Two Months of Training

Land of Fire.

Border region.

In a town somewhere, inside a room at an inn, Danzo sat cross-legged on a cushion, an unfolded map of the Land of Fire spread out before him.

Recently, he had clashed with Kirigakure's shinobi several times, delivering ruthless counterattacks against the Mist Shinobi who had come to probe Konoha—and showing no mercy, slaughtering every last one of them.

"If this continues, war will break out sooner or later. Sarutobi, your attitude is still far too weak... At a time like this, striking first is the most appropriate decision."

Danzo muttered slowly as he studied the map.

In his view, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been far too conservative. He merely retaliated against the other villages' provocations, but given the current situation, it would be better to take the initiative and start a war, crushing one shinobi village first.

With Konoha's current strength, concentrating its forces to defeat a single shinobi village would not be difficult. But if it came under a joint attack from multiple villages, it would be dragged into a prolonged war, which would be extremely troublesome.

In Danzo's eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi simply did not dare bear the infamy of starting a war. But this was an unavoidable path toward unifying the Shinobi World; sacrifices had to be made.

Whoosh!

Just as Danzo carefully studied the map and considered how to deal with the Mist Shinobi next, a Root Ninja appeared soundlessly inside the room.

Danzo did not look at him and continued studying the map as he said flatly,

"How are things in the village?"

Although he was at the border of the Land of Fire, he had still left behind some Root Ninja in Konoha to monitor the village's situation and report to him at regular intervals.

In an emotionless voice, the Root Ninja said, "The Hokage's attitude has not changed noticeably. He still wants Lord Danzo to maintain the current situation... Orochimaru has returned to Konoha and brought back intelligence regarding Sunagakure, though the specific details are unknown..."

The Root Ninja reported the intelligence gathered over the recent period, listing it from most important to least.

Danzo listened with an impassive expression.

After reporting for nearly half an hour, the Root Ninja continued,

"...Kakashi's older brother, Feng Ye, killed an elite scout from Kirigakure. He is suspected to possess talent and strength exceeding Kakashi's."

"Hmm?"

Danzo paused, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.

It was not that this matter was particularly important. Compared to the previous reports, this intelligence was almost insignificant. The issue was that all the other information had been within his expectations, while this alone had been entirely unexpected.

"Is the information accurate?"

"It is."

The Root Ninja answered in a deep voice.

Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly and said thoughtfully, "White Fang's eldest son has such exceptional talent as well? And he has kept it hidden all this time..."

The death of Kakashi and Feng Ye's father, Hatake Sakumo, had indeed been directly connected to him. But he had never intended for Hatake Sakumo to die.

Hatake Sakumo abandoning the mission for his comrades had merely been an accident. However, Danzo had indeed manipulated the villagers' reactions. Even the comrade Sakumo had saved had been guided by him, casting aside his guilt and joining in the condemnation of Sakumo.

The reason he had done so was to suppress Sakumo's prestige.

At the time, Sakumo had practically been the successor Hiruzen Sarutobi had chosen for the position of Fourth Hokage, and Danzo could not possibly sit by and watch Hatake Sakumo inherit that title.

What he had not expected was for Hatake Sakumo to fall into self-doubt because of it and ultimately commit suicide... That had not been his intention. No matter how much Sakumo had clashed with him, he was still one of Konoha's powerful fighting forces.

If Danzo became the Fourth Hokage, Sakumo could have been a very useful tool.

After pondering for a moment,

Danzo said to the Root Ninja, "...Continue your report."

Although Feng Ye's situation had made him think of some issues, he was currently at the border of the Land of Fire, dealing with Kirigakure. He had no mind to concern himself with such matters; it would have to wait until he returned to the village.

The Root Ninja nodded and continued his report.

Konoha's back mountain.

Two months had passed since Feng Ye killed Kirigakure's elite scout.

Over those two months, Feng Ye had continued attending classes normally. But after his previous instant defeat of Hokumon Hyuga, every student now looked at him with an added measure of awe. As for girls like Kurenai Yuhi, they admired him even more deeply, unable to pull themselves away.

If he could defeat even Hokumon Hyuga with ease, Feng Ye's strength was likely already at the level of a Chunin. Even if he was inferior to Kakashi, the gap could not be too great. He was nothing like the rumors claimed!

That admiration had even led those precocious girls to start doing some "excessive" things. Feng Ye found it somewhat helpless, and their young age often left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Two months.

His training results had also been extremely significant.

Because he possessed Time Acceleration, although his actual age had only just passed nine, his physical age was already gradually approaching eleven. Both his Taijutsu and Chakra had steadily improved, rising from having just reached the standard of an elite Chunin to standing out even among elite Chunin.

Furthermore, while his Hatake Swordsmanship had not reached its second stage, he could now open the first two of the Eight Inner Gates!

Though the first two of the Eight Inner Gates did not offer explosive increases in power, they were still a genuine boost to Feng Ye's strength.

Ha! Ha!!!

In an open area within the woods, Feng Ye continuously trained.

"The third gate is still just short..."

After panting heavily for a few breaths, Feng Ye stopped training. Sensing that the restraint on the third gate within his body had still not loosened enough to be easily broken through, he muttered to himself.

For the Eight Inner Gates, the third gate represented a qualitative transformation.

The first gate allowed one to exert one hundred percent of their body's strength. Its boost was decent, but not substantial enough. The second gate was even more focused on recovery, draining bodily energy to rapidly resist physical fatigue. Only the third gate could truly be considered an explosive burst.

"If I can open the third gate, then in that state, combined with Hatake Swordsmanship and the White Fang, even without Time Acceleration, I should possess the strength of a Special Jonin."

Feng Ye murmured inwardly.

After training in the Eight Inner Gates, his strength was difficult to measure by simple rank standards. With his speed, any enemy unable to react would have difficulty lasting more than one or two moves against him.

Only the Uchiha Clan, with their Sharingan, and the Hyuga Clan, with their Byakugan, barely qualified to resist him. But they merely qualified to resist, because being able to see clearly did not mean they could keep up!