Danzo: Don't Call Him Kou!

Lord Danzō!

Uchiha Itachi's gaze sharpened!

Uchiha Itachi had heard that name before.

Once, while accompanying Uchiha Shisui to an assessment, he had encountered a severely wounded ninja. From that ninja, he learned that Danzo had done things harmful to Konoha. He had even been besieged by Danzo's subordinates because of it. In the end, the severely wounded ninja was still killed. To prevent conflict within Konoha, the whole matter had been quietly buried.

Later, Uchiha Itachi learned Shimura Danzō's identity. He knew that Shimura Danzō served as the Hokage Assistant and held immense power.

This youngster...

Was actually one of Shimura Danzō's subordinates?

Why were all of Shimura Danzō's subordinates such terrible people? This youngster looked about the same age as him, yet he had even deceived all these Genin taking the exam!

"Why do you look so awful?"

Akihara Kagura looked at Uchiha Itachi's expression and suddenly chuckled. "Looks like you know Lord Danzō too. Do you seem to have some dissatisfaction with Lord Danzō?"

"No..."

Uchiha Itachi quickly shook his head, his expression gradually easing. "I just don't understand why you deceived them."

"Hm? Why?"

Akihara Kagura tilted his head, as though considering this strange question. "I just wanted to reduce the number of competitors taking the exam. Isn't it normal to use a few tricks? Don't ninja do whatever it takes to achieve their goals?"

"..."

Uchiha Itachi had no answer.

After only a second of thought, the Uchiha Clan genius suddenly said, "But the village won't allow this to happen. There can't be only two examinees in the Chunin Ninja Exams. The exam time will probably be delayed for a while..."

"Tch..."

Akihara Kagura looked at the empty room, seemingly growing more relaxed. "Perhaps. But with fewer people here, I can relax for a bit."

Hokage Building.

The Hokage's office was filled with screens.

The displays showed everything happening in the waiting area for the Chunin Ninja Exams written test. A group of Konoha Higher-ups stared dumbfounded at Akihara Kagura's outrageous maneuver.

"What a clever child!"

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was the first to laugh, even commenting with interest, "Something like this actually happened during the Chunin Ninja Exams..."

"Sigh..."

"This won't do..."

"What is wrong with that child?"

"At this rate, there will only be two examinees left in the entire Chunin Ninja Exams!"

"This will make the village lose face before the other ninja villages!"

"There are fewer examinees than proctors. How can this exam possibly continue? Someone must be sent to stop this immediately!"

The two Hokage Advisors seated nearby began discussing it all at once. Neither of them found Akihara Kagura's actions amusing; this could cause serious trouble.

"Danzo, what do you think?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to his old friend and asked, "That child is from your class. What is his name?"

"Have someone stop this first..."

Shimura Danzō coldly ignored Hiruzen Sarutobi's teasing and continued, "Even an exceptional person needs someone else to highlight his strength."

"Namiashi Raidō."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked toward the group of Special Jonin waiting on standby and called out, "You are the chief examiner for the first stage of the Chunin selection. Go resolve this incident."

"Yes."

Namiashi Raidō stepped forward and nodded respectfully.

Namiashi Raidō still bore scars from the war across his face, making him look somewhat frightening, but he was a gentle man in both speech and conduct.

"Although I believe that having only two examinees left in the entire venue would still align with the purpose of the Chunin selection, this is ultimately an exam that requires a certain scale..."

Seeing that the Konoha Higher-ups present seemed to approve of his suggestion, Namiashi Raidō continued, "I propose that Uchiha Itachi and Kou pass directly into the second round."

"Kou deceived every examinee, while only Uchiha Itachi was not fooled. Both are Genin taking the exam alone, so there is no need to give them the final question's test of resolve. As for the other Genin who were deceived, arrange another exam for them."

"Approved."

Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction.

"Approved."

The two Hokage Advisors also nodded in satisfaction.

"Approved."

After the Hokage Assistant Shimura Danzō nodded, he added a reminder. "Namiashi Raidō, do not call that child Kou in front of him. Just call him Akihara Kagura."

"Huh?"

Namiashi Raidō glanced at Shimura Danzō in confusion and cautiously asked, "But on the Chunin Ninja Exams registration list, the name he wrote was Kou..."

"He wrote that himself."

Shimura Danzō was worried that the way Namiashi Raidō addressed Akihara Kagura might cause trouble, so he reminded him, "Only I may call him Kou. You only need to call him Akihara Kagura."

After all...

That child always caused trouble over something as small as a form of address.

Still, the child had honestly written Kou on the Chunin Ninja Exams application form, so Shimura Danzō no longer suspected that the child did not want to use the name Kou.

"Yes..."

Namiashi Raidō could only agree.

Below the Hokage Building.

A group of Genin was desperately searching for a notice about the new examination venue.

However, the Genin soon learned that they had been deceived. They had originally wanted to curse and complain, only to be scolded by the chief examiner instead.

"You fell for such a simple Transformation Jutsu!"

Namiashi Raidō looked at the Genin who still wanted to complain. The scar on his left cheek twitched with anger. "You examinees are truly the worst class in Konoha's history!"

"..."

The Genin did not dare make a sound.

After Kakashi Hatake finished ramen with Tenzo, he saw a group of Genin running past and glaring at him furiously. Some even looked ready to start a fight.

Why were these Genin...

Hostile toward him?

"Hey, calm down!"

Someone loudly stopped the Genin and sternly rebuked them, "This is the real Jonin Kakashi Hatake! You idiots who got fooled, hurry back to the examination venue!"

"Did something happen?"

Tenzo asked curiously.

Namiashi Raidō glanced at Kakashi Hatake, looking somewhat embarrassed. "An examinee named Akihara Kagura transformed into Senior Kakashi Hatake, knocked out the Chunin maintaining order, and drove every Genin examinee out of the venue!"

"..."

A vein throbbed on Kakashi Hatake's forehead.

What was wrong with that brat? This morning, he had been smearing the Darkness Division at Ichiraku Ramen. How long had it been, and he was already pinning the blame on me again?

Elsewhere.

A group of Genin examinees was still rushing toward the venue.

Akihara Kagura and Uchiha Itachi also learned that they had passed the first round of the written exam without taking it. They could head to the location of the second round ahead of time.

"What a shame..."

Akihara Kagura still seemed unsatisfied. "This was the only round that might have stopped me from passing the exam. I still had plenty of cheating methods I hadn't used!"

"Cheating?"

Uchiha Itachi did not quite understand. Since he had always been a top student, he curiously asked, "The written test is very easy... Why would you need to cheat?"

"In this world, things you find easy can be very difficult for others."

Akihara Kagura gave Uchiha Itachi a deep look, as though he wanted to remember the other boy's current expression.

Second update!

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