Chapter Thirty-Two: Promotion to Chūnin
Early the next morning, not long after Ryūya had gotten up, someone knocked on the door of his house.
"Brother Chōza, what brings you here?"
Opening the door and seeing the burly man standing outside, Ryūya showed a look of surprise.
The visitor was none other than Akimichi Chōza, the newly appointed member of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio from the clan.
He was also the Akimichi clan's designated next clan head.
Ryūya, who had once been little more than a fringe member of the clan, was not very familiar with Akimichi Dōza. However, based on what Ryūya knew from the original storyline, this man seemed to be a qualified and reliable clan leader.
"Heh, what—am I not welcome?"
Akimichi Dōza chuckled honestly as he spoke.
Looking at the young Ryūya, Dōza's smile appeared warm and approachable, though his eyes were filled with curiosity.
The night before, when Dōza had learned from his father, Akimichi Ryōta, that a genius ninja had suddenly emerged within the clan, he had been genuinely astonished.
In the ninja world, most genius ninja displayed exceptional talent from a very young age—especially within secret-technique clans like the Akimichi.
Yet Ryūya had always remained obscure within the clan. Now, at the age of fifteen, he had suddenly transformed from a dead last student into a genius who possessed a powerful summoning beast. How could that not be shocking?
"Of course you're welcome—please, come in!"
Ryūya quickly stepped aside and invited Dōza into the house.
"I came today to invite you to take the chūnin exam this afternoon,"
Dōza said after the two exchanged a few pleasantries inside.
Ryūya looked surprised.
"The chūnin exam? Hasn't it not started yet?"
"The publicly held chūnin exam has been postponed. This one is a special selection prepared specifically for you," Dōza explained.
"A special selection just for me?"
Ryūya was stunned.
To be honest, Ryūya had never even heard of such a thing in Konoha.
Looking across the entire original Naruto storyline, even someone as strong as Naruto himself had never been given a special selection process before becoming Hokage.
What right did Ryūya have to receive a dedicated special examination?
He was both shocked and confused.
"The Third Great Ninja War ended less than a year ago. The village lost a great deal of its elite forces and urgently needs manpower. On top of that, the chūnin exam had to be postponed because of your ninja snake. Promoting you specially to chūnin isn't that strange.
Besides, judging by your snake's strength, it's already enough to rival a special jōnin."
Hearing this explanation, Ryūya looked slightly embarrassed, then suddenly understood.
The damage caused by the green snake in the Forest of Death had also been completely unexpected to him.
"How exactly did you cultivate that ninja snake of yours?"
Dōza couldn't help but ask.
"To be honest, I haven't figured it out myself. Half a year ago, when I left the village, I was only worried about its survival, so I quietly released it into the Forest of Death. I never expected such drastic changes to occur."
Ryūya shrugged—he himself was still puzzled by it.
One thing was certain: the changes in the green snake were definitely related to the Sealing Plague Mark. But without firsthand data collected on-site, Ryūya had no way of knowing the exact details of the mutation.
Dōza did not doubt him.
After chatting for a while longer, Dōza stood up and took his leave.
It was clear that Akimichi Dōza was genuinely happy about such a talented junior emerging within the clan. His words were full of encouragement and subtle attempts to draw Ryūya closer.
Ryūya hadn't expected that this future clan head—who looked like a simple, honest brute—would be so skilled in verbal persuasion.
Is talk-no-jutsu also a Konoha tradition?
Ryūya couldn't help but mutter to himself inwardly.
After receiving the news about the chūnin assessment, Ryūya headed to the examination site right on time that afternoon.
This time, the examiner conducting Ryūya's individual assessment was a jōnin from the Aburame clan.
The evaluation itself was not complicated, consisting of only two parts: a written theory test and a practical combat demonstration.
With his chip-enhanced storage capabilities, Ryūya's ninjutsu theory knowledge had already reached an above-average level in the ninja world. Passing the chūnin theory exam posed no difficulty for him.
As for the practical test, Ryūya passed after consecutively demonstrating the Expansion Technique and Partial Expansion Technique.
From both a power and learning-difficulty standpoint, these two Akimichi clan secret techniques were already no weaker than most C-rank ninjutsu.
Generally speaking, a ninja who had mastered C-rank techniques was already qualified to be promoted to chūnin.
After passing the assessment, Ryūya was successfully promoted to chūnin.
Elsewhere in the village, inside a tavern owned by the Gekkō family, seven or eight teenagers were gathered around a table.
All of them wore forehead protectors and were around thirteen or fourteen years old.
Among them was a white-haired boy with his left eye covered by a mask—the genius ninja of Konoha, Kakashi.
Seated at the same table with Kakashi were his peers: Asuma, Might Guy, Kurenai Yūhi, Aoba Yamashiro, Anko Mitarashi, and Iruka.
"Kakashi, I heard that among our peers, a genius has emerged. His summoning beast is a ninja snake comparable to a jōnin. Is that true?"
At the table, Aoba Yamashiro suddenly turned his gaze toward Kakashi and asked curiously.
"It's true—my teacher even fought his summoning beast!"
Before Kakashi could answer, Anko Mitarashi spoke up first.
"Oh? He even fought Lord Orochimaru?"
"So even Lord Orochimaru was alarmed?"
The group all showed looks of surprise.
In Konoha, the reputation of the Legendary Sannin had long since sunk deep into people's hearts.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had earned their fame through real battles during the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars.
"My teacher summoned a giant snake and exchanged a few moves with his summoning beast. Its strength was pretty impressive!"
Anko said with a smug curl of her lips, lifting her chin slightly.
"So that means his summoning beast truly has strength comparable to a jōnin.
But for such a genius among our peers, how have we never heard of him before? What's his name?"
Asuma inhaled sharply, finding it hard to believe.
"He's no genius. His name is Akimichi Ryūya. He was always dead last at the academy and was only allowed to graduate early during the war. That ninja snake was probably just a stroke of luck when he subdued it."
Anko pouted, her tone carrying a hint of sourness.
The group fell silent.
"Akimichi Ryūya…?"
In the corner, Kurenai Yūhi murmured the name softly, feeling as though she had heard it somewhere before.