Talent System In The Naruto Universe

After finishing the barbecue, Tsunade ended up drunk again.

Watching her wobble as she walked, Hanekawa stepped forward and held out his hand.

Tsunade tilted her head and looked at him with a dazed and adorable expression.

"Don't fall," Hanekawa reminded her.

Tsunade understood and draped her arm over his shoulder.

A heavy, soft pressure settled against him. Seeing that she had nothing to hold onto, Hanekawa instead supported her by holding her waist.

"You… you did pretty well today," Tsunade said with a smile, ruffling his hair.

"Yes," Hanekawa replied nonchalantly.

"You've got such a cute face, but you're so… so not cute!" Tsunade poked his cheek with her finger.

"Yes," Hanekawa said again, glancing at her finger and resisting the urge to bite it.

"Really now… can't you come up with another word?" Tsunade leaned against his shoulder, her warm breath brushing against his face.

"Let's get you home to rest, Sensei,"

Hanekawa said, his eyes subtly shifting to the faint sheen of oil on her lips.

"Okay," Tsunade mumbled, closing her eyes.

With Hanekawa's help, she slowly made her way home.

Thud!

As soon as Hanekawa let go, Tsunade collapsed onto her bed.

Shaking his head in resignation, he took off her shoes.

"I'll come back tomorrow," Hanekawa said, giving her a quick farewell before shutting the door behind him.

Not long after, he arrived at Kurenai's house.

Although it was already late, it wasn't quite bedtime yet, and the lights inside were still on.

Hanekawa raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Even though he had a key, barging in after being away for so long might have been too startling.

"Who's knocking this late?" Yūhi Shinku wondered aloud.

"Could it be Hanekawa?" Kurenai jumped off the couch and said, "I'll go check."

She ran to the door and opened it.

When she saw Hanekawa, she froze in place.

The next moment, Kurenai leapt forward, wrapping her arms around him.

Hanekawa blinked in surprise, then smiled and patted her head.

Her long black hair was soft and had a faint, clean fragrance—completely different from Tsunade's.

"Ahem!"

Yūhi Shinku's face darkened as he let out a loud cough.

"Uncle Shinku, do you have a cold?" Hanekawa blinked innocently. "I know some medical ninjutsu. I can treat you."

"You little brat!" Shinku glared at him.

"Dad, why are you scolding him?" Kurenai asked, clearly displeased.

"..."

Shinku looked utterly exasperated.

"Hanekawa, why are you back so late?" Kurenai asked, her ruby-like eyes curving into crescent moons as she beamed with happiness.

"I just finished dropping off my Sensei," Hanekawa replied with a smile.

"Alright, stop chatting at the door. It's windy outside," Shinku sighed, resigned. Even if his daughter's loyalty lay elsewhere, he still had to fulfill his duties as her father.

"Okay."

Hanekawa patted Kurenai's back, signaling her to let go.

Realizing what she was doing, Kurenai's cheeks flushed as she quickly stepped back, putting some distance between them.

How cute.

Hanekawa smiled, closed the door, and walked into the living room with her.

"What kind of mission was it this time? Why did it take so long?" Shinku asked, seated across from them.

He knew Hanekawa often went on missions with Tsunade, but the missions were usually low-level, around B-rank.

Most of them only lasted two or three days, rarely over a week. This one had taken nearly two.

"Sorry," Hanekawa said, shaking his head. "According to village rules, I can't say."

"What's there to—wait, was it A-rank?" Shinku suddenly realized, his eyes widening in surprise.

Generally, A-rank and S-rank missions required strict confidentiality unless the Hokage gave special permission.

"It was S-rank," Hanekawa corrected.

"What?"

Shinku froze, disbelief written all over his face. "Are you serious?"

As a jōnin, he had completed only a few S-rank missions himself. These missions were rare and exceptionally challenging.

Even someone like Sarutobi Asuma, according to official records, had completed only twenty S-rank missions. Yūhi Kurenai had completed just fourteen.

Only elites like Orochimaru and Jiraiya, the cream of the crop, managed to complete over a hundred S-rank missions.

Yet Hanekawa, at just ten years old, had already completed one. The revelation left Shinku utterly stunned.

"Hanekawa must be telling the truth!" Kurenai said, looking at him with pure admiration.

"This time, I traveled with my teacher and Uncle Sakumo," Hanekawa said, patting Yūhi Kurenai's head. "They were handling an S-rank mission, while my part was roughly equivalent to an A-rank mission in difficulty."

After using dark medical ninjutsu, Yomi indeed achieved the level of a full-fledged jōnin. However, aside from having a large chakra reserve, he lacked extensive ninjutsu knowledge, which slightly reduced his overall strength.

Even so, describing his role as A-rank was entirely accurate.

"Even A-rank is already impressive," Yūhi Shinku remarked, sighing. "The students nowadays are getting stronger with each generation."

After speaking, he felt a bit odd.

The idea of a student being associated with an S-rank mission was almost unimaginable.

Shinku exhaled deeply, watching the close bond between Kurenai and Hanekawa. His emotions were a mix of pride and complexity.

No matter what, their family seemed to have gained quite the advantage.

"Get some rest early; there's class tomorrow," Shinku reminded them as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Got it," Hanekawa nodded slightly.

Having spent two hours earlier dealing with a drunk Tsunade, he was indeed exhausted.

After taking a shower and saying goodnight to Kurenai, he returned to his room.

The moon rose and set, and a new day began.

"Hanekawa!"

Kurenai's voice jolted him awake.

Rubbing his eyes, Hanekawa changed into his clothes and opened the door.

Kurenai was dressed in a thin white tracksuit, under which a long-sleeved shirt was faintly visible. Her black hair was tied back into a ponytail, giving her a lively and energetic appearance.

"Let's go running!" Kurenai said enthusiastically.

She hadn't been able to run with Hanekawa for nearly two weeks, so her excitement was evident.

"Alright," Hanekawa replied with a slight nod.

To improve his taijutsu talent, he often ran in the mornings with Might Guy. However, he couldn't stand the green spandex suit. One day, he cleverly invited Kurenai to join him.

As a ninja, even if she wasn't focused on taijutsu, physical training was always beneficial.

Might Guy warmly welcomed Kurenai's arrival and even offered her a green spandex suit, but she refused without hesitation.

Seizing the opportunity, Hanekawa also requested to forgo the suit. With a 2-to-1 vote, he and Kurenai won.

"Hanekawa!"

Might Guy's face lit up when he saw them. "You're finally back in the village!"

"Yeah," Hanekawa replied as they ran side by side.

"To celebrate your return, let's have a youthful showdown today!" Might Guy exclaimed with excitement, his eyes blazing with passion.

"I have class today," Hanekawa quickly declined. "No intense exercise for me."

"Alright then," Might Guy hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly giving up.

Hanekawa breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that he feared losing to Might Guy, but the man's energy was overwhelming. Even if he won, Might Guy would keep wanting more challenges.

Now, Hanekawa understood how Kakashi felt in the original story. Facing Might Guy, most people truly couldn't keep up.

After running three laps around the Hidden Leaf Village, dawn began to break. Hanekawa and Kurenai said goodbye to Might Guy and returned home.

After breakfast, they headed to the academy.

Hanekawa received a warm welcome, with greetings from people all along the way. When he entered the classroom, the enthusiasm reached its peak.

Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought a celebrity had just arrived.

"Show-off," Sarutobi Asuma muttered, shaking his head. But deep down, he envied Hanekawa, wishing he could be in his place.

Kakashi glanced briefly at the commotion before turning away.

He was used to this. In the past, it was him who was surrounded. Now, it was Hanekawa's turn.

Honestly, Kakashi didn't mind—he didn't like dealing with such situations anyway.

"Hanekawa!"

Nohara Rin's eyes lit up as a smile spread across her face. She had been struggling with questions during Hanekawa's two-week absence. Now that he was back, she could train and study with him again.

"Unbelievable!"

Uchiha Obito noticed Rin's expression and subconsciously clenched his fists.

"Long time no see," Hanekawa said as he finally made his way over to their group.

Rin and the others responded warmly, while Obito gave a reluctant greeting.

"That guy told me to ask you something," Asuma suddenly recalled, breaking the moment.

"That guy?" Hanekawa raised an eyebrow. "You mean the Hokage?"

"Exactly," Asuma confirmed.

Sarutobi Asuma nonchalantly said, "He wants to know when you plan to graduate."

At the mention of graduation, Kakashi immediately turned to look at Hanekawa.

If not for Hanekawa, Kakashi would have graduated as a genin after just one year instead of still being a student.

Nohara Rin's heart stirred.

When it came to graduation, she felt both hopeful and reluctant. Hopeful because it meant having a team led by a jonin teacher, but reluctant because it also meant the group might separate.

"Next year," Hanekawa replied after some thought.

Minato Namikaze had already faced the AB duo from the Hidden Cloud Village, so staying low to develop further wasn't realistic anymore.

Next year, he would be in fifth grade, which was only a year early—still within reason.

"Then I'll graduate next year too," Sarutobi Asuma declared immediately. "When the time comes, you and I can be on the same team. We'll make a name for ourselves across the ninja world as the next Legendary Sannin of Konoha!"

Hanekawa's lips twitched slightly.

"Not a chance!" Kurenai suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Hanekawa's hand and retorting, "He's going to be on my team!"

"It could be me!" Might Guy chimed in, though he wasn't just stirring the pot—he genuinely wanted to team up with Hanekawa and add Kakashi to the mix.

Nohara Rin pressed her lips together, hesitant to speak.

She couldn't deny wanting to be on Hanekawa's team, but her personality made it impossible to voice it as boldly as Kurenai.

"Rin, team up with me! I'll protect you!" Uchiha Obito blurted out in a panic.

He was terrified that Rin would utter Hanekawa's name, which would spell disaster for him.

According to Konoha's rules, ninja squads were assigned for the long haul—usually until the members became specialized jonin or full-fledged jonin.

Obito didn't even want to imagine what could happen during all that time.

Rin blinked, momentarily stunned. Seeing Obito's hopeful expression, she didn't want to reject him outright, so she replied, "The teams will depend on the assignments."

"I believe in the power of our bond!" Obito said confidently.

"Enough!" Hanekawa quickly stepped in, stopping the growing argument. "It's too early to discuss team assignments now, and besides, team members aren't something we can decide ourselves."

Of course, the second half of that statement was a lie.

But since they were all still kids, most didn't know the inner workings and accepted his words at face value.

"Hanekawa..." Kurenai started to ask something but stopped when she saw his signal with his eyes.

Reassured by his silent promise, she didn't press the matter.

After chatting with them briefly, Hanekawa returned to his seat, stroking his chin in thought.

Since his teacher was Tsunade, he actually had some say in his team composition.

He had already decided on Kurenai, but he still needed to pick the final member.

Kakashi, Might Guy, and Asuma were all strong candidates.

Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito were slightly weaker, but they had potential to grow into formidable ninjas.

Hanekawa quickly ruled out Obito.

Not only was their relationship average, but if Obito caught Madara's attention, Hanekawa could end up as a sacrificial tool to awaken his Sharingan.

Then there was Rin.

If she teamed up with Obito, as in the original story, her death probability would be 99%.

A different team setup might just save her life.

The class bell rang.

Eichiro entered the classroom just in time.

He glanced around, noticed Hanekawa lost in thought, and paused for a moment before choosing to ignore it.

"Take out today's textbook," Eichiro instructed from the podium, beginning the lecture.

Hanekawa snapped out of his thoughts, setting aside the matter of his future team to focus on his training plan.

If he was aiming to graduate in fifth grade, he had roughly a year and a half left.

Since his learning was all over the place, he needed to prioritize.

After some thought, he wrote down medical ninjutsu, genjutsu, and Lightning Release in his notebook.

Medical ninjutsu was a must. As Tsunade's student, he needed to master it. Plus, an excellent medical ninja could influence the tide of battle, so it wasn't something to neglect.

Genjutsu, while less effective against the Uchiha clan, was a devastating weapon against most other ninja.

In fact, during his previous battle with Ao and the others, he had taken down four of Yomi's subordinates using genjutsu alone.

As for Lightning Release, it was his natural chakra affinity. Using it wouldn't raise suspicion.

There was also the issue of Hidden Cloud Village's involvement, making Lightning Release even more relevant.

The B-rank entry "Body of Lightning Release" was already incredibly powerful, let alone the Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

The only pity was that he couldn't obtain the training method for now.

There was no way he could send back the information about Uzumaki Kushina being the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, right?

Hanekawa frowned slightly.

Was there information of equal value?

He couldn't think of anything for the moment.

Speaking of Uzumaki Kushina, Hanekawa suddenly thought of the Rasengan.

He figured it would be worth learning, as it would significantly enhance his current abilities.

Like superhuman strength, the Rasengan didn't require hand seals, making it incredibly convenient in battle.

Although Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were both currently absent from Konoha, they had undoubtedly submitted the Rasengan technique.

According to Konoha's rules, any jutsu created must be submitted to the village in exchange for appropriate rewards.

Others might not comply, but Minato, being a model of the Will of Fire, definitely would.

Time quickly passed, and it was the end of the school day.

"Let's go train!" Sarutobi Asuma said excitedly.

When Hanekawa was away, training just didn't feel the same. Now that he was back, Asuma felt motivated again.

"Hm?" Kakashi suddenly looked up and saw an unexpected figure—Sakumo Hatake.

"Kakashi," Sakumo noticed his gaze and approached.

"Father," Kakashi said, a little confused. "Are you here for me?"

"No, I'm here for Hanekawa," Sakumo replied with a shake of his head.

He had gone to find Tsunade earlier, but she wasn't home, so he came to the school instead.

"You guys go ahead," Hanekawa said, knowing why Sakumo had come. He waved off Kurenai and the others.

"Make it quick," Kurenai said reluctantly, waving to him as she left.

"Here," Sakumo handed him two bankbooks. "The reward from the mission in the Land of Demons."

"Thanks," Hanekawa said as he took the bankbooks, a bit surprised. "Two million ryō?"

"An additional one million ryō is for your teacher. She's not home, so I'm leaving it to you to pass it on," Sakumo explained.

"Got it. Thanks, Uncle Sakumo," Hanekawa said. He paused, then asked, "Is there anything else? If not, I'll go join Kakashi and the others for training."

"Go ahead," Sakumo said with a smile and a nod.

After saying goodbye, Hanekawa didn't immediately join Kakashi and the others. Instead, he went to the casino.

Konoha had several casinos, but Tsunade favored the largest one.

As soon as Hanekawa entered the casino, he spotted her.

"Perfect timing!" Tsunade exclaimed, her face lighting up when she saw him. She immediately pulled him closer.

"I need to talk to you," Hanekawa said quickly.

"Not now, after I finish gambling," Tsunade said, her eyes glued to the table.

"I need you to get me the Rasengan," Hanekawa said bluntly.

"The Rasengan?" Tsunade paused, surprised. "You mean the technique Minato created?"

She had heard about it before from Kushina, as they often visited her home together.

"Yes," Hanekawa explained. "It's a seal-less jutsu, and I think it'll be quite useful."

"Alright," Tsunade agreed without hesitation.

"I'm off to train. See you later," Hanekawa said as he turned and bolted out of the casino.

"Wait!" Tsunade instinctively reached out to grab him, but he was too quick.

She pursed her lips in slight annoyance.

__

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