Yuhi Shinku was nervous as hell right now.
Sitting down one second, popping back up the next, pacing in circles—he couldn't stay still.
It was bad enough that even Genma, who was usually calm and composed, was starting to feel the pressure.
Genma was a chunin.
He was Shinku's junior, and Shinku had even served as his instructor once.
Shinku had always been sure Genma had real talent. Making jonin? Hard to say. But special jonin was absolutely within reach.
"Shinku-senpai… we don't have to be this nervous, do we?"
The waiting hall was packed.
Plenty of shinobi were here, holding out for news, and the number of people just as tense as Shinku definitely wasn't small.
You don't know a damn thing!
Shinku shot his stupid junior a look.
The Ninja Academy had just landed a literal god of wealth and pulled off a turnaround on the spot.
You couldn't look at the Academy with the same old eyes anymore.
They had money now. And they had openings.
Anyone with a brain could tell what that meant.
The Academy was in the middle of a reform wave.
If you didn't get on the ship now, were you really going to wait until it took off and then try to cling to the hull?
"T-this…"
With Shinku's pointed hint, Genma started sweating too.
Oh crap.
He hadn't prepared at all.
He'd walked in thinking, I'm a chunin. This is free. I've got this.
Then he followed the direction Shinku was indicating.
And—yeah.
There were multiple jonin here.
A chunin in this crowd was basically a nameless lackey.
Hisss…
So what now?
Sure, he knew his theory, but… what if they actually cut him?
Shinku was thinking the same thing.
He was just some guy who ran missions for a living. As far as advantages went, he might have had even less than his idiot junior.
"Number 109! Candidate 109, please enter Interview Room Three!"
The moment he heard his number, Genma went pale and felt his brain go blank. He forced a strained smile at Shinku.
"Senpai, I—I…"
Shinku patted his shoulder, heavy and solemn.
"Do your best. We're in this together."
"…"
"…Yeah."
Watching Genma's back as he headed for Room Three, Shinku let out a quiet sigh.
Did the kid even have a chance?
Shinku glanced at the jonin to his left, all of them rolling their shoulders like they were about to go to war, and his head started to throb.
This competition was ridiculous.
All he wanted was to get himself a stable Academy job, then help his own students have an easier road later.
After waiting a while, the oppressive atmosphere didn't break—but Shinku had clawed his way out of mountains of corpses before. Compared to that, this was manageable.
He forced his breathing steady and got his emotions under control.
"Number 135! Candidate 135, please enter Interview Room Four!"
It was his turn.
Shinku quickly straightened his clothes, making himself neat down to the last fold—like a proper teacher.
His gaze flicked, almost unconsciously, toward Room Three's tightly closed door.
That brat still wasn't out yet?
As expected.
A chunin with no experience—he probably wasn't going to make it.
"HAHAHA! Thank you!
Thank you, Examiner Iruka, for giving me this opportunity!
Don't worry! I, Genma Shiranui, swear to you—
I'll do my duty as an instructor properly!"
That loud vow, that excitement he couldn't suppress—
Shinku's steps halted mid-stride.
His face twisted a little.
And something inside him went sharply sour.
…Wait.
That idiot kid with no experience—
How the hell did he get in?
Shinku had that exact contradictory feeling: he didn't want his buddy to suffer, but he also didn't want his buddy driving a luxury car right past him.
Seeing Genma actually get hired, Shinku couldn't help cursing inside his head.
Genma, you dumb bastard… you don't even know what they've got waiting in Room Three—!
At the same time…
Inside Interview Room Four, Mizuki sat there with a warm smile, waiting for Shinku.
Yes.
He'd timed the numbers on purpose—he wanted to personally interview this one.
Otherwise, if someone else did it, Shinku's "mission runner" résumé might look so bad they wouldn't even know how to justify circling him back in.
When he heard the knock, Mizuki hesitated for a moment, then scribbled firmly into his notebook.
Polite. Knows etiquette. +10.
He wavered, then added another line.
Made the examiner wait a bit—shows confidence. +10.
Then another.
Jonin, yet still knocks and respects me, a mere chunin. +10.
Out of a hundred points, he hadn't even seen the man yet, and it was already thirty.
"Come in."
Shinku entered.
Mizuki immediately wrote another line with a blank expression.
Left foot stepped in first. Suspicious.
Then he thought about it, crossed it out, and erased it.
Too obvious.
Ruined the aesthetic.
"Hello, Examiner. I'm Candidate 135—Yuhi Shinku.
Please, I'd appreciate your guidance."
Mizuki nodded along, smiling pleasantly.
Not arrogant, not flustered. Steady and composed. +10.
"Have a seat. Today's interview is simple. There's no need to be too nervous."
"Examiner, as a candidate, my strengths are as follows—"
…Huh?
I wasn't even finished talking.
Mizuki's mouth twitched as he listened to Shinku ramble.
It didn't quite manage to pull into a grimace.
Confident. +10.
"Examiner, I can say this for sure—students are absolutely craving the kind of mission experience only a jonin like me can offer! I'll teach them everything, without holding anything back, about how to take missions!"
Hiss…
We really don't need "mission-runner experience"—
…But.
Students do end up taking missions after graduation. He wasn't wrong. +10.
And he's willing to teach without holding back? +20!
That put him at eighty.
Normally speaking, Shinku had already more than earned the position.
So Mizuki was just about to relax and congratulate him—
When Shinku saw that blank, unreadable expression and panicked.
This is bad!
My performance probably didn't satisfy the examiner!
In a moment of stupidity, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a few silver banknotes, and bowed deeply.
"Examiner, please—please give me this chance!"
Mizuki's mouth jerked so hard his face almost cramped. His hand shook. For a second, he honestly wanted to tell this "mission runner" to get the hell out.
He forced himself to inhale slowly—again and again—until his eyes finally focused.
Then, with a clear conscience nowhere to be found, he trembled as he wrote in his notebook:
Understands resource redistribution. +20.
Excellent.
One hundred points.
A full hundred damn points!
Mizuki burst out laughing, and Shinku—who'd been stiff as a board—immediately looked even more tense.
"Good, good, good! I didn't expect you to align so perfectly with our Academy's ideals, Shinku-san!
The Ninja Academy needs exactly the kind of talent you represent!
Congratulations! You've been hired!"
(End of Chapter)
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