After taking Hinata as his disciple, Jie taught her carefully.
Her talent was certainly not lacking among the Konoha 11, and she was easily one of the best in the Hyuga clan. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to create her Gentle Step Twin Lion Fis, a jutsu based entirely on the Gentle Fist, using only her own abilities.
Moreover, Hinata possessed another title... the Byakugan Princess.
Boasting the purest Byakugan in history, how could her talent possibly be bad?
Of course, Jie had an even simpler metric for his judgment. Someone who could eat forty-six bowls of ramen in a single sitting definitely wouldn't have poor physical talent.
At the very least, the Pirate King from the world next door had fully demonstrated the profound mystery behind such an appetite to Jie.
Therefore, after receiving his careful guidance, the current Hinata was completely different...though her personality remained somewhat similar to the original timeline. In terms of strength, handling an early graduation was more than enough for her.
Thinking of this, Jie shook his head and spoke calmly. "Since the Secretariat has signed off on it, let the graduation exam proceed."
"Then who will be the chief examiner for the test?" Tsunade asked, shaking her head.
"Originally, we were going to have the Uchiha clan prepare a jonin to evaluate these three little guys. But thinking about it, the Uchiha shinobi might not dare to lay a hand on Sasuke. So, a suitable candidate hasn't been finalized yet."
Hearing Tsunade's words, Jie nodded. Her concerns were perfectly reasonable. An exam, of course, needed to bring out Sasuke's true capabilities.
However, a name suddenly popped into his mind.
"Why not let Kakashi Hatake be the chief examiner for this graduation test?"
Kakashi was truly an old friend. Back when Jie graduated early, Kakashi had been the one to administer his exam.
Back then, Jie had even treated Kakashi to a taste of the true essence of Konoha's taijutsu secret techniques. Having Kakashi test Sasuke now might be a fantastic choice.
Hearing Kakashi's name, Tsunade frowned. "Won't Kakashi also hold back, considering Naruto's identity?"
Jie simply smiled and waved his hand. "Don't worry. At worst, we'll just give him a direct order. If he dares to hold back during the exam, tell him to get lost and do S-rank missions..."
"Until he completes ten S-rank missions, he's banned from returning to the village. I believe Kakashi will know what choice to make."
Hearing Jie's words, Tsunade inhaled sharply.
Ten S-rank missions... Jie was practically trying to exile Kakashi. Even Tsunade, who had survived two Great Ninja Wars and stayed in Konoha for over a decade, had only completed seventy or eighty S-rank missions in total.
Not to mention, this was a time of peace. S-rank missions didn't just appear out of thin air. Plus, other capable shinobi would sometimes take those missions to earn some retirement money.
So, if Kakashi really dared to go easy during the exam, Tsunade conservatively estimated that it would take him at least two to three years outside the village to receive and complete ten S-rank missions.
Facing such a terrifying punishment, Tsunade was certain Kakashi would make the smartest choice.
Dealing with the matter in minutes, Jie couldn't help but sigh in satisfaction at his efficient reforms...
Leaving Izumi at the Hokage building to help Tsunade with the Secretariat's political affairs, Jie returned to the Uchiha clan compound alone.
Shortly after Jie left, Tsunade suddenly remembered something extremely crucial.
"Crap, I forgot to ask him how to arrange those three after they pass!" Tsunade rested her forehead against her hand, shaking her head helplessly.
She had completely forgotten. The three little guys graduating early were no ordinary figures. Arranging their future path as shinobi was of the utmost importance.
"Forget it. There are still a few days left until the exam. I'll let Jie rack his brains over it once they pass."
After thinking for a while, Tsunade couldn't come up with many suitable jonin instructors anyway.
She shook her head in resignation, deciding she might as well leave this tricky problem to Jie. After all, Jie was Konoha's Hokage. Leaving troublesome matters to him was definitely the right move.
Leaving the Hokage Building, Jie had no idea Tsunade had just dumped another task on him. By now, he had already used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return home.
He had to admit, the Flying Thunder God was truly an excellent jutsu...a must-have for home, travel, and instant deliveries. Jie highly recommended that any capable shinobi should learn it.
However, his return to Konoha today wasn't just because his date had been interrupted by the Three Divine Princesses. More importantly, today was his scheduled quarterly intelligence exchange with Itachi Uchiha.
Although Itachi had left the village to spread Jie's Will of Fire, he also shouldered the heavy responsibility of gathering intelligence for Konoha. And just recently, Itachi had passed on a piece of news that shocked even Jie...
He had joined the Akatsuki.
This made Jie sigh in realization...perhaps this was the legendary plot correction force at work. Still, Itachi joining the Akatsuki benefited both of them.
For Itachi, it gave him a channel to participate in more dangerous missions, allowing him to rapidly increase his strength.
For Jie, it meant access to more highly classified intelligence.
After all, since Jie had slaughtered three Akatsuki members, heaven knew who else would join the organization and what their next move would be. Furthermore, while Jie wasn't worried about the Akatsuki as a whole, Pain's Almighty Push was still worth paying attention to.
He didn't want to spend years painstakingly developing Konoha as Hokage, only for Pain to sneak in and wipe out half the village with a single Almighty Push.
If Pain really succeeded in destroying his base, it would be a massive blow to Jie, who treated managing Konoha like a simulation game. With Jie around, such a situation was unlikely to happen, but out of caution, it was best to be prepared.
Jie sat quietly in his courtyard. Before long, a pitch-black crow appeared in front of him.
The Uchiha clan's summoned ninja crows didn't have much combat power, but they were perfect for transmitting intelligence. With a puff of white smoke, a scroll appeared before Jie.
Jie felt a sliver of anticipation regarding this first piece of intel from Itachi since he joined the Akatsuki.
'I wonder if the Akatsuki has added any new faces. Is that poser, Obito, still stealing Madara Uchiha's identity?' Jie thought to himself as he opened the intel scroll in front of him.
'Leader Pain, the shark-faced Kisame Hoshigaki, and... Deidara? Did that explosion-obsessed kid join the Akatsuki this early? Wasn't he supposed to join only after receiving a loving beatdown from Itachi?...'
'...Oh, he joined the organization after being beaten into submission by Itachi recently. Then there's no problem.'
'Wait, these two are actually members of the Akatsuki as well?'
Looking at the last two names on the intel scroll, Jie felt a bit surprised.
No wonder Konoha couldn't find them even after searching the entire Land of Fire. To think they had actually joined the Akatsuki.
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