Mission

"At such a young age, you developed a B-rank Ninjutsu. As expected of White Fang's son—you've inherited your father's talent well."

Danzo sat not far away and spoke to Feng Ye. Though his words were praise, his tone was calm and flat.

Neither he nor Hiruzen Sarutobi doubted the truth of Feng Ye's claim. There was no need to fabricate something like creating a B-rank Ninjutsu, since it could be exposed immediately.

Feng Ye looked at Danzo. "You flatter me, Lord Danzo."

"It seems you are even more outstanding than I expected."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Feng Ye and could not help but sigh in admiration. Then he slowly said, "Though this may be sudden for someone who has not yet graduated, I have a mission for you."

A mission?

Feng Ye was slightly startled.

If they wanted him to join Danzo's Root, they probably would not have called it a mission.

Before Feng Ye could think further, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke in a deep voice. "Your mission is to apply for early graduation... and take part in the Chunin Exams five days from now."

"The Chunin Exams?"

Feng Ye showed a trace of surprise.

Early graduation was one thing. Since they had a mission for him, he would naturally need to carry it out as an official ninja. But taking the Chunin Exams right after graduating early—what kind of mission was that?!

"Let me briefly explain the situation. You should be able to understand."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and walked out from behind his desk as he spoke. "Ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Mist Village will arrive in Konoha the day after tomorrow. They will participate in the Chunin Exams five days from now, so these exams are not merely meant to select outstanding Chunin. They are a battle between Konoha, the Hidden Cloud Village, and the Hidden Mist Village!"

The information revealed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's words caught Feng Ye somewhat off guard.

The situation in the Shinobi World should have been growing increasingly tense. The Third Great Ninja War would erupt next year, yet under such circumstances, the Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Cloud Village were still sending people to Konoha for the Chunin Exams. They probably intended it as a show of force and a negotiation.

Thinking of it that way, it was no wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi had assigned him this mission.

Since the Chunin Exams were meant as a show of force and negotiation, they had to be treated with the utmost seriousness. They could not simply send a few Genin to participate.

Having quickly figured it out, Feng Ye said to Hiruzen Sarutobi,

"I understand, Lord Hokage."

"Mm. Go make your preparations."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, indicating that Feng Ye could leave.

After bowing to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Feng Ye left the office.

After Feng Ye left, Danzo turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi and slowly said, "He is even more exceptional than I imagined... After the Chunin Exams, let me train him, Sarutobi."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. "Do not bring this up again, Danzo."

Danzo frowned, but he had no intention of backing down. Instead, he stood up and stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi as he said in a deep voice, "I do not object to Kakashi being trained by Minato, but there must be ninjas who walk in darkness and bear its burdens... Therefore, handing Feng Ye to me is the most suitable choice. You should understand that!"

"Let Feng Ye bear the darkness..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly and muttered under his breath.

It could not be denied that Danzo's words had some merit. Konoha had grown so prosperous precisely because it had him, the Hokage in the light, and Danzo, who handled darkness from the shadows. That was also why he had always turned a blind eye to many of Danzo's actions.

As the Hokage standing at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew well that where there was light, there would be shadow. Darkness would not disappear. If Minato Namikaze were to succeed him as Hokage, then he indeed needed a ninja who walked in darkness to assist him.

After thinking deeply for a moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to his seat and said,

"I need to consider it further."

"..."

Danzo regained his composure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude was entirely within his expectations.

As long as it was not a firm refusal, and he merely said that he needed to consider it, it meant Hiruzen Sarutobi had already begun to waver. Danzo did not need to push too hard from here. As long as he made some arrangements through minor details, achieving his goal would not be difficult.

After leaving the Hokage Office, Feng Ye let out a somewhat helpless sigh.

"I still can't graduate normally in the end."

However, graduating early and participating in the Chunin Exams was far better than being thrown into Root by Hiruzen Sarutobi and handed over to Danzo for training. Compared to that, he could gladly accept it. After all, whether he graduated early or not made no difference to him.

Still, with a mission like this, keeping a low profile would be difficult. Hiruzen Sarutobi's intention was undoubtedly for him to give it his all in the Chunin Exams and preferably crush every ninja from the Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Cloud Village out of the competition early.

Then again.

The few simple exchanges in the Hokage Office might not have seemed like much to people of this world, but Feng Ye, whose understanding of Danzo's personality might have surpassed even Danzo himself, was ninety-nine percent certain that Danzo had set his sights on him.

"As expected of the ultimate shit-stirrer of the Naruto World..."

Feng Ye could not help but sigh.

Starting from the Second Great Ninja War, Danzo's shadow could be found in nearly every conspiracy throughout the Shinobi World. First, he had caused Yahiko's death, directly accelerating the formation of the Akatsuki Organization. Then there was his manipulation of White Fang's suicide, his cooperation with Orochimaru... There were simply too many incidents to count.

Now that Feng Ye had revealed his talent and strength, he was about to become entangled with Danzo as well. In short, if that guy died early, war might still break out in the Shinobi World, but at least peace could last much longer.

The next day.

Feng Ye submitted an application for early graduation to the Ninja Academy.

Having received instructions from Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Ninja Academy approved Feng Ye's application at the fastest possible speed and scheduled his early graduation assessment for that afternoon.

In addition to the usual basic Three Body Technique tests and written examination, the early graduation assessment included an extra combat test. The requirement was to hold out for three minutes under the attacks of a Chunin instructor.

For Feng Ye, who already possessed the ability to kill elite Chunin, this posed no pressure whatsoever. Even without using his accelerated state, he easily passed.

In the end.

Feng Ye passed the Ninja Academy's early graduation assessment with perfect scores in every category!