Fire's Will!

Half an hour later.

Sarutobi Clan compound.

Looking at Uchiha Siming and Kurenai Yuhi standing before him, Asuma Sarutobi gasped in disbelief, "Kurenai, you mean you want Uchiha Siming to teach me how to get stronger?"

He pointed at the fifteen-year-old Uchiha Siming.

Then he pointed at himself, already twenty-one.

In other words, in Kurenai's eyes, he was not as good as a fifteen-year-old kid?

"Although... yes, you wouldn't be wrong to interpret it that way."

Kurenai Yuhi felt a little guilty. She had only just realized that Siming... seemed much younger than them.

But Siming was tall and acted like an old cadre every day, tending to plants and flowers, which made her overlook his age.

"Impossible!"

Asuma Sarutobi refused without thinking, "I'm already a Jonin. A mere Uchiha who hasn't even awakened his Sharingan isn't qualified to teach me."

Tsk.

Uchiha Siming clicked his tongue. Asuma now...

He was twenty-one years old.

He wasn't the calm figure from the original story. How to put it... Asuma now was a bit like Boruto Uzumaki later on, looking down on his father, the Third Hokage, and wanting to prove himself, making him a bit arrogant.

A bit rebellious.

And a little bit crazy.

But if anyone wanted to stop him from getting rewards? He'd crush them!

"Is that so? Asuma."

Uchiha Siming's dark eyes slowly gazed at him. At fifteen, his height was already comparable to Asuma's. "When your father was twenty-one, he was already a Kage-level expert. You are now merely a Jonin."

"What... are you so proud of?"

Asuma Sarutobi suddenly looked up, his eyes furious. He shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, "Uchiha Siming, you're asking for death!"

He hated being identified as the Third Hokage's son the most.

But his strength and talent not measuring up to his father's was a pain he couldn't avoid!

In the blink of an eye.

The two had exchanged dozens of blows, neither gaining the upper hand, even when using ninjutsu.

Asuma Sarutobi was moved, "You haven't awakened your Sharingan yet, how can you reach the level of a Jonin at fifteen?!"

Most importantly, the opponent's attacks were powerful and heavy.

Even he found them hard to bear.

"Is this all you've got?" Siming's tone was laced with disappointment.

"What?" Asuma was taken aback.

"I mean, if this is all you've got, you can prepare to lose." Uchiha Siming's eyes instantly flashed with crimson eyeshadow, and a pair of red circles appeared on his forehead, adding a touch of divinity to him: "Sage Mode!"

His figure seemed to begin to disappear.

Though visible before their eyes, his aura couldn't be pinpointed.

Whoosh--!

Breaking the sound barrier at high speed, the sonic boom was deafening. Asuma's vision blurred, and he was sent flying backward like a curled-up shrimp, unconscious.

[Ding! Congratulations, Lord Hashirama, on completing the mission. Lord Hashirama has successfully made Asuma realize the importance of strength. Strength is the capital for arrogance, and besides Lord Hashirama, no one else can afford to be arrogant!]

[Mission Reward: Wood Dragon Technique!]

"Asuma!"

Kurenai Yuhi cried out and rushed over, "Siming, is he okay?"

"Don't worry, he just fainted." Siming hadn't used his full strength. The power he used was probably only about thirty percent.

But even so.

It was not something a Jonin could withstand.

However, this also made Kurenai Yuhi's beautiful eyes tremble slightly, "Siming, are you... an Elite Jonin now, or... Kage-level?"

Being able to defeat a Jonin so quickly meant at least Elite Jonin strength.

In comparison, she was still just a Special Jonin.

A fifteen-year-old Elite Jonin.

And he hadn't even awakened his Sharingan. What astonishing talent did Siming possess?

Just then.

Two figures appeared in an instant, one wearing a tiger mask and the other a wolf mask. Siming planned to pretend he didn't see them and sneak away. He put his hands in his pockets and whistled as he casually strolled.

Anbu: "???"

The Anbu with the tiger mask quickly said, "Uchiha Siming, the Hokage summons you. Please come with me!"

"Fine, fine."

Tsk.

Although they weren't on good terms openly, he still remembered to sneak a peek at his good son during the times he was secretly watching the bathhouse.

Uchiha Siming naturally didn't think that he, a person of leisure, would be constantly watched by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Let him watch then.

Why was he being called!

"I'll go too!"

Kurenai Yuhi quickly followed. The Anbu with the wolf mask carried Asuma to the hospital.

Hokage Building, Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked his pipe, utterly bewildered.

Wait, Uchiha Siming?

He knew him. Who in Konoha didn't know this Uchiha who liked to stay with the Senju Clan? He barely even attended Uchiha clan meetings, preferring to sleep among the Senju. His performance during the Third Great Ninja War wasn't particularly impressive either.

How could he suddenly display strength no weaker than an Elite Jonin?

Especially the painted mask Siming had on his face earlier. He remembered it very clearly; it was the appearance of the First Hokage when he used Sage Mode.

A ninja who mastered Sage Mode.

Becoming a Kage-level expert was practically a certainty!

What he worried about was that at a time when friction between the village and the Uchiha was constant, Uchiha Siming's strength would give the Uchiha clan even more reason to be arrogant!

"Eh?"

Looking at the crystal ball and seeing Uchiha Siming hesitating at the door, unwilling to enter, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened. "Come in! What are you doing out there!"

Siming then reluctantly shuffled into the Hokage's office.

Heh.

You can't deny it.

As soon as he walked in, he felt a sense of coming home, wanting to sit in the Hokage's chair... But then he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, which was aged yet held a hint of authority, authority with a hint of kindness, and kindness with a hint of something else.

Hmm?

Hiruzen Sarutobi... wasn't he going to stand up for his good son?

Hiss--!

Siming gasped, the leader of a pyramid scheme organization personally seeking revenge?

"Siming, what do you think of our village?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked kindly.

Great.

The pyramid scheme leader threw him a question.

The question was: What do you think of Konoha, this pyramid scheme organization?

It looked like a question.

But it was actually a mandatory one.

Everyone who had rebellious thoughts had eventually died, except for the immortal Orochimaru, of course.

"As a member of the village, seeing Konoha as it is today, I am heartbroken!"

Uchiha Siming said with great sorrow, "Konoha was once the leader of the ninja world, and all ninja villages bowed to our Konoha. But now, they have dared to wage war against Konoha! All of this is because the village's current strength is insufficient!"

"If the village were stronger, if my strength were greater, how could Konoha possibly suffer such humiliation?"

There was no criticism of the village in his eyes.

Only hatred for his own insufficient strength!

Hiruzen Sarutobi was dumbfounded: "???"

Oh no.

He started off with such high aspirations, he's aiming for my Hokage position!

"Actually, there's no need to blame yourself so much."

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly tried to comfort him, afraid that if Uchiha Siming continued, he himself would seem incompetent as Hokage. "Ahem, Siming, regarding the current relationship between the village and the Uchiha... what are your thoughts?"

He paused.

His gaze on Siming was scrutinizing. Most Uchiha ninjas were radical. Even after all these years, only three had stood on Konoha's side.

What kind of resolve did this Uchiha before him possess?