“Sensei, y-you’re back?”

  Shisui was running past a shop when he gnced inside and saw Kyoichi sitting there.

  Kyoichi put his book down and looked up.

  “Yes, I saw you all training hard, so I didn’t disturb you.”

  “I see…”

  Shisui walked in, gng arouantly.

  Kyoichi frowned. “If you’ve got something to say, just say it. A five-year-old ag more mature than Asuma isn’t a good thing.”

  “Yes, I wao ask—has the in Exams started?”

  Kyoichi raised an eyebrow, setting his book aside to look at him.

  “It’s just… I saw a lot of Genin squads returning.”

  Shisui expined.

  “Mhm. The in Exams are starting soon. I nning to wait until you were all here before saying anything.”

  Kyoiodded.

  Shisui ched his fists, visibly excited.

  A moment ter, Asuma and Kurenai arrived oer another.

  Everyone was here.

  “The in Exams are starting. Here’s the application form. If you’re ied, sign up. If not, it’s fihis exam is different from before.”

  Kyoichi didn’t expin further.

  But…

  Kurenai and the others quickly uood.

  “Sensei…”

  “This is gonough!”

  Different?

  That must mean Kyoichi desighe test!

  “I won’t spoil anything, but for the few days, we’ll be doing some specialized training.”

  “Yes!”

  Everyone umped.

  The in Exams!

  They might not necessarily pass, but it was a great ce to gauge the strength of other squads.

  Asuma casually sat down and helped himself to some food.

  After following Kyoichi, his sense of shame had gradually eroded. The pride and discipline expected of the Sarutobi heir? o be seen.

  Of course…

  Shisui wasn’t much better.

  At this point, he didn’t look like a typical Uchiha at all.

  He didn’t wear the Uchiha crest, nor did he stantly boast about his . He even eagerly took on tasks like carrying water and chopping wood.

  If it weren’t for the fact that these chores had retly been turned into official missions, he might still be volunteering to help random vilgers.

  Obito was the same way.

  These two were the bck sheep of the Uchiha .

  The only difference…

  Obito was just… simpler. And iure, he’d be even dumber.

  Kyoichi didn’t mean to insult Obito. But teag him was ten times harder than teag Shisui.

  As for Kurenai…

  A certain image fshed through Kyoichi’s mind.

  Sakura Haruno…

  Kurenai specialized isu, but iy, she shared a simir startie with Sakura.

  Excellent chakra trol

  A sharp mind

  A natural affinity fenjutsu

  The only difference?

  Sakura had someone else inside her.

  Kyoichi thought for a long moment before making a decision.

  Super Strength!

  Once Kurenai mastered mediinjutsu, he’d teach her super strength teiques for self-defense. Not that Kyoichi could use them yet.

  The books in his study didn’t tain those teiques, but that wasn’t an issue. With Katsuyu’s help, he could always ask Tsunade.

  However…

  For Kurenai, just learning the basics would be enough.

  She didn’t o master it. Just enough to protect herself.

  Her main focus would remaisu and mediinjutsu.

  With that settled, Kyoichi finalized his training pn.

  “Asuma, keep up your usual training. You should aim to master Fire Release soon.”

  “Yes!”

  “Shisui, put your swordsmanship on hold for now. Focus on Vacuum Bde and Vacuum Wave.”

  “Yes!”

  “Kurenai, I want you to fully master the Mystical Palm Teique before the exams. We won’t be taking any missions for now, so e to me anytime you have questions.”

  Kyoichi gave his instrus one by one.

  He wasn’t giving them direswers to the exam, but targeted training? That was fair game.

  Of course…

  He wasn’t the only one doing this.

  Every Jōnin who attehe meeting knew what was ing.

  Training was necessary.

  A real battlefield wouldn’t alrovide ideal ons.

  Take Kakashi, for example.

  In the inal timeline, once Chidori’s fws were exposed and his chakra bde was broken, his bat strength dropped signifitly.

  Losing his sword cost him half his power.

  That was a serious fw.

  Kurenai nodded seriously.

  She uood.

  If she could master the Mystical Palm Teique asu before the exam, she’d be a huge asset to her team.

  Asuma and Shisui didn’t fully get it, but…

  They trusted Kyoichi.

  ---

  The Day…

  Minato arrived with a thick stack of dots.

  This was the finalized version of Kyoichi’s proposal.

  Written by Minato himself.

  It was incredibly detailed…

  Each aspect clearly expihe purpose and evaluation criteria. Very thh.

  Hiruzen read it carefully from start to finish.

  After a long silence…

  He sighed deeply.

  “Lord Third, are you dissatisfied with the pn?”

  Minato uzzled.

  The more he wrote yesterday, the more he felt that Kyoichi’s system was superior—more prehensive, better at simuting the uability of war.

  Stealing scrolls? Sure, that required flict.

  But in real battles, would things really be that simple?

  No way…

  Otlefield, even Jōnin would target Genin.

  But…

  Minato noticed that Hiruzen seemed unhappy after reading the pn.

  “No… It’s just… when it es to innovation, you young people are really something. As for me… I’m old. Useless.”

  Hiruzen chuckled.

  He was known for his deep scheming.

  But after reading Kyoichi’s proposal, he suddenly realized—

  After so many years as Hokage, he had dohing but tihe rules set by his teacher.

  Oh…

  There was ohing.

  Early graduation.

  But that turned out to be a disaster.

  pared to a kid like Kyoichi…

  Even Hiruzen couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

  Of course…

  He quickly posed himself, hiding his emotions.

  After all…

  He was the Hokage.

  With a serious expression, he said, “We’ll implement this pn as is. As for team assigs, Minato, I’ll leave that to you.”

  “Yes!”

  Minato heated. “And Kyoichi’s payment…?”

  “The vilge’s funds are tight. I’ll see if he’s willing to accept other pensation instead.”

  Hiruzen thought for a moment.

  Normally, the vilge wouldn’t ck money.

  But…

  The war had just ended, and another flict could break out at any moment.

  No matter how much mohey had, it would never be enough.

  “Yes, I uand. I’ll finalize the details.”

  Minato didn’t press further.

  Sihe Third had a pn, Kyoichi wouldn’t be shortged.

  He only had admiration for Kyoichi.

  People had wao reform the in Exams before, but they never found a good solution.

  Make it too realistic?

  Too hard—no one would pass.

  Make it too easy?

  Then anyone could bee a in.

  So in the end…

  Everyone just stuck with the old system.

  But Kyoichi’s pn was different.

  It covered intelligehering, teamwork, leadership, and bat.

  It erfectly suited for seleg in.

  Now the real problem was…

  How to form the teams?

  Wait…

  Minato suddenly remembered something.

  He still had to train Obito and Rin!

  Without Kakashi, Rin might struggle to pass, and Obito… there was no way he’d make it past the sed round.

  At that moment, Minato deeply regretted everything.

  It felt like he hadn’t made Kyoichi do extra work—

  He had just given himself a massive headache.

  Gcell