Chương 90: Red Bean: My students can take down all of your students!

Konoha Village, Hokage Building Office.

Several months after the mission in the Land of Waves, all the Jonin instructors from Konoha have been summoned here today.

The reason the Third Hokage summoned the Jonin to instruct them was quite simple: the Chunin Exams, held twice a year, were approaching again.

Generally speaking, in peacetime, genin need to undergo several years of training before they can be recommended to participate in the chunin exams.

However, this year's new generation is quite promising in terms of both potential and talent, which is why the Third Hokage summoned Kakashi and the others.

And ask them what they think.

"Lord Hokage, it's one thing for Team 3 to be like Neji and the others, since they're a year older than Naruto and the others."

But Naruto and his friends have only graduated for less than a year, and they're already taking the Chunin Exams. Isn't that a bit too fast for them? The one who spoke up was none other than Iruka, who happened to be there with this year's ninja academy graduation list.

Upon hearing that Kakashi and the others were actually planning to recommend Naruto and his friends to participate in the Chunin Exams, Iruka immediately spoke up to stop them.

Iruka knew how brutal the Chunin Exams were, and in his opinion, Naruto and Yoji had only graduated less than a year ago, so taking the Chunin Exams now was tantamount to sending themselves to their deaths.

"Back when we were Naruto's age, we were already Chunin, or even Jonin."

"Furthermore, Naruto and the others are now my students, and I've witnessed their growth over the past year, so I believe they've met the standards to participate in the Chunin Exams."

Upon hearing Kakashi's words, Iruka argued back, "You are all former geniuses of Konoha. Every Konoha ninja who has become a Jonin is an outstanding individual among ninjas."

Leaving aside Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke for now, let's talk about Yang Cheng and Naruto. I remember their grades in school.

What Iruka said was actually not wrong; every year, countless students graduate from the Ninja Academy.

But of these, how many can ultimately become Jonin?

Not to mention Kakashi, even Asuma and Kurenai, these Konoha Jonin, are already considered top-tier geniuses in the eyes of ordinary ninjas of their age. Those children from ninja clans were recommended to participate in this Chunin Exams due to their clan's secret techniques and other resources. Iruka didn't say anything.

However, Yang Cheng and Naruto, both orphans, were in worse situations than ordinary civilian ninjas. At the ninja academy, one excelled only in theoretical studies, while the other was at the very bottom of the class.

This makes them participate in the Chunin Exams with everyone else; isn't that just sending them to their deaths?!

"Ahem, Iruka, I understand how you feel, but as a teacher at the Ninja Academy, you teach new students every day, so you might not be aware of how these children have grown over the past year."

Leaving aside Team 7, where Naruto Uzumaki is, you can take a look at Team 6's mission experience this year.

Iruka remembered that Class 6 was the team Yang Cheng belonged to.

When Iruka saw the number of missions listed above, he was stunned.

There were 26 D-level missions, 5 C-level missions, 3 B-level missions, and even one A-level mission was recently completed.

A-rank missions are typically at the level of Jonin.

Iruka didn't believe the Third Hokage would lie to him about something like this, which meant that the growth rate of Yang Cheng and the other kids in that year might have really far exceeded his expectations.

Although Iruka knew very well that Anko, as the mentor jonin, contributed the most to these missions.

But simply being able to participate in A-rank missions and survive makes the so-called "Chunin Exams" nothing special.

Of course, among the classes here, only the Red Bean Class has an A-level mission record; the other classes have at most a B-level mission record.

As Guy was leaving the Hokage's office, he was still competing with Kakashi, saying that his student would definitely beat Kakashi's student. Asuma originally wanted to chat with the goddess Kurenai Yuhi, but who knew that the goddess would walk towards Anko instead.

"Red Bean, I really didn't expect that someone as carefree as you would actually serve as a Jonin instructor for a whole year, and even teach the students of Team 6 so well."

As Hongdou's best friend, Kurenai understands Hongdou's personality best. Not to mention Hongdou's students, Kurenai herself has grown a lot this year, which makes Kurenai very gratified.

"Oh, so even you, Kurenai, didn't think I could be a good Jonin instructor from the start, right?"

"Just you wait and see in this Chunin Exams. My prized student will definitely crush all your students."

Given Hongdou's personality, she had been holding back from showing off Yang Cheng, her prized disciple, for the past year, and she was already feeling extremely uncomfortable.

This Chunin Exam is her chance to finally shine!

"Red Bean, don't be too confident. Your students are excellent, but our students are just as outstanding."

Furthermore, both Team 10 and Team 8, where Kurenai is, are composed of descendants of Chunin clans from Konoha Village, and they have all inherited their clans' secret techniques.

In order to chat a little more with his goddess, Asuma took the initiative to step forward and strike up a conversation with Anko and the others.

"So what if they're from the ninja clan? There are plenty of people with mediocre talent."

Big Beard, you're so confident, how about we make a bet?

If your student beats my student, I'll help you get the red sauce.

But if my student wins, you have to grant me one request, whatever it is, you have to grant it. Are you willing to take the bet?

Upon hearing Hongdou's words, Hong immediately frowned. What did she mean by helping Asuma woo her if she lost? Wouldn't that be a loss for her?

It seems that Hongdou suffers no loss regardless of whether she wins or loses the bet.

"Hong, just believe me, I'm sure I can win!"

Hong, who had originally wanted to say something, softened immediately after being hugged and acted coquettishly by Hongdou.

Although they are good friends, Hongdou, who has a lively and somewhat childish personality, has always been regarded as a younger sister by Hong.

Seeing that Kurenai did not refuse, Asuma became even more excited!

After chasing fame for so long, this is truly a godsend!

Asuma wasn't quite sure what level Anko's Team 6 was at, but he did know that Anko's students were all commoner ninjas.

As for the previous mission experience of Squad 6, Asuma didn't care, because he also believed that Squad 6 had such a mission record.

It's mostly the red beans that are doing the hard work.

Given Hongdou's pride, it's entirely possible that she would deliberately take on a task beyond the team's capabilities and then work hard to complete it herself.

Moreover, Anko just said that her students will defeat all the other students, including the Hyuga clan genius from Guy's team and the Uchiha clan genius from Kakashi's team.

Asuma's only requirement for winning the bet was that his students defeat Azuki's students.

Asuma felt it was unlikely that his students could defeat the two geniuses from the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, but he still had a lot of confidence in his students, who had only managed to beat the commoner students in Anko's class.

Asuma is even wondering if Anko came here specifically to act as a wingman because he had been pursuing her for so long without success.