Chapter 153: The Importance of Socializing

Takao saw Hiruzen. He wondered, 'What did Lord Hokage realize for him to be so surprised?'

Hiruzen thought, 'No wonder Fujin never did any mission. He never joined a team. From what Genki had said, Fujin stayed alone and never interacted much with others. Renjiro noted the same thing and said that Fujin preferred being and acting alone.

So Fujin has no contacts outside his small bubble of friends. And most of those friends are still in their genin squad or in the academy. He shouldn't be in touch with any chunins other than maybe his academy teachers.

And since he is an orphan, no one arranged for him to enter a squad. And with both his teammates being from big clans who were arranged in squads by their families, he was left with no one to make a team with.'

Hiruzen said, "Takao, call Sarutobi Tamotsu to my office."

Takao nodded and left the office.

Hiruzen sighed, 'Renjiro didn't teach that kid to socialize! And Fujin didn't even approach anyone about it. If he had visited the Mission Center a few times and let others know about his Wind Release Capabilities, lots of teams would have extended an invitation to him. Even if no one invited him, at least he could have improved his leadership skills by clearing out the rank C missions. Instead, he just chose to not do any missions at all.'

Hiruzen analyzed a few more things. In the end, he decided, 'I need to keep checking on Fujin's progress every month. While he isn't as talented as Minato or Orochimaru, he is still good. It'll be a waste if he loses interest due to not doing any missions and only training.'

Back to the present, Ryota led Fujin to Yakiniku.

Fujin asked, "Shouldn't we be going to the mission center?"

Ryota replied, "Not really. Meet up with the team first. We will accept the mission officially tomorrow."

Fujin wasn't sure what Ryota was up to. But he followed him in. Ryota led him to a table where 3 other people and a dog were sitting.

Fujin observed them. One of them was overdressed. Fujin noticed some bugs buzzing around him. Fujin concluded that he was from the Aburame clan.

Another was a definite Inuzuka. He was in his late teens as well. A huge ferocious-looking dog lay behind him. The dog noticed Fujin's gaze and stared back at him.

The last person looked to be in his mid-20s. His face had a large burn mark. There were multiple scars on his arms as well. Of the four people in this team, his chakra was the highest.

The scar-faced guy looked at Fujin and smiled. He said, "So you are Fujin. I have heard a lot of good things about you. Come sit."

Fujin sat down and said, "Hmm, I wonder who spoke about me."

He chuckled, "It was Lord Hokage."

Fujin wondered, 'Hmm... What is that old fox up to?'

The scar-faced guy said, "Let us introduce ourselves properly. I am Sarutobi Tamotsu. I am an Elite Chunin and the leader of this group. I specialize in Fire Release."

He said, "You get missions only if you go to the Mission center with a team."

Fujin was surprised. He thought, 'What the heck? I recall Hiruzen and Tsunade sending messages when they had to assign missions. I thought that job is done by Mission Center here instead.'

He asked, "Are you sure?"

Tamotsu replied, "Yes. You will be called only if Lord Hokage has a special mission for you. And usually, only Elite Jounins get missions assigned that way."

Fujin was stunned. He exclaimed internally, 'Fuck! No wonder I never got any missions!'

Fujin's new squad chuckled at his expression. Tamotsu didn't want Fujin to feel embarrassed on day 1. He said, "Introduce yourself Fujin."

Fujin sighed again and said, "I am Suzuki Fujin. I specialize in Wind jutsus. I am also a sensor. So I could aid Tadashi-san and Katsumi-san a bit."

Tamotsu said, "Good. Also, no need to be formal with us Fujin. Just use our names."

Fujin nodded, "Alright."

At that time, a waiter came in and delivered meat. Tamotsu said, "Let's celebrate getting a new team member!"

The group began eating while chatting casually.

At one point, Fujin asked, "Tamotsu, how do you become an Elite Chunin? Is there an exam similar to the Chunin Exam?"

Tamotsu said, "No. There is no exam. You get assigned this rank by doing missions. The missions that you complete are analyzed by the village. When they are satisfied with your performances, they promote you to Elite Chunin."

Fujin was surprised. He asked, "On what parameters do they decide?"

Tamotsu replied, "Well, the basic requirements are your strength and overall capability. If you have any obvious weakness, you won't be promoted to Elite Chunin. Once you meet those requirements, they check your mission record.

There are no fixed criteria regarding the missions. So I can't comment on what parameters they check here. But, it'd be safe to say that you need to have completed at least 50 rank B missions."

Fujin thought and said, "Oh. Thank You."

Tamotsu smiled and said, "No worries. There are a couple more things that you should know about Elite Chunins. Other villages aren't as strict as Konoha while promoting to Jounins. So most Elite Chunins from Konoha can go up against Jounins of other villages. So don't expect to be promoted quickly.

Also, if you want to be promoted to Jounin or Special Jounin ranks, then you first need to be an Elite Chunin. Otherwise, you won't be considered for Jounin promotions."

Fujin nodded. He had expected that. After eating the food, Tamotsu said, "I have already accepted a mission. Tomorrow, we will escort a noble from the Land of Rice back to his country. Meet up at the gate at 11 AM. And bring enough supplies for a couple of months."

Fujin and the others nodded and left. After leaving, Fujin headed back to the training ground.