Mikoto also decides to recommend her teams for the Chunin Exam for a simple reason: the exam is going to be held in the village, which is far safer than being held in other villages.
While they might be newbies in the grand scheme of things, Mikoto believes that her students already have the capabilities of Chunin Ninja, especially Keimei, who has Jonin capabilities.
Even if they didn't successfully promote in the exam, it was still a valuable experience for her students, especially for Karin and Hikari, who, despite starting with bad terms, slowly got closer to each other.
'Keimei's influence really is great.' A small smile appeared on Mikoto's face.
While Mikoto doesn't know when the announcement of the Chunin Exam will be released, she has a feeling it will be soon.
Not only was Mikoto thinking about the Chunin Exam, but other Jonin senseis were as well, especially for the new batch of Genin.
Not only because it was safer but also for political reasons, since most of the heirs of the Ninja Clan of the Leaf are in the same batch as well, so they can show other villages and organizations the prowess of the Leaf's future generation.
The entire week passed, and Kakashi had already recovered and trained his team. The incident he experiences also makes him realize how he focuses too much on training and decides to train his three students in their fundamentals as well as teach them some advanced stuff.
While the training was short, Sasuke, Hisateru, and Kaori did grow notably.
Kakashi already decides to recommend his students not because he believes in their capability but because due to the political pressure.
It was clear to Kakashi that many wanted to see the capabilities of the three Uchiha of the leaf.
Training Ground 13.
Naruto, Satsuki, and Hinata are called out by Fugaku after their full weekday off, but the latter hasn't arrived yet, so the three wait patiently in the training ground—at least the two of them wait patiently.
Naruto, who finds Fugaku, hasn't arrived yet and decides to take a small nap since he hasn't slept for days thanks to his job as a Jujutsu Sorcerer as well as the preparation of his plan, which he has been working on for years now.
Naruto jumps towards one of the branches of the tree and quickly closes his eyes. Naruto wouldn't care about if Fugaku appeared soon, as right now he needs some well-deserved rest.
Satsuki and Hinata glance at each other before staring at Naruto with weird expressions on their faces. If they didn't know the existence of Jujutsu Sorcerers and the jobs they take, the two might think that Naruto is being arrogant.
But right now they are wondering what kind of work Naruto did to leave himself exhausted. From what they learn from Hitomi, they know that Naruto is incredibly busy.
If they wouldn't pay attention to Naruto closely, they wouldn't notice the sign of the latter not sleeping for a few days.
The two girls decide not to disturb Naruto and let him rest for the time being before Fugaku appears.
After waiting for half an hour, there's still no presence of Fugaku, which really surprises Satsuki since Fugaku is usually on time, and when he is late, it's around a few minutes at best.
This really makes Satsuki wonder why Fugaku hasn't arrived yet.
"Satsuki," Hinata whispers, attracting Satsuki's attention.
"Do you have any idea the reason why Fugaku-sensei hasn't arrived yet?" Hinata asks, voice full of curiosity.
"No," Satsuki shakes her head.
"Early this morning I didn't even see my father at home, and my mother told me he had some important things to do, though I was told to be here as he had something important to tell us," Satsuki added calmly.
Though it really makes Satsuki wonder about the important things that his father had to do. She had the feeling it wasn't about the police force or towards them but something else, but she didn't have any concrete proof to believe what she felt; all she can do is remain observant of their surroundings.
Hinata also thinks the same way but differently. She was sure it wasn't about the Police Force or their team but something else important since she accidentally saw a few Jonin ninja with serious expressions on their faces.
It was clear something important happened in the shadow, but what this was all about was something she didn't know.
Just as the two girls were about to continue discussing Fugaku, at the corner of their eyes they saw Naruto awaken from his nap and jump down to the ground.
The two girls immediately realized the reason behind Naruto's action.
Hokage Mansion: Hokage Office.
Minato is currently at his desk reading the files he just recently received. One of the files is all the genin teams that were going to participate in the Chunin Exam, and just as he originally anticipated, most of the newbie genins are participating.
'Not that surprising really if one thinks about it deeply.'
The Chunin Exam will commence in seven days, and as for today, all the Jonin sensei have to inform their teams about the exam. Minato believes that all of the genin that were recommended will participate in the exam.
Talking about the Chunin Exam makes Minato turn his eyesight to the specific spot of his desk where an envelope is placed.
This envelope contains the intel about the Hidden Sound Village. It wasn't really a hidden village per se but a series of laboratories and hideouts situated throughout the Land of Rice.
After learning about the fact that the person behind the Hidden Sound Village is Orochimaru, Minato decides to task the ANBU to collect as much intel as they can in a short period of time while maintaining secrecy.
Minato didn't want to alert Orochimaru about the fact that he knew this information, but he had a feeling that Orochimaru had already guessed it; after all, Orochimaru was a genius.
It wouldn't really be surprising, but if there's a small chance that Orochimaru didn't know, it will definitely be a great advantage to the Leaf.
Due to the bad news that happened a few days ago. Mizuki had been murdered in his cell, much to everyone's shock, since the cell where Mizuki resides has pretty high security.
Minato tasks the ANBU to investigate the situation, but the ANBU found zero clues about the incident. This incident also made them aware of the fact that Orochimaru still had many ways to learn information about the Leaf.
It was clear that the person behind Mizuki's death would be Orochimaru, but the question remains: how did he do it?
This is probably a question that isn't going to get answered any time soon.
This is also the reason why Minato wasn't confident that Orochimaru was oblivious about their findings.
Minato knows that he has to be prepared for the worst-case situation once Orochimaru decides to take action. While he was confident in his abilities, no one can deny Orochimaru's capabilities as a ninja.
But right now he didn't have time to think about Orochimaru yet but instead had to focus much attention on the Chunin Exam since this one is going to be different compared to the previous exam. It will be special, and it is also a first time.
Minato's lip slightly curled upward, and he started to resume working.
Training Ground 13.
Currently, Fugaku stands in front of his students, who are seated on the ground before him.
"The Chunin Exam?" Hinata repeats her sensei's words, still in a bit of shock.
"That's right." Fugaku slightly nods. "These exams allow all genin who participate the opportunity to have their skills assessed. Those who are evaluated and deemed by the examiners as having the adequate skills are awarded an ascension in rank and become Chunin."
"A ninja who, among other responsibilities, is allowed to lead their own squad on missions," Fugaku briefly explains while secretly paying more attention to Naruto.
Fugaku wanted to know what kind of reaction Naruto had after hearing about a chance of becoming a Chunin. It was clear to those who know Naruto's strength that it will definitely be a guarantee for him to become a Chunin with his skills alone.
Naruto wasn't oblivious to Fugaku's gaze, but he ignored it. The Chunin Exam slightly interests him but for different reasons.
He wouldn't really gain anything from the Chunin Exam or becoming a Chunin for that matter since, from his perspective, becoming a ninja was just a way for him to roam around the village without the trouble of hiding to kill cursed spirits.
Still, while he didn't gain anything meaningful participating in the exam, he can use this exam for one of his projects, for which he wanted to see the results.
Naruto's lips slightly curled upward, which didn't go unnoticed by others, though they thought of it as a sign of Naruto getting excited, which wasn't really wrong but isn't right either, though Naruto wouldn't clear up such a misunderstanding.