Konoha's Upper Echelons Shaken

"10... 10... 10 points."

At that moment, not only were the students present stunned speechless, but even the teacher was stammering from Minato's final move.

The teacher's "10 points" broke the silence that had fallen over the entire field.

"Hey, Hyuga Soji, pinch me. Let me see if I'm dreaming." Uchiha Homura said dazedly, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.

"Ow! That hurts, Hyuga Soji! What are you doing?" Uchiha Homura instantly flew into a rage when a sharp pain shot through his foot.

"Didn't you tell me to pinch you?" Soji was still stunned by Minato Namikaze's final display.

Although he had long expected that the future Fourth Hokage would be no ordinary person, he never imagined that the six-year-old would perform so outrageously well!

Soji could pull off that move too, but only with the Byakugan activated. Minato, on the other hand, had done it through sheer technique alone.

Minato Namikaze truly deserved to be the future Fourth Hokage and the biological father of the Child of Destiny, Naruto Uzumaki.

"I only told you to pinch me. I didn't tell you to step on my foot."

Uchiha Homura's indignant words pulled Soji's drifting thoughts back.

"Minato is amazing."

"And his smile is so gentle."

"Not only does he have a good temper, he's handsome too. So he's actually this strong as well."

"Ah, I think I'm in love."

"What? Minato is mine."

"Minato, I want to have your babies."

Ahem. Soji had imagined that last line himself.

Still, just from the girls' words, it was easy to tell how much they admired Minato Namikaze at this moment.

"Looks like the Ninja Academy is about to change," Shikaku Nara said. Afterward, he gave Soji and Uchiha Homura a meaningful look.

"Uh..."

Soji felt like Shikaku's words had somehow targeted him, especially that final look. It felt as though the other boy was thinking something malicious, but he had no proof.

Soji had been prepared for Minato to potentially perform far better than him, but seeing it happen before his eyes still left him utterly incredulous.

A so-called genius was nothing but trash in front of a protagonist, wasn't he?

And without a doubt, Minato Namikaze was the greatest protagonist before Nine-Tails Night—there was no second place.

"Damn it. Looks like there's one more person I have to surpass." Uchiha Homura clenched his fists.

Originally, he had not regarded Minato Namikaze as a rival. He had merely considered him a friend he got along with fairly well. He had never expected Minato's performance to be even more outrageous than Hyuga Soji's.

Hyuga Soji came from a ninja clan like him, and the Hyuga Clan was second only to the Uchiha Clan within Konoha. He could tolerate being temporarily inferior to Soji. But now, he was inferior to a child from an ordinary family. For a proud Uchiha, that was unacceptable!

He had to train harder when he got home tonight!

Right, he had just been thinking that if Minato Namikaze performed better than Hyuga Soji, he would jump into the big river in front of Konoha. Fortunately, he had held himself back and not said it aloud, or he would have been utterly humiliated.

After Minato left the field, the students' applause continued for a long time.

The remaining few students hastily finished their training afterward. After watching Minato Namikaze's performance, no one would find anything the others did particularly impressive.

Finally, the teacher began announcing the results and rankings for this training session.

First place: Minato Namikaze. Kunai: 100 points. Shuriken: 100 points. Total: 200 points.

Second place: Hyuga Soji. Kunai: 99 points. Shuriken: 98 points. Total: 197 points.

Third place: Uchiha Homura. Kunai: 97 points. Shuriken: 94 points. Total: 191 points.

Fourth place: Shikaku Nara. Kunai: 96 points. Shuriken: 90 points. Inoichi Yamanaka. Kunai: 94 points. Shuriken: 92 points. Choza Akimichi. Kunai: 95 points. Shuriken: 91 points. Total: 186 points.

Fifth place: ...

Sixth place: ...

Tenth place: ...

Only the top ten training results were announced in the end.

Afterward, the teacher in charge of this training session arranged self-study for the students, then immediately rushed toward the Hokage Office Building.

At the Hokage Office Building.

The still-prime Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was discussing the imminent Second Ninja World War with his companions from the Council of Elders.

"Hiruzen, my Root has received intelligence that Iwagakure has secretly deployed a force of one thousand men in the Land of Grass. Another three thousand ninja are being mobilized within their country. If nothing unexpected happens, Konoha is their target!"

Danzo, who was likewise still in his prime, was reporting the intelligence gathered by Root spies to the Third Hokage.

"Looks like that old Ōnoki can no longer wait," Utatane Koharu, the only woman among the Council of Elders, said as she analyzed the Third Tsuchikage's mindset.

"We cannot let our guard down in the slightest. Even if Konoha is stronger than Iwagakure, we must still make sufficient preparations to avoid excessive casualties." Compared to the other two, Mitokado Homura had a steadier temperament.

Listening to his three companions' analysis, Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled smoke, set down his pipe, and confidently declared, "If Ōnoki wants war, then let him come. Konoha is no soft persimmon for him to squeeze as he pleases. If he wants to bite off a piece of Konoha, then we'll shatter every tooth in his mouth!"

The Third Hokage's words were brimming with dominance. His confident tone showed not the slightest belief that Konoha could lose.

After all, the Third Hokage had not even reached forty yet. He was at the peak of his life and had no idea how to spell fear!

He was nothing like the timid and hesitant old man he would become later.

At present, even if not just Iwagakure, but the ninja villages of the other three great nations came at Konoha together, the Third Hokage had absolute confidence that he could defeat them all!

What was the Third Hokage's nickname during this era?

Ninja Hero!

The title Hero of the Ninja World was no joke. It was the highest praise the current ninja world could offer the Third Hokage!

And what was the Third Hokage's nickname later on?

Professor of Ninjutsu!

That nickname was enough to make people laugh their teeth out.

Only someone who dominated the ninja world could be called a Ninja Hero! What the hell was a Professor of Ninjutsu? Just because you had mastered many ninjutsu? What use was mastering a lot of them? Without the right mindset, even if you were given Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's strength, you would still have to swallow every grievance!

Moreover, Konoha at this time had every right to look down on the rest!

Konoha currently had the Third Hokage, Danzo, Konoha's White Fang Hatake Sakumo, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya—each of them Kage-level.

The other ninja villages, at most, had one or two Kage-level fighters.

Then there were the Elite Jonin capable of briefly clashing with Kage-level opponents, including the Clan Heads of the Uchiha, Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho, Aburame Clan, Inuzuka Clan, and other clans.

Oh, and Tsunade's future lover, Dan Katō, was also an exceptionally outstanding Elite Jonin. Under unexpected circumstances, his Spirit Transformation Technique could even pose a lethal threat to Kage-level fighters.

Beyond individual fighters, there were also the ninja of every powerful ninja clan.

With so many trump cards in hand, if anyone dared tell the Third Hokage something like, "Let's seek peace," then congratulations—your ninja career was over. You could spend the rest of your life doing hard labor building houses in the village before retiring to some little cabin.

At present, the Council of Elders could only offer the Third Hokage advice. They had no ability whatsoever to influence his decisions. Whatever he wanted to do, he could decide for himself. Listening to his companions' opinions was merely a courtesy to them.

The Third Hokage in his old age had somehow become overly attached to so-called bonds. The Council of Elders could even issue orders over his head. That was something no one would have dared imagine at this time. Whoever overstepped their bounds would have their claws chopped off by the Third Hokage.

This also led to Danzo's authority expanding unprecedentedly in later years, to the point where he even developed ambitions to compete for the position of Hokage.

Still, the current Danzo, for all his dark and underhanded methods, was devoted to Konoha's development. He would not engage in internal strife.

Just as the group was still discussing troop deployment, hurried footsteps sounded outside. They immediately stopped their discussion.

With a bang, the door flew open. A figure hurried into the Hokage's office without even having time to knock.

The Anbu hidden around the room were about to move to seize the intruder when the Third Hokage discreetly made a waving gesture. All the Anbu stopped.

"Who are you to barge into the Hokage's office so recklessly? Where are your manners?" Danzo spoke, his face dark enough to make a child stop crying at first sight.

Not just Danzo—at this moment, even the usually gentle Third Hokage wore an unpleasant expression in the Hokage Office Building.

It made sense. Anyone would pull a dark face if someone clueless barged in while they were discussing vital national matters without even knocking.

The Third Hokage had recognized the visitor as a Ninja Academy teacher, which was why he had ordered the Anbu not to capture him.

"I remember you're a teacher at the Ninja Academy. Why aren't you teaching your students at this hour? What are you doing in the Hokage's office?" The Third Hokage asked after seeing the man freeze in fright at Danzo's furious shout.

Yet the Third Hokage had already made a decision inwardly. If this Ninja Academy teacher could not provide anything of value, then it would be time to consider transferring him elsewhere. For the rest of his ninja career, he could work as a laborer building houses in the village.

The visitor was precisely the teacher who had just overseen Soji and the others' Ninja Tool Throwing training.

The moment he entered, he was met by an elder advisor's furious rebuke. The other two elder advisors were also staring at him with unfriendly expressions, while even the Third Hokage did not look pleased.

Only after hearing the Third Hokage's question did the teacher suddenly shudder and realize just how impulsive he had been. He had practically forced his way into the Hokage's office!

But what was done was done. The teacher could only steel himself and recount everything that had just happened at the Ninja Academy, especially Minato Namikaze's outstanding performance, in full detail. Then he let out a breath and waited for judgment.

He only hoped that, since he had discovered a talent, Lord Hokage would not punish him too severely for his reckless behavior.

"What? Such a genius has appeared among ordinary ninja? Hiruzen, hand that child over to Root for training. I can definitely cultivate him into a talent of at least Elite Jonin level!" Upon hearing of a genius like Minato Namikaze from an ordinary family, Danzo instinctively wanted to bring him into Root for training.

"No, Danzo. Root is not suitable for that child's development. I think it would be better to place him in the Anbu training program." The Third Hokage was not overly forceful in this contest for talent and merely discussed it with Danzo.

"Yes. Based on what this teacher said, that child's personality truly isn't suited to Root's environment. The Anbu would be better." Mitokado Homura also supported the Third Hokage's view.

"I agree with Hiruzen and Homura as well. Root is not suitable for his development." Utatane Koharu did not support Danzo either.

"You... you..." Seeing that none of his three companions supported him, Danzo was so angry he nearly choked.

"Well, well, it sounds like you've found an interesting little fellow. Old man, I'd say neither Root nor the Anbu is suitable for that child. He's far too young, after all. Why not let me take care of him? If he meets the requirements, I'll take him as my disciple."

The voice came from the doorway. A young man entered the Hokage's office, wearing a forehead protector marked with the character for "oil," with long white hair, two red markings beneath his eyes, a white outer robe, and wooden clogs on his feet.