Chapter 19 | In Naruto With An Achievement System

Chapter 19

The forests that start near the border of the Land of Grass was a dense, tangled mess of roots and thick canopy that choked out most of the afternoon sun. We moved through the trees in silence, leaping from branch to branch.

I adjusted the strap of the scrolls on my waist. It was a low B-Rank mission — delivering essential medical supplies and rations to a forward operating base near the border.

I glanced back, checking our formation. Asuma and Anko were flanking me, their expressions tight and focused. Behind them, the forest seemed empty, but we knew better.

Orochimaru was back there somewhere.

He had slipped away about an hour ago, fading into the foliage to shadow us from a distance. Every ten minutes or so, I would feel a faint, deliberate pulse of chakra so obvious that even someone untrained like me could feel it — a silent signal. I am here. Keep moving.

I remembered his instructions from the briefing. He hadn't been cold, but he had been firm. "You cannot rely on me forever," he had said, his golden eyes serious. "I will be watching, but you must learn to stand on your own two feet. I will only intervene if the situation becomes dire."

It was a safety net, but a loose one. He wanted us to feel the weight of the war. This was the first mission that we took that had some direct impact on the ongoing war.

I kept my attribute distribution firmly locked in "Guard." My body felt dense, heavy, and grounded. It made travel slightly more taxing, but the trade-off was necessary. With the B-Rank bounty on my head, I couldn't afford to be caught off guard by a stray kunai or a trap I didn't see coming. If I got hit, I needed to be able to tank it.

My ears twitched.

Thanks to [Train the Slayer], the sound was distinct even over the rustling of leaves in the wind. It was the sharp, low whistle of metal cutting air.

"Contact! Drop!" I barked.

We dropped to the forest floor just as a volley of shuriken shredded the leaves where we had been standing a second before.

I landed in a crouch, kunai already in hand. "Four of them," I hissed, tracking the sound of sandals hitting wood.

Figures emerged from the tree line ahead. They wore the standard attire of Iwagakure, their faces hidden behind porcelain masks painted with simple, angular patterns. Hunter-nin.

"Konoha brats," one of them muttered, his voice muffled by the mask. "All three of them seem to match the description, 2 & 3 take out the B-Rank."

Two of them broke off, heading for Asuma and Anko. The other two locked eyes with me.

As the first one rushed forward, his hands blurred through a seal. I watched him, ready to intercept, when something flickered in the corner of my vision. To my left, the earth seemed to churn, rising up into a massive wave of stone spikes rushing toward me. What the hell? I hadn't heard a fifth one! A stealth specialist? 

Instinct took over, there wasn't any time to think. I leaped violently to the right, aiming for a high branch to get clear of the earth wave.

"Yuuki! Snap out of it!"

Asuma’s shout cut through the air, harsh and desperate.

My mind stuttered. Snap out of it?

I bit my tongue. Hard. The sharp, metallic taste of copper flooded my mouth, and I flared my chakra, disrupting the flow in my brain. The world rippled and corrected itself.

The earth wave on my left vanished. It wasn't there.

But I had already dodged. I was mid-air, landing on the branch I had aimed for. And waiting for me, perfectly timed to my landing, were the two Iwa-nin. They had planned this out; they had predicted exactly where I would go to avoid the illusion.

Their hands slammed on the ground underneath them.

"Earth Release: Stone Bullet!" They shouted in unison.

The earth underneath them bent as two jagged rocks, roughly the size of cannonballs, shot upward from the earth below. They were too close, I couldn't dodge. I couldn't block.

The impact was like being kicked by a horse. The stones slammed into my chest and shoulder with bone-shattering force.

If I had been in any other state, my ribs would have been pulverized. My lungs would have collapsed. I would be dead or dying before I hit the ground.

But I was in "Guard."

My skin was hard as iron, my muscle density tripled. The rocks shattered against me, showering me in dust and debris, but the kinetic energy still had to go somewhere. I was blasted backward, crashing through foliage until I slammed into the dirt below, rolling to a stop.

I gasped, my chest heaving as I forced air into bruised lungs. It hurt like hell, a deep, throbbing ache spreading through my torso, but nothing was broken.

I scrambled to my feet, my mind racing. Genjutsu. I had been stupid. I had relied so much on my physical durability and senses that I’d neglected the subtle arts. I hadn't even realized I was caught until it was almost too late. Well, I would have snapped out of the Genjutsu after being hit, but what if I hadn't had Guard as my base state when traveling? I shook my head and focused on my current situation.

I looked up. The two Iwa-nin dropped from a tree, landing a few meters away. They paused, their body language screaming in confusion.

"He took a direct hit," one of them said, tilting his head. "How is he standing?"

"Doesn't matter. Let's finish him." The other one grunted, clearly wary.

They drew kunai and rushed me, likely thinking I was more injured than I really am.

I didn't give them the chance to figure it out.

"Swift." 

The world seemed to tilt as the heaviness of my defense evaporated, replaced by the heady, weightless sensation of pure speed.

I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I began cycling my chakra internally, churning it through my coils with violent intensity. It would burn through my reserves faster than necessary, but the turbulence would make it nearly impossible for them to latch any subtle Genjutsu onto me, and any obvious ones I'd been trained by sensei to break.

I kicked off the ground.

The first Hunter-nin — the one who had cast the illusion — saw me blur. He reacted with the discipline of a veteran, instantly pulling a kunai tagged with an explosive note and throwing it directly into my path. It was a spacing tool, meant to force me to stop or dodge.

I didn't stop.

My perception, heightened by the speed shift, tracked the kunai in motion. I brought my own blade up, not to block, but to deflect. Metal rang against metal as I slapped the projectile aside. It spun away into the brush, detonating harmlessly a second later.

I was through the smoke before it cleared.

The Iwa-nin’s eyes widened behind his mask. I was inside his guard.

I drove my kunai across his throat. The momentum of my charge combined with the sharp steel was more than enough.

It was a clean, brutal slash. He gurgled, clutching at his neck as he collapsed to the forest floor.

One down.

I pivoted instantly, locking onto the second enemy.

He was already moving. Seeing his partner drop in the span of a heartbeat, he abandoned the offensive. He leaped backward, kicking off the ground to gain distance, his hands flying through seals to form another Jutsu.

He landed on the soft earth ten meters away, his knees bending to absorb the impact.

That was his mistake. He had stopped moving for a fraction of a second.

The perk [Extraordinary Affinity] gave me a talent for manipulating the element of Wind at an absurd level.

Within an instant, I dropped the kunai and formed a single Bird Seal and felt the chakra gather and transform into what I wanted.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter."

Invisible blades of pressurized vacuum slashed through the air. They moved faster than a thrown weapon.

Just as the Hunter-nin began to rise from his crouch, the wind caught him.

There was a wet, tearing sound. The invisible blades shredded through his clothes and the flesh beneath. He let out a pained scream and went limp shortly afterwards, falling back onto the dirt with a heavy, final thud.

Two down.

I stood there for a moment, my chest heaving slightly, the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I kept my chakra cycling, refusing to let my guard down even for a second. That Genjutsu had been a wake-up call. I was strong, yes. I was fast and I was durable. But I wasn't invincible.

I turned my head, looking toward the other side of the clearing.

— Asuma Sarutobi —

"Yuuki! Snap out of it!"

Asuma’s voice tore from his throat, raw and urgent. He saw Yuuki’s eyes glaze over, saw him leap away where the other two were preparing a jutsu, and for a terrifying heartbeat, he thought their teammate was done for. But he couldn't watch. He couldn't help.

The two Hunter-nin facing them weren't waiting for an invitation.

"Just give up, little Konoha brats," the one on the left sneered, his voice muffled by his mask but the mockery clear. "Make it easy on yourselves."

"Stop playing with your food," the one on the right snapped, drawing a serrated kunai. "We need to be quick."

Anko didn't give them a chance to finish their banter. Her hand blurred, launching a kunai wrapped in an explosive tag straight between the two enemies.

"Move!" she barked.

Asuma and Anko leaped backward in sync just as Anko formed the seal. Katsu.

The explosion wasn't meant to kill; it was meant to blind. A cloud of debris and smoke erupted in the center of the clearing, forcing the Hunter-nin to scatter. It was a basic tactic, one they had drilled into the ground under Orochimaru’s critical eye, but it bought them the second they needed.

"Left one!" Anko shouted, her feet skidding on the dirt as she landed.

Asuma knew the play. He didn't need to look at her to know she was already forming signs. He matched her pace, his chakra flaring.

Tiger. Snake. Tiger.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Anko roared, her chest expanding as she exhaled a massive sphere of flame into the smoke.

Asuma was a split-second behind her, his hands clapping together. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

He exhaled a violent gale that caught the back of Anko's fireball. The wind didn't just push the fire; it fed it. The flames roared, doubling in size and intensity, turning from orange to a searing white-hot intensity as they barreled toward the Hunter-nin on the left.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" The guy yelled.

A slab of rock erupted from the earth, but the combined assault was too much for a hasty defense. The wind-enhanced fire slammed into the wall, wrapping around the edges like water, licking at the shinobi hiding behind it.

A scream was cut short, followed by a stream of curses. "You pieces of shit..."

The smoke cleared. The Hunter-nin on the left was scorched, his flak jacket smoking and his left arm burned, but he was alive. And he was furious.

"Kill them!" He barked.

The team was split. The uninjured Hunter-nin on the right vanished in a Body Flicker, reappearing instantly in front of Anko. She tried to bring her guard up, but he was too fast. A heavy, chakra-enhanced kick slammed into her midsection, launching her backward into the brush with a sickening crunch of breaking branches.

"Anko!" Asuma shouted, turning to help.

A flash of steel cut off his path. The burned Hunter-nin was on him, a short tanto gleaming in his hand. He slashed wildly, anger making him sloppy but aggressive.

Asuma ducked under a decapitating swing, the blade whistling over his hair. He backpedaled, his hand slapping the sealing tag pasted to his hip pouch.

Release.

There was a puff of smoke, and a heavy, black bo staff materialized in his grip.

Asuma gripped the weapon with both hands, feeling a surge of gratitude for his elder brother. He had begged for training with the staff, envious of his Father’s summon, the Monkey King Enma. His brother had indulged him after he'd asked for help with his training, like Orochimaru-sensei advised him to, his elder brother had the weapon commissioned, and gifted him this weapon. It was the work of the few experts of Fuinjutsu that Konoha had access to — to Asuma, it weighed no more than a twig, allowing for lightning-fast strikes. But to anyone else, it hit with the density of solid iron.

The Hunter-nin lunged again, thrusting the tanto toward Asuma's heart.

Asuma didn't dodge. He stepped into the guard, swinging the staff upward. The iron-wood connected with the man’s stomach with a dull, heavy thud.

The Hunter-nin’s eyes bulged behind his mask. He gagged, the air forced out of him by the deceptive weight of the weapon, his momentum completely halted.

Asuma didn't let up. He leaped back to create distance, watching the man stumble, clutching his gut.

Finish it.

Asuma raised the staff to his side, holding it like a spear. He focused his chakra, channeling it into the sealing patterns on the staff. This was another trick his brother had told him about, a mimicking of the Adamantine Staff's ability to alter its shape. 

The staff hummed.

He thrust it forward. "Extend!"

The staff didn't shoot out endlessly, but it elongated just enough — five feet of sudden, unexpected reach.

The Hunter-nin, thinking he was out of range, tried to raise his tanto to deflect. He was too slow.

The heavy, expanding end of the staff slammed into the side of his neck with the force of a falling tree.

CRACK.

It was a wet, snapping sound. The Hunter-nin gasped, his head snapping to the side at an unnatural angle. He dropped the tanto, his body going limp as he collapsed to the forest floor, twitching once before going still.

Asuma stood over him, chest heaving, the adrenaline singing in his ears. He retracted the staff, the weapon shrinking back to its normal length.

For a moment, he couldn't believe it. He let out a single, shaky laugh. He might not be Kagurazaka with his monstrous talent for manipulating Wind and his ability to alter the state of his body, but… he'd walk down his own path and that started today. 

He shook his head, this wasn't the time to bask in  pride as he cursed, his teammate was facing off against the other Shinobi, he turned his head, his eyes wide. "Anko!"

— Anko Mitarashi —

Anko hit the ground hard, skidding through the dirt and dead leaves, but she didn't stay down. She rolled with the momentum, springing back to her feet just as the Hunter-nin closed the distance. Her ribs throbbed where his boot had connected, a dull, grinding ache, but the adrenaline drowned it out.

He came at her with a heavy, straightforward punch. Anko didn't try to block it. She wasn't Yuuki; she couldn't match this guy's weight class.

Instead, she flowed.

She dipped her shoulder, slipping under his guard with the fluid grace of the Striking Serpent Style Orochimaru had drilled into her. She was smaller, yes, but she was faster. She came up inside his reach, her stiffened fingers jabbing into the soft tissue under his armpit, then snapping out to strike the nerve cluster in his thigh.

The Hunter-nin grimaced, a grunt of pain escaping his mask, but he didn't stop. He was an Iwa-nin, built like the stone he commanded. Anko’s strikes were precise, stinging like vipers, but she lacked the raw muscle to put him down. He absorbed the hits and swung a backfist that forced her to duck frantically.

She was losing ground. For every hit she landed, he forced her back two steps. She glanced peripherally — Asuma was locked in his own duel. No help coming.

Fine, she thought, her eyes narrowing. We’ll do it the hard way.

The Hunter-nin lunged. Anko saw the opening to dodge, but she didn't take it. Instead, she braced herself. She let his heavy fist connect with her shoulder, rolling with the impact to minimize the damage but allowing the force to lift her off her feet.

She landed on her back a few meters away, gasping as the air left her lungs. She lay there for a second, looking vulnerable, looking beaten.

The Hunter-nin loomed over her, his silhouette blocking out the sun. He drew a kunai, spinning it in his hand. He didn't rush. He thought he had won.

"You were good," he said, and his voice held a strange, professional remorse. "If onl—"

Anko had to resist the urge to smile, instead she did her best to raise her hand weakly as if begging to live on.

"Surprise motherfucker," she hissed, unable to stop her eyes from widening and her mouth from contorting into a vicious grin.

From her raised arm, she channelled a sudden, violent burst of chakra. From her sleeve, a purple-and-black blur shot out like a living dart.

Kage moved faster than the eye could track at such a small distance. The snake launched from Anko’s wrist and slammed into the Hunter-nin’s throat, fangs sinking deep into the soft flesh above his flak jacket.

The man gagged, his hands flying up to tear at the serpent, his kunai dropping from his nerve-deadened fingers.

Anko didn't waste the opening. She scrambled up and drove her shin directly between his legs with every ounce of strength she possessed.

The Hunter-nin’s eyes rolled back, his breath hitching in a silent scream as he crumpled forward. Anko snatched his falling kunai out of the air. In one smooth motion, she stepped past him and slashed.

A spray of crimson painted the forest floor. The Hunter-nin collapsed, twitching once before going still.

Anko stood over him, chest heaving, wiping a splatter of blood from her cheek. "Hah! Fucking bastard."

She relished the feeling — the rush of the kill, the validation of her training. She wasn't just a loudmouth. She was dangerous.

Kage released her bite and slithered down the dead man’s body, making her way back up Anko’s leg and coiling around her arm. The snake’s scales were slick with blood.

"Good job, Kage," Anko breathed, stroking the serpent’s head. "And thanks."

Kage flicked her tongue against Anko’s wrist, a gesture that felt surprisingly affectionate. "You are welcome," the snake hissed softly.

— Yuuki Kagurazaka —

The silence of the forest returned, heavier than before, broken only by the ragged breathing of my teammates and the settling dust.

I watched as Asuma and Anko emerged from the brush. Asuma was wiping sweat from his brow, his face grim but satisfied. Anko had a smear of blood on her cheek — not hers — and a feral grin that softened only when she looked my way.

Her eyes dropped to my chest, where the stone bullets had impacted. It had torn through my shirt and I knew there was a nasty, spreading bruise beneath it.

"You alright?" she asked, tilting her head. "It’s the first time I’ve seen you actually take damage in a while."

I rolled my shoulder, testing the range of motion. It throbbed, a dull, consistent ache, but nothing clicked or ground together. My ribs thankfully held.

"I'm fine," I said, keeping my voice steady. And I meant it. Compared to the sensation of having my chakra pathways scoured by the Nine-Tails' toxic malice, a bruised sternum felt like a tickle. "Just a wake-up call."

A sudden gust of wind swirled the fallen leaves in the center of our formation. We all tensed instinctively, but I relaxed a second later as the leaves coalesced into a tall, pale figure.

Orochimaru stood there, his golden eyes sweeping over the carnage — the bodies of the two I killed, Anko and Asuma's, were a bit away, deeper in the forest.

I looked away, staring at the ground. A flush of shame heated my neck. I had gotten… not cocky but a bit too lenient, thinking "Guard" made me invincible, and a genjutsu had nearly cost me my life. I braced myself for the biting remark, the disappointment.

"An adequate display," Orochimaru began, his voice smooth.

He turned his gaze to my teammates first. "Anko, Asuma. You did well to separate the two attackers. Dividing their focus was the correct decision."

He looked at the Hokage's son. "Asuma. Using the Bo Staff as a surprise element was a sound strategy. It ended the fight quickly. However..." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Do not become reliant on the element of surprise. Had that Hunter-nin been faster, you would have been stabbed before you could extend it. A tool is an extension of the shinobi, not a crutch."

Asuma straightened, nodding sharply. "Understood, sensei."

Orochimaru turned to Anko. "And you. Using Kage  and the mentality of your enemy to create an opening against a physically superior opponent showed excellent adaptability. You recognized your disadvantage and turned it into an advantage. Well done."

Anko beamed, giving a thumbs up to the snake coiled on her arm.

Finally, the golden eyes landed on me.

I braced myself.

"Yuuki."

"Sensei," I muttered, still not meeting his eyes. "I was careless."

"You were," he agreed, but his tone wasn't harsh. It was... thoughtful. "However, do not be too harsh on yourself. This failure is partially mine."

I looked up, surprised.

"Your physical and ninjutsu development has been so rapid, so overwhelming, that I neglected to drill the fundamentals of higher level genjutsu dispelling and recognition into you properly," Orochimaru admitted, his expression unreadable. "We focused on your strengths and ignored a glaring weakness. Today, you survived it and adapted. That is what matters."

He paused, glancing at the body of the man I had killed with the Wind Cutter. "You recognized the threat, broke the hold, and eliminated the enemy. You did well, Yuuki-kun."

The tension in my shoulders bled away. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, slumping slightly. I wasn't dead. The team was alive. It was a learning experience, not a fatal error.

"Thank you, sensei," I said.

"Let us continue," Orochimaru commanded, turning his back to us. "The mission is not yet complete. Move out."

He vanished back into the trees, resuming his overwatch.

I tightened the strap of the scroll on my back, ignoring the ache in my chest. I would be more careful from now on. 

"Let's go," I said to the others.

We took off into the canopy, leaving the bodies of the Iwa-nin to the forest floor.

— Hiruzen Sarutobi (Third Hokage) —

The silence in the Council Room was heavy, a suffocating blanket that settled over the long table following Hiruzen's report. The revelation hung in the air, shifting the gravity of the entire war effort.

"To think the Lord First’s ability still lives on... even if it is in a different form," Shikaku Nara murmured. Though he had only recently succeeded his father as Clan Head, the relaxed posture and lazy look on his face betrayed a mind already at work, rapidly integrating this new variable into Konoha’s strategic outlook.

Around the table, the reactions varied from stoic contemplation to visible shock. The heads of the noble clans — Tsume Inuzuka, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, Shibi Aburame, Hiashi Hyūga, and Fugaku Uchiha — exchanged guarded glances. This was the new generation of leadership, forced to step up early due to the demands of the war, and they were already facing a decision that could alter the village's future. Tsunade sat among them, present not only as a witness to the boy's bloodline but as the acting head of the Senju.

Hiruzen let the silence stretch for a moment, his gaze sweeping the room. He had briefly considered burying this information. It would have been easy to attribute the suppression of the Nine-Tails entirely to Minato Namikaze; the Yellow Flash was already rapidly becoming a hero not only among the civilians, but Shinobi as well, this would be just another feat that would only solidify his reputation. But too many eyes had been watching. Standard shinobi and Hidden ANBU alike had seen Yuuki Kagurazaka rushing toward Training Ground 13 alongside a panicked operative. Furthermore, sending the boy into the war with such a high-profile ability kept secret would only lead to disaster when he inevitably used it to survive. It was better to reveal the asset now, on Hiruzen's terms, than to deal with the fallout later.

His eyes finally landed on the three individuals who mattered most in this context: his former teammates.

Danzo Shimura sat perfectly still, his visible eye unreadable, though Hiruzen knew the gears in his rival's mind were turning, assessing the boy's value to the village and to himself. 

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, however, looked visibly pained. They stared at the wood grain of the table, their expressions tight with a distinct frustration. It wasn't anger at the situation, but a deep, personal sting caused by Hiruzen’s secrecy.

Hiruzen felt a pang of guilt prick at his conscience. While he had been the only one directly trained by the First Hokage, they had all grown up in Hashirama's shadow. To them, the First hadn't just been their military leader, he was the jovial, larger-than-life figure they had admired, the relaxed elder brother of their own sensei, Tobirama. He was the man who had laughed with them and protected them. For Hiruzen to hide a remnant of Hashirama’s legacy, a child who carried that same spark of life, felt to them like a betrayal of their shared history.

"Before we continue," Hiruzen interjected, his gaze firm as he addressed the assembly, "There is the matter of compensation. The boy risked his life facing the Nine-Tails and sustained significant chakra system damage as a result. I am authorizing an Emergency S-Rank payment for his role in the suppression."

A murmur of agreement rippled through the room. Even those who were wary of the boy's power couldn't deny the magnitude of the feat.

"Agreed," Tsume Inuzuka grunted, crossing her arms. "The kid stared down a Tailed Beast. If that doesn't earn hazard pay, nothing does."

"It is only fair," Hiashi Hyūga added, his tone measured. "Such a contribution must be recognized."

Hiruzen nodded, satisfied. It was a small gesture, but a necessary one.

"When will he be deployed to the front lines?"

Danzo Shimura’s voice cut through the momentary accord, sharp and cold. He was reading the detailed file on Yuuki that had been compiled by Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiruzen himself, his visible eye scanning the text.

Hiruzen was ready for this. "As of this moment, he has not learned enough nor is he experienced enough for direct combat on the main front. This assessment is based on direct reports from his sensei, Orochimaru."

A few of the clan heads nodded in agreement. The boy was powerful, yes, but he was also nine years old. Throwing him into the meat grinder of the main front was a waste of potential.

"Is that so?" Danzo countered, setting the file down on the table. "Has Minato’s team not been sent on missions dangerously close to the front lines? Kakashi Hatake is younger than the boy, yet he is already a field asset."

He gestured to the file. "The team has completed multiple missions successfully. They have engaged and defeated enemy Chunin. That isn't even considering the sheer force of will required to face the Nine-Tails directly and survive. To hold him back now is coddling Hiruzen. And in war, coddling breeds weakness."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly. He wondered why his old rival was pushing for this. Perhaps Danzo saw Yuuki as a weapon to be used before it broke, or perhaps he simply wanted to test the limits of the boy's durability.

Still, the logic wasn't entirely flawed. The pressure was mounting. Iwa had deployed their Jinchuriki, shifting the balance of power on the western front. Kumo would not be far behind. Even with Kushina’s newfound control over her chains, Konoha needed every advantage it could muster.

"While I will not send them directly to the main front yet," Hiruzen replied calmly, "I have already begun integrating them into the wider war effort. Just today, they were dispatched on a B-Rank supply run to the border garrisons."

Danzo stared at him for a long moment, then gave a single, curt nod. "Very well."

"Are there any other questions regarding the boy's status?" Hiruzen asked, opening the floor.

"Has he been officially taken under the Senju banner?" Fugaku Uchiha asked, his gaze shifting toward Tsunade. It was a question that likely stemmed from the long standing rivalry between the Senju and the Uchiha which stayed even with the rapidly dwindling number of Senju in the village.

Tsunade didn't flinch. "Not as of now," she answered smoothly, her face a mask of professional indifference. "It would be suspicious and would only draw more attention to him before he is ready. Once the ability becomes public knowledge, we will file the official adoption paperwork."

Internally, however, Tsunade's thoughts were far from indifferent. She had lost so much to war, her fiancé Dan. The Senju were dwindling, targeted and hunted until only a handful remained. Staying in the village had taken convincing from Jiraiya and Orochimaru, but even then, her heart had remained hollow. The idea of Yuuki, a boy with her grandfather's power and a stubborn will to survive, offered a strange, tentative hope. An anchor in a storm she had been drifting in for too long.

The council nodded in agreement. The name Senju carried a heavy price in blood. It was a shield, but also a target.

"One final matter," Shikaku Nara spoke up, his lazy demeanor vanishing as he leaned forward. "Regarding his rank. The combat reports don't match the profile of a Genin. If we are sending him on war missions and acknowledging his role in suppressing a Bijuu... a field promotion should be considered."

Hiruzen nodded. It was the logical next step. "It is being considered. However, he will remain a part of Team Orochimaru. This was a firm request from his sensei, who does not deem his training complete."

"But," Hiruzen added, glancing around the table, "he will be granted the rank and thus the ability to take missions with other Jonin and Chunin squads as needed, similar to the arrangement with Kakashi Hatake. This will allow us to utilize his unique skill set without disrupting his development."

"That seems like a reasonable compromise," Choza rumbled.

"Then it is decided," Hiruzen said, standing to signal the end of the session. "Dismissed."

AN: Yuuki isn't infallible yet and I realised that I hadn't yet introduced Genjutsu in any way. Yuuki has been trained in dispelling Genjutsu but the focus has primarily been on his Ninjutsu - Wind, Earth & Water + Nature Release and his integration of Attribute Distribution in his Taijutsu. So, I'll ask what you think, do you think this was OOC for Orochimaru or Yuuki to not have paid attention to it?  We also see the leveled up Asuma and Anko, the Bo staff is a slight stretch but it fits, I think.

The Council Meeting was to show that the cat is out the bag, originally I was going to do a Danzo POV but it ended up being way too short for me to include it, but the last line of it was:

“What is it that makes you tick, Yuuki Kagurazaka?”

Quick question, consider it a small poll without actually making one, should Yuuki get a feat, something like, “Survive a Hunter-nin Squad,” or something else, and if so the level of achievement you think it is. I'd honestly consider it low, but eh.

With Yuuki’s promotion to Chunin, I can expand on the world, missions and the war + introduce missions with other characters.

As usual, thank you for continued support on Patreon, a lot of people have recently joined, like a lot. While y'all are paying me, I still heavily appreciate you liking the chapter and commenting your thoughts!