Konoha Notes.

Chapter 475, Question 4

Chapter 475, Question 4

When Fu and Gaara walked out of the meeting room, Omoi and Karui were no longer in sight.

"They're walking so fast," Fu muttered.

Green Sunflower, as he himself had said, waited in the corridor.

Four people without headbands were standing next to him.

Fu pulled Gaara over, and the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki asked in her usual lively tone, "Midori-sensei! Do you know where Killer Bee and the others are?"

Gaara sized up the four men. They looked to be in their twenties, with leg wraps for easy movement and ninja tool pouches hanging from their bodies according to their own habits.

These people are ninjas, not officials of the daimyo.

Green Sunflower stopped talking to the people around her and turned to the two children: "Mr. Killer Bee's special operations team did not move to the new building; they remained at the old bureau site."

"I'll have someone take you there."

"No, no!" Fu immediately raised her hand. "We know the old building very well; we go there all the time!"

Of the four people next to him who weren't wearing headbands, a brown-haired man spoke first.

"But you're here today as visiting students, right? If you leave the designated route without permission, the teachers in charge of guiding you might cause you trouble."

Green Sunflower seemed convinced by these words. He gestured to the other person beside him, "Go to the fifth-floor office and ask Sandstone to come over. Have him lead the way."

Fu leaned close to Gaara's ear, her voice rising, "They sound like ninjas from Sunagakure."

Green Aoi smiled: "Yes, Sandstone is a member of the Sand Village's secret service stationed in the secret service."

Her question was answered.

Gaara calmly said, "Let's go to the Sunagakure office."

The red-haired boy reminded the green-haired girl beside him, "They said we can't go too far."

"The Sand Village office?" Fu's eyes widened, forgetting all about finding Killer Bee; her only goal was to get out. "Is this where Temari will be working? Okay, okay, let's go check it out!"

"Then let's go, let's go!"

Fu tugged at Gaara's hand and waved to Midori Aoi.

"Thank you, Teacher Green! We'll head down now!"

The gentle expression on Green Sunflower's face faded as the two walked away.

"It's so liberating." The brown-haired man who spoke first looked towards the stairwell. "You can go wherever you want."

"After all, they're different from us," someone chimed in.

Green Sunflower didn't respond to that. He just looked at the other end of the corridor, where the door to the large conference room was still closed.

"The existence of the Secretariat is an unprecedented opportunity for people like us," he said.

"I heard that those people overseas—have gone a bit too far," a man who had been standing at the very edge and hadn't said much interjected. He was wearing a dark gray short-sleeved shirt and had several old scars on his arms.

"A group of people from Rain Village have already been stationed outside permanently," someone immediately added.

"I'm so envious—" The brown-haired man shook his head. "They have special privileges that allow them to enjoy a high status overseas without being wanted by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics."

"However, it's best to say less of this kind of thing; who knows how long they can hold out overseas?"

"The people have changed several times over," the scarred man muttered under his breath. "But even if they're all gone, those islands overseas—"

It will probably stay the way it is now, right?

"Don't forget, we have many daimyo and nobles up here—" another person gestured with his eyes towards the upstairs.

The door to the large conference room was pushed open again.

Sakura, Ino, Karin, and Shion came out. Sakura spotted Midori Aoi at a glance and quickly walked over to her, with the other three naturally following behind her.

"Teacher Green".

Sakura stopped in front of Green Aoi, clasped her hands together in front of her, and looked serious.

Green Okra has put on its business-like smile again.

He saw the documents in Sakura and Karin's hands; they were temporary employment certificates for intern positions at the secret service, thin sheets of paper stamped with a red seal.

"It seems you two will be our colleagues," he said, turning his gaze to Ino and Shion. "Don't be discouraged. Even if you don't get the chance this time, there will be other opportunities in the future."

Ino and Shion politely thanked them. Neither of them showed much disappointment; they hadn't come for that in the first place.

"Ms. Midori," Sakura asked, her voice carrying the earnestness typical of a newcomer, "regarding the internship at the Secretariat, is there anything I should be aware of?"

"It depends on which department you're assigned to," Green Aoi patiently explained. "If it's a position directly under the director's office like Sasuke's, then you just need to follow instructions and do the work assigned to you."

Sakura's expression dimmed slightly: "We've been assigned to a secondary office."

"The village's departments are quite good." Green Sunflower nodded. "Everyone here is easy to get along with, but the working hours might be long and the workload is heavy."

At this moment, students continued to emerge from the conference room. Some held documents in their hands, their faces beaming with barely suppressed excitement; others walked empty-handed, their expressions ranging from dejected to indifferent.

Seeing that Green Sunflower was talking to Sakura and the others, many people gathered around and quickly formed a small circle in the corridor.

Seeing this, Green Sunflower raised her voice slightly: "Regarding the specifics of the work, you can come to us anytime after it officially begins."

He pointed to himself, then to the four people beside him.

"Although we work in different departments, we've all worked here for a while and know people in the relevant departments to some extent. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

The four people nodded, all wearing friendly smiles.

"Thank you, Teacher Lv!"

"As expected, Ms. Green is a very good person —"

The students thanked them all at once.

Green Aoi raised her hand and made a downward pressing gesture before saying, "There's nothing we can do about it. Although the Bureau of Affairs has a bright future, there's no systematic way to learn ninjutsu here."

"Therefore, we can only help each other and learn from each other."

"After all, a ninja's basic skills are very important, no matter where they are."

"That's the most fundamental difference between us and—everyone else."

These words touched Sakura.

After staying at the hospital yesterday, she explained her thoughts to Ino.

She is certain that her current goals, and even her future goals, will not change, which is why she said those words directly.

She wanted Ino to know that she was serious and no longer take it as a joke.

What Ino told her was the same sentence that Midori Aoi is saying now.

At this moment, Karin said, "The village now has professional training courses."

"Yes." Green Aoi nodded immediately, her smile unchanged. "The village's current design takes good care of ordinary ninjas like us. It's really good. Everyone has witnessed Lord Shuji's kindness towards us."

"However, ninjas working in the secret service probably don't have the time to dedicate large chunks of their time to training."

, 7

"Furthermore, as Chunin, we have all mastered some unique ninjutsu and have some insights. Exchanging ideas with each other can be quite effective."

He then looked at the students who were still holding documents in their hands.

"Of course, the teachers arranged by the village are professional and well-regarded."

"Anyone who feels they need to master more ninjutsu should definitely take a year of professional training before applying for a job at the secret service. That's definitely the right choice."

The green-haired Chunin lowered his voice, as if sharing from the bottom of his heart: "However, from an ordinary person's perspective, sometimes being a step behind can mean being a lifetime behind."

"If I had become a Chunin seven or eight years ago, I would have had a much better chance of becoming a Jonin —"

"Why hasn't Midoriya-sensei become a Jonin yet?"

Naruto's voice came from behind the crowd. The blond boy had just come out of the conference room, his face filled with pure curiosity.

Is there a big difference between now and the past?

Green Aoi's expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered. Facing the students around him, he spoke in a gentle tone: "The difference lies in the fact that for an ordinary ninja like me, whose talent is not particularly outstanding, the influence of timing and environment is far greater than imagined."

"The same applies to positions in the secretariat. When it was just expanding and there was a severe shortage of staff, outstanding students would be recruited exceptionally, giving them a valuable starting point."

"but----"

"This window of opportunity won't last forever. In another year or two, once all the positions are filled and the operating model is fully established, the selection criteria will likely naturally rise."

"At that point, you might need more extensive experience or a more impressive resume."

The students holding the documents instinctively clenched their fists. Those with empty hands either lowered their heads or had wandering eyes.

At that moment, Sasuke and Shikamaru came out, followed by Kakashi, and the silver-haired director casually closed the door.

"Chief."

Green Sunflower and the four people beside her spoke at the same time.

Kakashi nodded. "The tour is almost over. Midori, take everyone to the conference room on the second floor."

"Yes."

Green Sunflower responded and gestured to the students. The four then began to guide the crowd toward the stairs.

Shikamaru caught up with the main group, but Sasuke remained where he was, watching their figures completely disappear at the top of the stairs.

"Why didn't you follow them?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke remained silent for a few seconds.

"That green hollyhock—"

"Does it seem too weak?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke did not answer.

Weak? Perhaps.

Those hypotheticals about timing, circumstances, and "what ifs." In Sasuke's view, a Jonin is a Jonin because they possess the strength to live up to that title.

If you failed to become a Jonin, it just means you weren't strong enough.

The same principle applies to the work of the secretariat. Timing? Circumstances? These are just excuses.

Sasuke submitted his report for the second time, and at the end he explained that it had been confirmed that the two had reconciled due to an accident.

Tobirama Senju only knew the outcome beforehand and was not very clear about the process. He was also not very satisfied that Sasuke had not written down the specific unexpected events.

"What kind of accident brought them back together?"

Sasuke's lips pressed into a straight line. He didn't want to recall that scene, not at all.

"A joint action." He tried to find a more neutral term. "They were forced to stand together because of something."

"And that became the opportunity for the two sides to speak again."

"What exactly happened?"

"

'

Sasuke looked away and saw Shuuji whispering something to Tsunade on the other side of the lab. The Fifth Hokage listened for a while, then turned his gaze to Sasuke, a look of surprise on his face, before whispering to Shuuji again.

Mr. Shuji nodded repeatedly and replied, his expression quite pleasant.

He shouldn't have known about this.

This was Sasuke's first thought.

Then he remembered something from even earlier, when he was a first-year student, when Karin ambushed him and hit him in the face. He didn't want Itachi to know, but Itachi eventually found out.

It was clearly Shuji who said that at that time.

This time————

Sasuke glared at Shuuji. All the respect and admiration he had built up over the past year vanished in an instant.

That man reverted to being the talkative captain, the troublesome senior who always knew too much.

Tobirama Senju noticed the boy's gaze. He looked at the undisguised anger on Sasuke's face, and then at Shuuji, who was talking to Tsunade in the distance. He understood that this was something the boy would never want to recall.

The Second Hokage did not pursue the details of that unexpected incident.

He put down the scroll and changed the subject.

"So, if we do it again, can you handle it even better than last time?"

Sasuke then looked away and turned his gaze back to Tobirama.

He nodded at first, but then he remembered the scene from that afternoon, where the students surrounded Green Sunflower, listening attentively to their words about timing and opportunity.

He repeated Green Sunflower's words, his tone carrying a slight resistance that he himself was unaware of.

After listening, Tobirama said, "From a personal point of view, those remarks were not wrong."

"It accurately captures the anxiety of a segment of the population and provides a reasonable explanation. From a technical standpoint, it also meets a considerable degree of demand."

Sasuke awaits the next installment.

"Then, perfect, your second task, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Conduct a research report on that Green Sunflower. Observe his behavior, analyze the true intentions behind his words and actions, and the possible consequences of these words and actions."

Sasuke bowed and turned to leave the laboratory.

Only after the boy's footsteps completely disappeared above the stairs did Tobirama Senju turn to Shuji.

"What's the deal with that green hollyhock?"

Shuji walked over.

"A very ambitious person," he said, "but that's about it."

Tobirama understood; he was someone who had absolutely no loyalty to the village.

"He is the fourth problem within the Joint Affairs Bureau in this incident," Shuji continued, "and also the fourth type of person."

"However, things are alright for now."

"Kakashi will be careful."

"Let's see how things go after Sasuke finishes his report."

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