to spend that time on his own training; now that he had the ability to absorb natural energy, he had one more direction for training, which was Senjutsu.
Yoichi shook his head and said, "Lord Hokage, I have no such plans at the moment. Moreover, my experience is far from sufficient to teach others. Teaching Genin might lead them astray. Maybe we can talk about this again later."
"Alright, that's fine. If you ever want to form your own mission team, just let me know after you have gathered your members," Hiruzen did not press further.
It was indeed a bit much to ask someone who had just become a Jonin to start teaching, especially since all the newly graduated Genin had already been assigned, and those who were left were older than Yoichi, making it awkward for them to be his students.
However, Hiruzen had not given up on the idea. The tradition of Jonin instructors nurturing students was a method of passing on the Will of Fire.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Yoichi planned to visit again at night, thinking it should be easy to find the Sealing Book given the limited number of rooms.
Upon returning to the Uchiha district, Yoichi decided to pay a visit to the Second Elder's house.
Now, he had a very good relationship with the Second Elder, even better than with Fugaku, his own patriach.
However, as he was about to visit the Second Elder, Yoichi encountered Mikoto, Fugaku's wife, returning from grocery shopping. It had been a while since he last saw her, and her belly had visibly grown.
"Mikoto-san, it must be hard doing grocery shopping by yourself while pregnant," Yoichi remarked, noticing the bulging belly which, unfortunately, contained a future troublemaker with the mindset of a five-year-old.
If Yoichi were a ninja from another village, he would wish for Konoha to have more ninjas with the mindset of a five-year-old. Ideally, each clan should have one, with two from the Hyuga branch family.
"Fugaku is busy with clan and village affairs. Such minor matters naturally do not require his presence," Mikoto said, biting her lip slightly. Despite being younger, standing in front of him made her feel a strange pressure.
...
"Yoichi, well done!"
Kenji did not skimp on praise for the young man in front of him. Although he was unaware of how Yoichi came to know about the Third Kazekage's summoning beast, the fact that he thought to investigate the Kazekage through the summoning beast proved he was no ordinary person.
"Sarutobi has miscalculated this time. Such a difficult task was completed by you, leaving him no excuses to prevent your promotion to Jonin."
"I happened to hear this information outside and then went to the underground exchange to inquire further," Yoichi said, taking out a purple clay teapot from his bag and placing it on the table.
"This teapot caught my eye on my way back. Elder Kenji, you might find it suitable for brewing tea."
"The shape is very exquisite, but are there no tea cups?"
"No, it's meant to be drunk directly from the spout," Yoichi shook his head, explaining the absence of cups.
Even without cups, the unique and refined design of the purple clay teapot was enough to make Kenji take a few more glances and grow fond of it; the teapot was small enough to fit perfectly in one hand.
"Yoichi, this is something from Junshu about the pharmaceutical factory. I don't understand it well, but Junshu said the situation looks promising and we could soon make a significant profit," Kenji said, taking out a stack of documents and newspapers.
The front page of the newspaper featured a half-body image of Tsunade, next to the Uchiha-engineered medicine, with 'recommended by the medical sannin' written at the top.
Besides the newspaper, there were also several recent orders signed by the pharmaceutical factory. After Yoichi left, advertising began, attracting shrewd businessmen to their doorstep within days.
Just these few orders alone amounted to over two hundred million ryō, and that was just the beginning, without even fully expanding throughout the Fire Country.
"The pharmaceutical factory is set to make a large profit. Elder Kenji, it seems in two years, we could propose establishing the Uchiha welfare system," Yoichi suggested, anticipating the establishment during the upcoming conflicts between countries as an opportunity to solidify clan loyalty and contrast with the Hokage's limited support for families of fallen ninjas.
(End of Chapter)
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