Reborn into Naruto World with Tenseigan

Forest of Death, Konohagakure

The enchantment squad responsible for re-designing the sensory barrier around the Forest of Death was busy. Naturally, the person overseeing the Enchantment squad was Kuroto. As one of the top masters of Fuinjutsu, it was no surprise that Kuroto had to personally oversee the redesign, layout, and deployment of the enchantment barrier around the Forest of Death part of Konohagakure. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

As Kuroto was supervising the enchantment squad, Hayate approached him with a file in his hand, “Hokage-sama!” After handing the file to Kuroto, he began to report, “The replacement and maintenance of the monitoring equipment have already begun… the personnel supervising are Shimizu Naomi-san and Yuhi Kurenai-san… Following your instructions, they will not enter the sections where trees are being planted without authorization from ‘Boar.’ Additionally, the personnel I am responsible for supervising have also gathered and are ready to move out any time… so, I’ll be going for that.”

To ensure that the information about Tsunade-hime’s involvement in the Afforestation Project and her acquiring the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai don’t go out, along with other personnel, Kuroto has also involved his personal Anbu in the project.

Exposure to these details is not that big of a problem, but it’s better if the project is completed before any exposure, otherwise, if Elder Hiruzen and Elder Koharu were to learn that Tsunade-hime had acquired the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, and she is helping with the Afforestation Project, they would definitely deduct the funds passed for the Afforestation Project, which is something he won’t allow, at all!

The information about Tsunade-hime acquiring the Wood Release is something that even his Anbu aren’t privy to. The only people aware of this information are Kuroto, Tsunade-hime, and Shizune… Of course, even if Shizune knows that her Sensei has succeeded in inheriting the Kekkei Genkai of her grandfather, she doesn’t know that the person who performed the implantation operation on Tsunade-hime is Kuroto.

Tsunade-hime had promised him that she wouldn’t reveal this information to anyone without his consent and she seems to be following her words which is a relief for Kuroto, otherwise, he’d have to deal with unnecessary problems.

Since Tsunade-hime had already told Shizune of this matter, Kuroto temporarily enlisted her into the Anbu for the duration of the Afforestation Project in order to maintain the secrecy. The ‘Boar’ in Hayate’s mouth is naturally Shizune and she is the only Anbu responsible for monitoring the area Tsunade-hime is using for training/regrowing the Forest of Death and as Hayate said, without the explicit approval from ‘Boar,’ no one would enter that section of the forest.

Listening to Hayate’s report, Kuroto briefly glanced at the file given to him, and nodded, “Alright, things are moving perfectly. Thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s my duty, Hokage-sama,” responded Hayate with a smile, and then he disappeared.

Once Hayate had left, Kuroto recalled the scene of negotiation with Elder Hiruzen.

With Kuroto’s shrewdness who could he not see that Elder Hiruzen was suspicious of him when ‘he’ agreed to the previous proposal of sacrificing a part of his salary along with those hundreds of millions of Ryōs he had received from the village as compensation for completing that SSS-Rank mission.

But when Kuroto proposed that he wanted to handle the Afforestation Project, and began to bargain for funds, Elder Hiruzen appeared quite relieved and correspondingly began to seriously bargain with him. He realized that he may have been thinking too much, the Kuroto before him was still the same Kuroto who is always greedy for money.

‘Humph, greedy for money? Am I that kind of person? Obviously not!’

Kuroto would never admit that he is greedy for money. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t waste a single opportunity to make more money… but to call him greedy for just that… Isn’t that a bit too much?

…

While the Afforestation Project has commenced smoothly and is proceeding in an orderly manner day by day, the sixteen candidates who have qualified for the third phase of the Joint Chūnin Promotion Exam are also actively preparing for the battle. Some were studying their possible enemies and building up strategies and others were spending time honing their skills.

The performance in the final phase of the exam not only concerns the personal honor and disgrace of each participating candidate but also involves the reputation of the villages behind them and the major nations backing them up, therefore, even the laziest and casual candidates couldn’t remain lazy and casual.

For the training of these sixteen candidates, Konoha had assigned a separate training field. Among the sixteen candidates, some were willing to use these training fields, while others were reluctant as training there would make it easier for the opponents to spy for information.

To avoid getting their information out, Deidara and Kurotsuchi temporarily left Konoha along with the Iwagakure representative using Deidara’s clay bird.

Similarly, Darui and Atsui, along with Shee followed Yondaime Raikage and they too left Konoha and made their way back to the Land of Lightning. Apart from training Darui and Atsui for the final phase of the Joint Chūnin Promotion Exam, Yondaime Raikage was also extremely concerned about the Amegakure’s Raijin and had begun planning something.

In fact, Yondaime Raikage was hoping for the Amegakure squad to leave Konoha as well so they could deal with Raijin outside Konoha. However, the three Amegakure Genins stayed in Konoha, which left Raikage somewhat disappointed. He had to postpone his plan by a month until the Chunin Promotion Exam concluded and the Amegakure ninjas returned home.

Unlike Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Amegakure’s ninjas remained in Konoha and continued to prepare for the final phase of the exam.

Naturally, the four candidates of Konohagakure who had qualified for the final phase of the exam were also preparing.

While Sasuke was training with Kakashi, Kuroto assigned Might Guy to train Naruto so the young Nine-Tails Jinchuriki could develop a solid understanding of Taijutsu. Meanwhile, Neji was training under an unfamiliar instructor. Kuroto had arranged for him to be taught by Koshinata Mukai, who, for some reason, had a single Byakugan in one of his eye sockets.

Neji was shocked to discover that a ninja outside the Hyuga Clan possessed a Byakugan. However, since Kuroto provided little explanation, Neji didn't ask many questions and instead focused on learning from his new instructor. Under Koshinata Mukai's guidance, Neji discovered a completely new method of using the Byakugan and Gentle Fist Taijutsu, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for his fighting style. Meanwhile, Kiyomi was working with Izumi.

While the Genins were preparing for the final phase, Konoha’s management was also making extensive preparations. After all, several prominent figures, including the Five Kages and the Five Daimyō of the Five Great Nations, would be visiting Konoha to watch the final exams. Therefore, preparations for their arrival were also underway.