Danzo of the Radical Faction

Combining these abilities with his Shuriken Throwing Technique, Xingran discovered he was actually a shuriken master—hitting exactly where he aimed, even calculating the trajectory of shuriken colliding mid-flight with perfect precision.

Thud, thud, thud.

After a few dull impacts, Xingran checked his results. Behind tree trunks, behind rocks, on every target in blind spots, shuriken were firmly embedded—exactly the same effect as the shuriken throwing technique Itachi had demonstrated before Sasuke in the original story.

"Not bad. Super Brainpower really is the most formidable ability of them all." Seeing that he'd achieved this level of mastery in just half a day, Xingran nodded in satisfaction, while forming a new judgment in his mind.

There were many types of geniuses in the shinobi world, but the easiest to recognize were those who learned everything quickly—Itachi, Sasuke, and Orochimaru were prime examples.

Putting away the thrown kunai, Xingran sank into thought. What should he learn next? With Super Brainpower, he could learn anything fast; it would be a waste not to fully utilize such a great ability.

Over this period, he'd adapted to many things. After awakening his Superman ability, the physical enhancement from Steel Body was very obvious—evident from his surging chakra. Chakra was the product of combining physical and spiritual energy. Now that his physical energy had suddenly grown stronger, driving chakra growth was inevitable. (Xingran's spiritual energy hadn't weakened, only his spiritual resistance had been reduced. Think of it like a balloon—the same size, but filled with extremely low-density air.)

The drastic change in chakra also required him to re-adapt to many things: the basic Three Body Techniques, his only presentable family secret technique, the Mind Body Switch Technique, and then the Konoha Style Taijutsu, Konoha Style Swordsmanship, and today's newly practiced Shuriken Throwing Art—all deliberately trained to better control his own power.

Xingran didn't want to end up like Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia, possessing immense power but not knowing how to use it, hurting himself and others.

After a full round of adaptive training, he finally felt he could control his new power. But now, he wasn't sure what to do next.

Hai Yi hadn't returned yet. When he did, Xingran wondered if he could get more Yamanaka Clan secret techniques from him. He hadn't paid much attention to methods for enhancing spiritual and soul strength before. It would be great if he could get a solution directly from him.

"Fwoosh, fwoosh."

A sudden sound of wind breaking appeared beside Xingran.

"Yamanaka Xingran, Lord Hokage summons you." An Anbu suddenly appeared at the spot where the sound had come from, concisely delivered the Hokage's order, and then, without waiting for Xingran's reply, vanished again with a Body Flicker Technique.

Xingran quickly scanned the man, memorizing his face before the Anbu left—a completely subconscious reaction. In truth, Anbu who delivered orders and left immediately like this were the least likely to be impostors. Unlike the previous interrogation summons, there was no need for an escort; he just had to follow the order and go see the Hokage himself.

At the center of Konoha, in the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage sighed helplessly and took a deep drag from his pipe, repeatedly signaling with his eyes for the person beside him to withdraw.

"Hiruzen, demanding compensation from the Tsuchikage for this matter is the most beneficial course for us. The real culprit can be dealt with later. Why can't you see that?" Shimura Danzō was also getting irritated now. This Hiruzen Sarutobi was growing more soft-hearted with age. Tangible benefits were what mattered—was the true culprit really that important?

"Danzō, show some magnanimity. It doesn't matter if we gain nothing, but as the decision-maker of Konoha, I will not allow anyone to toy with or exploit us like this." The Third Hokage's tone was resolute.

Since Morino Ibiki had reported the results of Yamanaka Xingran's interrogation, the Third Hokage had been thinking deeply.

Speaking such bold words to Danzō on the surface also had far-reaching considerations. Impersonating Iwa-nin to kill Konoha shinobi was deception. And in the end, whether for profit or genuine ignorance of the truth, it would allow the true mastermind behind the scenes to achieve their goal of using Konoha against Iwagakure. The worst outcome would be dragging the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth back into the quagmire of war; at the very least, it would create a massive rift in the hard-won peace.

From Ibiki's analysis, the Third Hokage was fairly confident in judging that this incident wasn't the work of Kirigakure, but Kumogakure.

The Third Raikage had died under the siege of Land of Earth shinobi, and the two sides still hadn't reached an agreement on the return of his body. Meanwhile, the Land of Fire was the Land of Lightning's primary target to surpass. Pitting two enemies against each other to wear them down was the most advantageous strategy for Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning.

But the Third couldn't state this openly. Since the Battle of Kannabi Bridge ended, large-scale wars between nations had ceased, replaced by sporadic small-scale regional conflicts.

The Third could foresee that if he held on a little longer, letting the nations—specifically the Land of Lightning, which still refused to give up—see that continuing the war was pointless and only increased losses, then fully ending the Third Shinobi World War and ushering in true peace would be within reach.

So the Third intended to suppress the entire matter, maintain peaceful diplomacy with the Land of Earth, stay silent toward the Land of Lightning, and buy time to achieve peace at minimal cost.

But Danzō was the representative of the Radical Faction. If Danzō redirected his fire toward Kumogakure, it might reignite a new wave of war and squander the favorable situation.

After hearing the Third Hokage's words, Danzō was silent for a long time. He too had considered that this was likely the work of Kumogakure. But now the Conservative Faction Hokage wouldn't even mention it—even using the issue of peace with the Land of Earth to provoke him hadn't made the Third bring up the Cloud Ninja first. This left Danzō feeling like a mouse trying to bite a tortoise, with no place to start.

He was a radical, yes, but that didn't mean he liked thankless tasks. If they were to move against the Cloud Ninja, it would be no small affair. Win or lose, casualties and losses would be considerable.

If the Third brought this up himself, Danzō would once again have grounds to file a vote of no confidence against the Third Hokage, just like back then when he forced the Third to step down—maybe he could even find a way.

That way, he could both help the village punish the real enemy and force this increasingly incompetent Hiruzen Sarutobi to abdicate in favor of someone better. Such a golden opportunity was too rare.

Knock, knock, knock. Just as Danzō was pondering how to make the Third bring up the Cloud Ninja first, a knock sounded.

"Come in."

This time, the Third didn't bother with Danzō's presence. The knock was perfectly timed. If Danzō kept pressing him like this, he didn't know how far he'd be pushed.