Konoha.
The sun emerged from its slumber, casting a golden hue all over the village. The gentle breeze whispered through the trees as the leaves fluttered.
Thup!
Out of the Hokage building stepped a figure around 170 cm tall, his silver hair rustling due to the breeze. He was donning Konoha's green flak jacket, permitted only for jonin. He also held a rolled-up paper in his right hand.
"Jonin, huh…" muttered Kazuki while looking at the jonin appointment form in his hands. Having refused his promotion during the war, Kazuki once again received a letter of his promotion, and this time he accepted it.
The thing that Kazuki found interesting was that while handing him the certificate of appointment, Sarutobi didn't ask him about why he had refused his promotion before.
Another intriguing matter was that he had been back in the village for nearly two weeks now, and not a single question had been asked about his possession of Konoha's forbidden jutsu.
He had, despite trying his best, revealed a lot during the war: the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu and some advanced water-style techniques that were not accessible to shinobi unless granted by the Hokage.
Even during the war, he could hear whispers of unfair treatment among shinobi around him. His life before the war was crystal clear to most, and they knew he had no merit to be granted all the jutsu he had revealed. The thought of reverse-engineering jutsu did cross the minds of some, but as more and more jutsu recorded in the Scroll of Seals were revealed, they found it to be too much of a coincidence.
They could believe Kazuki reverse-engineering one or two, but so many? No one was willing to believe it. Kazuki himself knew that if he were in the place of these shinobi, he would have similar thoughts. So, from that day, he knew one day would come when he'd have to answer the questions to which he really had no good answer—unless he revealed his system, which he would obviously never do.
But now, the current situation was intriguing him, as so much time had passed, and no one had said a word. He didn't believe some shinobi hadn't asked Sarutobi for answers on this possible unfair treatment.
With questions in his mind about this silence, Kazuki hurried to Training Ground 78. Kazuki continued his training, as becoming a jonin didn't really matter much to him.
Aside from access to more advanced missions, it didn't really bring many benefits—maybe respect and admiration from others, if that could be considered a benefit too.
Hokage Building, Hokage Office.
Just a while after Kazuki left, three figures stormed into the office—none other than the respectable elders: Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzo, with the usual quiet but imposing look on his face.
"Are you really going to stay quiet while our shinobi demand answers? Tell us, Hiruzen, when are you going to question that brat?" Koharu didn't beat around the bush and said what she had in mind directly. Homura and Danzo said nothing, but their faces revealed they needed an answer today.
Sigh…
"You ask, knowing very well that any answer he gives will not be able to satisfy our curiosity," said Sarutobi as he leaned back in his seat, letting out a tired sigh. "We have repeatedly checked the Scroll of Seals and have confirmed it was never tampered with, so that rules out the possibility of him learning them from it. So, his only source of getting these jutsu would be from those who had mastered them, but do you really want to go down this path? Is it worth it?"
Inquired Sarutobi as he looked at the three, at which Homura and Koharu showed struggling faces.
Kazuki is a war hero with unfathomable strength. Is offending him because of this matter worth it? They didn't have a single piece of evidence that Kazuki had stolen the jutsu, only suspicions. They could question those who were rewarded jutsu from the Scroll of Seals for teaching them to Kazuki privately, but that would mean offending a lot of top shinobi in the village.
Just the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu was something that many of the jonin in the village had mastered, so they couldn't just question everyone and risk losing the trust of the village's top combat power. You should know that while the Hokage does hold the most power, some decisions concerning the whole village required a vote of confidence—even the Hokage's vote included jonin.
"But we can't just ignore this matter and do nothing, after all, Hiruzen; the shinobi need an explanation." Koharu and Mitokado understood Sarutobi's concern, but the situation was such that they couldn't ignore or suppress it through force.
"I know that, but delaying any action would definitely lower the voices, as with time things will calm down—or at least that's what I had thought," said Hiruzen, giving Danzo, who hadn't said a word, a narrow stare. "But it seems someone is fanning the flames behind the scenes."
Danzo felt Sarutobi's suspicious eyes on him, but his face didn't change at all, though inwardly he sneered. "Hmph! You really didn't think I would let go of such a good opportunity to lower your prestige, Hiruzen."
Only after Hiruzen loses the trust of the village's top combat power would it be possible to bring the matter of a new Hokage to discussion. He didn't have a grudge against Kazuki, but if using him could help him achieve his purpose, then why not?
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Naruto: Ultimate Couchbound System, Read my other work as well, just uploaded the first two chapters.
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