The shinobi's relationship with the Hokage had deteriorated considerably since he'd claimed to be Konoha's leader.
- Indeed, Hatake-san," his uncle nodded, "I invite you to celebrate Ryo-kun's becoming a jonin together.
- I'd love to," he said regretfully, but he'd already promised Kakashi-kun that he'd give him a personal training session today, rather than bring in someone from the clan.
- It's a big deal," Shenesu didn't insist and added, grimacing slightly, "and it's also quite painful if you underestimate the person you're training.
I smiled at that, remembering my first training session with him.
- Let's just say that Ji-san underestimated me and paid for it," Sakumo explained at my questioning look.
There was a time, yes.
***
The celebration of my promotion took place in the small family circle of the clan and allies, with only a little more than three dozen people invited and Akamichi having prepared the food for the feast to perfection. That was the pleasant part, so to speak.
Only after that came the other part of the consequences - rumors of the exam spread very quickly among Konoha's chakra users from those who attended the exam, and literally every acquaintance rushed to congratulate me when they met me, even if we had only spoken a few times before.
And the number was quite large - there were several thousand patients alone who had passed through my hands over the years and were still alive. And according to Shenesu-ji's plan, instead of being at home and just waiting out the fuss, I was actively working for the good and reputation of the clan.
Actually, I had underestimated the significance of receiving the first degree of iryonin, the only one in years, and then also receiving the rank of jonin with a demonstration of shinobi S-class power.
I used to think that Tsunade's fame was rather overblown, simply because of her affiliation with the Founders and her status as the clan's princess, but now I had to reconsider my attitude - when not only genin who had graduated from the academy were looking at you with glittering eyes, and the jonins a decade or two older nod respectfully and even make eyes at you (on the part of the women), I had to reconsider the cult of power that reigns among assassins.
If I was just a very promising candidate to pay attention to before, now I've made it to the local Olympus in one fell swoop, and I'm actually on the list of Konoha's big players. In fact, a recent offer of knowledge exchange from Orycha (Orochimaru) hints that I'm considered an equal, even though a month earlier it was not even possible to try to make such a move.
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