Starting From Being Adopted by the Second Hokage!

Konoha's main gate.

Renya and his two teammates had just returned from a mission.

This time, the three of them had successfully taken down a Chūnin squad from the Land of Wind.

At that moment, Renya noticed that Senju Yūsuke had somehow appeared at the gate.

"Yūsuke-sensei, what are you doing here?" the three of them asked in confusion.

"Hey hey hey, aren't you three taking your guiding sensei a bit too lightly?" Senju Yūsuke rubbed his brow, clearly distressed.

As the Jōnin in charge of the team, he was supposed to accompany them on missions to ensure their safety.

But every time Renya accepted a mission, he never informed him.

By the time Yūsuke found out, the three of them were already off on the mission.

Sometimes, he didn't even find out until after they had already completed it...

In principle, Genin squads were supposed to be led by a Chūnin or Jōnin when accepting missions at the assignment hall.

However, due to the trio's special status and Chūnin-level strength, the mission registration staff often turned a blind eye.

After all, their teacher was none other than Tobirama-sama.

Renya had a simple reason for not wanting Senju Yūsuke to tag along.

If there was a Jōnin like Yūsuke secretly protecting them, they wouldn't be pushed to fight with all they had during missions.

It would create a subconscious dependency, weakening their fighting spirit and blunting their potential.

When facing a powerful enemy, they'd instinctively wait for the Jōnin to step in rather than thinking proactively about how to use what they'd learned or rely on teamwork to resolve the crisis.

Over time, their combat instincts would dull, and they might develop the dangerous mindset of "someone's got our back anyway."

And that kind of thinking was the most fatal.

Once Renya realized this, he stopped informing Senju Yūsuke before taking on missions.

At first, Danzo and Koharu didn't understand either, but gradually came to see the reasoning behind it during missions.

Of course, Renya never took missions beyond the team's capabilities.

He wanted to grow stronger—not die.

There was one mission Renya remembered clearly. The target was supposed to be a Chūnin squad.

But when they arrived on site, it turned out the squad was actually led by a Jōnin.

Renya calculated that, even with a sneak attack, they had only a 40% chance of success.

Without any hesitation, he abandoned the mission and led the others in retreat.

A Jōnin who had survived the Warring States Period had rich combat experience and was extremely cautious.

They wouldn't underestimate Renya's group just because of their young age.

Instead, they'd go all out to end the battle quickly.

The arrogant fools who didn't think like that? Well, their graves had long been covered in three meters of weeds.

After all, ninjas were essentially high-offense, low-defense assassins. Their bodies weren't that sturdy.

Even a Jōnin could fall at the hands of a Genin or Chūnin.

Renya had no desire to face a Jōnin who had survived the Warring States head-on.

Unless absolutely necessary—only then would he be forced into a desperate fight.

Any other time, fleeing was the smart move.

Senju Yūsuke understood what Renya and the others were thinking and was genuinely pleased.

But it left him feeling like he had no presence at all.

This wasn't wartime anymore. Other Jōnin in the village were leading students on missions, while he was just aimlessly wandering around every day.

For a dignified Jōnin like himself to be treated like some unemployed drifter...

The Jōnin who were close to Yūsuke often teased him.

"Did your students ditch you?"

In moments like that, Yūsuke could only smile awkwardly and stay silent. The bitterness in his heart was his alone to bear.

But even so—having students that were too independent wasn't necessarily a good thing either.

Not wanting to keep being the village's "unassigned Jōnin," he thought it over and finally made a decision...

"You three have performed well, so I've signed you up for the upcoming Chūnin Exams," Yūsuke said.

"I think, given your strength, passing the exam shouldn't be hard... and this way, I can start leading the newly graduated Genin."

Normally, Chūnin formed the core combat strength of the village.

Once a Genin became a Chūnin through the exam, their squad no longer needed a guiding sensei.

In fact, most instructors for Genin were Chūnin.

After all, Jōnin were limited in number.

Usually, one batch of Jōnin would guide Genin, and once those Genin became Chūnin, they'd take over guiding the next batch of graduates.

The three were stunned by what they heard.

They hadn't expected Senju Yūsuke to say something like that.

"Yūsuke-sensei, are you giving up on us?"

Renya gulped, silently muttering in his heart:

[Is he mad because we kept taking missions without him and now he's quitting out of spite?]

They exchanged glances, each seeing the same shock in the others' eyes.

"Yūsuke-sensei, don't be upset," Koharu said timidly. "We'll bring you along for the next mission, okay?"

"Yeah! Yūsuke-sensei, you're a Jōnin after all. You can't really be mad at us, right?" Danzo pouted.

As if he had already seen through the teacher's petty thoughts.

Renya said nothing. He just sighed helplessly.

That expression seemed to say something... or maybe nothing at all.

Senju Yūsuke: "???"

Just a moment ago, he'd felt guilty toward the three of them.

Now? That guilt was gone without a trace.

He was incredibly thankful he had made the right decision. Otherwise, these three would've driven him to an early grave.

"The Chūnin Exams are in five days. Don't take on any more missions until then—use the time to prepare."

Yūsuke had no desire to keep seeing the three of them. As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly turned to leave.

At that moment, Renya called out to him.

"Yūsuke-sensei, wait a sec…"

Yūsuke turned back to look at Renya. "What is it now?"

"Um... well..." Renya scratched his head and cautiously asked, "There aren't going to be theory questions on the Chūnin Exams, right?"

"Of course there are," Yūsuke replied.

He was a bit curious—why was Renya asking that?

Wait... why did the kid's face suddenly look so awful?!

"Renya, are you okay?" Senju Yūsuke asked.

"Hehe... no, no problem," Renya said, dazed.

"Alright then, I'll be off."

With that, Yūsuke vanished from sight.

"Renya-kun, don't worry. The theory exam is pretty simple," Koharu said comfortingly.

Renya didn't respond. He just looked up at the sky.

At that moment, he felt more helpless than he ever had before.

He knew whether the theory exam was simple or not.

That glorious five-point score from before was still proudly pinned to his wall at home.

He had thought that after becoming a ninja, he'd be done with academic subjects.

Who would've thought the Chūnin Exams would be waiting for him?

His grades had never been good, and now he'd been out of school for over a year...

Renya felt like he'd never make Chūnin in this lifetime.

Danzo saw the look on his face and sighed helplessly. Renya's academic performance really was hopeless.

"Let's see if we can cheat when the time comes..."

----------------

Pls Drop some Power Stones

+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo