Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 348 Hiruzen, Advisor. When at work, please address him by his/her title.
"What?! You want to change the ninja academy's curriculum?!"

An incredulous question abruptly shattered the silence of the conference room.

Inside the meeting room in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi placed his hands on the table, leaned forward, and his face was filled with undisguised shock and anger.

"No!" He stared intently at the figure at the head of the conference table, his tone resolute. "I absolutely disagree!"

The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Warm sunlight streamed through the wide glass windows, falling on the gleaming, long conference table, but it couldn't dispel the somber and tense atmosphere that permeated the air.

Three days have passed since Hyuga Kumokawa officially took over as Hokage, and everyone is still in an atmosphere of excitement.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi temporarily lowered his guard.

until today……

Nara Shikaku, the leader of the Jonin team, silently observed the situation before him, his gaze sweeping over everyone present without making a sound.

On either side of the conference table sat several elderly men who were now at the core of power in Konoha.

On the left is Hiruzen Sarutobi, who recently stepped down and became an advisor to the Hokage, and Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, who share a similar stance and are both frowning and looking somber.

On the right are Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Nara Shikaku.

At this moment, the person sitting at the head of the conference table, the one symbolizing the Hokage's seat, is no longer Hiruzen Sarutobi, but Hyuga Kumokawa, who has officially succeeded to the position of Hokage.

He was wearing a white divine robe, with the Hokage hat placed in front of him.

At the Hokage succession ceremony not long ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still thinking to himself that Hyuga Kumokawa was "very suitable to become Hokage".

However, at this very moment, the first major issue raised by this "suitable" Hokage after taking office directly shook one of the foundations that had sustained the village for nearly a century.

—The training system of the ninja academy.

This directly crossed Hiruzen Sarutobi's bottom line.

It's worth noting that he still holds the position of principal of the Ninja Academy, a school into which he has devoted most of his life.

In his view, it was the cradle of Konoha's future, a system that had been established and proven effective by successive Hokage, especially the First and Second Hokage, and himself.

Hyuga Kumokawa has just taken over and already wants to target the Ninja Academy. What exactly is his intention?!
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi's almost out-of-control and vehement opposition seemed to have been anticipated by Kumokawa Hyuga.

"Advisor Hiruzen, please calm down."

His face remained expressionless, his eyes revealing neither joy nor anger, and he said calmly, "Since I have proposed this idea, there is a reason for its necessity and a complete consideration."

"Why don't you listen to my reasons first?"

Upon hearing the title "Hiruzen Advisor," Nara Shikaku's lips twitched involuntarily.

This newly appointed Hokage really doesn't give me any face.

As expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened immediately upon hearing the title "Advisor Hiruzen."

This guy used to address everyone as "Third Generation Master" and "Third Generation Grandfather," but now that he's only been in office for a few days, he's changed so much that he's too lazy to even pretend anymore.
“Unukawa…” Hiruzen Sarutobi began to speak, but was interrupted by Hyuga Unukawa.

"Advisor Hiruzen." Hyuga Kumokawa frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "When working, please address me by my title."

Upon hearing this, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, who were about to speak, immediately shut their mouths.

If Hinata Kumokawa were to retort like that, they would both lose all face.

Nara Shikaku lowered his head even further, his gaze downcast, as if studying the wood grain on the table, but the twitching corners of his mouth proved that he was about to break down.

Tsunade, who had been standing silently with her arms crossed, couldn't help but burst out laughing, causing Hiruzen Sarutobi's face to twitch.

"No matter the reason!" Hiruzen Sarutobi said, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, "I will not agree!"

"The Ninja Academy system was established from the time the First Hokage founded Konoha, and was perfected through decades of practice by the Second Hokage and myself!"

His voice rose slightly with excitement: "It has nurtured countless outstanding ninjas for Konoha and supported the village through countless difficulties! Its correctness and effectiveness have long been proven by history! If you want to change it now, you are denying the wisdom of your predecessors and shaking the foundation of the village!"

He directly elevated the issue to the level of "denying history and shaking the foundation," causing Tsunade to frown, clearly thinking back to when she proposed the medical ninja reform.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others also have this resistant attitude now.

These old-fashioned people...

However, Hinata Kumokawa did not directly refute him, nor did he even explain his "reasons".

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, he simply said, "Since Advisor Hiruzen insists on the correctness of the existing system, then perhaps we can look at a case first."

He gestured: "Please, everyone, open the file folder in front of you, the first one."

Upon hearing this, although everyone was puzzled, they still picked up the file bag that had been prepared on the table and took out the first document inside.

Hiruzen Sarutobi forcibly suppressed his anger, frowned, and opened the document with a scrutinizing gaze.

What came into view was a detailed evaluation report for a child named Lee Rock, complete with photos.

He was a boy with thick eyebrows and an exceptionally stubborn look in his eyes.

Unlike the original story, due to the presence of Hinata Kumokawa and the ongoing war, Might Guy, who was always on missions abroad, did not encounter Rock Lee.

"This child is very special."

Hinata Kumokawa's voice rang out at the right time, calmly narrating: "Normal children enter school at the age of six, but he didn't get into the ninja academy until he was ten."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone, lingering for a moment on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face: "The reason is simple, according to this report jointly evaluated by multiple teachers."

"He has extremely poor control over chakra, and he is born without any chakra attributes."

"Therefore, he was unable to master the two fundamental ninjutsu techniques of form transformation and nature transformation. His talent was so poor that he could not even perform the most basic Three Body Techniques smoothly."

Having said that, he raised his eyes, looked directly at Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face had turned extremely gloomy, and asked:

"So, according to our current teaching system and evaluation standards, which have been proven to be 'correct'."

"Advisor Hiruzen, do you believe that this child named Rock Lee possesses the talent to become a ninja?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the thin sheet of paper between his fingers, his knuckles turning slightly white from the pressure.

Extremely poor control over chakra means that it is almost impossible to learn non-elemental ninjutsu such as the Three Body Technique, Genjutsu, and Medical Ninja.

Lacking chakra nature means being unable to learn and use most of the Five Elements ninjutsu that require nature transformation.

Thinking of this, he remained silent for a moment, then finally raised his eyes to meet Hinata Kumokawa's gaze, and said coldly, "If what this assessment report says is true..."

"Then, this child does indeed lack the talent to become a ninja."

"Even if he manages to graduate by chance and become a genin, he will probably not be able to make any further progress. That is his limit."

This is the standard answer under the current ninja training system.

"So what?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi countered, "This isn't a problem with the teaching system; it's that he lacks the talent to become a ninja."

"Every year in Konoha, there are children who are unable to become ninjas due to a lack of talent, or who are stuck at the level of genin."

"Are you going to dismiss the entire education system that has trained countless powerful ninjas because of this?"

The atmosphere in the conference room became tense again because of this question, and everyone looked at Hinata Kumokawa.

“What if I said…” Hyuga Kumokawa said calmly, “that his current strength is enough to make him a Chunin?”

(besides)
(End of this chapter)