A Chunin?
"How did the mission go?" Sarutobi asked, looking at Minato's smiling face.
Minato was a young, capable ninja from a commoner family, and he was also the student of Sarutobi's own disciple, trained by Jiraiya.
'Finally, after the loss of Konoha White Fang, there is another talented ninja who could put people at ease.' Sarutobi thought.
"It went very smoothly; there was hardly any danger," Minato reported.
They had encountered a stray Chunin from another village, but Kakashi had swiftly dealt with him without much effort.
"I see." Sarutobi nodded, finally taking a moment to properly look at Yami standing beside him.
From the looks of it, the other party's mission report was accurate; the enemy's main force indeed mistook his team for Minato's.
However, despite the good news, the village lost two more Chunins in the process.
"Hokage-sama, I have completed all the tasks required for promotion to Jonin," Kakashi spoke up, interrupting Sarutobi's thoughts as he pondered with a pipe in his mouth.
Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, thinking that wanting to take the Jonin exam at the age of twelve was quite early. But then he recalled that Konoha Village was in dire need of more geniuses.
"Well…?" Kakashi asked impatiently, sensing the Hokage's doubts.
Sarutobi smiled kindly, realizing that he had already made a promise before. After this mission, Kakashi would indeed be eligible to take the Jonin exam.
"All right, all right. I will discuss your promotion to Jonin with Minato later," Sarutobi assured, glancing at Minato standing next to him. If Kakashi wanted to be promoted, then let Minato be the one to evaluate him.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied gratefully, looking at his teacher with hopeful eyes.
"I understand. I will carefully consider your promotion to Jonin," Minato reassured his eager student. But Minato still had some doubts in his heart.
While Kakashi was undoubtedly a genius, he still lacked the necessary calmness and had a big obsession with his father's death. If they focused purely on his skills as a ninja, Kakashi did not quite meet the requirements for Jonin. He would even say that being a Chunin might be a bit of a stretch.
But considering the village's current need for more combat power and the ongoing state of semi-war in the world, Minato reluctantly agreed to support Kakashi's eagerness for higher rank.
Looking at Kakashi, the Third Hokage suddenly thought of something and added.
"Oh, by the way, Yami will also be promoted to Chunin. Your evaluations will be on the same day. You two can get to know each other then," Sarutobi said.
"Chunin?"
Yami, who thought he was just an outsider watching a show, didn't expect to be suddenly dragged by the Hokage.
When did he ever mention wanting to be promoted to Chunin?
As a Genin, he received a lot of missions that were very dangerous. If he was promoted to Chunin, he would be in even more danger, especially in this special period where death missions skyrocketed.
He still wants to live as many years as possible in Konoha Village. He wanted to be like Might Guy's father, living as Genin while accumulating enough strength.
"That's right. In fact, with your ability, you could have been promoted a long time ago."
It's just that because his team leader died on the mission and all the companions assigned to him afterwards also died, no one has mentioned this matter.
Sarutobi omitted the latter explanation and only said the first sentence.
"Alright, except Minato, all of you can leave now."
Before Yami could protest against the sudden promotion test, he was dismissed by the Hokage, who seemed to have no intention to listen to his excuses.
——
"Minato, when you went to Kusagakure in the land of Grass this time, did you notice any movement from Iwagakure over there?"
After Kakashi and his friends, as well as Yami, left the office, Sarutobi asked Minato about the mission.
"I have written down all the details in the mission scroll. As for the movements of Iwagakure," Minato's voice suddenly turned serious. "They are preparing for war, and their target is Konoha. They are even connected with the people of the Hidden Cloud Village."
The strength of the two major ninja villages, the Iwagakure and the Kumogakure, is not much weaker than that of Konoha. If they join forces, it will undoubtedly be a disaster for Konoha.
"Yeah?"
Sarutobi puffed on his pipe again.
Faced with the alliance between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, even he felt uneasy at this moment.
"Alright, you can go and rest for now." After discussing it for a while, Sarutobi dismissed Minato, and he was left with his own thoughts.
"Although I noticed their movements before, I didn't expect that they would actually dare to..."
Kusagakure was a small country on the border of the Land of Fire. The invasion of Iwagakure from the Land of Earth into this country was undoubtedly a provocation to Konoha.
"I told you that you would regret this, Hiruzen."
Suddenly, a man with a cane and half of his face wrapped in bandages materialized in the Hokage office.
"If we could launch a surprise attack on the Land of Earth before the Iwagakure ninja army reaches the Land of Grass, we wouldn't be as passive as we are now!"
To Danzo, Hiruzen was old and not vigilant enough. If Konoha wants to continue existing, then it needs Danzo to lead it.
"Waging a surprise war against another country without any reason will have more consequences than we could imagine. And now is not the time to talk about this afterthought, Danzo!"
Putting down the pipe in his hand, Sarutobi slammed the table hard to indicate that he was still Hokage. Even though he didn't investigate, he could still feel his old friend's obsession with his title.
"So what do you think we should do now to deal with the alliance between Iwagakure and Kumogakure?" Danzo looked like he didn't notice his actions and continued. "Also, the Root's spy hidden in Sunagakure has also sent back information that their Kazekage is also planning to take action against Konoha."
The three major Ninja villages, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure, represent the three great countries behind them: the land of Wind, the land of Earth, and the land of Lightning.
Despite Konoha benefiting the most from the last Great Ninja War, it currently lacks the strength to withstand a simultaneous invasion by the three countries.
Furthermore, two of the three Konoha ninjas who were the main force in the last Ninja War were not in Konoha. The remaining one is immersed in scientific research and oblivious to the outside world. Konoha White Fang committed suicide several years ago due to guilt.
At present, the only high-end combat force that Konoha can gather, apart from Hokage Sarutobi, is the recently emerged Minato.
"Even Sunagakure?" Sarutobi inquired, frowning at the information shared by Danzo.
With all three major ninja villages contemplating action against Konoha, it is likely that the Hidden Mist Village will also want a share of the pie.
An alliance of the four great ninja villages...
If the situation continues to unfold this way, Konoha will face real danger.
After taking another puff of his pipe, Sarutobi finally looked at Danzo seriously.
******
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