The Third Hokage smiled faintly and chose not to continue discussing that topic.
Instead, he seemed to think of something and asked,
"Kakashi has taught you quite a few ninjutsu already, hasn't he? You've mastered them all, right?"
Orion had no idea what the Third Hokage was getting at.
Still, he didn't hide anything.
"I've mastered all of them."
"Then it seems Kakashi probably doesn't have many more techniques left that can teach you."
"Although Kakashi knows many jutsu, most of them are fairly conventional techniques."
"They likely won't be very useful for you anymore."
"In the future, if there are any techniques you wish to learn, go directly to the archives."
"All of Konoha's ninjutsu records are stored there, including certain forbidden techniques."
Kakashi was stunned.
He hadn't expected the Third Hokage to be this generous.
Orion might not know what the archives truly represented.
But Kakashi did.
The archives were the place where all of Konoha's records were sealed away.
Not only were there records of every ninjutsu in the village, but also countless historical documents regarding Konoha itself.
There were even highly classified materials hidden there, both public and secret.
Even Kakashi himself couldn't freely enter the archives whenever he wanted.
Back when he searched for information regarding Wood Release, he had secretly snuck inside and was eventually discovered by the Third Hokage.
Afterward, the Third Hokage had personally handed him the research materials regarding Wood Release, including Konoha's experiments on the technique.
Only individuals deeply trusted by the Hokage and holding extremely high status were permitted to access those archives.
Even the Scroll of Seals was stored there.
This meant the Third Hokage had already placed complete trust in Orion.
But it also meant Orion would now be fully tied to the Hokage's faction.
Orion, however, was quite happy about it.
There were indeed many techniques within Konoha that interested him greatly.
For example, the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Wood Release.
And several advanced sealing techniques, especially the sealing arts of the Uzumaki Clan.
So Orion smiled and said,
"Thank you, Lord Hokage."
The Third Hokage nodded approvingly.
Meanwhile, Kakashi's expression became rather complicated.
After chatting for a bit longer, Kakashi finally left the Hokage Tower together with Orion.
At the same time, Orion's official ninja records were updated.
He was now officially a chūnin.
Even Orion himself found all these changes somewhat unbelievable.
Although he had confidence in his own strength, he never imagined becoming a chūnin at this age.
This meant he could now earn more money and gain greater combat experience in the future.
Still, Kakashi didn't look particularly happy.
Orion noticed this and asked,
"Kakashi-sensei, aren't you happy?"
The two walked side by side through Konoha's streets.
Kakashi glanced at Orion and asked,
"Do you know why the Hokage promoted you?"
Orion smiled casually, both hands in his pockets, seemingly unconcerned.
"I probably know."
"But I don't really care."
Kakashi paused briefly.
Looking at Orion's calm smile, he suddenly seemed to realize something and laughed.
"You're right. There's no need to care too much."
"No matter what happens, I'll be entering it together with you anyway."
In truth, Orion didn't understand the Third Hokage's real intentions at all.
He simply assumed the old man wanted to start putting him to work earlier.
What Orion didn't realize was that the Third Hokage intended to nurture him personally.
In fact, the Third Hokage was even considering bypassing Kakashi entirely and grooming Orion to become the Fifth Hokage directly.
Just like Minato Namikaze back then.
If Orion hadn't displayed such overwhelming strength during the Land of Waves mission, the Third Hokage naturally would've continued slowly cultivating him.
At that point, Kakashi would still have been the more suitable candidate for Fifth Hokage.
As for the Sixth Hokage?
That would've been Kakashi's concern, not his.
But Orion's performance had forced the Third Hokage to change his previous plans.
It was very similar to what happened with Orochimaru years ago.
At first, the Third Hokage had genuinely hoped Orochimaru would inherit the position of Hokage.
He had even trained Orochimaru specifically as his successor.
But then Minato Namikaze appeared.
And combined with Orochimaru's increasingly dangerous actions, the Third Hokage's tolerance finally reached its limit.
In the end, he passed the Hokage position to Minato instead.
After all, Minato belonged to his faction and was also technically his grand-disciple.
Now, the Third Hokage intended to do something similar again.
He believed Orion's future potential would absolutely surpass even Minato's.
Although Minato had possessed incredible talent, it still wasn't nearly as outrageous as Orion's.
Orion's talent didn't resemble Minato's at all.
Instead, it reminded the Third Hokage more of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
At this point, the Third Hokage had already confirmed that Orion possessed a Sage Body.
Kakashi's earlier words left Orion somewhat speechless.
He had assumed Kakashi simply meant that they could now officially go on missions together more often.
So he complained jokingly,
"Kakashi-sensei, there's no teacher who exploits their student like this."
Kakashi froze.
He suspected Orion completely misunderstood what he meant.
So he clarified,
"Do you understand what the Third Hokage's actions actually signify?"
"Of course I do."
"Doesn't it just mean he promoted me to chūnin so I can work harder for the village?"
"I was already mentally prepared for that."
Kakashi's mouth twitched slightly.
At this point, he was absolutely certain Orion hadn't understood either the Third Hokage's intentions or his own meaning.
Helplessly, Kakashi explained,
"The Third Hokage promoting you personally has nothing to do with simple mission work."
"By personally advancing you to chūnin, he's signaling his stance to the other factions within the village."
"He's also publicly declaring which faction you now belong to."
"And allowing you access to the archives itself is proof of enormous trust."
"Even I still need the Third Hokage's direct permission to enter the archives."
Orion frowned slightly.
Kakashi assumed Orion disliked such political matters.
Given Kakashi's understanding of him, Orion clearly hated power struggles.
Just as Kakashi was about to explain the advantages of accepting this arrangement, Orion simply nodded.
"Whatever. I don't care which faction I belong to."
"I'll just handle the responsibilities I'm supposed to handle."
"As for everything else, I don't want to interfere, and I don't have the ability to interfere anyway."
Kakashi looked at Orion with some surprise.
He hadn't expected Orion to take things so calmly.
"You really don't mind the Third Hokage making these decisions for you?"
Orion smiled faintly.
"What's strange about it?"
"He's the Hokage. He naturally has that authority."
"And what he's doing doesn't harm me in any way, so there's no reason for me to resent it."
Kakashi laughed as well.
"It's good that you think that way."
"Now that you're a chūnin, whenever I need your assistance, I can officially assign you to missions."
"Even Dōichi can't stop it anymore."
"If Dōichi-sensei heard you say that, he probably wouldn't be very happy."
Orion replied calmly.
"He would."
"Once he hears you became a chūnin, he'll only be happy about it."
Kakashi smiled.
The two continued walking through the streets for a while.
As they passed Ichiraku Ramen, they happened to run into Naruto and the others, who were just about to eat there.
"Kakashi-sensei! Orion! You finally came out!"
Kakashi and Orion looked toward Naruto, who was enthusiastically waving at them.
Sasuke and Sakura stood behind him.
Orion glanced at Kakashi and smiled.
"Kakashi-sensei, looks like today's meal is on you."
Kakashi sighed helplessly.
"...Sigh."
Originally, he had planned to buy one of Jiraiya's newest novels later.
Thankfully, Naruto loved ramen.
If he preferred yakiniku instead, Kakashi's wallet would truly be doomed.
The two walked toward Ichiraku Ramen.
Naruto grinned brightly.
"Kakashi-sensei, Orion, did you guys already know we were coming here to eat ramen?"
Kakashi remained silent.
Orion answered instead,
"Yeah. Kakashi said he's treating us."
The moment Naruto heard that, his eyes lit up.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI IS THE BEST!"
Kakashi's mouth twitched again.
When had he ever actually said that?
Although he already knew he'd inevitably be paying for the meal anyway.
Meanwhile, Sasuke stared at Orion.
He wanted to know exactly what the Third Hokage had discussed with Orion inside the office.
Sakura was equally curious.
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