Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

"Yes, I applied to graduate from Aoki-sensei yesterday, and I passed the test successfully today. I am now a Konoha ninja."

Minato waved the Konoha headband on his left arm in front of Kirito and said with a proud look.

"Congratulations! How about I treat you to something to celebrate?"

Kirito congratulated him.

"No need for that. Aoki-sensei and a few close friends have already prepared a celebration party for me. I'm on my way there now. Kirito, you should come too. It'll be more lively with more people."

Minato quickly waved his hand to explain, and then invited Kirito to go with him.

Kirito thought about it and thought the suggestion was great. Anyway, he hadn't had dinner yet, so he could mooch a meal and also strengthen his friendship with Minato, the genius of Konoha.

He immediately formed a hand seal, creating a shadow clone, and sent the shadow clone back to the Rope Tree family to explain the situation.

"Kirito, can you ask Kushina to come along?"

Just as Kirito was about to send his shadow clone back to report, Minato suddenly said something with a somewhat awkward expression.

"Ok?"

When Kirito heard Minato say those words, a look of confusion immediately appeared on his face, and he stared at Minato with wide eyes.

"Kushina hasn't been to school for a long time, and some of her female classmates who are close to her are concerned about her and want to get together with her."

Minato quickly explained, his face flushed.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't expect this guy to have his eye on Kushina so early. No wonder he was the first to catch up with Kushina when she was captured by the people of Kumogakure in the original story, and then performed the heroic feat of rescuing the damsel in distress."

Kirito watched as Minato, still a novice at lying, uttered this clumsy lie, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

So why did this guy, with whom he usually had no connection, stop him on the street and invite him to a celebration party? It turns out it was for this reason.

"If it doesn't work, then forget it."

Minato noticed that Kirito was looking at him strangely, and being quite shy, he immediately blushed and said something.

"I'm sorry, Kushina is still recovering and probably won't be able to attend your celebration party, but I can ask Nawaki to come over."

Kirito said in a regretful tone.

This is the truth. Kushina has just completed the sealing of the Nine-Tails, and her body is still in the process of adapting to the power of the Nine-Tails. It is not advisable for her to leave the Senju clan's territory or leave Mito's side for the time being.

"I see. Then her health is more important. Let's not bother her."

When Minato heard that Kushina couldn't come, his face immediately showed undisguised disappointment, and he said to Kirito.

As for Kirito's suggestion that Nawaki should come along, he seemed not to hear it and walked forward sullenly.

Chapter 135: Orochimaru's Team Established

Seeing Minato's dejected look, Kirito couldn't bear to continue suggesting that Nawaki replace Kushina, so he silently followed him.

Soon, led by Minato, he arrived at the very familiar Yakushi Gourmet House.

"Minato has a good eye, doesn't he?"

Kirito secretly praised Minato for choosing to hold the celebration banquet at Yakushi Gourmet House.

That's good. This kid is a good friend; he knows the principle of keeping the good stuff within the family.

He's one of the shareholders of this Pharmacist's Gourmet Restaurant.

Welcome!

As soon as Kirito entered, he heard a familiar, gentle voice.

He turned his head and saw Yakushi Nonou herself.

Yakushi Nonou is now ten years old. Because girls develop quickly and are well-nourished, she is now a head taller than Kirito, standing at 1.4 meters. Her face and figure are gradually developing, and with well-fitting and beautiful clothes, she is already a little beauty.

Now that her body has fully developed and she has reached the level of a Chunin, she no longer needs to use the Transformation Technique to impersonate an adult.

"Oh, what a rare guest! What brings you here today?"

When Nono saw Kirito, she snorted and then said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Since Kirito graduated from the Ninja Academy and went to the medical class, and then moved into the Nawaki family's house, he has rarely come to Yakushi Gourmet House for meals.

We only see each other a few times a month.

Although the shop's profits have improved a lot since Kirito, the big eater who ate for free, is gone, she's still a little angry, feeling that Kirito has become distant from her lately.

"I ran into Minato on the way. He graduated as a ninja today, so I shamelessly accepted his invitation to come and freeload a meal. Don't bother to treat me specially. If there's not enough to eat, I'll figure it out."

Kirito seemed oblivious to Nonou's displeasure and said with a grin.

As he spoke, he pointed to the water gate to the side.

Upon hearing this, Nonou glanced at Minato, who was still somewhat lost and dejected, and immediately realized that this was not the time to chat with Kirito. With a healing smile, she said to Minato, "Minato, Aoki-sensei and the others have arrived. They are in the innermost private room."

"Okay, Nono-neechan."

Seeing Nonou's incredibly healing smile, Minato's mood improved considerably. He nodded obediently and then beckoned Kirito to the private room for the celebration banquet.

Kirito followed, and as he passed Nonou, he made a gesture that only the two of them understood.

When Nono saw this gesture, her smile became even brighter.

Minato was very popular, and Kirito saw many girls when he entered the private room.

95% of the people who came to the celebration banquet for Minato were girls. Apart from him, who was an unexpected guest, there were only two boys: Minato's homeroom teacher, Aoki, and Minato's good friend, Akimichi Tou.

A fat man whose appetite is comparable to his.

But to his surprise, he saw Hinata Karen, whom he hadn't seen for a while, here.

Hyuga Karen, his classmate, is a genius ninja who consistently ranks third in the grade's theory classes. She is a peer whom his classmates are trying to win over, and she is also the daughter of his taijutsu teacher, Hyuga Yama.

"Kirito-kun, what brings you here?"

As soon as Kirito entered, Karen, who was sitting in the corner, immediately noticed him. She suddenly stood up and exclaimed in surprise.

"I happened to run into Minato on the way. Minato invited me to his celebration party, so I shamelessly came. But I didn't expect you to be here too, Karen."

Kirito smiled and explained after hearing Karen's words.

"I...I came here at Minato's invitation..."

Hua Lian quickly explained.

"Kirito, it's been a long time. Actually, Karen also successfully completed her graduation exams today. She will be forming a ninja team with Minato and Toudou, so I specially held this celebration banquet for the three of them."

At this moment, the perceptive special jonin Aoki stood up and explained.

"Hua Lian graduated today too? Oh, I see."

Upon hearing this, Kirito looked at Hinata Karen in surprise.

Karen immediately looked down as if she had done something wrong, not daring to look at Kirito.

This is because Kirito had previously advised her to graduate normally and not to graduate so early, but she still couldn't stand it and chose to graduate early.

However, the reason she did that was because she saw an opportunity to quickly become stronger and continue learning sealing techniques, so she couldn't resist and graduated ahead of schedule.

"I never expected to run into you here, Kirito."

Upon seeing this, Kirito was about to ask Karen why she had graduated early, but a hoarse voice that sounded very familiar temporarily diverted his attention.

He turned around and saw that Orochimaru was already standing at the door, smiling at him.

As soon as Orochimaru appeared, Minato Namikaze, Karen Hyuga, and Touya Akimichi immediately bowed to him and said in unison, "Orochimaru-sensei."

"Orochimaru-sensei?"

Listening to the three people's words and seeing their actions and attitudes towards Orochimaru, Kirito instantly realized what was going on and was very surprised.

It seems that Orochimaru is the Jonin mentoring Minato Namikaze, Karen Hyuga, and Touya Akimichi.

Otherwise, the three of them wouldn't have shown Orochimaru such respect.

He now finally understood why Hua Lian, who was usually very obedient, suddenly chose to graduate early.

Clearly, she knew that Orochimaru was going to become a Jonin instructor, so she went to try her luck and see if she could be chosen by Orochimaru.

In hindsight, she made the right bet. Her outstanding academic performance earned her Orochimaru's favor, and she was selected by Orochimaru to join his class.

Although Kirito doesn't particularly like Orochimaru, he has to admit that Orochimaru is an excellent teacher. Not only is Orochimaru knowledgeable and skilled in many powerful ninjutsu, but he also knows how to teach according to individual students' aptitudes.

Most importantly, Orochimaru has not yet gone astray and will still be a dedicated and responsible teacher.

It is undoubtedly very lucky that Hua Lian was chosen by him, as this will greatly help Hua Lian improve his strength in the future.

"Now that I think about it, it was around this time. That makes sense. According to the original plot, Mito has already passed away, and there is no one left to restrain Nawaki. Nawaki should have graduated early around this time and been chosen by Orochimaru, right? No, it should be pre-selected. But now that Mito is still alive, Nawaki cannot graduate early, so the people Orochimaru chose have changed to Minato and Karen. If I hadn't refused him back then, maybe I would still be in Orochimaru's inner squad instead of that fat Akimichi."

Kirito turned his head and thought for a moment, and then he immediately came up with many more ideas.

He then politely said to Orochimaru, "Hello, Lord Orochimaru. I didn't expect to meet you here. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hmm~, it's fate that we met. Today is the official day that Orochimaru's team was established. Why don't you stay and celebrate with us?"

Orochimaru nodded to Kirito.

Then, he nodded to Minato, Karen, and Toudou one by one.

Orochimaru, as one of the Legendary Sannin and a disciple of the Third Hokage, achieved great feats on the battlefield, and his status here is undoubtedly the highest.

As soon as he arrived, everyone in the private room instinctively stood up.

After he sat down in the main seat, the others sat down one by one.

Orochimaru carries the aura of a hero of Konoha, and he is currently a brooding handsome man. As long as he doesn't do anything terrifying like sticking out his long tongue, he is still very popular with girls. The popularity of the crowd immediately shifted from Minato to Orochimaru.

To Kirito's surprise, Orochimaru, this gloomy and handsome man, was actually quite eloquent and could even tell jokes, though he was a bit cold.

However, when he talked about some interesting things on the battlefield, he easily controlled the atmosphere in the private room, making everyone look at him.

Kirito had never been to a battlefield, but now that Orochimaru was talking about the war, including some useful survival tips, he listened with great interest.

Of course, his mouth, like Akimichi Tou's, never stopped.

Suddenly, Kirito's chopsticks and Akimichi Tou's chopsticks simultaneously grabbed a piece of grilled meat from the barbecue grill, and their eyes met.

An invisible spark appeared in the air.

This is the last piece of meat on the grill, topped with a special delicacy, and neither of the two foodies intends to be modest.