Urgent Report

"Lord Third Hokage, this is an urgent report from the Ninja Academy. Please review it."

In the Hokage's office, a ninja gently pushed open the door and handed the document in his hand to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was handling official business. The Third Hokage had not yet begun to show signs of old age, though he was nearing the end of his prime. Still, he looked quite spirited, a pipe clenched between his teeth as he studied a document thoughtfully.

He reached out to take the Ninja Academy's report without taking his eyes off the document before him.

Then, he casually glanced over the Ninja Academy report, and his expression abruptly changed. He set down the original document and carefully read the report from the Ninja Academy.

"Three geniuses... Aside from Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina, there's another one... Hmm, Taki Chiba. So it's that child!" The Third Hokage mused. In truth, he was not surprised that Chiba had made it into this group of three geniuses.

During the operation to rescue Hyuga Yukina, the child had already performed brilliantly. From Yukina's account, he too had sensed that the boy was extraordinary.

Two children had actually managed to kill a jonin. Even if it had been a heavily injured jonin, it was still an incredibly remarkable feat. Normally, students like them, still attending the Ninja Academy, would likely be unable to move upon encountering a jonin's killing intent.

Yet when facing such a jonin, not only had the two children remained able to act, they had even turned the situation around and killed him. There was no need to mention Hyuga Yukina—her aptitude as a ninja was obvious to all. But this Taki Chiba had also been able to withstand a jonin's killing intent and had even led the operation to kill the jonin. So far, he had seen such talent only in Jiraiya's disciple, Minato Namikaze.

And in his own disciple, Orochimaru.

"Come to think of it, Minato and Kushina should be returning from their mission soon, shouldn't they?" The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe and slowly exhaled.

"Third Hokage," the ninja assistant beside him said at that moment, "I've always felt that sending Lady Kushina, a Jinchuriki, on such a dangerous mission was highly inappropriate."

The Third Hokage shook his head with a smile. "With Minato there, nothing serious will happen."

Yet inwardly, he felt helpless. If I hadn't let Kushina follow Minato on this mission, that girl would probably have plucked out all my beard. No, my hair likely wouldn't have survived either.

At that thought, the Third Hokage subconsciously touched the hairline above his forehead.

The ninja assistant seemed to want to say more, but the Third Hokage changed the subject. "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm... The Hyuga Clan has produced an extraordinary genius. At that age, she has already learned the Vacuum Palm."

The Third Hokage let out a puff of smoke.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu... Uchiha Hirohiko..." The Third took another puff, his expression growing more contemplative, but he still nodded.

"High-Speed Taijutsu, so fast that even chunin can't catch sight of him?" Surprise appeared on the Third's face, and his brows furrowed slightly. "A taijutsu genius? This child must have put in a great deal of effort."

Then the Third Hokage nodded, picked up the Hokage's seal beside him, and stamped the words "Approved" onto the Ninja Academy's report.

Taki Chiba, Uchiha Hirohiko, and Hyuga Yukina were permitted to graduate early!

"Lord Third, the other two are one thing, but this Taki Chiba..." The ninja assistant took the Ninja Academy's request document handed over by the Third Hokage. After looking it over, he frowned and spoke.

"You're worried about Taki Chiba's background." The Third Hokage saw through the assistant's concerns.

"Yes." The ninja assistant hesitated before nodding. "He is, after all, the son of a traitor. Allowing him to graduate early..."

"That child's background is beyond reproach." The Third Hokage cut him off.

"But..." The ninja assistant frowned, still unable to agree.

"This child grew up in Konoha. Although his father was a traitor, his father had already died by the time he was born. He is merely an orphan who grew up in Konoha." A trace of melancholy flashed through the Third Hokage's eyes as he puffed on his pipe.

The ninja assistant opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not voice his rebuttal.

He was an orphan too. His parents had died in battle during the Second Shinobi World War.

Yes, he was only an orphan.

"All right, I understand." The assistant looked at the document in his hand and silently committed Taki Chiba's name to memory.

"Mm. Go deliver the document. Arrange for the three of them to graduate tomorrow. As for their jonin teacher..." The Third Hokage pondered for a moment and shook his pipe. "I'll need to give that more thought. All three are first-rate geniuses, so we must choose a good teacher. By the way, have Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya returned?"

The ninja assistant shook his head. "The Sannin have not returned yet."

"Hiss... Haa..." The Third Hokage puffed out smoke. "Go on for now. I'll think this matter over some more."

"Yes!" The ninja assistant left.

The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair, one hand stroking his pipe as he began to think.

Meanwhile, Chiba was drenched in sweat as he carried out his daily training on the wooden post behind the house, sweat pouring down like rain.

Side kicks, straight punches, squats, a ten-kilometer run around the house... The sun gradually dipped westward before sinking below the horizon.

Night fell.

Chiba also finished his daily training, yet he did not feel tired after completing it.

Looks like I'm gradually getting used to these weights too! Chiba thought. His hands formed seals, and the first three gates within his body opened rapidly. The instant he completed the hand seals, the Eight Gates swiftly transformed into Eight Gates Mode.

Earth Release, Earth Spear!

As usual, he trained by combining hand seals, Eight Gates Mode, and ninjutsu. Looking at the earth spike thrusting out from the ground, Chiba nodded.

The transformation speed of Gate of Life Mode could now be used in actual combat, and he had also become highly proficient with the Earth Spear ninjutsu.

Still, Chiba repeated this training five times in succession before stopping only when fatigue began to wash over him.

Repeatedly opening and closing Gate of Life Mode was also highly taxing on his stamina. But this sort of repeated training had made Chiba increasingly adept at opening the first three gates. In fact, he could now go directly from having no gates open to opening the third gate, the Gate of Life.

And as he continued practicing, Chiba discovered that his stamina seemed to be growing as well. Yesterday, repeating it three times had already been too much for him, but today, he had no problem doing it five times.

Chiba rested for a while, took out a Konoha Giant Steamed Bun and finished it, then got to his feet again.

Next, it's time to practice that technique! I wonder if the Chakra from Eight Gates Mode can be used to perform it.

Chiba took a deep breath and activated Eight Gates Mode. Chakra at the level of a quasi-chunin surged through him as his hands began forming seals.

If I can successfully use this technique, then my talent really will be monstrous!