At first, the Third Hokage had only seen Youhu as an ordinary Uchiha Chunin.
He'd had Youhu join the Anbu not only because Youhu possessed the Will of Fire, but also to spite Uchiha Fugaku and give the wavering Uchiha ninja another option: swearing loyalty to the Hokage.
What he hadn't expected was that the Youhu he'd casually taken in would turn out to be a genius no less talented than Itachi or Shisui.
Youhu had not only played an important role in protecting the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and driving Obito back; during this latest mission, he'd also gained the Uchiha Inheritance and grown strong enough to fight Kakuzu.
A genius like that posed a grave threat to the Hokage Building, whether he defected from the village or remained within the Uchiha Clan.
Only by making Jiraiya Youhu's teacher and bringing Youhu into the Hokage Faction as one of its loyal inner circle, standing against the Uchiha Clan,
could the Third Hokage finally put his mind at ease.
"Old Man, give me some time..."
Jiraiya didn't immediately agree to the Third Hokage's request. He was torn.
So far, he'd had six students. Some had become Hokage, some had remained unknown, and some had achieved great things.
But every one of those six students was dead.
He was almost afraid to take on another student. What if this new one died too? He couldn't bear the pain of losing another student.
"All right."
Seeing Jiraiya hesitate, the Third Hokage didn't press him.
Taking on a student was a deeply personal matter. If Youhu hadn't been such a rare genius, he wouldn't have swallowed his pride and asked Jiraiya in the first place.
Just then, the Third Hokage remembered something Youhu had once said to him.
That he was always busy and rarely