Naruto: Extreme Bloodline Limit

"Mm."

The Third Hokage drew out a long nasal sound and pondered, "It's true, so I hope you'll take charge of him. You can put the Medical Department aside for now. After the war, every village is recuperating, and Konoha is no exception. There isn't much in the Medical Department that requires your personal attention."

The implication was that Tsunade was actually quite free; otherwise, he would not have assigned her this task. Tsunade rolled her eyes in irritation.

"I never expected this little fellow, disliked by both the Uchiha and the Hyuga, to be a genuine prodigy. I wonder if the Uchiha will regret it once they find out? After all, what they did basically cut off this child's path back to the Uchiha Clan."

The Third Hokage continued smoking without answering. Clearly, the answer was no.

Not to mention that Ronglin's ties with the Uchiha had already been severed, even if they regretted it, given the Uchiha Clan's temperament, they would never swallow their pride and take Ronglin back in. That was the Uchiha Clan's dignity.

The Hyuga Clan was even less likely to do so—unless Ronglin revealed his Byakugan.

"Awakened the Sharingan at seven, with outstanding grades in every subject... Fine. I'll take it."

After considering it for a moment, Tsunade ultimately accepted the task. She understood what the Third Hokage meant. Besides guiding a newcomer and giving Ronglin a good environment to grow in, he wanted to find Ronglin a backer. With Tsunade around, even if the Uchiha and Hyuga were displeased in the future, they would not dare make a move against Ronglin so easily.

There were other reasons that prompted Tsunade to accept the task as well—the conflict between the Uchiha and the Senju clan.

Do not assume that the conflict between the Uchiha and the Hyuga was severe. In truth, the conflict between the Uchiha and the Senju was even more apparent. It had merely gradually faded in recent years as members of the Senju clan continued to die in battle and intermarry with civilians. Still, the things rooted deep within could never truly disappear.

"I hope you can help him grow. You know Konoha..."

The Third Hokage's expression suddenly dimmed.

"I understand."

It reminded Tsunade of things she was deeply unwilling to face, and her mood sank as well. Picking up the documents on the table, she left the Hokage's Office in her high heels.

A shortage of talent!

This was the awkward predicament Konoha faced after the Second Shinobi World War. The growth of the new generation had become a major problem.

It was not just Konoha. The other great shinobi villages faced the same issue, especially Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure, which had suffered the greatest losses during the Second Shinobi World War.

I wonder which teacher will be leading the team?

That night, Ronglin did not train hard as usual. Instead, he chose to rest early in preparation for the next day's assessment.

Bozhongye had been right. Ronglin's application was quickly approved, and he would undergo the assessment alongside the members of the Advanced Class rather than receiving an individual assessment like Kakashi.

The next day, Ronglin arrived at the training ground early. Since he had applied to graduate ahead of schedule, he did not go to the school to wait for the teacher. Instead, he came directly to the training ground, where his teammates and teacher would arrive as well.

"Hi, Uchiha Ronglin. I didn't expect us to be taking the assessment together."

Soon, two children older than Ronglin arrived at the training ground, one boy and one girl. The girl was the first to greet Ronglin, completely unreserved as she introduced herself. "I'm Harusame Yu. This guy is Shimura Ou. He's a really gloomy fellow, so you don't need to mind him."

Two boys and one girl—many teams were arranged that way. Ronglin simply had not expected one of them to be from the Shimura Clan. Mentioning the Shimura Clan inevitably brought Danzo to mind, the man lurking in the shadows who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Although Danzo was an extreme man, Shimura Ou did not possess the arrogance common among children from great clans. Just as Harusame Yu had described, he was very gloomy and poor at communicating. He merely nodded in greeting.

"He's always like that, so don't mind him. Once you get to know him, you'll realize he looks all cold on the outside, but he's actually the reserved-and-secretly-horny type." Unlike the gloomy Shimura Ou, Harusame Yu was naturally outgoing and carefree. She waved a hand and directly jabbed at Shimura Ou's sore spot.

Shimura Ou's mouth visibly twitched, but he did not refute her.

There was something going on between these two!

Otherwise, no matter how gloomy he was, he would not let someone casually poke at his weak spot. Ronglin immediately guessed their relationship. Other than that kind of relationship between a man and a woman, what man would allow someone else to casually disparage him?