The list that could be shown to the Third Hokage was obviously not an ordinary student roster.
It was a list of students who had been assessed by the Ninja Academy and whom the teachers believed had potential!
It contained their profiles, their backgrounds, their specialties…
If the Third Hokage felt that their talents were good enough, he would arrange for some powerful ninjas to observe their graduation exams.
If they performed well, they might even be taken as disciples by those powerful figures.
After all, most powerful ninjas could not be bothered to attend some graduation exam…
The order in which the students appeared on the roster also represented the teachers’ ranking of their talents!
“Chen Fan?” The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes as he looked at the name of the robust-looking young man on the first page.
“Yes, Chen Fan.” Chunin Aoki lowered his head slightly.
He was not an ordinary Chunin.
He was the homeroom teacher of the elite class, responsible for teaching Chen Fan, Asuma, and the others.
He had ranked Chen Fan first because he believed Chen Fan was the number one student among them all!
In fact, there were plenty of talented students in the elite class.
The Third Hokage’s son Asuma, Obito of the Uchiha clan, a student from the Hyuga clan…
Yet he had still placed Chen Fan in first place!
Although Chen Fan’s understanding of what it meant to be a ninja was a little strange…
Aoki thought about it, and the corner of his eye twitched.
What kind of ninja acted like that?!
During the previous simulated exercise, he had almost been beaten to death by Chen Fan!
“If only he could be a little more composed like an ordinary ninja and stop being so reckless…” Aoki sighed inwardly.
As Chen Fan’s homeroom teacher, he had once tried to correct Chen Fan’s way of thinking.
He had even spoken to Chen Fan about it more than once.
Aoki: “Chen Fan, how can you act like this?
What will you do if you encounter a powerful enemy in the future?”
Chen Fan: “Kill him first!”
“What about when you’re facing an unknown force whose strength you don’t know?
For example, bandits, pirates, or wandering ninja organizations…”
“Kill them all.”
“What if the enemy takes hostages and threatens you?”
“Kill the enemy before they can threaten me!”
“What else can you do besides killing people?” Aoki was so angry that his head hurt.
“What if the enemy takes a hostage and you’re unable to stop them from harming the hostage before you kill them?”
Chen Fan replied matter-of-factly, “Then that means I’m not strong enough.
The mission failed this time.
I’ll go back and train for a few days, then come back and kill them!”
Aoki: “…”
Wouldn’t a normal ninja sneak into the area first, rescue the hostage, make sure they could no longer be used as leverage, and then deal with the enemy?
Why did it become, in your case, ‘If I can’t kill the enemy first, that means I’m not strong enough’?
With your way of thinking, even the simplest ‘hostage rescue’ mission would probably require a Jonin to handle!
And whether even a Jonin could complete it would still be questionable…
Aoki felt exhausted.
But Chen Fan’s talent was simply too good, so he still wanted to make one last effort to save him.
And so, throughout the entire following semester, he devoted countless hours to designing difficult situations for the simulated exams, hoping to make Chen Fan realize the problem and return to the mindset an ordinary ninja should have.
However…
He failed!
He failed completely!
Chen Fan really did just hack and smash his way through everything.
After causing countless amounts of destruction, he could still confidently say to the teachers who criticized him,
“Forget about how many people I knocked down or how much stuff I broke.
Just tell me, did I complete the mission or not?”
The question left all the teachers at the Ninja Academy speechless.
Because no matter how strange Chen Fan’s way of thinking was, he really did complete every mission the teachers assigned him!
The Konoha White Fang had caused a mission to fail while trying to rescue his comrades.
Even though his intentions had been good, he had still been criticized by countless people.
By contrast, although Chen Fan’s actions were a complete mess, he had no plan whatsoever and simply charged forward recklessly without displaying even the slightest trace of a ninja’s proper conduct…
His missions succeeded!
Ninjas only cared about the result, not the process!
Since he succeeded, he should not be criticized!
Therefore, he was unquestionably number one!
“Chen Fan…”
The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe as he looked at the information before him.
Chen Fan had left a particularly deep impression on him.
After all, he had given speeches at the Ninja Academy so many times, promoting his own ‘Will of Fire.’
The ordinary students would say things like, ‘Lord Hokage, how strong are you?’ ‘Lord Hokage, I want to become Hokage!’ or ‘Lord Hokage, I want to do my best for Konoha just like you!’
Chen Fan was the only one who had excitedly asked,
“Lord Hokage, can you fight me?”
And after the Third Hokage refused, Chen Fan had actually shown a look of disappointment…
It would have been strange if he had forgotten such an oddball!
…
The Third Hokage took the student roster home.
In the end, he still had not decided which Jonin to call in for the upcoming graduation exams.
Although he was the Hokage, Jonin were already among the village’s upper ranks.
He also had to take their opinions into consideration and could not simply order them around.
Especially now, with the shinobi world filled with the smoke of war, it was even more important to take the feelings of the powerful into account.
“The Hyuga clan’s students need a taijutsu expert as their teacher.
I can have Elite Jonin Guangu come over.
At the same time, I can use this opportunity to invite an Elite Jonin from the Hyuga clan to lead a team of new graduates.”
“The Ino-Shika-Cho of this generation are a little lacking in quality, but they still need to be taught properly.
Let’s have Jonin Yamada handle them.”
“And as for Uchiha Obito…”
The Third Hokage pondered.
Suddenly, a voice came from nearby.
“Father.”
“Asuma.”
As a Kage-level powerhouse, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, knew who was approaching without even turning around.
Asuma walked over with a bruised and swollen face, looking deeply depressed.
All these injuries had been inflicted by Chen Fan!
“Damn Chen Fan!” Asuma gritted his teeth.
Originally, he had been somewhat rebellious and was unwilling to resort to the childish tactic of ‘telling on someone to their parents.’
He had always felt that people who did such things lacked the bearing of a man and were acting like children.
Besides, as the Third Hokage’s son, he did not want people thinking he relied on his family.
So whenever he got beaten up in the past, he had always chosen to endure it himself.
But now…
“You actually want to steal my Kurenai!”
In that case, don’t blame me for telling on you to my father!