Konoha's Tatsuya

The next day, shortly after Tatsuya had woken up, there was a knock at his door.

"Choza-san, what brings you here?" Tatsuya asked, surprised, as he opened the door to see the imposing figure standing outside.

The visitor was none other than Akimichi Choza, the newly appointed member of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation from their clan. He was also the designated successor to the clan head position. Tatsuya, who had once been a marginal figure in the clan, wasn't very familiar with Choza. However, from what Tatsuya knew of the original story, Choza seemed to be a capable clan leader.

"Hehe, what, am I not welcome?" Choza chuckled good-naturedly. The smile on his face, as he looked at the young Tatsuya, was very approachable, and his eyes were filled with curiosity.

Last night, when Choza had heard from his father, Akimichi Ryota, that a genius ninja had suddenly emerged within the clan, he was very surprised. In the ninja world, most talented ninjas displayed exceptional abilities from a young age, especially in clans like the Akimichi clan, which specialized in secret techniques.

Tatsuya had always been unremarkable within the clan, and now, at the age of 15, he had suddenly transformed from a dead-last into a genius with a powerful ninja snake summon. How could anyone not be surprised?

"Of course not! Please, come in!" Tatsuya quickly stepped aside, inviting Choza into his home.

"I came to invite you to take the Chunin Exam this afternoon," Choza said, getting straight to the point after they exchanged a few brief pleasantries inside.

Tatsuya looked surprised. "Take the Chunin Exam? Isn't the Chunin Exam still a while away?"

"The publicly held Chunin Exam has been postponed. This is a special, individual assessment specifically for you," Choza explained.

"A special assessment just for me?" Tatsuya was shocked. To be honest, he'd never heard of Konoha holding special assessments. Throughout the entire original Naruto storyline, even for someone as strong as Naruto, there was never any mention of the village conducting a special assessment for him before he became Hokage.

What had Tatsuya done to deserve a dedicated, special assessment from Konoha? He was both shocked and confused.

"The Third Shinobi World War ended less than a year ago, and the village's elite forces suffered significant losses. We're in dire need of manpower. The Chunin Exam, this time, had to be postponed because of your ninja snake. Therefore, specially promoting you to Chunin isn't that unusual. Besides, with the strength of your ninja snake, you're already on par with a Tokubetsu Jonin!" Choza explained.

Tatsuya's expression turned slightly awkward, followed by a look of realization. He truly hadn't anticipated that Seiryu would wreak such havoc in the Death Forest.

"How exactly did you manage to train that ninja snake of yours?" Choza couldn't help but ask, looking curiously at Tatsuya.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. Six months ago, when I left the village, I was just worried about its survival, so I secretly released it into the Death Forest. I never expected it to undergo such a drastic transformation," Tatsuya shrugged. He was just as puzzled about it.

One thing was certain: the changes in Seiryu were definitely related to the Fujinhōin However, without having been present to collect data, Tatsuya had no way of knowing the specifics of Seiryu's mutation.

Choza didn't seem to doubt him.

After chatting for a while longer, Choza got up and left. It was clear that he was very pleased that such a talent had emerged from the younger generation of the Akimichi clan. His words were filled with encouragement and a clear attempt to build a closer relationship.

Tatsuya hadn't expected Choza, the future clan leader, who appeared to be a simple, good-natured giant, to be so skilled in the art of persuasion, almost like he had mastered Talk no Jutsu. Was that a traditional skill in Konoha? Tatsuya couldn't help but wonder internally.

After receiving the news about the Chunin exam, Tatsuya arrived punctually at the examination site that afternoon. The examiner responsible for Tatsuya's individual assessment was a Jonin from the Aburame clan.

The exam content was relatively simple, consisting only of a written test and a practical combat demonstration. With the chip's incredible storage capacity, Tatsuya's theoretical knowledge of ninjutsu was now above average in the ninja world. The Chunin written exam posed no problem for him.

For the practical combat demonstration, Tatsuya successively performed the Expansion Jutsu and Partial Expansion Jutsu, and was immediately deemed to have passed. These secret techniques of the Akimichi clan were comparable in power and difficulty to most C-rank ninjutsu. Generally, a ninja who had mastered a C-rank ninjutsu was considered qualified to be promoted to Chunin.

After passing the exam, Tatsuya was officially promoted to Chunin.

In the village, inside a tavern belonging to the Moonlight family, seven or eight young people were gathered around a table. All of them wore forehead protectors, and they were around thirteen or fourteen years old.

Among these young people was a boy with white hair, his left eye covered by a mask. This was none other than Konoha's genius ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Sitting around the table with Kakashi were his classmates: Asuma Sarutobi, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Aoba Yamashiro, Anko Mitarashi, and Iruka Umino.

"Kakashi, I heard there's a genius among our classmates. Apparently, his summon is a ninja snake comparable to a Jonin. Is that true?" Aoba Yamashiro suddenly turned to Kakashi, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"It's true. My sensei even fought against his summon!" Before Kakashi could answer, Anko Mitarashi eagerly interjected.

"Oh! He even fought against Lord Orochimaru?"

"Even Lord Orochimaru was alerted?"

Everyone looked surprised upon hearing this. In Konoha, the reputation of the Sannin was deeply ingrained in everyone's minds. The renown of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had been earned through their hard-fought battles in the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars.

"My sensei summoned his giant serpent and exchanged a few blows with his summon. It was quite strong!" Anko said, tilting her head slightly, a hint of pride in her voice.

"So, his summon really does have the power of a Jonin. But how come we've never heard of such a genius among our classmates before? What's his name?" Asuma took a sharp breath, finding it hard to believe.

"This guy is no genius. His name is Akimichi Tatsuya. He used to be the dead-last in school. He was only allowed to graduate early during the war because of special circumstances. That ninja snake is probably just something he got lucky and managed to tame," Anko said, pursing her lips, a hint of sourness in her tone.

The others fell silent.

"Akimichi Tatsuya?" Kurenai murmured in a corner, the name sounding vaguely familiar.