Red Nara

- Hyuga's leading the team now, even though he's a sideline, but he's proven to be a great leader and shinobi," he said, smiling, "If all goes well, he should be able to pass the jonin tokubetsu in a year or two.

Even though Hyuga is receiving clan training, it's well known that the side branch doesn't have access to the best of the clan's knowledge, and they're trained worse than the main branch, so the team mentor gets most of the credit for the development of this student.

- Congratulations," I saluted Kei with a cup of tea, "considering your merits, it won't be long before you get a seat on the jonin council.

After all, he earned his current rank at a rather early age - twenty-one years old, if you look at most jonins, that's a very good indicator for a non-clan shinobi.

- Do I need it? - My friend grinned, waving me away. - I hate politics, and the jonin council is politics, politics and politics again.

- But it's a lot of extra money," I said, chewing on the last dango.

- Nerves are worth more to me," Kei said, grinning, "though some people are as eager as if the council were a gold bar.

- They do, but not for nothing," I shook my head, "when you have to push... Oops!

Jumping to my feet, I used the shunshin to get on the stadium wall and catch the beam with one hand, and with the other hand to hold the genin who had lost concentration and almost flew down with his load.

- Careful, if you're tired, you should rest, not squeeze yourself to the bottom," he advised the boy after he jumped to the ground and set him on his feet.

- Thank you, shinobi-san, I'll do that," he bowed, apparently not even having time to be frightened.

In fact, besides resting and watching the labor of others, the team mentors also look after their workplaces, so that the genin didn't injure themselves or kill any of the workers accidentally, if they overestimated their strength, as it happened now. Nodding to the kid's mentor, who was located across the roof from us, I shunned back, settling into my seat after a dozen seconds, continuing the conversation.

- As I was saying, when a law or amendment needs to be pushed through, some jonins stand up for quite certain people.

- Really? - Kei was pretending to be surprised.

- Yeah, some of the shinobi on the jonin council are literally bought by the richest non-shinobi traders on the village council," I said. "The clan heads know them well, but no one does anything about it because it's convenient for everyone to know how certain people will vote, and they've earned their seats.

- Politics," my friend grinned, "even if they offer it, I won't go, because I don't want to participate in all this.

- That's right," I agreed with him.

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