16.

When we returned to the village, we went directly to the Hokage's tower, it's a red ball-shaped building with some pipes outside, with a big emblem and a crown. Hokage's office is on the 3rd floor, on the second and first floor ninjas can take missions, as for the ground floor here will be administration for them.

We'll meet Hokage for the first time in his office, it's not like in the anime where every ninja could go and talk to the head of the military village. He has a couple of secretaries sitting right in front of the door.

When we arrived, there was a small queue in front of the Hokage's door, the Hokage only pays personal attention to the missions with rank A and above. We had to wait about 1 hour before we could enter. What can I say about this office? Hmm, nothing special, the only remarkable thing is the view from here. Almost the whole village can be seen from here. In addition, there are some hidden ANBUs, I'm not sure if I can sense all of them.

You may be wondering how someone can see a village with a radius of 10 km, that's because the administration building is on a small hill.

As for the Hokage, he looks like a man in his 50s, even though he is in his 70s. Yes, because of the influence of the chakra, the cells die slower and their life circle is larger.

"Welcome back young ninjas, I'm very proud of you." - He smiled happily - "Even though you didn't win, you showed good results and proved to the other villages that Konoha is as strong as it was before the last war."

I don't think we are as strong without Senjus. And the only benefit you get from our performance is wealth, but let's keep my thoughts to myself.

"...unfortunately, not all of you can become Chunins," he shook his head sadly, "only Ichumaru-kun can get that rank, but don't be disappointed if you definitely pass next time." - He encouraged them.

Haha, as if you really cared that much about one of your ninjas. He plays very well, it's understandable why he's been a Kage for so many years. One-Word Politician Brrr'

"Ichimaru-kun, as I said, as of today, you are a chunin, you can get new items by showing this document in the storage room in the basement." - He gave me a paper with his stamp on it - "Right now, you have 2 choices, either you can stay with your team or you can become a free chunin" - he saw my confused face and continued - "Free chunin means that you will be with random teams of other chunins. You will be allowed to participate in the B-ranked missions with them so that you can become stronger." - With that last sentence, he was almost directly telling me to choose this option. In the world where power is the most valuable thing, it's the only option.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, I choose the second option. But can I know what will happen to my team? I just don't want them to be disbanded." - After I said this, he smiled and said:

"It's not a problem, the girl from another team is left alone, so she will join them."

Why do I think that, everything went as he wanted?

"Okay, now you are free. You have one week to yourself."

"""Hai"""

"Okay kids, I will leave you now and good luck." - Our temporary sensei smiled and waved his hand and walked in the opposite direction.

"Thank you for your help." - we said together.

"Eh Ichimaru-kun, it's sad that we can't be in the same team, but in 6 months, we will be chunins too, so let's go on some missions together." - Gonda said and Yui nodded.

"Hahah of course we will. Okay guys I have to go downstairs and then back home, see you later." - I said goodbye and went downstairs to get my new equipment. There is a slight difference in the equipment of the different ranks. For example, now I get the jacket with a small special storage seal in which I can store explosive tags, and it also has more defense.

After I finished everything I had to do. I went home. Our clan lives about 4 kilometers away from the tower, because there is space for the flower fields. We have really beautiful greenhouses, not only with flowers, but also with medicinal herbs.

"I'm home!!!"

"Oh, welcome back dear" - the voice came from our workshop and a few seconds later mom came out of it. - "Honey, how are you? How was your exam? Did you pass? Haha of course you passed. Did you face a strong opponent? ..." - she started to question me.

"Hahaha, not so fast. I'll tell you about the details of the trip later when Father gets back, but I can tell you that I'm already a Chunin."

"WooooHooo" - she hugged me tightly and started to spin. We started to laugh. - "I'm so happy, now you are a man. Dad will be here in a few minutes. He was at home, but he went to his brother's half an hour ago."

"Okay, then I'll take a bath, and do we have anything to eat?"

"Of course, your father made some meat dishes today. You know how he is." - She said with a smile.

"Haha - "Meat has to be made by a man"" - we said at the same time and laughed. After that I went to take a bath, while I was in the bath I heard that my father was coming back and I hurried up.

"OOOh, my boy has become a chunin, I'm so proud of you. You could at least become a special jonin, but yo-"

"Father, you know how I feel about revealing my abilities, so please don't talk about it." - I said in a serious tone.

*Sigh*" Okay, as long as you're you, it's okay. Oh, and one more thing, you can share a house with Yushi-kun starting next month. Hiro-kun is getting married, so he is moving into a new house."

"Wow, that's great."

"Mhm, honey, why do you want to leave us?! Are we bothering you?" - Akino asked worriedly.

*Sigh* "No, I just want to go alone so I can be more independent."

"Hah, you are more independent than some adults, don't talk nonsense."

"Let him go, he just wants to have fun with his girlfriend." -Father smiled ironically.

"OOOOH, so that's why." -Mother nodded in understanding.

I twitched my eye; I think the main reason they are together is her trolling. I didn't answer and went to my room, but when I was on the stairs I heard:

"Ichi, don't take any missions near the border or in another country, you can even take some D ranks and if you have money I can give it to you." - Mama looked at him with a sad face and I just nodded. Yes, it's not popular for a chunin to take on low-ranked missions on his own.

In one week, a shinobi has to do at least 5 D or 1 C ranked missions. At first glance, it's very comfortable, but usually, it's only enough to pay for a ninja's living expenses, including some common equipment. Interesting fact is that a ninja without clan can get different techniques in 2 ways: a) either he has appropriate rank(genin: 1-2 C, chunin: B, jonin: A, S-rank jonin: S) and enough MONEY or b) he joins ANBU.

As you may understand, clans have their own libraries, yes, we also have some restrictions, but we don't pay for any of the technique. One of the restrictions is that we can't share our clan's specific jutsus with others, as for common jutsus, we can ask for them and if the clan doesn't mind, then it's okay. Normally, a clan doesn't have many jutsus, for example, Akimichis, they have max 60-70 common jutsus(C-S), but they don't need them much.

As for our clan, we have a LOT of jutsus. We can read minds and remember everything, so it's not something unexpected. We even have S-rank jutsus, but only a few in our clan can use them, and we don't store them in our library, we are not Hyugas or Uchihas to detect intruders at any time (unless they use some very advanced hiding seals, but even in that situation, professionals can detect anomalies), so S-rank jutsus are stored in the minds of adults or clan members who are at least special jonins.

At the moment, I only have 1 project left. The problem with mind control is that you can't place a delayed command on a ninja because after 2~3 jutsus, the seal is already heavily damaged, for the command to take root in a mind, it takes a few months if it's not made with Kotoamatsukami (Shisui's Magekyo Sharingan). To solve this problem, I make a seal that holds the structure until either the command is completed or the seal is destroyed. It's only possible with an expensive chakra ink, or with "Ketsueki shīru" (body seal).

For Ketsueki shīru, you have to saturate blood in a special way and use it for the seal, or you have to be at least a quarter Uzumaki. I don't think that ill be 100% ready for the war, but no one can be perfectly ready (unless you are a cautious hero).