Chapter 35: Raijin-Ken

Chapter 35- KONOHA'S LIGHTNING SWORD!

TSUNADE SENJU

Tsunade sat in a chair in the Hokage office. She had still not taken over her teacher's office. It was tradition for a Hokage to only take that office after their coronation. She stared at the reports in front of her. The village's logistics were a mess. Shikaku Nara had been captaining the ship with all his resources yet there were several limitations placed on him as a jounin commander. Her sensei had still retained the system formed by her Granduncle. That just would not cut it anymore. She would have to revamp it all.

She closed the report on the weapon inventory placing it on the completed file. Then she addressed the man sitting in the chair in front of her.

"Now, before I deal with any further reports, there was an issue I wanted to resolve as my top priority," she said, addressing the jounin commander, sitting opposite to her. The man nodded seriously and she continued further.

"I wanted to compile the results for our genin from the chunin exams. The exams ended some time ago, and I believe that announcing the results after my coronation will further enhance the morale boost among our ranks." She gave her reasoning. And she had looked at the recording from the matched and talked to various teachers. While she would not call it the miraculous, the genin from Konoha had performed admirably.

"But with the cancellation of the third phase, many may object to the results!" Shikaku Nara pointed out. And once more, Tsunade huffed as he thought about her first interaction with the old buffoons. Honestly, they had long lost their relevance, yet her sensei had still given quite the importance to his council members. They thought themselves too powerful and influential.

Tsunade was going to correct that delusion quite emphatically.

"They would not dare. I do not know why they are making such idiotic recommendations, but I will take care of that." She assured the jounin commander. The man nodded at her assurance, and Tsunade took out a file she had prepared beforehand. She handed it to the man, who began to read it.

This file held her analysis and recommendations. There were some that were going to ruffle some feathers, but she was quite sure that the promoted genin would live up to her expectations. These were not just based on the exams, but their role and effectiveness during the invasion had also been taken into account.

And she noticed the Nara clan head frowning at a specific page before he handed her back the report pointing at a certain profile.

"Well, most of them seem well thought out, but I believe that this one is not going to be very simple," he said, pointing at the profile of the boy she had just healed the other day. The brown-haired kid that had taken the exams by storm. And Tsunade was not surprised by the next words.

"There have been several recommendations from the elders to make the kid join and restart a very specialized force," the man said cryptically. And Tsunade's irritation rose.

"There is no need to be so obtrusive. So, elder Danzo has already made his move," she said, leaning back. And the man nodded with a serious gaze.

"I tried to block it, but the elders gave the man permission to revive his specialized ROOT program as an emergency measure to prepare for the arising conflicts." The man said with a somewhat resigned voice.

"And why was this not mentioned in any of the emergency reports!" she said with a little heat in her voice. The man replied in an even tone.

"As in Third's reign, nothing regarding ROOT is mentioned in reports. All details are only given in a verbal manner to the Hokage."

This whole nonsense was giving her a headache. She leaned back into the chair as she closed her eyes. This was just like him, she thought with gritted teeth. Recruit them or Kill them. This sinister practice had been going on in the village for quite some time.

So much promise, so much potential, so many lives lost to the ambition of a certain man. Many of the lost lives could be accidental. Yet there was a certain pattern in some of the cases. But she had recognized it all too late.

Too late because by then, her own teammate had become an extension of his ambition. She thought about the latest prospect to take the village by storm. Shinso Ken had risen to the occasion, showing a skill set and dedication paralleled by only the legends of the shinobi world. Stopping a tailed beast was no small feat. It was not something that many shinobi could boast about.

If there was someone whom Tsunade had to bet would become Hokage after her, it would be him. Namikaze's kid showed a lot of promise as well. Yet his status as a jinchuriki had damaged his reputation in the village. Another of her sensei's failures. Yet the boy would don the hat. Mayhap after his batchmate. But one day, he would be a Hokage as well.

"There is little chance that the kid would accept his offer. But I don't want to leave it up to chance. Is there any chance that I can shut it down forcefully," she asked the greatest mind of the village. The man nodded her head, his shoulders tensing for a moment before he spoke out.

"Yes! I looked up all the regulations regarding all forces classified as ANBU, and there are a couple of ways to stop such recruitment through brute force," he said with a bit of sadness. And she could understand why.

The man had probably looked at it because of his own son. His own son, Shikamaru Nara had performed admirably in the exams, and while the kid could work a lot on his skill set. The invasion had brought a change in the kid, in the whole batch as a whole to be truthful.

All of them had been more restless. More receptive to instructions. Just more focused generally.

"ANBU can recruit any rank below Tokubetsu jounin through a forceful nomination. But for ranks above Tokubetsu jounin the Hokage and the shinobi both need to ok such recruitment I don't believe the kid is ready for such a promotion, even though his prowess may indicate differently. He needs to acclimate himself to this life for such a promotion,"

And Tsunade nodded at that. While the kid was good. He still needed time to grow up. Making him jounin could blunt the kid. And that would just be a failure.

"So, you will have to take the other route. You will just have to make the kid an apprentice. Making it impossible for such recruitment to go through," the man said with a small smile. And after a moment of careful thinking, Tsunade returned that smile. This was just what she had planned to do. She would just have to do it a bit earlier. Then suddenly an ANBU interrupted their meeting.

"Lady Tsunade, Lord commander! There is urgent news!" the ANBU spoke up. Tsunade frowned and motioned for him to continue.

"Lord Jiraiya has returned to the village. Him and the ANBU have serious injuries and need urgent treatment!"

0000

SHINSO KEN

The heat from the sun hit my face and it felt good to feel the heat after quite some time. I had woken up a couple of days ago. My body was beginning to gain back its complete function. I closed my eyes and felt the breeze hitting my face. The sensation had been something that I had thought a bit about in some desperate times.

"It is quite good to see you Shinso-kun," a very familiar voice said from the side. A smile spread across my face as I turned to face my teammates. Shino had visited me in the hospital the other day with a couple of other my friends. Yet it was the first time I was seeing Hinata, she had been recovering from her injuries in the Hyuga compound and thus both of us had been unable to see each other.

She was walking with Shino, with a small crutch. Dressed in her usual attire with a white jacket and blue pants, but she had let her hair grow out. The change gave her a more mature look. I smiled seeing her.

"It is nice to see you as well!" I said to them both, shaking their hands. And we took a spot to the side of the gathering crowd. The Hokage's building in front of us prepared to host the planned ceremony.

"So how has your recovery been progressing? I am sorry I couldn't visit," I said to my blue-haired teammate. She just smiles and waved off my apology.

"It is ok. You hurt yourself. As for recovery. According to the medics, it will be completed in a week at most, and then I can return to the roster a week after that. What about you Shinso-kun?" she asked me.

"Well, I have almost completely recovered. It will just be a couple of more days for me and then I will be back to active duty," I replied. She nodded her head at the explanation. From my place, I spotted Sasuke perched up on a tree branch. He was staring heavily at the stage with a contemplative expression. His face had a very thoughtful look on it, unlike the angsty expression I had expected. And as I was thinking about it, Hinata from the side spoke up once more.

"OH! I wanted to congratulate you on your promotion Shinso-kun," she spoke up making me frown.

"I don't believe there has been any news about that?" I stared at my teammates with a befuddled expression. Hinata giggled and beside her Shino threw something at me. I caught it in my hand. Looking at it I recognized the small booklet. It was a bingo book.

"You have an entry on the latest version. It seems you made quite an impression. Check page 234," Shino said with a cheery tone. Besides him, Hinata added with a slight giggle.

"With that entry and your reputation in the village, I can not think of any reason you will not get promoted!" she finished. And I opened the latest edition of the bingo book to the said page. And on that page was my picture. It was from the finals of the chunin exams finals. I looked over the page my eyes widening further as I read.

"What is this?" I questioned as I finished reading the poster calling for my head. Besides me, Hinata continued smiling. By this time, the coronation had started. And before I could further rant about it to my teammates. Karin returned to my side joining me as she had to finish up some personal errands. She greeted my two teammates.

"Hi Shino-kun, Hinata-kun," she said as she joined us in the crowd. Both of them greeted her back and then she joined us in our discussion.

"What is that booklet in your hand Shinso-kun?" she asked me.

"It's a bingo book, our friend has got himself quite a profile!" Hinata chimed in from the side. Surprising Karin as she took the booklet from my hands.

"Let me see!" she exclaimed. Her eyes went wide as she read the page, a slight hint of worry and pride appearing in her eyes as she stared at the page. And after a moment or so, she handed the booklet back.

"Well, they did give you a good moniker," and I found myself agreeing with her begrudgingly, as I looked at the title of my page once more.

"SHINSO KEN- LIGHTNING SWORD. (RAIJIN-KEN)"

And just as I was thinking, Tsunade Senju took to the center, appearing in the ceremonial robes and hat. The whole crowd broke into applause. Several people were cheering as she began her speech.

Later that day, when I was walking to the market to go to Ten-Ten's house. My path was interrupted by a very unwelcome guest. An ANBU appeared in front of me. And now I was very alert as it handed me a scroll.

"You have been summoned by elder Danzo, genin Shinso. You are to leave with me this instant!" the ANBU said in a commanding tone. A part of me wanted to ignore this farce and continue walking, but I couldn't guess how Danzo would react. So, I nodded my head. And vanished behind the ANBU.

0000

Shinso gets a bingo book entry. Tsunade is looking to get an apprentice, and Danzo makes an over reach.

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