508 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

Two bodies were unable to move, and two black shadows extended out, reaching toward the bells at their waists.

"A truly smart choice."

Kiyosuke's body suddenly turned into a burst of flames and vanished. A low-level sealing jutsu could only confine his physical body; it had no way to confine chakra. Breaking free was effortless. He took the bells from Kakashi, stood atop a tree, looked down at everyone, and laughed,

"Kids, you failed!"

"No, we didn't!"

Shinichi, having been cured of the paralysis toxin by Mitsuki, jumped out and hugged Kiyosuke. Boruto had also been awakened and chopped down forcefully at his arm.

The arm dissolved into flames, revealing two bells. Boruto reached out, trying to grab them, but they were caught by Kakashi, who had broken free. Boruto, meanwhile, was struck by a kunai thrown by Kiyosuke, which pinned his clothes and left him hanging from the tree.

"Not bad."

Kakashi said, "Your performance was alright. Very good. Congratulations, you pass the exam. You are all qualified!"

"Qualified?"

Everyone was stunned. Shikadai asked, "But we didn't grab the bells."

"Forget about the bells. The Seventh and his team didn't grab them back then either," Kakashi said with a smile. "The test was never about the bells in the first place. Anyway, you passed."

Everyone cheered.

"That's great! We finally passed!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Alright!"

"If I didn't pass, Mom and Dad would have killed me!"

Shinichi also joined the cheering,

"It's finally over. I can finally become a ninja!"

Finally, he could escape Orochimaru's training hell.

Shikadai was curious about Kakashi's previous rules and asked,

"Sixth-sama, what was that rule about earlier?"

"The ninja world is harsh. In this world, there are all sorts of rules and regulations. Those who break the rules are regarded as trash, but those who do not cherish their comrades are worse than trash. A comrade of mine taught me this, and now I am teaching it to you. This year's students have already achieved this. You qualified the moment you worked together to challenge us."

At this moment, Shino and the others walked out to address them.

"Working together with your comrades is the correct answer. Real-world missions contain many difficulties, and to overcome these obstacles, you need the bond between comrades and firm determination. Congratulations on passing. From now on, you are Konoha Genin. Release!"

He formed a hand seal, and the bands on the children's bodies were unsealed, transforming into Konoha ninja forehead protectors.

Everyone looked at the forehead protectors on them and let out cheers; their sleepiness vanished instantly.

"It's too early to be happy. There are plenty of challenges waiting for them," Kakashi sighed.

"That is true," Kiyosuke said with a smile, looking at his cheering son. "That kid... he did a beautiful job."

...

After becoming ninja, they formed three-man squads. Shinichi was teamed up with Neji and Tenten's son, Hyūga Neisei. Neisei was naturally gifted, very much like Neji when he was a child. Like his mother, he excelled at using various ninja tools, and he hadn't neglected the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist. At a young age, he had also awakened the Byakugan.

The team was led by Neji.

Neji was already a Konoha Elite Jonin. He was powerful and calm in his conduct. Kiyosuke didn't worry about his son's safety in the slightest and had told Neji that if the boy didn't listen, he should educate him with the Gentle Fist and not go too easy on him.

Their three-man squad was Team 8. Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki were originally Team 3, but they later sought out Naruto and asked him to give them the title of Team 7.

Team 8 soon welcomed their first mission.

"Let me see... your mission is... to find Grandma Matsushita's lost kitten," Naruto announced the mission for Team 8.

Neji nodded and accepted it. After all, the group of children under his command could only take C-rank and D-rank missions. This was very normal; it would be abnormal if they received a B-rank mission.

Shinichi said, "No way. It's our first mission, shouldn't there be a bit of a challenge?"

"Haha, don't look so disgusted. We went through this back in the day too. I heard from Kiyosuke-sensei that their first mission was picking up trash. It's very normal," Naruto comforted Shinichi. After all, having just become a ninja, doing this kind of work felt like a huge letdown.

"That's right, this is normal. If you want to take on higher-level missions, become a Chunin," Neji said with a smile. "For now, let's execute these missions first, then we can talk."

"Fine."

Everyone left together. A Genin's daily life consisted of picking up trash, finding pets, doing farm work, and the like. Rarely were there any particularly exciting missions. So, more often than not, Neji took them training to teach them skills.

As time passed, a new round of Chunin Exams arrived.

During this period, the squad led by Konohamaru discovered ruins left behind by Kaguya. Sasuke had also been there and had used Amaterasu, prompting Naruto and Kiyosuke to make a special trip.

Later, Sasuke returned to the village, bringing back a scroll that even the Rinnegan could not decipher.

At the same time, he brought back news: the appearance of the Otsutsuki clan.

There were two Otsutsuki in total, both powerful. To avoid wasting chakra, Sasuke had retreated via a space-time portal after fighting one of them, returning to Konoha.

"Otsutsuki, huh? Although I don't know what their goal is, they are quite difficult to deal with," Kiyosuke shook his head. However, he didn't care too much. As long as it wasn't Otsutsuki Isshiki, he could handle the others.

He didn't think much of the arrival of Otsutsuki Kinshiki and Otsutsuki Momoshiki.

Naruto, full of exhaustion, also nodded.

"Indeed, they cannot be underestimated. I hope they don't come here during the Chunin Exams."

"Yeah."

They chatted for a while longer before Sasuke went back. He hadn't returned to Konoha for a year or two, and he hoped his daughter wouldn't be angry.

Kiyosuke also left shortly after. Just as he exited the Hokage Building, he saw Boruto running out, while Sasuke stood at the entrance, lost in thought.

"What happened here?"

"Naruto's son. He said he wants to take me as his master to gain powerful strength and take revenge on Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Ah, that."

Boruto still hadn't learned his lesson. The conflict between him and Naruto was mainly because Naruto hadn't been home for a long time. For Boruto's birthday, he only made a phone call, and for his sister's birthday, he sent a Shadow Clone. The clone suddenly vanished halfway through the party. His own family had been there at the time, and Boruto was incredibly angry.

He didn't intend to intervene; this was their family matter.

"So, what do you plan to do?"

"Let him learn the Rasengan first."

"Makes sense." Kiyosuke nodded. That counted as a form of inheritance, too.

"Go back now. It's late, you should get some rest."

"Yeah."