"The perfect candidate for Hokage!!"
After a long while, the Third Hokage finally came to his senses, his eyes shining.
If he could raise Mo Chen to be just like him, there could be no one better suited to become the Fifth Hokage!
And it would take at least seventy, eighty, or even ninety years for Mo Chen to grow enough to take over as Hokage, right?
During that time, he would do his best to hold on to the Hokage position for Mo Chen!
"Wait!"
The Third Hokage suddenly had a thought and was alarmed.
Danzo absolutely couldn't find out about this!
"Someone!"
The Third Hokage immediately summoned an Anbu member who had helped investigate Mo Chen's records. With a grave expression, he instructed him, "Classify this file as Konoha's highest-level secret. No one, not even the advisory elders, has the right to access it without permission!"
"Also, tamper with it a little, so that even if anyone investigates, the information they find will be inaccurate."
At the same time, the same file had also found its way into Danzo's hands. He stared at Mo Chen's bloodline records, lost in thought for quite a while.
"Teacher Tobirama... actually left descendants behind?"
Danzo tightened his grip on the file until it could take no more, letting out a strained "creak, creak."
Unfortunately, Danzo was the kind of person who'd slap even a dog passing by when he was in a bad mood. Naturally, he wasn't going to spare a file.
"I should have realized sooner. Someone like Teacher Tobirama, no matter how much he trusted us disciples, would still have left something behind to keep us in check!"
"His direct descendants were there as a safeguard!"
"It's just that for all these years, I don't know why they never came to light."
"Does he agree with Sarutobi's beliefs? Or did Sarutobi buy him off long ago?"
"No matter what, if Teacher Tobirama were still alive, he would never approve of Sarutobi. I'm the one who understands and carries out the teacher's way of the ninja best!"
Danzo's thoughts raced, and he soon convinced himself.
"Someone!" Danzo quickly summoned the person who had helped investigate Mo Chen's records. In a low voice, he instructed him, "Secretly tamper with Mo Chen's background. Even if someone investigates, make sure the information they find is inaccurate!"
"Yes!" Danzo's subordinate replied, then left.
"Mo Chen! Teacher Tobirama's great-grandson!" Danzo murmured, his eyes flickering. "I should find a chance to have a proper talk with him!"
[Sakura Haruno: Aaaagh, this is so annoying! No wonder Senpai Tenten calls him the King of Tardiness! That damn Kakashi-sensei told us to meet at the training ground at five, and it's already past eleven, but he still hasn't shown up! I'm so mad!!]
[Ino Yamanaka: What a delight! Absolutely wonderful! I was doing that boring weed-pulling mission and was about to complain, but now that I see Team 7 still hasn't even had its Jonin leader's assessment, I suddenly feel so lucky.]
[Hinata Hyuga: W-we're doing a D-rank mission too, helping out with odd jobs at a farm.]
[Tenten: Relax, relax. You've still got a long stretch of dull days ahead. Fresh Genin can only take D-rank missions, which are basically all boring everyday chores.]
[Sakura Haruno: Damn it, now that you put it that way, I'm practically wasting my precious life.]
[Ino Yamanaka: Tch, even if they let you take on a high-level mission right now, could you handle it? With your level of skill, you'd lose your life in no time.]
[Ino Yamanaka: Anyway, you should be thinking about how you're going to pass your Jonin leader's assessment. You might get sent back to the Ninja Academy to repeat the year! Then you'd lose your Sasuke-kun.]
[Sakura Haruno: Bullshit! I can't speak for Senpai Tenten and Hinata, but I'm definitely stronger than you!]
[Ino Yamanaka: I have a buff effect!]
[Sakura Haruno:...]
[Hinata Hyuga: Have you tried it yet? How did it work? @Ino Yamanaka @Tenten]
[Ino Yamanaka: Hmm... How should I put it? I pulled weeds faster than before. I did the work of three people all by myself.]
[Sakura Haruno: You've pulled weeds before?]
[Ino Yamanaka: Does flower arranging count?]
[Sakura Haruno:...]
[Tenten: I just beat the genius on my team into a pulp. He used to look down on me, hehe!]
[Hinata Hyuga: ((⊙o⊙))?]
[Tenten: Oh, right. He's from the Hyuga Clan too, just like you. Neji Hyuga!]
[Hinata Hyuga: Neji... nii-san?]
[Tenten: Neji is your brother?]
[Hinata Hyuga: Um... It's a little hard to explain.]
[Tenten: All right, I think I get it. Hinata's the young lady of the Main Family.]
[Hinata Hyuga:...]
At the training ground where Team Guy practiced, Might Guy and Rock Lee stared at Tenten in shock, their faces full of disbelief.
They didn't have a mission today, so, as usual, Guy-sensei was leading his students through their daily training.
Lee followed Guy through various physical exercises, while Tenten trained with her ninja tools and acted as a practice aid for Neji.
Neji's Byakugan might have a blind spot, but the difference in their abilities was simply too great. Tenten could give it everything she had and still couldn't land a single hit on him.
But just now, Tenten had tried her hand at it, and the ninja tools she threw were more than twice as fast and powerful as before.
Caught off guard, Neji was on the back foot from the start.
He quickly managed to steady himself, and even had to use Rotation, but Tenten smashed through it with her Great Iron Hammer and followed up with a few close-range attacks.
Before long, Neji was lying on the ground with a bruised and battered face.
"Ahem!" Tenten scratched her head, looking awkward. "If I said I didn't mean to, would you believe me?"
Seeing Neji act like he was hot stuff every day, as if everyone owed him money, and hearing him put everyone else down at every turn, Tenten had long wanted to beat him up. She just hadn't been strong enough.
Now she finally felt better!
"Whoa!" Lee cried out in an instant. "Guy-sensei, did you see that? Tenten actually knocked Neji down?!"
"I saw it!" Guy said, tears of excitement welling in his eyes. "It seems Tenten is the student best suited to inherit my way of the ninja after all. My efforts haven't been in vain! This is youth!"
"Aaaagh! How could this happen?" Lee wailed, tears streaming down his face as he clutched his head. "I should be the one to inherit Guy-sensei's way of the ninja! Tenten beat me to it! Has my youth already withered away?"
Guy suddenly punched Lee in the face, sending him flying until he went splat against a tree.
"Baka!" Guy roared angrily. "I won't let you talk about yourself that way! There are no regrets in our youth! Tenten may be one step ahead for now, but as long as you work twice as hard, you can catch up!"
"Oh, yeah!" Lee sprang back to life, his expression fired up. "If two thousand push-ups, two thousand punches, two thousand kicks, five thousand jump-rope skips, and five hundred laps around Konoha aren't enough, then I'll double it!"
"And if doubling it isn't enough, I'll do it three times, six times, or eleven times over! I'll prove with my own perseverance that hard work can defeat talent!"
"Lee! You finally understand!" Guy said, overwhelmed with relief. Tears streamed down his face as he hugged Lee. "What a clumsy, adorable student!"
"Guy-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!!"
"Lee!!!"
The two of them embraced and wept, their feelings laid bare.
The ugly lines on their green jumpsuits and their hideous bowl cuts made Tenten's face go dark. Her mouth twitched, and she felt sick.
Inherit Guy-sensei's way of the ninja?!
Sorry, but she refused!
Neji, who had been lying on the ground questioning his life, was so disgusted that he shot upright despite his battered state and growled at Tenten, "Again!"
Before you continue