The next day.
Shinichi had barely stepped inside his house and kicked off his dusty training sandals when someone knocked on the door.
He opened it to find a staff member from the Hokage Tower standing there, holding a sealed document pouch with both hands and a serious expression.
"Chunin Higashino Shinichi. This is a promotion order signed personally by the Hokage. Please review it."
Shinichi took the pouch, gave the man a small nod, and said, "Thanks for the delivery, senior."
The staff member bowed slightly and left without another word.
Shinichi closed the door, opened the pouch, and pulled out the formal document. The Hokage's seal was clear at the bottom.
Effective immediately, Higashino Shinichi is promoted to Special Jonin and shall receive all corresponding benefits.
Special Jonin?
He stared at the words for a few seconds, then kept reading.
The reason listed was his outstanding strategic analysis and deep insight into the shinobi world situation. The three reports he had submitted were deemed highly valuable. After review by the Hokage and the advisors, he was being promoted on an exceptional basis.
Shinichi stayed quiet for a moment, then gave a small nod.
From the system's perspective, Special Jonin probably wasn't enough. The panel would likely only recognize the full "Jonin" rank. Still, this was a solid stepping stone. It would speed up the process and make the eventual promotion to full Jonin much smoother.
He set the promotion papers aside and looked at the second document in the pouch.
An order.
"Lecture?"
He read it through. In five days, he was to report to the Hokage Tower and give a detailed briefing on the current shinobi world situation and war preparations to the assembled personnel.
A lecture, huh?
He walked over to the window. Outside, the lights of Konoha were flickering on one by one, like stars scattered across the night. In the distance, the Hokage Rock stood silent and solemn, watching over the village that was about to face a storm.
At the same time, across Konoha.
Sealed documents bearing the name "Special Jonin Higashino Shinichi" were being delivered to their intended recipients.
The first to receive them were the chunin captains, special jonin, and full jonin who happened to be in the village. Some had just finished missions. Others were training their teams. They were stopped by messengers and handed the brown paper envelopes stamped with the Hokage's seal.
"What's this?" someone muttered, opening it on the spot.
Then they saw the name on the cover.
Special Jonin?
Higashino Shinichi?
When the hell did that genius kid get promoted to special jonin?
Plenty of them froze. They all knew who Higashino Shinichi was — the name was famous across the entire village. Konoha's brightest new star. The most outstanding talent in recent years. A month ago he had fought that monstrous samurai from the Land of Iron to a standstill and been publicly called "the strongest" by the man himself. That fight had spread through every corner of Konoha.
But special jonin?
He was only ten.
Even if his strength was ridiculous, even if he could already hold his own among jonin, this was still way too fast.
Some frowned. Some shook their heads. Some didn't like it. But they all kept reading.
And very quickly, their hands stopped turning the pages.
At Minato's house, the lights were warm.
In the kitchen, Kushina hummed a quiet tune while she cooked, apron tied around her waist. She looked genuinely happy. Ever since Shinichi had created the Rasengan, Minato had used its chakra control principles to help her manage the Nine-Tails' power inside her. The results had been better than expected. Now she could move freely through the village without constant surveillance.
It hadn't taken long for them to start living together.
At the low table in the living room, Minato sat with a document in his hands, reading every line with focused attention.
Across from him, Jiraiya sat cross-legged with zero regard for posture, holding an identical document. His usual wild, carefree expression was gone, replaced by a rare, heavy frown.
Jiraiya had returned to Konoha on his own about a month ago. He usually wandered wherever he pleased, but this time he had felt the growing tension in the shinobi world — the military buildups, the rising border clashes, the strange movements inside Sunagakure — and came back before the Third even sent for him.
He had been eating at Minato's place pretty often since then. Partly because Kushina's cooking was excellent. Mostly because there was someone here he could actually talk to.
"Minato," Jiraiya said suddenly, setting his document down. His face was grim. "What do you think? Do you really believe the situation will develop the way this kid laid it out? That in this war, we might actually face a four-front assault from Sand, Cloud, Rock, and Mist?"
Minato stayed quiet for a few seconds. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, then set it down slowly.
"Jiraiya-sensei… I think it's very possible."
"I've read this document three times," he continued. "The third time, I was actively looking for holes. I wanted to find flaws in his logic, places where his predictions didn't hold up."
Minato paused, thinking. "But I couldn't find any."
"Every single conclusion has a basis. Every basis can be traced back to real-world factors. He's not guessing what we want to see. He's reasoning from what each power has to do based on their actual situation."
"It's terrifying."
Jiraiya didn't speak.
Minato kept going, slower than usual. "And Jiraiya-sensei… the fact that the village distributed this document at all means the Third and the advisors have already gone over it multiple times. With the Third's caution and the advisors' experience, they wouldn't make a decision this big based on one kid's analysis alone."
"They would have verified it themselves. They must have reached the same conclusion before they let it spread."
Jiraiya nodded but stayed silent.
Outside, the night was deep. The lights of Konoha flickered in the darkness. Jiraiya stared out the window for a long time.
Eventually, he spoke again, voice lower than usual. "Minato… do you think the day will ever come when people can truly understand each other?"
Minato blinked. He was quiet for a few seconds, then smiled — bright, warm, like sunlight breaking through clouds.
"Jiraiya-sensei, I don't know how to make it happen, and I don't know when that day will come. But I believe in the same thing you do. That day will come."