The contact between Konoha and Kumogakure caused quite a stir in the Ninja World.

However, it was the Anbu intelligence personnel who were exhausted. For Takemi, the situation wasn't so bad.

After all, he wasn't in the Anbu, and he didn't have any missions to do for the time being.

He didn't know if Sarutobi Hiruzen thought he should rest well, or if he thought he always encountered absurd things every time he went on a mission.

Therefore, he currently had no missions. He was either diligently training every day or just idling around the streets of Konoha.

Time passed day by day, and the Ninja World welcomed the New Year.

"Finally, a holiday! Yay!"

Walking on the streets of Konoha, Naruto bounced around, which made Takemi shake his head.

Takemi said, "I say, can you pay attention? Don't you feel embarrassed?"

Naruto said, "Tch, you don't know how much hardship we've gone through during this period!"

Naruto immediately became displeased when he heard this. He counted on his fingers, listing things for Takemi.

"Iruka-sensei was already strict, but for some reason, he became even more terrifying in the second half of the year!"

Takemi asked, "How so?"

Naruto answered, "Although he didn't allow skipping classes or sleeping before, it was fine as long as you were careful. Now, he practically stands behind us the whole time, watching."

"..."

"You don't know, I've been caught countless times, it's too unlucky! I get sleepy just listening to things like calculating the flight distance of shuriken, so I get caught every time."

"..."

"And that's not all, every day we have to study 'Ninja Rules' and memorize everything in it, and there's also the 'Will of Fire' textbook, all of it has to be memorized."

"..."

"Damn it, just looking at these things now makes my brain feel like it's going to explode, ahhhhhhh!"

Watching Naruto in a frantic state, Takemi was also quite surprised.

What's going on?

When did Konoha become so strict about education?

He stroked his chin and asked, puzzled, "I remember, when I was in school, no one cared if I skipped class. I often ran out to train back then. Did you guys do something wrong?"

"It's probably because of you..."

Naruto listened to Takemi's words, his eyes filled with intense envy, which then turned into deep resentment.

Naruto complained, "Last time, why didn't you stop me from bringing mushroom soup?"

"Nonsense, that was ages ago. Didn't the school already strengthen education?" Takemi rolled his eyes, speaking with a hint of disdain.

"Now they're changing it again. I think Hokage-sama is just dissatisfied with your performance?"

"Hmph!"

Naruto snorted lightly, somewhat dejectedly.

"But if that's really the case, then he's so annoying."

"Indeed, so annoying."

Takemi nodded along. He also found such things annoying.

He felt that if this continued, Konoha's education system might run into problems...

"Speaking of which, what have you been up to lately, you guy?"

Although life was tough, Naruto was still somewhat curious about Takemi.

"How come I've been seeing you in the village all the time lately? Did you get into some trouble and can't go out?"

"What are you thinking?"

Takemi smiled and punched Naruto on the head, then shook his head and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be taking an exam in September this year, the Jonin exam."

The Jonin exam, Takemi felt excited just thinking about it.

Ever since he became a Genin, this broken system gave him a new goal—to become a Jonin.

Chunin, the system seemed to look down on it.

Takemi also worked hard, but given the system in place, there was nothing he could do if the old man Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't careless.

Fortunately, after enduring until now, Sarutobi Hiruzen might also have felt that it's no longer appropriate for him to remain a Chunin.

"At least the strength I've shown is conceptual, right? With Flying Thunder God, Purple Electricity, and even Sage Mode, it wouldn't be polite to keep me as a Chunin."

However, the Jonin exam still needed some time. Even though Kakashi hinted that it would be almost a formality, he still had to wait.

"Fortunately, I'm not in a hurry, and besides, my gains lately haven't been bad."

Although Takemi had been 'idling' for a while, he hadn't stopped developing his abilities at all.

He didn't want to simply maximize the output of his attraction and repulsion abilities like Nagato. He was just about to try adjusting the use of attraction and repulsion at critical moments.

"For example, the moment you're about to hit me, I suddenly use attraction or repulsion to change the trajectory, then counter-kill. That's the correct application, right?"

And things like changing an enemy's direction of attraction and repulsion to create a disorienting spatial illusion are much more effective than just 'might makes right'.

Of course, at critical moments, Takemi would also use 'might makes right', that's a basic ability.

As for the control type ability, which in some sense is 'Puppet Jutsu'.

Although he tried it, he felt the effect was mediocre, probably because he didn't have good puppets.

Perhaps, only when he encounters Sasori can he truly give it a good try...

"Everything else went smoothly, but what exactly is 'Rasengan: Uzuhiko', and what's with the planet chakra?"

There were many good things, but there were also things that puzzled him.

The technique 'Rasengan: Uzuhiko' somewhat stumped him.

He had tried hard to perceive the so-called 'planet chakra', but ultimately, there wasn't much of a reaction.

After much thought, he felt that this might be related to his 'bloodline development', as the system hadn't even changed his name yet.

"And that Boruto, the Ōtsutsuki have already started calling him Ōtsutsuki Boruto."

His self-development and steady improvement in strength kept him in a good mood.

Especially as time passed, Naruto and his gang were about to graduate, and then more good things would come one after another.

He was already eager to experience the feeling of a 'max-level character' dominating a newbie village.

"Takemi."

As he was pondering, he suddenly heard someone call him, which made him look up.

He saw that besides Lee and his two teammates, all the other rookies had come over.

Even Sasuke was with them, and Hinata stood at the back of the crowd. This scene made Takemi pause.

(End of Chapter)

Read 40 Advanced Chapters on patreon.com/astralicity