Adding Obstacles

"Boom!"

The huge explosion sent yellow sand flying. A black figure shot out from within, landing directly on a distant sand dune. Adjusting his stance slightly, he vanished without a trace the next second.

"Such fast Body Flicker Technique, it almost made me think the 'Yellow Flash' had reappeared," Baki, clad in the common white robes of the desert with sharp facial features, played with a broken mask in his hand, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

He was originally under orders from the Fourth Kazekage to meet the Daimyo of the Land of Wind to discuss military budget cuts. He decided to patrol the border while he was at it. He hadn't expected to encounter Konoha's Anbu, and such a young one at that.

Under their combined assault, the opponent had revealed his Sharingan. Unfortunately, they couldn't take his life, otherwise they could have obtained a wild Sharingan.

"Was the opponent's appearance recorded?" Baki crushed the crow mask in his hand and looked at the Sand Ninja beside him who was sketching on a scroll.

Seeing the other nod, Baki turned and left. Their figures disappeared into the rolling yellow sand. They would return to investigate the opponent's identity and then widely publicize his genius, which was no less than Minato Namikaze's.

According to Baki's intelligence, the Uchiha Clan's situation in Konoha was precarious. He wouldn't mind adding fuel to the fire. At the very least, other ninja villages would surely develop killing intent towards this genius.

Konoha was now showing signs of decline. As its ally, the Sand Ninja inevitably harbored different intentions. No one was born willing to eat sand here.

Not long after Baki and the others left, several masked ninja dressed in Sand Ninja attire briefly stopped there. After a thorough investigation, they pursued the direction Uchiha Shisui had left.

Senba and Genma Shiranui were completely unaware of this matter. They were preparing for the rendezvous at the assembly point.

"Senba, as a ninja, unless you are an existence as powerful as the past Hokage, you must utilize external tools. Explosive tags, ninja tools, and the like will give us a greater chance of survival."

"After this mission is complete and you return to Konoha, you'll be taking the Chunin exam. You might even have to lead a team on missions as a captain then."

"Your growth has exceeded my expectations. I can only impart my experience to you as quickly as possible. The rest is practical application."

"Look at this terrain. If explosive tags are placed here..."

Genma Shiranui patiently shared his combat experience with Senba. It was clear that the detailed setup of the rendezvous point this time was not solely because the reception personnel were Anbu members.

After some busy work by the two, they finally made appropriate arrangements. If Uchiha Shisui returned alone, everything would be fine.

But if he had a tail behind him, then things would get interesting.

"Senba, why did you become a ninja? Is it to revitalize your clan?" Genma Shiranui put a rice ball into his mouth, handing two to Senba at the same time.

"Revitalize the clan? That's secondary," Senba said again, without any pretense, when asked the familiar question. "I just want to live well. Only by living can I do other things."

Senba's answer clearly caught Genma Shiranui by surprise, leaving him momentarily silent. Perhaps, in his opinion, the ideals of a ninja at this age should not be the Will of Fire.

"Then Senba, if you just want to live well, you don't need to try so hard, do you?" Genma Shiranui thought of the abundance of skills his student possessed, which made even him, a Special Jonin, feel ashamed.

"Of course, I have to work hard. Teacher Genma, do you think living is easy?" Senba threw the last bite of the rice ball into his mouth, waving his hands vigorously to express his excitement.

"If I don't want to be bullied by bad people, I must possess Chakra and become a ninja."

"To become a ninja, I have to go on missions. When there's war, I'll need to go to the front lines. As a Genin, I have a high chance of being utterly annihilated."

"So, I need to train hard to become a stronger ninja, but this requires the support of training resources. Does my clan support me for free?"

"I can't just eat and run. So, I have to bear the responsibility of ensuring the Senju surname doesn't disappear from Konoha."

"This way, I need to become at least an elite Jonin. But at the same time, I will encounter even more dangerous 'S'-rank missions, which will undoubtedly increase my risk of survival."

"And when I am finally fortunate enough to break through to Kage-level, I might still have my life taken away by some natural disaster or man-made calamity. Cloud ninja, Stone ninja, Mist ninja, Sand ninja, even our Konoha have had Kage-level ninja perish."

At this point, Senba saw Genma's somewhat dejected expression opposite him, knowing his words reminded the teacher of the Fourth Hokage. He quickly shut his mouth.

However, Genma Shiranui was not someone who dwelled on the past forever. Otherwise, at this moment, he would have long been lost on the path of life every day, like a certain someone.

Genma Shiranui quickly regained his spirits and looked at Senba with some curiosity. "Senba, your ambition is quite grand. You actually want to become like the First Hokage."

"Hahaha, Teacher Genma, you're joking," Senba showed a hint of shyness on his face, as if embarrassed by his words. "If I could become like the Fourth Hokage, I would already be extremely fortunate."

Hearing this, Genma Shiranui's face clearly showed a look of joy. The Fourth Hokage was clearly extraordinary in his heart.

However, if someone else had asked Senba today, he wouldn't have minded answering that he wanted to become like the Third Hokage. It all depended on the situation.

Afterward, the teacher and student returned to a harmonious state, mostly discussing matters concerning the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

"Teacher Genma, I heard that on the night the Fourth Hokage had his accident, his wife was pregnant."

Senba placed several large Wind Demon Shuriken in front of him and took out explosive tags to begin enchanting them. "The Hokage's unborn child is truly pitiful."

Genma Shiranui was not surprised at all that Senba knew about Kushina Uzumaki's pregnancy; it was not a secret among ninja clans.

If Senba knew that the night of the Nine-Tails' attack was also the birth of the Hokage's child, he would have been shocked.

Regarding the truth that the Fourth Hokage's child had already been killed, which the Third Hokage had mentioned, Genma Shiranui could not explicitly state it and could only nod in agreement with Senba's speculation.

Senba, having ended the topic again, could only lower his head and continue enchanting, feeling somewhat speechless about the Third Hokage's questionable actions in his heart.

Why not announce Naruto Uzumaki's identity as the Fourth Hokage's son, adopt him, and teach him day and night? Then, fabricate a Jinchuriki and confine them in the Anbu.

Focus everyone's anger on a fictitious person. Never mind Danzo making small moves; Sarutobi was hardly a trouble for him.

Perhaps there were hidden reasons that Senba didn't know.

However, if Senba remembered correctly, in the Tsukuyomi world of Tenten in the future, Naruto Namikaze there was doing quite well.

And looking at Naruto Uzumaki's fate a few years later, it was quite strange that he didn't become Uzumaki Menma in the future.