Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of a cane striking the floor echoed as the half-mummified, one-eyed elder, Danzo Shimura, moved swiftly to the door of the Hokage's office.
Skipping the time-wasting courtesy of knocking, Danzo pushed the door open and strode in.
"Sarutobi, give me an explanation!"
"Why is White Fang showing up on the Iwa battlefield?!"
Danzo bombarded him with questions the moment he entered.
Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't get angry or respond.
Instead, he waved a hand at his old friend.
"Danzo, you're here... Perfect timing, come take a look."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed to the crystal ball in front of him.
Inside it were none other than Yuto Souta and that Root operative!
Danzo's frown deepened.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, meanwhile, took a calm puff of his pipe.
"Aburame Kokoroji... Come to think of it, it's been three years since he joined Root, hasn't it?"
"So what?" Danzo shot back, his tone still forceful, though it lacked some of its earlier aggression.
"Let me be straight with you. For this Chunin Exam, I've already prepared an assassination list."
"Several ninjas active on the battlefield are coming to participate in the Chunin Exam..."
As Danzo spoke, something suddenly clicked, and his single eye narrowed!
"You're planning to recruit Yuto Souta too?!"
Careless.
White Fang leaving the village on his own and wreaking havoc on the Iwa battlefield had thrown all his plans into disarray.
The Chunin Exam was about to start.
According to intel, the ninjas from each village participating were formidable—clearly well-prepared and up to no good!
For Konoha, this was undoubtedly a challenge to their authority.
Whether on the frontlines or in the exam arena, the four great ninja villages were surely united in their goals...
It was a thorny situation.
But it was also an opportunity for Root.
Enemies outside the village were a given.
Enemies within the village were a given.
Reasonable losses and reasonable attrition were inevitable...
Wasn't Root's purpose to grow stronger by weakening the enemy?
So, he needed manpower—people who could dominate the Chunin Exam.
He'd already picked his candidate.
It was Yuto Souta, right there in the crystal ball...
But he'd never imagined his old comrade was also keeping an eye on the kid!
"You already have three students, don't you?"
Danzo let out a dissatisfied huff, then suddenly considered a possibility, his lone eye growing colder!
"Don't tell me you're planning to recruit him into the Anbu?!"
"No." Hiruzen Sarutobi openly dismissed the accusation, taking another puff of his pipe, as steady as ever.
"I plan to let him steadily become a chunin, then a jonin, a special jonin, an elite jonin..."
"You know, right? Just like... one of his predecessors."
Uchiha Kagami.
The only Uchiha since Konoha's founding who could stand behind the Second Hokage on the battlefield.
And also a teammate to both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura.
The coldness in Danzo's eye softened considerably, but he still wasn't ready to give up as he watched his subordinate and Yuto Souta in the crystal ball.
"His personality... it's not like Kagami's. You've got the wrong person. Uchiha Obito would be a better fit."
"Plus, letting him grow like this will just waste his talent!"
"Do you realize what this Chunin Exam means, Hiruzen?!"
Danzo's voice grew colder with each word, reaching a stern crescendo that signaled he wasn't backing down.
"Hiruzen! Aside from Orochimaru, your three students aren't even in the village. How long do you think we can hold out in this war?! Is this really the time to slowly nurture ninjas?"
"Give me some time—not much—and I can absolutely mold him into a ninja who can sway the battlefield! This Chunin Exam will be his first lesson!"
"Hiruzen, this isn't the time to reminisce about old friends..."
By the end, Danzo's tone carried a hint of helplessness and lament.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi was moved.
He understood what his old comrade meant...
The enemy wouldn't care about their nostalgia for fallen friends—they'd only strike harder to destroy it all.
The two old men, who'd fought side by side for most of their lives, fell into silence.
And they... were already old.
They didn't have much time left.
Just then,
A voice suddenly rang out from the crystal ball.
More precisely, it was Yuto Souta's ninjutsu.
"Nitrogen Release: Nitrogen Stream!"
Liquid nitrogen instantly engulfed the Root operative from the Aburame clan, and in a moment, the entire room was shrouded in white mist!
The two old men outside the crystal ball jolted in surprise!
He attacked?
He figured out the guy's identity and attacked outright?
"Danzo, looks like this kid's a bit resistant to Root dropping by unannounced, huh?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's words weren't sarcastic.
On the contrary, when the Anbu went to apprehend Yuto Souta, things hadn't gone much better...
"Once he joins Root, that won't be an issue."
Danzo's expression wasn't exactly pleasant, but his tone remained confident.
Those who joined Root revered him like a god!
It had always been that way...
"Go back and tell that elder behind you... or maybe that guy in the Hokage building. You all wear masks, so I don't even know who's in charge of you."
Yuto Souta's voice came through the mist.
"I'm not interested in joining you, and I don't have the energy or time."
"There's too much in this world I need to explore... Of course, if you can outshine my teacher, I might consider it."
"Now, please don't interrupt me while I work on the assignment my teacher gave me. You and the people behind you can't teach me Flying Thunder God."
The two old men's expressions instantly became a sight to behold.
Yuto Souta's words... why did they sound so much like that guy?
The same arrogance, the same madness!
Danzo's mind started to churn.
Yuto Souta's words conveyed his stance—he didn't think Root or the Anbu could produce a ninja more capable than Minato Namikaze.
Stance or no stance, that wasn't the point.
Danzo had caught the key detail...
After a long pause, he looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Hiruzen, if I remember correctly... there's a record of the original Flying Thunder God, before Minato's improvements, outside the Scroll of Seals, right?"
"Lend it to me!"
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