"Congratulations to Naruto for passing the first exam," Hiruzen said.

"The exams don't really matter. It's the mettle and how they deal with situations they have been thrown at in the exams. A genin can become a chunin even if he loses a fight against an opponent," Aoto said. This got the approval of the Hokage as there were no specific rules for becoming a chunin. It might sound biased, but it was not.

At least not at this point. Aoto was sure that if it were a bigger place with more than thousands of genins, then it would be quite different, as politics would come into play and favoritism would come to the forefront. A single metric wasn't good to evaluate any kind of person, but at the moment, there were no better ways to evaluate someone.

At least until their civilization technologically moved forward. The Hokage took out more than a couple of papers and put them on the table.

"Both of you will officiate in the next exam. Aoto-kun will be the head monitor of the first round, while in the next round, Aoto-kun, Shikuro, Unohana, and Urahara will be the match officials for the genins who will pass the first round of the next exam," Hiruzen said.

"I thought these are to be given just before the exams to us," Aoto asked.

"The others follow the same protocol, but being the Hokage has its perks," Hiruzen said with a wide smile.

"I will follow the orders, and so will the others," Aoto said without much change in his emotions, as that was what the deal was from before. Shikuro had come back with some tea for him, and Hiruzen thanked him for the hospitality.

"Hokage-sama, who are those monks that had come for the exams?" Aoto asked.

"The monks? You mean from the Land of Tea? It was a month ago when they had expressed their wish to attend the exams and have more connections with Konoha. Thanks to you," Hiruzen said.

"Thanks to me?" Aoto was confused.

"Your products have the seal of the Fire Country and of Konoha. This is enough to intrigue the world at this point. So they'd like to know more about us," Hiruzen said. Aoto stared blankly at Hiruzen and then just smiled.

Hiruzen made some small talk with them, and after about half an hour, he left. Hiruzen, after coming out of Aoto's home, was walking casually through the streets. It wasn't very late at night, and thus there were people attending to shops and moving around. It was actually more than usual because of the new guests.

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Soon he reached his office and sat down on his chair. His bright and lively face soon became stern as he clicked his fingers. Two Anbu Jonins appeared in an instant.

"Hokage-sama..."

"I want some of you to keep an eye on the monks," Hiruzen said.

"We understand, Hokage-sama." Both of the guards vanished in the next moment.

Over time, he realized one thing about Aoto. This man knew more than meets the eye. The connections he had forged over the years had been an eye-opener as he could himself see the results. At times, Hiruzen even felt that business was the way to control the people of the world and not the raw power.

He had speculated this long ago, but watching it all in real-time was an entirely different situation.

"Why are you interested in the monks?" Hiruzen mumbled under his breath, his thoughts drifting off.

-----

A week had passed.

Today was the day for the second round. Naruto was able to chase after Jiraiya, and he had finally started teaching him a new jutsu.

The Rasengan.

But of course, it wasn't that easy for Naruto, and even under a week, he had made only half the progress. Before the exam day, it was Aoto who told him to stop his practice and let him rest since he would need it for the exams. Naruto could only reluctantly give up on his road to Rasengan.

Sakura and Sasuke showed up at the home to go along with Naruto.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked when he didn't see Kakashi around, as he expected him to give them some kind of 'good luck' charm.

"Who knows? Maybe he will be one of the examiners," Sasuke replied, not bothered at all. Naruto grumbled a bit about it, but Sakura was fine with either. She was just happy that Sasuke was with her, and thus all three of them left soon after.

"We need to leave too," Unohana appeared out of nowhere and said.

"Jesus, Unohana... You know that I can't move so fast," Aoto almost screamed out.

"You better start moving," Unohana said in her usual calm tone.

"Well... Well... Isn't it time for some kids to take exams?" Urahara came out and said. Aoto could only roll his eyes and opened a portal. While leaving, Yoruichi came up and sat on his shoulder.

"What? My babies will be tested. I have the right to go," Yoruichi said when Aoto looked at her deeply. Aoto just shrugged his shoulders and went through the portal. When he appeared again, he found himself among a small number of genins of different sizes standing in teams and looking at the portal with wide eyes.

"Psshhh... Naruto... You didn't tell me that your brother will be the chief examiner this time."

"Even I didn't know," Naruto replied. He was actually thrilled to see his brother and almost ran to him until Sasuke and Sakura almost choked him to death. They didn't want their advantage to just get blown off because this idiot couldn't stop his own emotions.

"Baka... Don't ruin it for us. We are having it good. Stop making a single sound. From this point on, you and him don't know each other. Is that clear?" Sakura hushed and said to his ears while holding him down with her hands on his neck.