Losing a man to another man—there was nothing more tragic than that.
Fortunately, Yūhi Kurenai wasn't as clingy and irritating as early–Shippuden Sakura.
Once she realized that Uchiha Mai intended to enter Minato-sensei's team together with Might Guy, she reluctantly sat down on the ground, clearly signaling that she had no intention of competing any further.
Sand that can't be held is better scattered to the wind.
There is a kind of love called letting go—giving up eternity for love. If my departure lets you have everything, let true love take me away, let's say goodbye—
…Yeah, right. They weren't even together. What breakup was she talking about?
In less than a single minute, Uchiha Mai had swept through everyone except Might Guy like an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves. Of course, there had been ambushes, and some opponents were simply too weak.
Even so, the decisiveness and strength he displayed still stunned the onlookers. If this were the neighboring Battle Through the Heavens set, people would already be shouting, "Terrifying!"
Did Uchiha Mai have chūnin-level strength right now?
Mai himself didn't think so.
In terms of taijutsu and chakra-enhanced throwing techniques, he might barely touch the lower threshold of chūnin. But when it came to ninjutsu, he was lacking by quite a margin.
Even if he could be considered a chūnin, he'd be the weakest kind.
Kakashi had become a chūnin in his second year after graduation, yet he didn't reach jōnin until he was twelve or thirteen.
A six-year-old Kakashi and an eleven-year-old Kakashi were both chūnin—could their strength possibly be on the same level?
Obviously not.
In his previous life, Mai had read countless Naruto fanfictions, and readers often complained about authors inventing absurd power systems.
Special jōnin, jōnin, elite jōnin, pseudo-Kage, Kage-level… none of that exists in the original story. Do you even understand Naruto?
But then again—if everything were exactly like the original story, why read fanfiction at all?
Indeed, Konoha didn't officially divide ninja into pseudo-Kage or Kage-level tiers, just as society doesn't openly rank people into rigid classes based on wealth.
Yet in reality? Whoever has money calls the shots.
Many things don't need to be said aloud.
Where there are people, there is the jianghu. Mai had personally experienced this—many Konoha ninja silently ranked others in their hearts based on combat records and strength.
Everyone lives in the same village. Who has what achievements, who's strong and who's not—did people really think others were blind?
Naturally, labels were applied subconsciously, just like how people at reunions in a past life would judge someone's wealth based on the car they drove.
Fresh genin were called brats. Those who'd scraped by for a few years became veterans. Newly promoted chūnin were rookies. Chūnin who had completed many missions without dying were seasoned chūnin…
The village wouldn't formalize such fine distinctions—but human hearts would.
Combat experience, danger awareness, life experience, decisiveness—those gaps were very real.
Mai even wished genin and chūnin were divided into Levels 1–10. That way, he could clearly see where he stood and how much he'd improved.
Just like in online games—seeing the experience bar rise was positive reinforcement. Motivation to grow stronger mattered.
Overall, Mai judged himself to be at the very bottom tier of chūnin level. Taking down a few weaklings one by one in under a minute was simply normal performance.
Slowly turning around, Mai raised two fingers and smiled at Minato.
"Senior, only two people are still standing now."
Minato Namikaze: "..."
After a moment of silence, Minato scratched his head awkwardly.
"Well… Uchiha Mai, was it? This was actually meant to be a teamwork test. We wanted to evaluate your understanding of the Will of Fire—seeing who would step forward to sacrifice themselves for others…"
He more or less repeated what the Third Hokage had instructed him before arriving.
It was… extremely awkward.
Minato didn't feel like he'd said or done anything wrong. This was exactly what the Hokage told him to say—so why had things suddenly turned violent?
Uchiha Mai: "..."
This time, it was Mai's turn to be speechless.
You've got to be kidding me… you're messing with me now?
I thought you were an upright man with thick eyebrows and honest eyes, Minato-sensei. I never expected you to be playing such a boring套路 like everyone else.
What now? Testing willingness to sacrifice? I knocked out four competitors without hesitation—doesn't that mean…?
At a critical moment, Mai had a flash of inspiration.
"Then you should choose me even more, senior."
"Oh?" Minato looked puzzled. "And why is that?"
Beating up teammates and classmates—and you still have a justification?
Mai clasped his fist into his palm and began his shameless defense.
"To be honest, the moment you stepped into the classroom, I recognized who you were.
Your noble golden hair, those sharp, god-sculpted features, your tall and upright figure, that sunny and confident smile—all of it gave you away.
You are the disciple of one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya-sama, the elite jōnin known as Konoha's Little Sun—Namikaze Minato!"
Minato nodded repeatedly as he listened.
Well said! Every word hit the mark. It was just a bit too direct—he was almost feeling shy.
After his brief embarrassment, Minato tilted his head again.
"Everything you said is true, but what does that have to do with you beating them up?"
"It has everything to do with it!"
Mai slammed his fist into his palm again.
"An elite jōnin's team is bound to be an elite squad.
Even if you accommodate new members, you'll inevitably take on dangerous missions more frequently—operating in hazardous areas, constantly facing life-threatening situations.
Letting underqualified ninja into such a team would be bad for both you and them.
If something goes wrong, not only could they lose their lives, you'd also be forced into an impossible choice. Save them, and you risk the mission. Focus on the mission, and you become heartless.
The fact that I took down those four so easily proves they're not qualified to join your team.
Everything I did was for their sake—and for yours."
Mai wore an expression of If I don't go to hell, who will?, nearly moving himself to tears.
Wasn't this the Will of Fire?
"Hmmmm…"
Minato stroked his chin, pondering.
That… actually made a lot of sense. He found himself unable to refute it.
Wait—there was still one last flaw.
Minato turned his gaze toward Might Guy.
Mai calmly explained, "As for Guy, although he comes from an ordinary background and doesn't understand ninjutsu, his true strength surpasses the other four.
His taijutsu talent and level are no worse than mine—and his effort exceeds mine tenfold.
Someone with both talent and diligence like that is guaranteed to become a jōnin in the future. When that time comes, he can compensate for his lack of ninjutsu talent with his massive chakra reserves."
What was ninjutsu talent, anyway?
Sensitivity to elemental chakra, control, speed of mastery—most of those could be offset with sheer chakra quantity.
Hand seals existed to improve chakra control, allowing the same jutsu to be cast with less consumption.
With absurd amounts of chakra, anyone could become impressive. As long as you weren't brain-dead, if you had Senju Hashirama's chakra reserves, you could learn a few jutsu and turn into a walking artillery platform—hands clap, jutsu fire everywhere.
(End of Chapter)
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