Hiruzen Arrives, a Secret Meeting Between Two Men

Who is it?

Outside the Root Base, two Root ninjas stood on alert, watching the three people walking towards them warily.

"How dare you! This is the Lord Hokage!"

Leading the way, the Anbu Ninja responsible for protecting Hiruzen strode forward, loudly rebuking the other party for their rudeness.

"Hehe, it's alright."

Hiruzen, wearing a kind smile, didn't mind the Root ninja's behavior. Instead, he stopped and said to the Root ninja in a gentle voice, "Go tell Danzo that his old friend has come to visit him."

Hiruzen could certainly force his way into the base through other means, but that would contradict his purpose for coming here.

Inside the base, Danzo, who had originally planned to take some time to destroy evidence at the last two bases, looked incredulous upon receiving the news.

What a coincidence! I was just about to leave when Hiruzen showed up here to find me. Could it be that this guy has learned the mind-reading technique of the Yamanaka Clan?

After adjusting his mindset, Danzo suppressed his shock and coldly said to his subordinate who came to report, "Since the Hokage has come in person, let them in."

Only after receiving Danzo's orders did the Root ninjas at the gate allow Hiruzen and his group into the base.

"Hiruzen, I'm very busy. If there's nothing important, please leave as soon as possible."

Danzo, who greeted Hiruzen in the base lobby, immediately ordered him to leave upon their first meeting.

"What, Danzo? An old friend has come to visit, are we to talk here?"

Danzo ignored Hiruzen's dislike in his tone, instead adopting the demeanor of an old friend and making no mention of his purpose for coming.

"You..."

Frowning as he sized up Hiruzen, Danzo was unsure of the man's intentions. However, judging from his attitude, Hiruzen didn't seem to be there to interrogate him. Therefore, Danzo softened his tone and gestured for Hiruzen to follow behind him. "Then let's go."

"You two, just wait here."

Seeing that Danzo was about to lead the way, Hiruzen quietly instructed the Anbu beside him.

"Lord Hokage, this..."

The Anbu beside him was worried about the safety of their Hokage and was about to offer some advice, but Hiruzen had already followed Danzo's footsteps deeper into Root.

After bringing Hiruzen to his office, Danzo dismissed his subordinates, leaving only himself and Hiruzen in the room and surrounding area.

"So you hung this calligraphy here. No wonder I didn't find it in your house." With great interest, Hiruzen looked around Danzo's office and finally stopped in front of the large characters he had written himself.

"Did you come here just to admire your own work?"

Seeing that Hiruzen kept changing the subject, Danzo, who had worked with him for many years, immediately realized that Hiruzen probably wanted something from him and hadn't come for those secrets, which gave him some confidence.

Danzo walked to his seat and, no longer bothering to look at Hiruzen, began to handle his own work.

"Hehehe, Danzo, we've been friends for years, why be so formal?" Seeing that the other party seemed to have guessed his purpose, Hiruzen didn't mince words. He was about to sit down when he realized that there was no other place to sit in Danzo's office besides his office chair.

As the Hokage, he was being forced to stand while speaking to his subordinates...

"Summoning Technique."

Of course, this little matter was no problem for our Third Hokage. With a crisp sound, Hiruzen summoned his seat and sat down in front of Danzo.

[Next time, we'll have to set up a sealing barrier in the base.]

Seeing Hiruzen's smug expression, Danzo, his face cold. However, he had already begun to devise Barrier Ninjutsu to prevent summoning.

"I've heard Jiraiya say that Kazashiro's talent is exceptional, even more so than yours as his father." Sitting in his chair, Hiruzen took out his pipe and lit it, completely ignoring Danzo's unpleasant expression.

"Hmph, what, does it make you so proud that my son is receiving instruction from your disciple?"

Danzo believed that Hiruzen's actions were merely a way to show off how excellent his disciples were, implying that even his own son had to accept instruction from Hiruzen's disciples.

To be honest, Danzo wouldn't have personally gone to negotiate with Jiraiya if Minato wasn't the only one in the entire Konoha with exceptional talent in Space-Time Ninjutsu.

"Hehe, you always think so badly of me, when we were little..."

Hiruzen was in the middle of a lively discussion, stopped talking when he saw Danzo's increasingly grim expression.

"I'm planning to find a good Wind Release teacher for Asuma." Finally, Hiruzen revealed his purpose.

"I'm very busy, Hiruzen, the war is about to begin—" Danzo was about to refuse Hiruzen without even thinking, but after hearing the other party's next suggestion, he changed his mind.

Because what Hiruzen said next was, "Kazashiro has quite a lot of talent, and I plan to take him as my disciple."

As is well known, Danzo had always wanted to find a teacher from the Hokage lineage for Kazashiro, in order to pave the way for his future succession.

Hiruzen's suggestion meant that Danzo no longer needed to seek help from the Hokage's lineage; the Hokage himself had come forward to endorse Kazashiro's legitimacy, and the price he paid was negligible...

As for whether Hiruzen is too busy with work to guide Kazashiro, that's completely unimportant.

If Hiruzen acknowledges Kazashiro as his disciple among the Jonin, then Kazashiro is a true member of the Third Hokage's Third Hokage —no, the First Hokage's lineage.

Danzo was somewhat annoyed.

What angered him was that Hiruzen had once again stepped in front of him and understood his thoughts.

"You bastard..." Danzo stared at Hiruzen across from him with a grim face, barely suppressing the urge to unleash a Wind Release attack that would kill him. In the end, he chose to compromise, after all, it was for Kazashiro's sake, and he also sensed Hiruzen's attitude from this incident. "Have Asuma come over tomorrow, I'll make time to teach him."

"Hehe, that's good. Tell Kazashiro to come to the Hokage Building to see me tomorrow morning." Seeing that the matter was settled, Hiruzen stood up happily. "Don't worry, although I have a lot of work to do, I will pass on all my skills to that kid Kazashiro."

"I hope so." Hiruzen, not even bothering to glance at Danzo, continued with his work.

Seeing that Danzo didn't believe him, Hiruzen shook his head with a wry smile.

Although he trained the "Sannin" who were famous throughout the ninja Shinobi World, in Hiruzen's view, these three people did not inherit his mantle.

Orochimaru was solely focused on scientific research, Tsunade's methods were mostly inherited from the Senju Clan, and as for Jiraiya, one could only say he inherited a certain aspect of his clan's mantle...

Hopefully, Kazashiro won't let me down.