Konoha Notes.

Chapter 474 Bystander

Chapter 474 Bystander

"yeah"

Although half a year has passed since that scene of tens of thousands of people standing up and cheering, Kisame still remembers it.

That gave him a more concrete understanding of the word "United" in the name of the secretariat.

Therefore, they became even more diligent and conscientious when doing tasks.

With the report on the completion of the mission still in his hand, he planned to see if there were any other missions. If not, he would go to the venue area and find a place to sit for the afternoon.

Upon reaching the second floor, the first thing that caught their eye was a group of students emerging from the conference room. Led by a green-haired Chunin, they were heading towards the third floor. Chief Kakashi leisurely followed at the very end of the group.

Kisame glanced at the leading Chunin a couple more times. Not wanting to squeeze in with the children, he found a corner to lean against and waited for them to pass.

At this moment, they saw Uchiha Itachi surrounded by three people in the corridor.

Their attitude was impeccably respectful, and their words were polite and considerate. In Kisame's eyes, even now, this politeness was somewhat excessive.

After all, the Land of Water is a very wild place. The daimyo's relatives like to hire wandering ninjas to kill each other, and they are not exactly kind to the ninjas of Kirigakure.

The primary responsibility of the ninjas sent by Kirigakure to protect the nobles is to ensure the survival rate of the daimyo himself. As for the safety of other nobles, it is common for three to five to be lost every year.

However, although the three seemed to have a good attitude, they were not willing to give an inch in their actions.

Itachi dealt with the situation for a while before finally managing to get rid of the person.

Kisame then went over.

"The secret service is in a mess lately, Mr. Itachi."

"Hmm." The assistant director replied simply and went downstairs on his own.

Kisame then switched to a casual tone: "Is Konoha planning to let these kids experience the job early?"

"Mr. Bi is quite envious of Konoha's conveniences and is thinking of sending some students here for apprenticeships."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted towards the stairwell. The sounds of children's footsteps going upstairs and the green-haired chunin's explanation could still be faintly heard.

Sasuke walked in the middle of the group, barely listening to what Green Aoi was saying.

As soon as he woke up in the morning, Fugaku assigned him a task, asking him to do his part for his brother's work.

Specifically, it was to assist in the temporary relocation of Karin Uzumaki.

Sasuke was considering how to bring it up—should he go directly to the classroom or wait until after school?

But Itachi offered a more comprehensive solution: instead of contacting Karin separately, he could go through their homeroom teacher, Iruka, and invite the entire Iruka class over under the guise of a visit from the Chief of Staff's office.

Once she arrives at the secretariat, someone will naturally inform her about Karin's situation, and she won't become too conspicuous due to a single transfer.

Sasuke didn't quite understand what role Karin could play, but it was a legitimate mission he had been assigned. So he did as he was told.

"Sasuke-kun must know all about these things, right?"

A girl whispered.

Green Sunflower clearly heard those words.

"Sasuke-kun works in the top-level director's office, so he naturally knows a lot about these things. But today, I'll explain it to you."

The polite yet firm tone silenced the students who were whispering.

Sasuke remained silent and did not respond.

Green Aoi continued to lead the students upstairs. When they reached the fifth floor, he pointed to the densely packed door signs on both sides of the corridor: "This is the joint office of the various ninja villages. Not only the five major ninja villages, but other villages also have offices here."

Some students peeked out to look at the names on the doorplates.

"Amegakure, Takigakure, Kusagakure—they really all exist."

"many----"

"Yugakure also has it."

"Um—where is Otogakure located?"

The group stopped on the sixth floor.

Several students instinctively gasped as they pushed open the heavy, double doors.

It's completely different from the small conference room we just saw.

The high ceilings and the dark-colored seats that extend in a fan-shaped tiered pattern can accommodate hundreds of people.

At the very front is a semi-circular conference table.

"This is the main conference room of the Joint Affairs Bureau."

"The leaders of the five great ninja villages, the representatives of the daimyo of various countries, and the leaders of many other ninja villages will sit here when they need to discuss matters together."

He walked to the semi-circular seating area at the very front and gestured for the students to follow.

"Please come to the front."

The children looked at each other and cautiously walked to the first row of seats in front of the assembly. The chairs were much larger than they had imagined, and since they were small, their feet couldn't reach the ground and were suspended in mid-air, swaying slightly unconsciously.

Sasuke turned around. Chief Hatake was standing at the highest point, in the last row, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the students below, as well as Green Aoi, whom he had temporarily assigned to explain.

"These seats on the left," Green Aoi pointed to one side of the semi-circular seating area, "are the seats for the representatives of the five great ninja villages. The seats on the right are for the nobles of the five great nations."

He stood in the center of the table, in what was clearly the seat of honor, and turned to face the students.

"And this is usually the position of the meeting facilitator."

"The seats you are now occupy are for the representatives of other villages who are most qualified to express their opinions, or for the envoys of daimyo outside the five great nations."

"Wow—" A low gasp of surprise rang out from the seats.

"It feels a bit strange sitting here." Choji shifted in the large chair, seemingly uncomfortable.

Ya looked in the direction of Green Sunflower: "What's the big deal? One day, I'll be standing over there and speaking too."

After Green Sunflower and the others quieted down a bit, she continued, "Perhaps to you, this is just a large conference room. But for many people, sitting here means having the right to participate in deciding the future of the ninja world."

"Mr. Green," a boy raised his hand, "which department should I choose if I want to do an internship at the Secretariat?"

Green Sunflower replied, "From a traditional point of view, the village office is naturally the first choice."

"But for some students, other departments directly under the secretariat may offer broader prospects."

"In the village, it is extremely difficult to be promoted from Chunin to Jonin."

"But in the departments directly under the secretariat, you will be exposed to more types of work, and your accumulated merits will be taken into consideration. Of course, the final decision on promotion still rests with your respective villages."

At this point, Green Sunflower turned to Kakashi in the back row.

"Director, am I being too pragmatic by saying all this?"

Kakashi's voice descended from above: "No, this is a very practical consideration. When choosing a path for the future, it's only natural to understand all the possibilities."

Green Aoi then continued, "Furthermore, for everyone, graduating and becoming a genin may not be difficult, but becoming a chunin requires undergoing rigorous testing."

"The Secretariat is now not only responsible for joint military exercises, but also for coordinating unified Chunin Exam affairs. Choosing to intern here might allow me to understand the assessment standards and procedures earlier."

His words were very practical; he didn't talk about ideals or sentiments, but clearly explained the possibilities regarding promotion, income prospects, and career development.

This was a first for the students, and even somewhat novel.

"That concludes my introduction. If you have any further questions, feel free to come outside and find me. I'd be happy to answer them."

Green Sunflower bowed slightly and retreated to the outside of the conference room.

Kakashi did not leave; he remained standing on the high place.

However, many voices arose in the conference room.

"This teacher in green explained it very clearly."

"And he's a really nice person, even more handsome than Iruka-sensei."

Upon hearing this, Naruto immediately replied, "Iruka-sensei is the best!"

As soon as he said it, he added, "Although—that Mr. Green seems pretty good too."

He felt he couldn't go against his conscience too much.

Just then, Kakashi's voice came from high up behind.

"It seems the discussion is quite lively. However, I heard that some people are indeed interested in visiting the secretariat?"

The students quieted down and turned or looked up at him.

Kakashi slowly walked down from the high place and stood in front of the students. "Well then, those of you who are interested in learning more, or who have a specific intention, can come to the backstage cubicle to chat in a bit."

"Sasuke, Shikamaru, you two arrange the order."

"The others can sit for a while longer, or move around freely for a bit, just don't go too far."

Upon hearing this, Sasuke stood up naturally, while Shikamaru, somewhat reluctantly, also stood up.

The seated students looked at each other in bewilderment. A few seconds later, a hand shot up – it was Sakura's. Then came the second, the third – soon, almost half the students in the classroom had raised their hands.

From Green Sunflower's words, they vaguely realized that being able to talk face-to-face with a big shot who could make decisions that would influence the world was a rare opportunity in itself.

This realization stirred up a lot of emotions in people who had previously had doubts.

Naruto didn't raise his hand, but he saw that Karin was among those who did.

It wasn't surprising that Sakura was there; after all, when he came to school today, he saw that Sakura and Ino seemed to have reconciled, and the four of them were eating lunch together again.

But cyanin—

"Does Karin also want to join the secret service?"

Karin did not explain.

After seeing Karin raise her hand, Ino raised hers as well. Not only did she raise her hand, but she also turned to the side to shield Karin from some of her probing gazes, and said frankly, "Didn't you hear what Midori-sensei said, Naruto? This might actually be beneficial for your promotion to Jonin."

"Besides, it's just to get a sense of the situation, not to make a decision immediately."

Naruto was even more confused: "Jonin—is it really that hard to become a Jonin?"

He's destined to become Hokage. In Naruto's mind, the Hokage is the strongest ninja, but he doesn't really have a concrete idea of ​​how many steps he needs to take in between.

Ino said seriously, "Of course. You can't become Hokage if you don't become a Jonin."

Omoi was caught in a dilemma, muttering to himself, "Should I raise my hand too? Would it be bad if I didn't? What if this is a test, and only those who raise their hands get considered—"

Karui punched him in the head.

"Even if we're going to join the Secretariat, we'll be in the Cloud Village office! Don't think about anything else!"

"But," Omoi rubbed his head, his expression even more worried, "we've been here for so long, who knows, maybe the village will let us pass the Konoha genin graduation exam, and then—"

"That's all!"

Karui grabbed Omoi by the collar and headed for the door.

Fu turned to me and asked Airo, "Are we going to find Uncle Killer Bee and the others?"

Gaara nodded. As a ninja from another village, it was fine to listen to the affairs of the Joint Affairs Bureau, but at this stage, it was no longer appropriate for him to stay in this environment.

But before leaving, he looked at Naruto: "There are very few people in a village who can become Jonin. It is said that the standards for Jonin in Konoha are even higher."

Naruto asked, "Is that Midori-sensei a Jonin?"

Sasuke was organizing the list of students who had raised their hands, placing Karin at the top. He walked past Naruto and remarked casually, "If that were the case, he wouldn't have said those things about how to become a Jonin."

Then a student whispered, "But Green Teacher seems really strong—"

"yes."

"Maybe I'll be promoted to Jonin soon?"

"My dad worked his whole life and only became a Chunin," another voice chimed in, tinged with helplessness. "I just want to become a Chunin before I turn twenty."

"Me too—if I can pass the Chunin Exams before I'm twenty-six—"

Naruto looked at his classmates.

Many of them have jokingly said that they want to become Hokage in the future.

But at this moment, when faced with specific and realistic problems, they talk about small but tangible goals such as "becoming a Chunin before the age of twenty" and "passing the exam at the age of twenty-six".

Naruto suddenly realized that he had never seriously considered how many steps he had to climb between graduating from the Ninja Academy and becoming Hokage.

After Kakashi finished greeting two or three students, the door to the cubicle was pushed open, and Karin walked in.

She sat down in the chair opposite her, placing her hands on her knees, maintaining a proper posture.

Kakashi watched her sit down opposite him, then, without exchanging pleasantries, asked directly, "What did you think of that Mr. Green who led the tour earlier?"

Karin seemed taken aback by this opening, pausing slightly. She had expected to be asked about her impressions of the secret service, her thoughts on the internship, or to be directly informed of the transfer arrangements.

"Teacher Green? He explained things in great detail and gave a very comprehensive introduction—"

"But... he seems a little distracted?"

Kakashi asked, "A feeling? Is this the result of your sensory training?"

Karin nodded: "Although I tried to understand natural energy during my Sage Mode training, the most effective way to deal with that kind of creature is still through emotions."

"Whether it is clear malice or hostility, it is relatively easy to distinguish when both sides' positions are clear."

"However," she added, "that doesn't mean that Teacher Green is faking it."

Kakashi nodded: "Yeah, I understand. Being absent-minded isn't a mistake."

"The desire to pursue higher positions and seek promotion is not something that is incomprehensible."

"However, the fact that you were able to catch this subtle sense of unease so quickly—your ability is indeed very useful."

""