Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan

Kuroto’s House, Hyuga District

Holding the teacup, Kuroto took a leisurely sip of tea while listening to Itachi’s report.

Although he participated in the Joint Chūnin Promotion Examination today as Amegakure’s Raijin, he was still only a candidate and had limited knowledge of the entire exam. To control the situation in real-time, he left his Lightning Chakra Clone at the guest house under the care of Samsara and Tengu. Meanwhile, he returned his soul to his main body and went home to meet with Itachi to learn the complete situation from him.

“Kuroto-san, today’s Chūnin Exam went roughly like this,” Itachi began, reporting on the arrival of ninjas from various villages in Konoha and the conclusion of the second phase. After explaining these parts, he paused and added, “Currently, the Elder Council has unanimously agreed to pay special attention to a few candidates: Otogakure’s Kimimaro, Haku, Guren, Kumogakure’s Darui, Iwagakure’s Deidara, Sunagakure’s Temari and Itsuki, Kirigakure’s Karatachi Tamako and Hōzuki Suigetsu, as well as Amegakure’s Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu.”

Kuroto nodded lightly, not at all surprised. The individuals marked by the Elders are indeed the most exceptional ninjas participating in the Chūnin Exam.

Itachi pondered for a moment and then said, “Additionally, we initially planned to give special attention to Shiro of Kusagakure, considering she overwhelmed Sasuke… but there seems to be something amiss with her.” He paused before explaining, “While I agree that Sasuke was in a rough condition at that time and his chakra reserves were nearly exhausted, he still should have been able to put up some resistance. But that didn’t happen. Sasuke was completely helpless against that Kusagakure kunoichi; he was at Shiro’s mercy.”

Kuroto did not interrupt Itachi.

“After the exam, I checked the information on Shiro, but her file was inconsistent with her strength. She should have been an ordinary ninja, but her performance suggested otherwise. There is a suspicion that someone else might be using her identity.” Speaking up to this point, Itachi stopped and looked at Kuroto, as if pondering whether to reveal the name of the person suspected of using Shiore’s identity.

Kuroto smiled and said, “There’s no need to overthink it, it was indeed Orochimaru.”

“Really him?” Itachi was a bit surprised and quickly asked, “Kuroto-san, was he acting according to your arrangements?”

Kuroto shook his head. “His involvement wasn’t planned by me; he was acting on his own.”

Itachi frowned and asked, “Is he targeting Sasuke?”

“Perhaps. I’m a little unsure…” Kuroto replied with a thoughtful expression. He really had no idea what Orochimaru was trying to achieve by targeting Sasuke during the second phase of the exam.

Itachi hesitated, then asked, “Kuroto-san, do you need me to take measures against Orochimaru?”

Kuroto pondered for a moment, then shrugged. “As long as he doesn’t cause any trouble, there’s no need to be concerned. This time, his actions, even though they weren’t part of our plan, worked in our favor, so there’s no need to worry about him. Just keep an eye on him; I doubt he would cause trouble in the village so easily.”

In fact, if it weren’t for the involvement of so many ninjas in the Chūnin Exam, Orochimaru wouldn’t have dared to target Sasuke. The current Konoha is not the same as it was during the Chūnin Exam in the canon; it’s several times stronger now, so Orochimaru is naturally very cautious.

Itachi nodded. “Very well, I will keep an eye out for him…” Then he began to describe the losses the Forest of Death suffered due to various battles during the Chūnin Exam and handed a file to Kuroto. “This is the list analyzed by the ninjas, please take a look.”

Kuroto casually opened the file and briefly glanced at it, his expression turning into a frown. “This? How could the losses be this heavy?”

Itachi sighed. “This is indeed the case… I also created several Shadow Clones to verify the information.”

Kuroto glanced at Itachi in surprise. “You have been busy all day long, and you still have enough energy to verify such matters?”

Itachi scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression. “Since I am filling in for you, I believe it’s better to be thorough. Otherwise, it would affect your reputation…”

Kuroto said, “In fact, you are being too serious…” He then placed the file Itachi had given him on the tea table and shook his head with a chuckle. “But I can’t blame you either, you’ve always been a perfectionist.”

Itachi looked embarrassed. “I… I guess.”

Although the losses in the Forest of Death are huge and it is severely damaged, it will be restored with the village’s finances. The Elders will handle the headache; it has nothing to do with him, the Godaime Hokage, who has no power to make major financial decisions for the village.

Naturally, Kuroto didn’t care. However, he did question Itachi with a nonchalant expression, “The Forest of Death suffered such damage, and the responsibility lies with the Genin squads of all the participating villages… What’s their attitude on the matter? Are they willing to shoulder the finances for the restoration?”

Itachi shook his head. “Using one excuse or another, everyone backed off.”

Kuroto felt pity for the Elders. “It will be troublesome for them…”

Itachi said, “Since Konoha’s economy is tight, Elder Hiruzen proposed using a percentage of everyone’s salaries and subsidies to fund the restoration of the Forest of Death.”

Kuroto, who was drinking tea, stopped suddenly. He blinked and asked, “You agreed?”

Itachi nodded. “Yes.”

“I see,” mumbled Kuroto with a nonchalant expression, though he felt bitter inside. ‘Damn it!’ He resented having to sacrifice a percentage of his salary. But thinking of all the money he had embezzled from Konoha over the years under the guise of protection, Kuroto felt better. ‘Compared to the hundreds of millions of Ryōs that I have taken from Konoha time and time again, this percentage is not too much…’

He also thought of the winnings he would receive from the gambling house and felt even better.

Itachi noted Kuroto’s expression and, seeing that Kuroto did not seem to care, sighed in relief. He thought to himself, ‘As expected, how could Kuroto-san care about money? It seems I was right.’

He has been trying to analyze why Elder Hiruzen became suspicious of him. He is certain he made no mistakes throughout the day, so the problem must have arisen during their discussion about restoring the Forest of Death. Itachi wondered if his response regarding the sacrifice of salary and mission commission had aroused Elder Hiruzen’s suspicions, but observing Kuroto’s attitude now, he felt that shouldn’t be the case. After all, Kuroto doesn’t seem to care much about money.

With this thought in mind, Itachi, unaware that Kuroto was feeling a bit bitter inside, continued, “Additionally, Elder Hiruzen also requested the mission fee that you were paid. Considering the importance of the Forest of Death to the village, I gave him a positive answer.”

Puuuuffff!

Kuroto instantly sprayed out the tea he was drinking.

Itachi hurriedly asked, “Kuroto-san, are you alright? What happened?”

Waving coughing, “Cough-cough,” Kuroto waved his hand and said, “It’s nothing… I just choked. Nothing happened!”

Internally, he was crying bitterly. He really did not expect Elder Hiruzen to go so far as to ask for the ‘mission fee.’ The mission fee was the amount he was paid to become the Hokage to prevent Fugaku from taking the position.

Thinking of all the money he might have to return, Kuroto suddenly lost his composure and picked up the file he had carefreely put on the table.

Itachi asked doubtfully, “Kuroto-san, are you worried about money?”

“What are you talking about, Itachi? Do you think I care about money?” Kuroto asked.

Itachi was a little unsure at this moment, but he still said, “No, I don’t think so…”

Kuroto nodded, “Yes, how could I care about money?” while thinking internally, ‘Damn it, I will have to think of something quickly, otherwise, this will be big trouble!’