I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 6 Test

"Third Generation Lord, here is the list of students in Class 1 this year, as well as the freshmen exam papers. Please check them."

Inside the Hokage's office, an Anbu member suddenly appeared, placing down a stack of exam papers and admission notices. Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, glanced at the top of the list, and his brows furrowed. He said:

"That kid, Ittō, didn't make it into Class 1? I'm afraid Danzo will come to me again and say that I'm targeting the Shimura clan again."

Upon hearing this, the Anbu member said, "It seems that two extremely outstanding children have displaced Shimura Kazuto from the rankings."

"is that so?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly scanned the list. He knew most of the names on it, after all, as the Third Hokage of Konoha, it was his responsibility to care about the younger generation of the village.

Moreover, these people all had the surnames of various Konoha ninja clans before their names, or were children of Jonin from the village, so he quickly found two unusual names.

"Sakamoto Tatsuma, Namikaze Minato... I seem to recognize them. Aren't they the two kids who've been running past the Hokage Building lately?"

"Yes, Third Hokage."

The Anbu nodded, confirming Hiruzen Sarutobi's guess. The two children had been passing by the Hokage Building every day for the past month, and as Anbu, they had to investigate; it was their job.

However, the two children were completely innocent, and it was also discovered that they were just passing by for training, so no further investigation was conducted. After all, there were many other people like them.

There is a genin in Konoha who, from before entering the academy to now, several years after graduating and becoming a ninja, still runs past the Hokage Building every day, and not just once a day, but dozens of times a day.

While the ANBU member recalled the genin who kept talking about youth, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already opened Tatsuma and Minato's admission notices and exam papers.

Seeing that the first two tests marked as top-tier on both of their notification letters, Hiruzen Sarutobi was slightly surprised. As the head of the Sarutobi clan, Hiruzen Sarutobi was well aware of the influence of ninja clans on ninjas.

Ninjas backed by ninja clans have resources from a young age that ordinary ninjas do not have, such as material resources or educational resources from their clan elders, which allows ninja clan members to surpass ordinary ninjas even before entering school.

Therefore, for a commoner ninja to rise to prominence, the talent and effort required must be several times that of a ninja clan member. If they are war orphans, the difficulty will be even greater.

After all, ordinary families can manage to squeeze out some basic ninja books and training tools, but war orphans...

As the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that the subsidies the village distributed to war orphans were only enough to allow them to survive on a basic level, but they could not afford any additional expenses.

It's not unprecedented for such exceptionally talented individuals to emerge from among civilians and war orphans; for example, Hiruzen Sarutobi's two disciples, Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

Over the years, among the common people, only his two disciples have emerged as truly remarkable geniuses. Now, two more have appeared, which greatly surprised Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Immediately, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly glanced at the two students' exam papers. These kinds of children were more likely to go astray than other ninjas, after all, the village had indeed been "unfair" to them.

However, upon seeing the two men's explanations of the Will of Fire, Hiruzen Sarutobi's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. After a moment, he looked at the ANBU ninja and said:

Where are those two children now?

"They should still be at the third training ground."

"Good, not arrogant or impatient, a good child."

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the exam paper, stood up, and said, "Go change your clothes and come with me to see how those two children are doing. Otherwise, Danzo might come and question me later."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama."

The ANBU ninja nodded and quickly left. Hiruzen Sarutobi also tidied himself up briefly and walked down from the Hokage Building. As soon as he stepped out of the Hokage Building, a white-haired young ninja walked up to him.

Seeing the serious expression on the ninja's face, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and said, "How many times have I told you? Take off your Anbu uniform, and you're just like Sakumo Hatake. There's no need to be so gloomy."

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo suddenly smiled and said, "Hokage-sama, please don't use such obscene words as 'taking off clothes,' especially since we are superior and subordinate."

"I find you, the person, to be filthy."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head helplessly. He had seen through this generation of elite ninjas from the Hatake clan. Once they put on their ANBU uniforms and masks, they became ruthless and merciless killing machines.

But after changing back into his own clothes, he became... Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't find a word to describe himself without being tainted, so he shook his head and walked towards the third training ground.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Good afternoon, Hokage!"

"Sandaime-sama."

Along the way, Hiruzen Sarutobi greeted countless Konoha ninjas and civilians. When he arrived at the Third Training Ground, he saw two children in a corner practicing throwing techniques with abandoned targets.

With Hiruzen Sarutobi's discerning eye, he immediately recognized the skill levels of the two. The boy with the blue and white curly hair had already reached the level of a graduate of the Ninja Academy in terms of ninja tool projection.

That blond kid, although he's a little less skilled, is still better than some students at the ninja academy.

"Is he really a genius?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured something, then stepped forward.

"Minato, you've improved really fast, but in this round, I'm still a cut above the rest!"

As he approached, Hiruzen Sarutobi overheard the two children's conversation, but they quickly stopped, as Hiruzen's attire was simply too distinctive.

"Sandaime-sama."

"Sandaime-sama."

Tatsuma and Minato quickly bowed. Tatsuma also observed Hiruzen Sarutobi and Sakumo Hatake, wondering what the two were doing there. They had performed well today, but it shouldn't have alarmed the Hokage.

Even if Tatsuma was a time traveler, he probably wouldn't have imagined that it was precisely because of his sudden appearance that he squeezed out a child from the Shimura clan, causing Hiruzen Sarutobi to run out in order to avoid Danzo's verbal attacks.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed that the child was observing him, he also secretly observed Tatsuma. Hiruzen Sarutobi's first impression was quite good, perhaps because of the child's smile.

"Are you students from the Ninja Academy?"

Although he knew the identities of the two people in front of him, Hiruzen Sarutobi still asked them deliberately. Tatsuma and Minato nodded, and Minato even answered, "Yes, Third Hokage, we just enrolled today."

"I am Minato Namikaze, and this is my friend, Tatsuma Sakamoto."

"To have such ninja tool throwing ability right after entering school is truly remarkable. I wasn't as good as you guys back in my day."

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, Minato's eyes visibly brightened. Hiruzen continued, "However, a target is ultimately an inanimate object. A ninja's enemies are always living beings. Are you confident you can hit a moving target?"

"What do you mean?"

Tatsuma asked, puzzled. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Hatake Sakumo beside him, who was gazing at the female ninja training in the distance, and said, "This is the best ninja by my side, and also my bodyguard. Do you want to test his skills?"

"Sakumo, why don't you also assess the future of Konoha? If you're satisfied with what you've achieved, how about you give them some rewards?"

"Huh? Me?"

Hatake Sakumo snapped out of his reverie, noticing the indescribable look in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes. Realizing he'd been daydreaming too much, he quickly regained his composure, looked at the two tiny children before him, and said:

"One minute. If you're still standing there in one minute, I..."

Sakumo Hatake glanced at the worn-out ninja tools in their hands and said, "How about I give each of you a new set of ninja tools?"

Minato was somewhat tempted, but he still looked at Tatsuma and asked for his opinion. It wasn't that Minato was interested in the ninja tools, but rather the opportunity to fight against the Hokage's guards, which was too rare.

Although he had only been friends with Minato for a little over a day, Tatsuma understood Minato's intentions. He nodded and said:

"Really? Uncle, you must be very strong to be a Hokage's bodyguard. But... I'll definitely hold out for one minute."

"Uncle? What an unlovable kid."

Hatake Sakumo's face darkened. He was in his early twenties, a real heartthrob, and yet he was being called an "uncle"?!

Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but twitch his lips. Sure enough, Sakumo Hatake had taken off his clothes—no, he had removed his ANBU equipment. He was really too unreliable.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to continue this small test. It was not a bad thing that Sakumo Hatake had the fighting spirit. Otherwise, given his personality, he might have just coasted through for a minute and then given the two kids a set of ninja tools to get rid of them.

"Let's begin!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tatsuma and Minato quickly moved to the sides.

(End of this chapter)