Chapter Fifteen: Before the Jonin Examination

Just as our protagonist, Mikaze Kato, was drawing the attention of the higher-ups in the Hidden Leaf Village, he himself was entirely unaware of it. He was still busy running around on his squad's missions, squeezing in training whenever he could. If he found a rare moment of leisure, he’d invite a few classmates and friends to soak in the bathhouse and share a drink or two.

If nothing else, Mikaze could always spend time with Tsunade to deepen their relationship. For Mikaze Kato, bathing and getting closer to Tsunade were the main goals in his life at the moment. As the saying goes, life is not just about the hardships before you, but also about the bathhouses and the distant dream of being with Tsunade.

Both bathing and being with Tsunade were, for Mikaze, means to relax and find comfort. Bathing was an easily attainable goal. As for Tsunade—well, have you ever seen fists the size of sandbags? Even if you were beaten up, you could consider it a form of relaxing massage…

Such was the plain and unadorned, even tedious, life of those ninja with modest means and just enough ability to survive in the shinobi world. A life so dull it could almost be spat upon.

Mikaze Kato had no time to care about the attention of the village's higher-ups. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was easy enough to deal with—he was the village’s visible leader, the boss of his superior, and Tsunade’s mentor. For Mikaze, maintaining a good relationship with Sarutobi was certainly beneficial, and from a clan standpoint, the Kato family had always supported the Hokage lineage. In the past, the Kato clan even allowed the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, to study their secret soul separation technique, so their ties with the Hokage were strong indeed.

As for the attention from the Hokage Council, especially Danzo Shimura, Mikaze was at least somewhat familiar—after all, he’d read some of the original story in his previous life. Danzo, the infamous "Pot Shadow," was the leader of the elite ANBU training division known as "Root." Of course Mikaze knew who he was. Still, Mikaze wasn’t really acquainted with Danzo or the other council elders. Despite his reputation for networking, he’d never managed to break into their level of influence—after all, in the end, strength was the currency of the shinobi world, and the Kato family’s social skills could only go so far.

The Hidden Leaf was the strongest ninja village in the world, with a considerable number of active ninja. Mikaze’s reputation and connections were good, but not enough to break through the village’s social barriers. The shinobi world, at its core, ran on Darwin’s laws—the strong survive, and strength commanded respect. Everything else was just support.

"Root," the village’s shadow, was a steadfast supporter of the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire meant that wherever leaves danced, fire would burn; the shadow of the fire would illuminate the village, and new leaves would sprout again. Mikaze was no naïve child, nor did he have any idealistic scruples. He had lived in the ninja world, in the Hidden Leaf, for quite some time, and was now a competent ninja whose hands were stained with blood—though only that of the village’s enemies.

He bore no prejudice against Root, nor did most of the village’s ninja. If there were real objections, the great clans wouldn’t allow their members to participate in Root. After all, Root was still part of the Leaf, and all served the village’s interests. Where there is fire and shadow, there will always be darkness—there will always be roots. To use an analogy from his previous life, the internet was once filled with influencers of all types, some spreading positive energy, others thriving on outrage or shock value.

As long as you didn’t cross the moral or legal line, making a living was nothing to be ashamed of—everyone had to survive.

The same logic applied to Root. Root existed to handle the village’s darker matters, especially those the Hokage himself couldn’t address openly. As long as they didn’t cross the village’s bottom line, it was all for the development and survival of the Leaf and the spread of the Will of Fire.

From what Mikaze had observed over the past decade or so, the division between the Third Hokage and the Hokage Council, led by Danzo, had not yet reached the levels seen later in the original story. They were all still in their prime, around forty years old, with Sarutobi in particular at the peak of his power—his strength clearly outstripped the council elders.

None had lost their ambition in the shinobi world. They had once been comrades who could entrust their backs to one another. Only a few years ago, they had supported each other through the turmoil following the Second Hokage Tobirama’s sudden sacrifice and had led the village to ever-greater strength, maintaining its position as the foremost shinobi village in the world.

The concerns of the Hokage and the council were still somewhat distant from Mikaze Kato. His immediate priority was to pass the Jonin exam as quickly as possible and become a Jonin. He was already a year behind the top students in his class—if he didn’t catch up soon, he’d fall hopelessly behind.

Being behind Orochimaru, Tsunade, Sakumo Hatake, and his own brother was one thing, but to be surpassed by Jiraiya, the eternal underachiever, was simply intolerable. Tsunade was his future wife, after all—how could he call himself strong if his wife outperformed him? Orochimaru and the others had always been top students at the academy; Mikaze, with his "average talent," had long since made peace with that.

But to be mocked by Jiraiya was beyond endurance—not just because of Tsunade, but because it would mean he couldn’t enjoy the bathhouse with Jiraiya, couldn’t boast and play together as equals.

Fortunately, for the past month or two, Tsunade and the others had been away on missions, sparing Mikaze from Jiraiya’s flaunting of his new Jonin uniform. The only regret was not seeing Tsunade for a while. But why, he wondered, were those three still teamed together after their promotion to Jonin? Was the village’s high-level Jonin force really so abundant?

Mikaze’s previous obsession with mastering the Soul Separation Technique had set him back compared to his peers like Orochimaru. He knew it was difficult, but hadn’t realized just how much. Even with the help of his cheat-like ninja system, he had nearly failed.

But now, after bitter struggle, he had mastered the even stronger and more mysterious Spirit Nurturing Technique, and his basic strength had reached, even surpassed, Jonin level. At the very least, the next time he went to the bathhouse with Jiraiya, he could look down on him as usual.

Mikaze had already received notice from the Hokage’s office about the details of the upcoming Jonin exam: the date, the number of participants, and the location. It was set for next Tuesday at nine in the morning. There would be nine candidates, and the exam would take place at Training Ground Four in the Forest of Death.

He had already requested leave from the ninja management office to spend the next few days focused entirely on training and preparation. He wanted to refine his mastery, particularly the soul projection effect of the Spirit Nurturing Technique. During a recent mission pursuing a Sand spy in the Rain Village, he had used this ability in actual combat for the first time. Though he had seemed nonchalant, only he knew how risky it truly was. Yet danger often comes hand in hand with opportunity, and recently he had discovered another effect of the Spirit Nurturing Technique.

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