In Konoha Year 45, the Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind served as the host, organizing this year's Joint Chunin Exams. Following shinobi world custom, Konoha Hidden Village of the Land of Fire, being an ally, was among the invited participants.
Furthermore, several small and medium-sized ninja villages located near the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, such as Amegakure, Kusagakure, and Hoshigakure, also received invitations and would dispatch their respective teams to participate.
On the day of departure, in the faint morning light, a team of over thirty people had gathered outside Konoha's main gate.
Aside from Jiraiya, who served as the overall team leader, most of the participants were Genin registered for the exam and their squad leaders.
Jiraiya stood before the group, clearly distracted, looking as though he had been forced into service. Listlessly, he began a brief speech:
"Ah—well, everyone. The goal of this trip to Sunagakure is the Chunin Exams. Remember, you represent Konoha's face, so you must... forget it... Safety first, and know your limits. Sunagakure is a place with lots of sand and little water, so be careful." His words contained no rousing encouragement; they sounded more like a half-hearted formality. After speaking, he waved his hand, "Alright, let's move out."
The team immediately set off, embarking on the journey to the Hidden Sand Village.
---
After three consecutive days of travel, the team finally left the borders of the Land of Fire and entered the Land of Rivers, situated between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.
The journey was tedious, but Shinichi maintained his usual diligence. Whenever the team stopped to rest, he would always find a secluded spot near the camp and carry out his unwavering training.
This day was no exception. After completing his training, he wiped the sweat from his brow as he walked back to the camp.
Along the way, he had a thought and summoned the personal panel that only he could see.
[ Name: Higashino Shinichi ]
[Class: Genin / Swordsman]
[Talents: Genius (Blue), Spiritual Sense (Green), Auspicious Omen (Green), Omen of Disaster (Green), Big Eater (Green), Diligence Can Compensate for Lack of Talent (Green), Quick-Thinking (Green), Superhuman Strength (Green), Skin-Hardening (Green), Swift (Green), Proficiency in Swordsmanship (Green), Charisma (Green), Ninjutsu Proficiency (Green), Calm (White), Basic Wind Style (White), Basic Taijutsu (White), Basic Fire Style (White), Medical Fundamentals (White)]
[draw count: None]
Compared to when he first became a Genin half a year ago, the changes on the panel were not significant.
Besides [Friendly] upgrading to [Charisma], the only other addition was [Medical Fundamentals].
Looking at the panel before him, Shinichi frowned slightly, recognizing the two clear bottlenecks he currently faced:
First, the recognition threshold had increased significantly. He was already Konoha's recognized genius, and many feats that would be astonishing for others were simply taken for granted when performed by him.
The public's expectations for his excellence had been raised, resulting in a decrease in the impression points and depth of recognition he could gain from the same effort and achievements.
Second, the halo masking effect. Certain overly prominent talents acted like spotlights, drawing away most of the attention and making it difficult for the outside world to clearly perceive and remember his abilities in other areas.
For example, his taijutsu should absolutely not still be a basic white entry.
However, under the overarching impression of him being a genius, especially under the dual halo of a swordsmanship genius who "defeated White Fang Swordsmanship" and a ninjutsu genius who "independently developed A-rank seal-less ninjutsu," his solid and excellent mastery of taijutsu was instead obscured and diluted.
This was similar to the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, where 95% of the world's recognition and legends focused on his miraculous Wood Release, leading to the fact that he was also a top-tier master of the five elemental chakra natures, and even a medical ninjutsu master, being obscured by that excessively brilliant halo and becoming little known.
---
'If only the disguises of the shadow clones could...'
Shinichi had spent considerable effort on this idea, but he eventually understood the system's seemingly simple yet strict rule: a shadow clone could help him acquire recognition, but only if the outside world clearly knew that the shadow clone was "Higashino Shinichi."
This meant he could have his shadow clones, using his original appearance and identity, engage in activities with different focuses—for instance, one practicing taijutsu and another practicing medical arts—in an attempt to diversify the focus and gain multi-faceted recognition.
But doing so essentially just split his own time into several parts. All recognition would ultimately still accumulate under the single identity of "Higashino Shinichi." While the efficiency was slightly improved, it could never solve the "halo masking" problem.
He had also considered a more cunning approach: over the past six months of missions, he had his shadow clones transform into completely different appearances and identities, using a brand new persona in the mission cities and surrounding areas to specialize in building reputation in a specific field.
For example, he created a "genjutsu ninja A" who was skilled in genjutsu and cool. This genjutsu ninja, whom he called "Crow," acted with calm and possessed subtle techniques. In encounters he deliberately arranged across several cities during his missions, Crow displayed impressive genjutsu mastery and a steady demeanor.
Based on Shinichi's past estimates for generating white entries, the level displayed by Crow and the attention he garnered should have been enough to coalesce into a white [Basic Genjutsu] entry, and perhaps even prompt an upgrade the [Calm] entry.
However, after more than half a year of attempts, the panel remained silent.
Regardless of how profound an impression Crow left locally, or how much praise and speculation he received, this recognition was like rootless duckweed; it failed to establish any connection with Higashino Shinichi. No genjutsu-related entries ever appeared, and [Calm] remained completely unchanged.
This meant that the core rule of recognition was "unity of name and reality"—the recognition must explicitly point to the true name and true body that is "Higashino Shinichi."
Disguise meant cutting off the link between recognition and the main body.
Consequently, the idea of using a shadow clone to create alternate identities and build an independent entry library was completely ruined. He could not simultaneously be "Genius Ninja Higashino Shinichi," "Genjutsu Star Crow," or "Taijutsu Master B."
The recognition of all his talents had to be borne by the single identity of "Higashino Shinichi," an identity already shrouded by the genius halo.
---
'What should I do?'
Shinichi pondered silently.
One option was focused breakthrough to reach the peak. He could concentrate all resources and persona management on one field, first reaching the pinnacle and achieving a shinobi world-recognized level of accomplishment, thereby pushing for higher-level entries.
But the drawback of this approach was obvious: the growth of entries in other areas would inevitably be slowed or even halted, and the basic bonuses provided by those entries were crucial to him.
Moreover, even if he became a god-like existence in one field, he would likely still fall into the First Hokage's predicament—the public's attention would be firmly fixed on that most dazzling halo, and his abilities in other areas would still struggle to gain enough recognition to support entry upgrades.
The other option was to advance on multiple fronts and seek balance. But this required more intricate planning and long-term management, and efficiency was a problem given the current lack of time and the already high recognition threshold.
---
'When I become Hokage, the first thing I'll do is establish a Ministry of Propaganda, then buy up all the major newspapers and radio stations in the ninja world. Even the textbooks in every country will have a dedicated section on my deeds.'
Shinichi thought viciously. Not only that, but he planned even more meticulously.
For instance, he would change the focus of propaganda every few years. These years would focus on his immense physique and extraordinary power; a few years later, he would emphasize his medical benevolence; and a few years after that, he would stress his strategic planning—all to ensure the ninja world populace formed a impression of him as an "all-round super genius."
A ridiculous scene even flashed instantly in his mind: in a future classroom, a teacher points at a textbook.
"Students, today we are going to study a new lesson—'Hokage-sama Knocks Down the Moon With a..."
"...Hokage-sama....and then looked up at the sky, saying, 'Damn Ōtsutsuki.' He …..with all his might… and soon the moon in the sky suddenly burst into dazzling light, and then it..."
"Waaah, Hokage-sama is so great!"
"We can never repay Hokage-sama's kindness..."
In the radiant classroom, a group of little kids, hands raised high, jumped up and down with tears streaming down their faces.
Note: The classroom lights were not on at this time.
Damn it!
Shinichi shivered and quickly shook the increasingly absurd image out of his mind.