Jiraiya was missing—had been for over twenty days, without a trace.
This put Tsunade in an extremely irritable mood. The first official Chūnin Exams were fast approaching, and yet Jiraiya had suddenly vanished. Ever since she decided to blind the other ninjas with her brilliance during the exams, Tsunade had taken it upon herself to really understand what the Chūnin Exams were all about.
As her old teacher Sarutobi had explained, the inaugural Chūnin Exam was divided into three stages: the first focused on testing a ninja's foundational knowledge, the second was a practical exam prepared by a specially appointed Tokubetsu Jōnin, and the third—and most crucial—was a tournament-style elimination round. In theory, any Genin who reached the third round had a chance at being promoted to Chūnin.
This so-called "first Chūnin Exam" was, in fact, initiated by Konoha to reestablish its dominance. It involved the participation of Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning, Sunagakure of the Land of Wind, and Kirigakure of the Land of Water. As a show of force, the Second Kazekage Shamon—who had survived the First Great Ninja War—and the newly appointed Third Raikage A had both confirmed their attendance.
Through this deeper understanding, Tsunade finally realized the true weight her grandfather, the First Hokage, carried for Konoha.
A nuclear bomb.
That was the only way her limited knowledge could describe it.
Back in the day, Konoha was undeniably a superpower. The village boasted the world's strongest duo—Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. The Senju and Uchiha clans, united, had founded Konoha, forming the most powerful organization of that era. Their combined presence intimidated the entire ninja world, forcing the surrounding conflicts into a standstill. Other countries, either in pursuit of peace or in fear of Konoha, began mimicking the village system and founded their own shinobi villages.
Thus, the world slowly began drifting toward peace—that is, the world before the First Great Ninja War.
Back then, with both Hashirama and Madara still alive, the mere existence of Konoha—with its two powerful clans—was enough to prevent any full-scale wars. Whether it was Hashirama or Madara, as long as either remained, true large-scale conflict was impossible. Konoha held an overwhelmingly dominant position.
Then came the legendary final battle between Hashirama and Madara at the Valley of the End—a battle known to all shinobi. And "Uchiha Madara is dead" became common knowledge. Yet Madara's death alone wasn't enough to shake Konoha's leadership. After all, the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju—respected for both his strength and his charisma—was still alive.
But eventually, Konoha's authority crumbled.
The death of Hashirama Senju was one of the sparks that ignited the First Great Ninja War. No country was willing to remain eternally submissive. The power balance among the Five Great Nations was disrupted, and with the loss of its twin titans, Konoha became everyone's target. It could no longer maintain its role as the world's peacekeeper—or rather, conflict mediator.
It could be said that Konoha suffered the most devastating losses during the First Great Ninja War.
From the start, Konoha had been the strongest ninja village—not just because of Hashirama and Madara, but also due to the powerful clans that made up the village. After the war, not only the Senju clan declined, but many of those elite clans began to fade.
The most tragic among them was the Hatake clan—once home to prodigies.
Apparently, genius comes with a heavy past.
Tsunade couldn't help but feel a bit smug. Thank goodness she wasn't a genius. Judging by her current trajectory, she'd just steamroll her way to success using the golden cheat that was her system. Having protagonist-level plot armor really did make all the difference—no worries about becoming a tragic figure.
Aside from that, Tsunade also took some time to better understand the ninja ranking system.
Everyone knew that shinobi were classified as Genin, Chūnin, Tokubetsu Jōnin, Jōnin, and finally, Kage. These ranks reflected general ability, though not always perfectly.
Take Konoha, for example—anyone who graduated from the Ninja Academy established by the Second Hokage automatically became a Genin. To advance to Chūnin, they had to pass an exam overseen by Jōnin.
Of course, after this first Chūnin Exam, future promotions to Chūnin would likely be limited to either passing the exam or receiving a special recommendation. In fact, Chūnin were basically team leaders. During wartime, they played irreplaceable roles, comparable to non-commissioned officers in the military—the backbone of any unit.
Beyond Chūnin, the next step was Jōnin, but Jōnin were all-rounders and elites in every village. They weren't just powerful; they participated in strategic decision-making in the Jōnin councils. Becoming a Jōnin required recommendation or approval from a national leader and other high-ranking Jōnin.
By the way, ever since the "One Nation, One Village" system was implemented, there had been very few who achieved Jōnin rank solely through national-level recommendation. This highlighted how autonomous the shinobi villages were—only economically did they remain somewhat dependent on their respective countries.
In short, Jōnin were the elite trump cards of a village—few and far between. That kind of "Jōnin are everywhere, Kage-levels are like weeds" setting Tsunade read in fanfiction? Completely unrealistic.
Moreover, "Kage" wasn't even a rank—it was a title bestowed upon the leader of a major village. It meant "the village's greatest ninja." Naturally, only those of tremendous strength could assume the mantle of Kage.
Anyway—back to the main topic.
Because ascending to Jōnin was so difficult, a mid-tier rank had emerged between Chūnin and Jōnin: Tokubetsu Jōnin. Unlike all-rounder Jōnin, these were specialists—ninjas who had outstanding talent in a specific area but lacked the all-around capability to be full Jōnin.
Tsunade realized then that her assumption of already being at the Tokubetsu Jōnin level was laughable. It was like self-proclaiming herself an emperor—illegitimate and unsupported. Even if she temporarily overpowered others with brute strength, she still wouldn't be acknowledged.
Not to mention—she didn't even have that kind of strength.
That said, once she passed the Chūnin Exams, becoming a Tokubetsu Jōnin would probably just be a matter of time. As for becoming a Jōnin, she'd likely need a bit of luck. And as for becoming a Kage? Tsunade had already given up on that unrealistic dream.
Now, about that final "nuclear bomb"…
With the system's buffs, Tsunade was confident she could skip the Kage stage entirely and bring peace to the world herself.
Which only proved: all that talk about well-rounded development was nonsense. If you had overwhelming power, you could brute-force your way through anything.
Still, that was a bit far off. Right now, Tsunade had a much more immediate problem—Jiraiya was missing. Without a teammate, she couldn't even participate in the first and second stages of the Chūnin Exam.
So today, Tsunade arrived early at her usual training spot, sitting gloomily by the river, staring at her reflection.
After some investigation, she was almost certain Jiraiya had disappeared around here, likely not long after she'd gone to sleep. The cause of his disappearance probably had something to do with the "enhanced version of the Summoning Jutsu" she had given him.
"Sigh…"
Tsunade let out a deep sigh as she stared at her reflection—and then noticed another reflection beside hers, worsening her already foul mood.
She turned to the side and saw the ever-loyal husky sitting faithfully beside her.
"Bahamut, I want to talk to you about something."
At her words, the husky turned toward her, his handsome doggy face filled with confusion.
"Can you head back for now?" Tsunade asked seriously.
"Boss, why do I feel like you don't want me around?" the husky asked.
"Of course not!" Tsunade denied immediately. "It's just that… for a single woman to always be followed around by a dog—it doesn't look good, you know?"
"Then I won't leave."
The husky gazed into the distance, eyes filled with a mysterious and indescribable determination.
"Why not?" Tsunade couldn't help but ask.
"Because I love this world… deeply."
"…"
Tsunade's expression twisted in frustration. Her mood continued to deteriorate.
"And by the way, Boss, my name's not Bahamut. And I'm not some 'Supreme Evil Dragon,' either."
"…"
Tsunade had come to a terrible realization.
Completing the "I Want to Be a Straight-A Student III" mission was probably the worst mistake of her life.
(End of Chapter)
— Aki |(<ゝω·)☆—
Hello I hope you like this story and support it. English is not my native language. I hope you don't mind the grammatical errors, also if you help me gain power stone and would love to upload advance chapter that's all thanks ✨
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