[40] Seventh Birthday, No Prestige

Originally, Sora didn't really care about being promoted to Chūnin or Jōnin. But when he considered how strong future Konoha Genin would become, he flatly rejected Minato's promotion offer.

With righteous conviction, he declared: "Who cares about Kage-level power? The strongest in Konoha are always the Genin!"

Minato was utterly stunned, completely unable to comprehend Sora's logic.

As far as he knew, a Kage-level shinobi could wipe out hundreds of Genin as easily as breathing.

He himself, Minato Namikaze, a Kage-level shinobi, had once eliminated fifty Jōnin in a single battle!

Since when had Konoha's Genin become so fearsome? Were they now looking down on Kage-level fighters?

And how was it that, as Hokage, he had no idea this shift had even occurred?

Thanks to this, a whole wave of Sora's little fanboys emerged, all insisting on remaining Genin.

This eventually led to a powerful generation of Genin in Konoha, including the likes of Naruto and Sasuke.

Other shinobi villages soon issued orders: should their forces encounter Konoha Genin, they could abandon the mission without penalty.

Of course, that was all to come later. For now, after refusing Minato's promotion, Sora officially remained a proud Genin of Konoha.

While the Chūnin Exams were still dragging on for others, Sora had already returned home to celebrate his birthday in peace.

Today was his seventh birthday.

Minato actually managed to take some time off to join the celebration and invited the people closest to Sora—Kakashi and Might Guy.

Besides them, it was just Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.

Looking at the small group, Sora sighed. "So little fanfare—where's the prestige?"

After a lively birthday dinner, it was time for the most anticipated part—opening presents.

First up was Kushina's gift: a simple sword sheath.

Clearly, she had noticed that the scabbard of his newly acquired sword had been destroyed in battle and prepared a new one just for him.

It wasn't expensive, but Sora loved it.

After all, if he really wanted something rare or valuable, there wasn't much in Konoha he couldn't get his hands on. So what did "valuable" even mean to him?

Next came Minato's gift—a Flying Thunder God scroll, something Sora had always longed for.

Since he'd never been able to acquire the technique through card drops, and there was no way he was going to kill Minato for it, he'd have to learn it the hard way.

Thankfully, with his spatial talent, the technique wasn't out of reach. It was a great gift.

But then came the more... bizarre gifts—ones that made Sora's mouth twitch in disbelief.

Might Guy proudly presented him with a green skintight jumpsuit, his greatest creation. Sora could only cry inwardly—he just couldn't appreciate that aesthetic.

Both Kakashi and Jiraiya gifted him copies of Make-Out Paradise—one a collector's edition, the other signed by Jiraiya himself.

To them, these were priceless treasures. That they were willing to give them up showed just how deep their bond with Sora ran.

Sora accepted them with a pained heart—and promptly used them to prop up a wobbly table leg.

Tsunade's gift was much more straightforward: a chakra-enhanced strength training scroll. That one genuinely made Sora happy.

But the most shocking gift of all came from Orochimaru.

It wasn't a snake. It wasn't some creepy jutsu.

It was a financial agreement—half of all profits from Orochimaru's inventions.

That was no small deal. Konoha's recent technological and medical advancements had almost all come from Orochimaru. His personal income rivaled that of the entire village.

Even just fifty percent meant Sora would earn several hundreds of millions a year—enough to bury people in money.

It was perfect timing, too. Sora had just spent all his savings. Now he didn't have to worry about money ever again.

His first thought? Go buy tens of thousands of explosive tags for fun.

…

After his birthday, life calmed down.

Sora resumed training in chakra-enhanced strength and Flying Thunder God. With nothing else going on, that was all he focused on.

A month later, the Chūnin Exams finally ended. Sora had successfully learned chakra-enhanced strength, though only at the beginner level.

His system panel now showed "Chakra Strength LV1."

Flying Thunder God, on the other hand, remained elusive. He was still fumbling through the basics.

Once the other village participants left, he couldn't hold back anymore.

He informed Minato and left Konoha.

The Exchange House had sent assassins into the village to kill him—there was no way he wasn't going to strike back.

But Sora didn't move blindly. He pulled out a map he'd compiled from interrogating Jiraiya and others.

On it were over a hundred Exchange House locations—gathered from years of intelligence.

Though it didn't include their headquarters, Sora planned to wipe out every outpost listed.

Originally, Minato, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru wanted to help, but Sora turned them all down.

These were his enemies—he'd kill them himself.

Besides, he wanted the card drops. Why bring teammates who might steal the kills?

His first target was in the capital of the Land of Fire. He packed away the map and set off.

But before he could even make a move, Exchange House assassins blocked his path.

They didn't know the agents sent to Konoha had all been wiped out, and assumed the village had taken action.

So this hit squad wasn't particularly powerful—three regular Jōnin and nine Chūnin.

"Kid, you should feel honored that we've come to deal with you personally!"

"Idiots."

Sora wasn't in the mood for trash talk. If you can fight, then fight—don't waste time talking.

As they postured, he had already summoned three shadow clones and launched a coordinated barrage—Water Dragon Bullet, Earth Dragon Bullet, and Fire Dragon Bullet.

His main body followed up with a powerful Great Fire Annihilation.

A single boy unleashing the firepower of an elite shinobi squad.

Young people these days—no respect for the rules!

Caught off guard, the twelve assassins scrambled to defend themselves.

But Jōnin were still Jōnin. Working together, the three managed to block Sora's opening assault.

Then the real problem hit—three mini Tailed Beast Bombs.

His shadow clones vanished, chakra depleted, but Sora didn't care.

Even mini-Tailed Beast Bombs weren't something you could easily block. There was a reason Jinchūriki were called living weapons of war.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The explosions echoed across the landscape. Bombarded without pause, the twelve assassins were overwhelmed.

The nine Chūnin died instantly—unable to even scream.

The three Jōnin held on, barely, using every technique at their disposal.

But before they could recover, Sora was already in front of them, his Lightning Blade flashing.

Two heads flew through the air.

"What the hell—how can you use Tailed Beast Bombs? You're not even a Jinchūriki!"

The final Jōnin, seemingly their leader, dodged twice in a row—clearly more skilled.

But he was still stunned, unable to comprehend what he'd just seen.

Sora rolled his eyes.

Seriously? Can't these guys come up with a different line? Everyone who sees him use the Tailed Beast Bomb says the same thing—it's getting old.

Still, while the man was stuck in disbelief, Sora didn't pause.

As the Jōnin dodged his Lightning Blade, Sora launched another attack.

"Chakra-Enhanced Punch!"

Chakra surged into his right hand. Seizing the moment while the Jōnin was off-balance, Sora slammed his fist down.

CRACK!

Like a watermelon splitting, the Jōnin's skull burst open.

This was the power of seizing the initiative. Forced on the defensive from the start, they never had a chance to recover.

Of course, all of this was only possible because Sora outclassed them. Otherwise, even a surprise attack wouldn't have worked.

Still, Sora was pleased with the results. With the enemies dead, it was time to harvest some cards.

///

30+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/Emik01