Chapter 44: There are benefits of having connections to the highest authority

Words : 1795 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 44 - There are benefits of having connections to the highest authority Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage sat behind his desk, speaking with a young shinobi whose silver hair and covered face made him resemble a scarecrow. Their conversation was interrupted by the loud slam of the door, but while the Hokage remained unfazed, the young shinobi immediately tensed, shifting into a defensive stance. Before he could react further, an arm suddenly slung around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hold. A familiar voice followed, full of laughter and mischief. "Kakashi, you brat! I told you to come see me, but you never do. How come, huh? Well, now that I've caught you, don't even think about running. Stay here till I'm done, and then we'll talk!" The silver-haired boy, Kakashi Hatake, sighed in his usual deadpan tone. "I was busy with missions, Juichi-san." "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Juichi Takahashi waved him off, clearly not buying the excuse. With a grin, he pulled out a stack of explosion tags and thumped them against Kakashi's chest. "Here, these were made by my son. Try them out when you're in the field they're great!" he boasted with a laugh. Hiruzen let out a weary sigh, shaking his head. "You're starting to remind me of Tsuna more than your own sensei, Juichi." Juichi didn't miss a beat. "Old man, you liked me just fine when I was young and acted like this what happened now?" Hiruzen's expression darkened slightly as he replied sternly, "Because you are not at an age where this behavior is appropriate anymore. You have a son now, Juichi. Why don't you try acting like a mature adult?" Juichi, completely ignoring the Hokage's words, took a seat and casually bound Kakashi's legs with his own, effectively trapping him. He then pulled out the explosion tags and storage scrolls that Ren had given him, placing them on the desk with a smug grin. "Look at these my son made them! And get this, he even made a storage belt! You know how long it took him? Only a month!" he laughed proudly. Hiruzen's frown deepened at Juichi's blatant disregard for his lecture, but after a moment, he let out a sigh and picked up the tags and scrolls, inspecting them carefully. "Hmm... the quality is quite good, and the compression of space in the storage seals is handled well." The Hokage nodded in approval before casting a glance at Juichi. "It seems young Ren has real talent in this field unlike you, who had explosion tags blowing up in your face even after a whole year of training." Juichi scowled while the Hokage let out a light chuckle before continuing, "Does he want to sell them?" "Yeah," Juichi nodded. "He went to the market and learned about the fuinjutsu system. Looks like he ran out of materials and had too many seals stocked up, so he figured he'd sell them. Otherwise, he wouldn't bother with money." Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, then placed the seals aside. "I'll have Shikaku handle it. Go talk to him." Juichi nodded as if he had expected that response and asked, "Shikaku is handling the fuinjutsu department too?" Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temple. "Yes. I originally wanted Utakata to oversee it, but he's already too busy managing the medical department in place of both Koharu and Tsunade. Plus, with his team's duties as the first dispatch squad, I didn't want to add more to his plate." He then turned his gaze toward Kakashi, who was still held captive by Juichi's firm grip. "Kakashi-kun, reach Level 5 soon, and I'll have you take over the fuinjutsu department." Kakashi, still trapped, simply nodded in resignation. After a while, Juichi finished his conversation with the Hokage, then dragged Kakashi out of the office, despite the younger shinobi's visible reluctance. Hiruzen watched them leave with a small smile, then turned to the Anbu standing quietly in the shadows. "Deliver these to Shikaku, and inform him about young Ren," he instructed, gesturing to the seals and scrolls. "Tell him to make the conditions lighter after all, the boy won't have much time to focus on fuinjutsu for now." The Anbu silently nodded before flickering away. Left alone in his office, Hiruzen turned to the large windows that overlooked the village. With a soft sigh, he gazed at the bustling streets below and murmured, "The future looks promising, sensei... am I doing a good job handling the village?" While this was happening, Ren was with his team. Team 1 had just finished their teamwork training and was now sitting in a half-circle on the grass, catching their breath. Utakata stood in front of them, arms crossed, and announced, "You are dismissed for today. I have an urgent task from the village. Treat this as a free day we will continue tomorrow at 8 AM." With that, he flickered away, leaving the three genin exchanging glances. This was the first time in a month since their team's formation that Utakata had given them a day off. Seeing an opportunity, Ren suggested, "Want to get some dango?" Since they had free time and had just finished training, eating was naturally the best next step. Yugao and Hitoshi agreed without hesitation, and the three of them made their way to the dango shop. At the Dango Shop, due to it being midday, the shop wasn't too crowded. The three genin sat at one of the outdoor tables, enjoying their dango in comfortable silence until suddenly, the peace was shattered by a loud shout. "HEY, SPEEDO!" Ren's lips twitched in irritation as he recognized the voice. He lifted his gaze to see Eiji Nakamura, his friend and former academy seatmate, charging toward him, waving enthusiastically. Behind Eiji, two other figures followed Shin Sarutobi and Akemi Hyuga, his teammates from Team 2. At the sight of them, Yugao turned toward Ren with a slight smile. "Your friend is waving at you," she remarked. "Shouldn't you respond?" Ren ignored both Eiji and Yugao, casually continuing to eat his dango. Eiji, completely unfazed by Ren's indifference, appeared in front of them in an instant, dragging his two teammates along. "Oh man, it's been a month since we saw each other!" he said, grinning, before casually swiping a dango stick from Ren's plate. Ren scowled, glaring at him. "I see you're still a thief." He said this but made no move to take back the dango. "Yep, proudly," Eiji shot back with a wide grin, completely unapologetic. Yugao chuckled, while Hitoshi simply adjusted his sunglasses and continued eating. "Hey guys, long time no see," Eiji greeted them all, including Yugao and Hitoshi. Since all six of them had been in the same class at the Academy, there was a natural sense of familiarity, and they returned the greeting. Team 2 ordered their own dango and sat down at the table opposite Team 1. The first to speak was Shin Sarutobi, who let out a sigh and looked at Ren. "How did you deal with him being so talkative?" he asked, nodding toward Eiji. Akemi also added, "And very loud too." Ren chuckled, "Just treat it like background noise it helps improve your focus." Shin and Akemi nodded gravely, as if he had just imparted great wisdom, while Eiji let out a disgruntled 'hey!' only to be completely ignored. After finishing a skewer, Yugao leaned forward and asked, "How many missions have you guys completed?" Eiji's shoulders slumped, and his grin faded. "Just D-rank missions," he admitted. "Our sensei says we aren't ready for a C-rank yet, so we mostly train all day. We got a day off today because of some urgent task." Yugao's eyes narrowed slightly. "Your sensei dismissed you for the day? Utakata-sensei did the same thing." This time, Akemi spoke up. "Then it must be because of the performance review meeting." Ren glanced at her as she continued, "It's a meeting they hold after a month of team formation. My father said it's done to evaluate the progress of each team. If any team is performing poorly, the village decides how to handle it whether to offer additional training, reassign members, or, in the worst case, dissolve the team." Ren noticed that Akemi wore her headband on her neck, prominently displaying her forehead a clear indication that she was from the main branch of the Hyuga clan. Hitoshi confirmed her words, "Yes, I remember my father mentioning it too." Now, both teams understood the reason behind their sudden day off. However, none of the six were worried. Their performance had been strong, and they knew they had nothing to fear. As the six of them continued eating, their conversation flowed naturally, though most of the talking was initiated by Eiji and Shin. Ren, Yugao, Hitoshi, and Akemi were generally the quiet type, with Hitoshi being the most silent of all. They only spoke when asked something, listening more than they contributed. As they were finishing their food, Eiji suddenly turned to Ren with a familiar grin and asked, "Hey, you wanna have a spar?" Ren glanced at Eiji's level 31. He compared it to his own level 43. There would be no challenge at all, but since Eiji always challenged him whenever possible, he decided to accept anyway. "Sure," Ren said with a slight nod. At the same time, he noted something interesting Yugao, Hitoshi, and Eiji all had the same level 31. Meanwhile, Akemi was at level 25, and Shin was at level 22, making him the weakest of the six. Ren turned to Yugao and Hitoshi and asked, "You guys wanna come with us?" Hitoshi nodded silently, agreeing to come along, but Yugao shook her head. "No," she said. "My mother wanted my help with some work, but I couldn't because of training. Since I'm free now, I might as well go." Ren nodded in understanding and didn't press further. He then turned to Eiji, who was speaking with his teammates. Both Akemi and Shin shook their heads, choosing not to join. With that settled, the three who weren't coming, Yugao, Akemi, and Shin left first, heading in their own directions. Just as Ren, Eiji, and Hitoshi were about to leave, a boy with black hair and onyx eyes entered Ren's field of vision. {A/N:- Do you have connections to the leaders of your country?} {The ball breaker shall return in the bonus Chapter since we have completed a million views.}

Chapter 44: There are benefits of having connections to the highest authority

Comments (0)