Konoha Notes.

Chapter 485 The Wicked Adult

Chapter 485 The Wicked Adult

"The name is too long and not very practical."

"There's also the issue of retrieval. Overly complex terms can cause information retrieval anomalies, making it difficult even for teammates to immediately determine their partner's area of ​​expertise."

"Many affixes have overlapping meanings and do not need to be emphasized repeatedly."

"Indeed, if it's too long, it becomes inconvenient to register and retrieve."

The student group, one of the four who formed an alliance on the spot, quickly offered their opinions.

This powerful drive made Iruka somewhat ashamed, and he immediately offered his own opinion.

"As a teacher, I also find it difficult to explain the meaning of these terms to my subordinates or students."

Minato listened attentively and nodded repeatedly.

Fu looked at Minato's serious attitude as he revised the document, and pouted with a hint of regret: "The current version is really interesting, why do you have to change it?!"

Seeing that achieving his goal seemed easy, Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief and said to Fu, who was trying to offer little resistance, "This isn't a problem that's not interesting."

However, the next person to join the battle made that breath catch in again.

"I think the title just won't do if it's not cool enough." Shuuji held a takoyaki stick in his hand. "Since it's an honorary title and it's awarded as a reward, it's meaningless if the title itself isn't unique."

As he spoke, he pulled someone over: "Right, Naruto?"

Naruto, suddenly asked for his opinion, nodded blankly and said, "What Shuji-nii said seems to make sense."

Fu expressed her agreement.

Minato said thoughtfully, "Indeed."

The situation was starting to crumble. It wasn't that the defense couldn't find more reasons; the problem was that restarting the battle required some mental preparation, because the people they were facing now seemed to have changed.

At least for the three people other than Shikamaru, that's the case.

Temari was puzzled, Kankuro was confused, and Iruka was speechless.

Seeing the allies' stance, the Nara children knew that the alliance would collapse if no one launched an attack, so they said, "The emblem itself is a unique symbol, isn't it, Lord Shuji?"

"When there are no badges, the badges themselves are unique symbols," Shuuji replied. "When badges exist, what kind of badge is unique, Shikamaru?"

"The badges aren't different—"

Shikamaru was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized something, but it was too late.

"Yes, names," Shuuji continued, finishing his sentence. "Names with various unique prefixes and suffixes, and adjectives. After all, creating different shapes for badges is a much more expensive thing than names."

Naruto suddenly realized, "So that's what Dad was thinking?"

The praised Minato smiled slightly: "I see, so that's the intention."

Shikamaru did not speak again.

The alliance's faltering was becoming increasingly apparent, and even the eldest teacher, Iruka, showed no further intention of struggling.

But in the end, it was Shuji who instigated the rebellion, and now he has suddenly turned against them.

And even if future promotions require going through this badge process, as long as you don't care about those names—

Shikamaru thought about it for a moment and felt that there was little point in continuing the fight, so he decided to give up.

Then he saw the gazes of Minato and Shuji. The two men, whose expressions seemed unchanged, were looking at him, or rather, at him.

Shikamaru was momentarily confused.

At this moment, Gaara spoke up, saying, "The purpose of the badge is for promotion, not for the name."

Temari seemed to snap out of her daze and immediately echoed Gaara's opinion: "Yes, Mr. Shuji, the name itself isn't important. What a crest needs is its distinguishing function; uniqueness is secondary."

"We are ninjas, we don't need titles or anything like that."

Kankuro readily agreed, "Gaara is right."

Shikamaru was surprised.

Would Gaara be the kind of person who cares about the length of his name?

Why get involved?

Why now?

Before he could figure it out, Shuji said, "It looks like the score is now three to five."

"Considering I am a Jonin, my opinion should count as three votes, so it's five to five, a tie."

The situation has taken a new turn, and Shikamaru has rallied: "Lord Shuji is a Jonin, so the proportion of people involved in this kind of thing that targets Chunin and Genin experiences shouldn't be this high."

"On the contrary. It is precisely because I am a Jonin and have stronger insight that I have greater influence."

Shikamaru was no longer fooled by him, nor did he object to his opinion. Instead, he directly offered a new perspective: "Then Iruka-sensei, as a Chunin, should have more votes than us Genin."

"Based on your proportion, it should count as two votes."

"That should be six to five, Lord Shuji."

Iruka was called out.

He opened his mouth and looked at Shuuji.

Shuji looked at him, a half-smile on his face: "Is that so? Iruka, do you count as two votes?"

Iruka felt a chill run down his spine.

But he is the only Chunin in the alliance and the teacher of those children, so he cannot be weak at this time.

Iruka prepares to muster his courage and launch the greatest rebellion of his life.

"Iruka, there are two more over here. Temari and Kankuro are almost graduating," Shuji said expressionlessly. "Are you going to disregard the needs of other students just because of your own personal preferences?"

Fu crossed her arms and winked at him.

Naruto seemed to realize that this had turned into a fight.

Gaara was on the opposite side, but Fu really liked those names and thought they were actually quite good, so she looked at Iruka with the same unwavering determination.

Iruka was speechless.

"Despicable sir," Shikamaru thought to himself before scanning the room.

Now that things have come to this, we can't give up easily. There's still one student who hasn't spoken—

"Ding—" he was about to speak.

"The votes are so close, it looks like there's only one option left." Shuji didn't give him a chance. "Mr. Uzumaki, let's expand the discussion."

"Shikamaru, Iruka, since you are the representatives of the ninja academy students and Chunin who hold opposing views, go to the ninja academy and get more opinions from others."

"After all, this involves the interests of all the Chunin and Genin in the village, and it would be unfair for us to make the decision alone."

"Naruto and Fu are our only two choices, so I'm entrusting the task of achieving victory to you."

Shikamaru was completely dumbfounded.

He got it.

This is Xiu Si's purpose.

The task was to spread the word about the ninja promotion reform through them. And the responsibility of gathering opinions was specifically assigned to him.

I see. That's why Gaara, who had been observing from the sidelines, suddenly joined the resistance alliance.

Shikamaru stared at Gaara with deadpan eyes.

The red-haired boy kept his head down and continued eating his snacks.

"Leave it to me, Shuji-nii!" Naruto was the first to respond. "We'll definitely win!"

"We will definitely win!" Fu raised her hands high, "For the coolest title!"

Xiu Si clapped his hands with a cheerful laugh: "You've worked hard, you've worked hard. What a thoroughly enjoyable debate!"

"Is dinner ready, Mr. Whirlpool?"

Choji then raised his hand: "Wait, I need to finish up the snacks first. Everything needs to be arranged before we get to the main meal."

Shikamaru was a little tired. He'd been tricked by those mean adults today and wanted to refuse dinner: "My mom should already be—"

"It's alright, Shikamaru-kun. Uzumaki-san has already personally gone to explain the situation," Shuuji said.

Minato smiled and nodded: "I will talk to Mr. Shikaku."

Shikamaru completely gave up struggling.

Choji was quickly finishing off the snacks on the ground, and Temari and Kankuro realized that the purpose of the debate earlier was not the debate itself.

Temari gave Shikamaru a slightly apologetic look, but only a little, before Shuji called her over to help bring out dinner. She immediately and skillfully arranged things for Naruto and Fu.

Only Iruka, Shikamaru, and Choji remained in the living room.

"I'm very sorry about what happened earlier, Shikamaru," Iruka said softly. "It's all because the teacher wasn't firm enough."

Shikamaru did not answer.

"I'll try to get the opinions of the other Chunin instructors, so don't worry," Iruka continued. "As long as Captain Shuji doesn't force us to win at the academy, we'll definitely be able to win."

Shikamaru was speechless for a moment, but then an idea struck him: "Iruka-sensei, could you—while you're at it, help gather the students' opinions?"

"This is a shared mission, and of course the teacher will help," Iruka said confidently. "As long as the other Chunin teachers also support Kanmei, they will exert influence in their respective classes."

Having mustered his courage, Iruka Umino failed to notice the meaning in Shikamaru Nara's eyes.

He was prepared to make amends for his guilt, and remained steadfast in his resolve until after dinner, even taking Shikamaru and Choji home.

Just as he was dropping Shikamaru off at his doorstep, he said again, "Sensei will take care of things here. Shikamaru, you should do your best too!"

"Let's complete this task together."

"Naruto and Fu won't give up easily."

With that, Iruka patted Nara on the shoulder forcefully and left.

Mr. Umino originally planned to return to his apartment, but after walking around the streets for a while, he couldn't help but think about what happened that morning.

Mizuki.

Although his childhood friend never showed any resentment about not being able to join the Ninja Academy, he probably still cared about it.

He had never dared to tell Mizuki that comment Shuji made, but now—

Iruka stood on the street corner for a while, then went into the convenience store, picked up two cans of beer, and walked towards the direction of Shuimu Apartment.

The doorbell rang twice before someone answered.

Shui Mu was somewhat surprised when she opened the door.

"That's rare, Iruka."

"I suddenly feel like having something to drink." Iruka gestured with the bag in his hand.

The two sat down on the floor in the room.

Mizuki asked first the reason for the visit, and Iruka didn't beat around the bush: "I took on a difficult task today."

"I shouldn't just casually mention the village's mission," Mizuki said with a smile. "Or is it related to me?"

"It's not something that needs to be kept secret." Iruka opened the can. "They said I was to gather opinions. Captain Shuuji was quite open about it, so I wanted to ask what you think."

After all, if the opinion survey were conducted on all the teachers and students of the ninja academy, it would be no different from an open survey of the entire village.

It was precisely because Iruka understood this point that he came to Mizuki and casually mentioned it as an opening remark.

"Was this arranged by Lord Shuji?" Mizuki asked casually.

"Hmm. He said there will be reforms to the Chunin promotion system, using the number of badges earned in the exams as the standard, but the names—"

Iruka whispered one of the names.

Mizuki burst into laughter: "This was actually Shuji-sama's idea?"

"No, it's Uzumaki Minato's. That person seems to work in the Hokage's office—anyway, it's too much to need such a title to get promoted."

He took a sip of his drink. "There's still a chance to revise it, so we can't give up, Shuimu."

Mizuki said, "Minato Uzumaki? I did hear that a new person joined the Hokage's office, but I didn't expect him to be like this."

"However, you're right. If we talk to everyone nicely, they'll definitely object to this nonsense."

Iruka responded, then hesitated.

"Mitsuki. A Chunin named Midori Aoi came to the Ninja Academy today. He was sent by the Joint Affairs Bureau's Education Division to do some promotional work."

"The opportunities over there seem pretty good too. I asked Green Aoi, and he said it's not difficult to apply to the Joint Affairs Bureau from the village, especially for the education class, which is currently short-staffed."

Mizuki took a big gulp: "Really? — An education lesson, huh?"

"I'll ask him more questions tomorrow," Iruka said, seeing that Mizuki was interested. "He seems like a very helpful person."

"Thank you, Iruka."

Naruto only truly recovered from his excitement after his friends had all left.

He stood on a stool and helped Minato clear the dishes.

"Tomorrow, I will definitely tell everyone with Fu how well Daddy chose these names."

"Please, Naruto." Minato took the bowl from him and put it in the sink.

Naruto grinned.

Then he remembered what had happened that afternoon, and his movements slowed down.

"Sasuke has learned some really powerful techniques. But he still lost to Neji. And Gaara, that guy, is really strong."

"Although my brother Shuji taught me the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique and I learned new ninjutsu, it seems that these alone are not enough to catch up with them if I want to become the champion and the Hokage."

Minato said, "Becoming Hokage, or rather, becoming the champion, is not something that happens in an instant."

"However, Dad and Mom also created some techniques together. Naruto, help Dad promote the badges, and Dad will teach you a new ninjutsu, how about that?"

Naruto stood on the stool, clutching a rag in his hand: "Really? It's E-rank?"

"It's a very advanced ninjutsu," Minato replied.

Naruto jumped off the stool: "We absolutely have to win tomorrow!"