CH_71

"I'm off—I'll come visit another time. See you tomorrow!" Natchi seemed to be in a hurry, and the moment he finished speaking, he left using Body Flicker.

『At the very least, he'll become an elite chūnin someday. But I've never heard of Izuno Natchi in the original plot…』

『Ah, well—the original plot never mentioned me either.』

『Small fries don't get names.』

Tōji glanced up at the streetlamp, watching the insects buzzing against the bulb through the glass shade, then turned into his house.

That night passed uneventfully—but Tōji didn't sleep very soundly.

When morning finally came, he got up, washed up, had breakfast, and did his usual morning physical training.

After finishing his training, he headed to the back of the Hokage Tower—behind the Hokage Rock—arriving just around nine.

"Tōji!" He heard Natchi's call from a distance.

Tōji had been strolling along at a leisurely pace, but he used Body Flicker to close the distance in two quick leaps.

"Morning, Natchi. Long time no see, everyone!" Tōji looked from Natchi to Kenji and Neru.

Everyone had arrived.

"Yeah—I've been busy since we got back. Lots going on in the village lately." Kenji naturally picked up the conversation.

"Morning, Tōji." Neru gave a brief greeting and said no more.

Natchi, as always, had the most to say. "Tōji, you cut it close—were you training again this morning?"

"Ah—something like that…" Tōji brushed it off, not wanting to get sidetracked by Natchi's chatter.

"Alright, let's get to the main point—why I asked you all to meet up." Kenji's smile faded, and his tone turned serious.

He pulled out a few sheets of paper as he spoke. "Kenji Squad has been officially reorganized from a temporary unit to a permanent one. I've been assigned as your supervising jōnin. I've also submitted your applications for the Chūnin Exams. These are the registration forms—you'll need to fill them out and submit them yourselves."

Each of the three genin received a form and began looking over the unremarkable document…

"This is the first major event since the Fourth Hokage took office—so… you're all taking this seriously, right? Anyone not want to participate?" Kenji finally asked their intentions.

"Of course I'm in!" Natchi was the first to respond.

"I'm in too." "I'm fine with it." Neru and Tōji weren't as fired up as Natchi, but both were willing.

"Good. That's all, then. I'm only the recommender for this exam—I've already seen what you can do on the battlefield. Get ready on your own!" Kenji passed the responsibility right back to them.

"That's all he's going to say…" Tōji muttered under his breath.

"Oh, one more thing—I'll be leaving the village for an extended mission. You won't be able to reach me for a while." Having finished his business, Kenji was about to leave.

"Captain, you're heading out already?" Natchi noticed him turning to go.

"Yeah. I'm headed to the Land of Water. Can't go into details. Oh—here, take this." No wonder Kenji was still carrying that steel plate—he'd be leaving right after handing out the forms. Before he left, he tossed them a scroll.

『Looks like Konoha has caught wind of the civil unrest in Kiri. Kenji is probably just going to confirm whether Kiri is too weak to wage war abroad. This shouldn't be a very dangerous mission.』

"Stay safe, Captain! Make sure you finish your mission early and come watch our exams!" Natchi's growth spurt had started, but his youthful enthusiasm hadn't faded.

"You got it—good luck, all of you. And one more thing—this Chūnin Exam won't be a walk in the park. The Fourth Hokage won't let the proctors go easy on you. Train hard." With that, Kenji used Body Flicker and was gone…