Three generations of Hokage were now gone.
"Everyone else, please continue the meeting here."
Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage known to many as the "Yellow Flash" nodded subtly as he stepped away. As he passed Jingyi, a faint smile curled on his lips.
"You've made me suffer, Watergate," Jingyi muttered with a sigh, calling Minato by his nickname.
Minato looked sheepish. "Well, it's still a good thing, right? An A-rank mission, and the rewards aren't bad."
Jingyi raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
Sure, it turned out well. Kakashi's issue had seemed like a problem at first, but jungyi had handled it brilliantly.
Disrupting the exam preparations...
Why hadn't he thought of that?
There was only one downside Obito.
With the new setup, Obito likely had no chance of being promoted to Chūnin this time.
It wasn't about power.
In terms of ability, Obito was arguably one of the strongest among his peers. But as Jingyi had pointed out, the boy's attention span was abysmal. Always distracted, rarely focused.
Like he was missing a few brain cells.
"Jōnin jingyi," said a voice.
Jingyi turned. Morning greeted him with a respectful smile.
"Your questions and suggestions during the exam review were sharp. We may not have considered all these perspectives. The Chūnin Exams are meant to test more than just strength strategy and judgment are just as important. If needed, I'll be happy to bring your suggestions before the Hokage."
Despite the gruesome scar that ran across Morning's face, his demeanor was gentle humble even.
Jingyi had crossed paths with him before. Morning was no ordinary shinobi. A former ANBU captain, he now served as the lead Jōnin for Might Guy's team. Participating in the Jōnin exams had just been a formality.
Definitely not part of the original timeline.
"Fine," Jingyi muttered.
He didn't care much for the politics of Chūnin exams. There was little personal gain in managing them, and with the war still fresh, most Genin would get promoted quickly anyway assuming they lived long enough.
Still...
Minato had somehow dragged him into this.
"Shuimen, you dragged me into this mess. If you want to back out now, I'm not letting you off the hook!"
Jingyi gave Minato a look that was all intimidation.
The Hokage coughed lightly. "Alright, alright. You've got my full support. What's your plan? Let's go over it here while everyone's still around."
"Fine."
Jingyi sat down, and the rest of the Jōnin in the room found their seats.
He tapped the table thoughtfully, then began to outline his idea.
"My thought is this. The written test can stay standard. But for the second stage, we set up a battle zone with caches of supplies food, military pills, kunai, shuriken. Everything else, we confiscate beforehand."
He paused.
"In short a ninja battle royale."
The room fell silent.
A few exchanged surprised glances.
"You mean we strip the candidates of everything and force them to scavenge?" Minato asked. "What about clans like the Inuzuka? They have their ninken won't that be unfair?"
"Those ninja dogs are part of their strength," Jingyi said. "And other clans have their own advantages summons, kekkei genkai, you name it."
The others nodded. That was fair.
"We show all the candidates a map of the resource points before the exam. It becomes a battle of intelligence and decision-making. Then, every so often, we drop supply crates knives, ration pills, explosive tags marked by flare signals."
Jingyi glanced around.
"It forces movement, tactics, and team coordination."
The Jōnin were experienced. They quickly grasped the deeper logic behind the system.
"This is intense," Morning murmured. "Maybe a bit too intense?"
"It is harder than before," someone else agreed. "The previous exams were just about stealing scrolls…"
"But we're on the brink of another war," Jingyi cut in sharply. "You want to promote people who panic under pressure? Chūnin are supposed to lead squads. We need leaders not deadweight."
The room fell into thoughtful silence.
The logic was sound.
Compared to the old scroll-hunting exercise, this was far more demanding and far more realistic.
Minato sighed quietly.
Jingyi was right.
"Nara Shikaku," Minato said. "You've been quiet."
The Nara clan strategist nodded slowly. "This is solid. Much better than the old methods. Jingyi Jōnin, please submit a formal proposal. I'll make sure it's reviewed and rewarded properly."
Jingyi gave a half-smile. "Sounds good."
When Shikaku promised something, it usually happened.
With A-rank missions paying up to a million ryō, even a fraction of that as compensation was significant.
New tools, new systems.
With the exam model agreed upon, the rest of the meeting wrapped up quickly.
Outside, as the crowd dispersed, Jingyi stopped Minato.
"You said I could do what I wanted, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Well," Jingyi coughed, "I've been a little busy lately. So... I'll leave the written part of the proposal to you."
"Eh? Wait"
Before Minato could object, Jingyi's body blurred into afterimage Body Flicker Technique, refined to perfection.
Minato stared at the empty space for a moment, then sighed with a wry smile.
Busy, huh.
He didn't believe that for a second.
But still it wasn't a big deal. Jingyi had outlined the whole thing clearly. Writing it out would only take a day.
He could manage that.
Meanwhile, Jingyi strolled off to check on his team.
The three Genin were diligently running laps around Konoha, their faces set with determination.
Good kids.
No need to interfere.
He ducked into a small shop, bought a snack, and found a seat to relax.
Tsunade's scrolls on medical ninjutsu weren't going to read themselves.