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Konoha

The appearance of Ninja Game had greatly impacted Konoha’s new generation. However, what troubled Namikaze Minato was that while more people were enrolling in the Ninja Academy, the students’ perseverance seemed to have weakened as well.

Quite a few fourth- and fifth-year students had become far less interested in training. They seemed more enthusiastic about finding the thrill of becoming Ninja and dominating the Ninja World through computers, while losing their motivation for real-life training.

Fortunately, only some of the students had shown this tendency. The top students at the Ninja Academy were still training diligently. If all the students had developed such inclinations, Namikaze Minato would have had a real headache.

The Ninja Academy was an important source of replenishment for Konoha Ninja forces. If something went wrong with the Ninja Academy, Konoha’s steady supply of Ninja would suffer a gradual decline, which would be extremely detrimental to defending the vast Land of Fire.

"After asking for the opinions of others, I’ll give you an answer regarding this matter."

After persuading the Ninja Academy teacher to leave, Namikaze Minato felt even more troubled.

The Ninja Game created by the Uzumaki Company was fascinating not only to those students—even Kushina was very interested in it, let alone the Ninja Academy students.

But even as Hokage-sama, this was difficult for him to manage. What people bought was the freedom of each household. Besides, they were only playing a game. Could he, the Hokage, really ban it? Even if Namikaze Minato wanted to, he could hardly find a reason.

"Fortunately, the new generation of Ninja hasn’t fallen into decadence. Instead, they’ve developed very well."

After reviewing the files on Konoha’s new generation of Ninja, Namikaze Minato could not help feeling extremely satisfied. These people were Konoha’s future.

Kakashi’s strength had fully reached Jonin standards. He could also carry out all kinds of missions well in the Anbu, and recently, he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to improving his strength. However, the deaths of his comrades had closed off his heart, and his continual Anbu missions showed signs of causing Kakashi to fall into darkness.

Perhaps Kakashi could be transferred out of the Anbu and contribute to Konoha as part of a mission squad.

Namikaze Minato considered it inwardly, but then he thought about Kakashi’s young age. If he became a squad leader, he might find it difficult to shoulder that responsibility.

"The younger generation really is remarkable. It looks like they’re even more outstanding than my generation."

Holding Hyuga Kiyomi’s application for promotion to Jonin, Namikaze Minato sighed with emotion. She had completed three A-rank Missions and passed evaluations in all other aspects. He then picked up the Anbu report and confirmed that Hyuga Kiyomi had acted alone. Although Ninja from the Hyuga Branch Family had accompanied her as protection, they had never appeared or acted during the mission.

In fact, as the Successor of the Hyuuga Main House, she could have been exempted from mission evaluations as long as her strength reached the threshold of a Jonin. But Hyuga Kiyomi had an extremely competitive personality and insisted on completing the evaluation, choosing the most difficult tier at that.

After the evaluation ended, Hyuga Kiyomi had been sent directly to Konoha Hospital by her guard. Although she had completed the mission, she had also sustained severe injuries.

"What a stubbornly competitive temperament."

Namikaze Minato remarked before writing his approval on the Jonin promotion report. He had the assistant beside him update Hyuga Kiyomi’s records, then sent someone to notify her.

Besides Hyuga Kiyomi, other Ninja of the new generation were also growing rapidly. Yuhi Kurenai had also submitted an application for promotion to Jonin, but she had fallen a little short during her evaluation. Still, thanks to her exceptional Illusion Technique, she had been promoted to Special Jonin.

There were also Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and the others. All of them were highly promising Ninja in Konoha and worth cultivating.

"What a pity about Hyuga Mirai. He was actually deceived by Orochimaru into defecting from Konoha."

Even now, Namikaze Minato still could not understand it. What promise had Orochimaru given Hyuga Mirai that made him abandon everything in Konoha and defect without the slightest hesitation? Was it simply because Orochimaru could undo the Caged Bird Seal?

"Perhaps I could form an elite squad specifically for A-rank and above missions."

The thought suddenly came to Namikaze Minato. These new-generation Ninja all possessed formidable strength, but they lacked experience leading teams, so perhaps they were not yet suitable to serve as squad-leading Jonin. However, they were the best choice when it came to completing missions. They could accumulate sufficient mission experience before later training Ninja Academy graduates.

As for a mission squad, it would be like the squad led by the Konoha White Fang back then, specializing in high-difficulty missions that ordinary Ninja found hard to complete or that the Anbu could not conveniently handle.

Namikaze Minato suddenly felt that this was an excellent idea. He just needed to carefully consider the candidates.

Training Ground

Kaminari Kaede, Elite Chunin Kinoshita Hikaru, and Yuhi Kurenai had formed a squad. The three had been together for over two months, and with Kaminari Kaede as the core, they had worked together smoothly. They had already completed three A-rank and four B-rank missions, seven missions in total.

Kaminari Kaede and Kinoshita Hikaru had been teammates on the battlefield, while Kaminari Kaede had once served as Yuhi Kurenai’s squad-leading Jonin. Since all three had experience coordinating with one another, they had become members of the same squad.

Their abilities also complemented each other. Kaminari Kaede excelled at ninjutsu, Kinoshita Hikaru was proficient in Konoha-Style Swordsmanship, and Yuhi Kurenai’s inherited Illusion Technique was quite famous. She had applied for the Jonin exam some time ago and had already gained considerable renown within Konoha.

"Captain, what rank of mission are we carrying out this time?"

Kinoshita Hikaru was one or two years younger than Kaminari Kaede but much older than Yuhi Kurenai. Yet if the two fought, he would absolutely be no match for Yuhi Kurenai.

He did not dare underestimate this teammate who was far younger than him. During missions, enemies who looked down on Yuhi Kurenai had all died to her silent and invisible Illusion Technique.

"We’re waiting for someone. Hokage-sama informed me that a new member will be joining the squad. Then we’ll take on two A-rank Missions to get some practice before preparing to accept S-rank Missions."

Kaminari Kaede gave a brief explanation. After the war, Konoha had accepted many missions, and manpower was in short supply.

Even if the squad needed practice, it had to be done through missions. Otherwise, if the time limit was exceeded, it would be Konoha’s loss.

"A new member?" Kinoshita Hikaru asked curiously. "I thought our three-person squad would continue indefinitely. But Captain, who is the new member?"

"A Chunin. Sarutobi Asuma."

"Sarutobi Asuma? I remember, he should be the Third Hokage’s son, right?" Kinoshita Hikaru froze for a moment, then glanced at Yuhi Kurenai beside him. However, Yuhi Kurenai showed no reaction upon hearing that name and continued silently practicing her Illusion Technique hand seals.

Kinoshita Hikaru knew Asuma because, when he had been on the same squad as Yuhi Kurenai, they would often "coincidentally" run into Sarutobi Asuma. He simply had not expected him to be the new member.

"Two Jonin and two Chunin meet the requirements for accepting S-rank Missions. Konoha currently has a large backlog of missions, and even the Anbu are a little overwhelmed, so there’s no time for us to practice squad coordination during our downtime."

Kaminari Kaede spoke with a calm expression.

After a while, Sarutobi Asuma finally arrived at the training ground. Seeing that the other three members of the squad were waiting for him, his heart tightened. He quickly stepped forward and apologized, "Sorry, everyone. I’m late."

"Not at all. We arrived early," Kinoshita Hikaru quickly said with a wave of his hand. Though there was a hint of ingratiation in his tone, he was telling the truth. It was not yet the appointed meeting time, and Sarutobi Asuma was not late.

Following custom, after the four introduced their specialties, there was nothing else to do.

As for sparring?

Kaminari Kaede did not want his three subordinates to see him as an enemy. Yuhi Kurenai’s Illusion Technique was extremely troublesome. Even an Elite Jonin like him could fall for it if he was careless.

He had once teamed up with Senior Yūhi Kurenai, and Kaminari Kaede deeply admired those exquisitely refined Illusion Technique methods.

"Gather at Konoha Gate tomorrow at noon. I’ve already accepted an A-rank Mission. If there’s nothing else, we’ll dismiss for now."

Just as before, once Kaminari Kaede had finished explaining matters, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the training ground.

After Kaminari Kaede left, Yuhi Kurenai also rose and headed toward the exit of the training ground.

When Sarutobi Asuma saw Yuhi Kurenai leaving, he immediately grew anxious. He stepped forward to greet her. "Kurenai, it’s been a long time since we last met. How about—"

Before he could finish speaking, Yuhi Kurenai in front of him suddenly transformed into countless cherry blossoms and scattered before his eyes.

"An Illusion Technique clone? When did that happen?"

Sarutobi Asuma’s expression froze. He had not even noticed that what stood before him had been an illusion. Had Kurenai become stronger again after they had not seen each other for a while?

"It seems Kurenai’s Illusion Technique has become much more impressive. This time, I didn’t even notice when she left."

Kinoshita Hikaru sighed in amazement before telling Sarutobi Asuma, "Stop looking, Asuma-san. Kurenai has already left the training ground. That’s just her personality. After being her teammate for more than two months, aside from mission-related communication, Kurenai barely says a word."

After saying that to Asuma, Kinoshita Hikaru also left the training ground. Tomorrow was another A-rank Mission, and he needed to return and prepare the necessary supplies.

Even the Third Hokage’s son had joined the squad. Kinoshita Hikaru felt that if he did not work harder to improve himself, then after some time, he would likely become the worst-performing member of this squad.

Besides Konoha-Style Swordsmanship, Kinoshita Hikaru had no other techniques he excelled at. He did not believe that the Third Hokage’s son would lack one or two powerful ninjutsu. Moreover, judging from Captain Kaminari Kaede’s words, they would continue carrying out S-rank Missions in the future. If he could not keep up with the squad’s pace, he would very likely have to leave it.

Though being in this squad was a little tiring, they carried out A-rank Missions, and the rewards were extremely generous. Moreover, having several powerful teammates was a privilege others could only envy, so Kinoshita Hikaru did not want to leave this squad.

"Sigh, I failed again!"

After everyone else had left, Sarutobi Asuma let out an extremely unwilling sigh.

To join this squad, he had trained very hard. In the end, he had even lowered his head and begged his father before finally succeeding.

Yet just now, he had not even seen through Kurenai’s illusion. Asuma felt that his recent training had been futile. The gap between him and Yuhi Kurenai seemed to be growing wider and wider.