Competition Ends

The final round turned into a Konoha civil war, a result that left contestants from the other ninja villages deeply disappointed.

Although they had long known that Konoha must have been quite confident of victory to spend such a huge sum hosting the competition, they had not expected Konoha—having entered only two teams—to meet in the final. The Four Great Ninja Villages all felt thoroughly humiliated.

Mist Ninja's seeded team in particular had suffered badly. Jinin Akebino was still hospitalized, Suikazan Fuguki had been reduced to ashes, and even Yagura had been left with considerable psychological trauma.

Konoha, meanwhile, had made a fortune and gained both fame and profit. The Third Hokage was so happy he looked as if he had grown ten centimeters taller.

There was not much to say about the final match. After a spectacular performance, the champions... Hatake Sakumo's team, were crowned.

Well, Sarutobi Toru had voluntarily suggested keeping himself hidden. After the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō, those two old schemers, discussed it, they decided it was an excellent idea. Thus, Hatake Sakumo became the winner.

Of the 300 million Ryo prize money, the village took 100 million Ryo off the top. Most of the remaining 200 million Ryo went to Sarutobi Toru as research funding, while each of the others received a reward of 10 million Ryo.

Root Training Ground.

Hatake Sakumo's short blade flashed like lightning. The former Sound of Wind and Thunder had completely faded away, leaving only a razor-sharp white radiance emanating from the White Fang Dagger.

Sarutobi Toru was enveloped in lightning, moving too fast for the naked eye as he fought Hatake Sakumo.

He had promised this before the final round—a proper match against Hatake Sakumo.

Tempered by the Chunin Exam, Hatake Sakumo's swordsmanship had become even more refined. With the boost from the White Fang Dagger, even though Sarutobi Toru's Lightning Release Chakra Mode had improved tremendously, he no longer dared to act as arrogantly as before and take Hatake Sakumo's White Fang Dagger head-on.

But with Speed Chakra Mode stacked atop Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Sarutobi Toru's speed and neural reactions had reached an inhuman level. No matter how powerful Hatake Sakumo's intuition was, before such overwhelming godlike speed, defeat was his only path.

"Phew..." Hatake Sakumo slowly lowered the White Fang Dagger and rubbed his wrist. Several acupuncture points had been pricked by Senbon, leaving bloody dots behind. If even one needle had landed properly just now, he would have been unable to hold his blade.

"I still can't beat you. I didn't even force out your Flying Thunder God Technique." Despite saying that, Hatake Sakumo showed no disappointment.

Sarutobi Toru merely smiled without answering. After all, anything a winner said could sound like showing off, though Hatake Sakumo would not have minded.

Hatake Sakumo was a simple person. Every day, he trained with his blade, fought, and carried out missions. He pursued strength as well, but rarely felt competitive jealousy toward others.

To him, Sarutobi Toru was more like a goal, a benchmark that gave him the motivation and direction to chase after.

Perhaps it was precisely this mindset that had given him such clear intuition and such untainted swordsmanship.

The spar ended, and Sarutobi Toru had barely stepped out of the Training Ground when he heard a thunderous crash.

That direction... isn't that Teacher Danzo's office? Don't tell me someone attacked?

Of course, an attack was just a joke. Trying to assault the leader of Root inside the Root Base, which was packed with barriers and Sealing Jutsu Formulas, was difficult enough that even Sarutobi Toru, who had mastered Flying Thunder God, would have to cry out, I simply can't do it!

He rushed to Danzo's office. Danzo sat in his chair with a dark expression, while the desk in front of him had been reduced to fragments.

The broken surfaces were incomparably smooth, with a faint Chakra residue lingering on them. It was clearly the work of Wind Release Chakra.

Sarutobi Toru blinked. What was going on? Had his teacher been possessed by the Raikage? Why was he picking a fight with his own desk?

Danzo said in a low voice, "Everyone, get out!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! A gust of wind swept through the room, and the Root ninja hidden nearby were gone in an instant.

Sarutobi Toru did not leave. He knew Danzo had something to say to him, which was why he had dismissed the surrounding Root members.

Once everyone had left, Danzo nodded at Sarutobi Toru and said gravely, "See for yourself."

Danzo had always raised Sarutobi Toru as Root's successor. Although the Third Hokage had been unwilling, Danzo had never stopped making his moves behind the scenes.

Once Sarutobi Toru became involved with Root deeply enough, would he still be able to leave?

Sarutobi Toru understood this perfectly well, but he did not resist it. Root was actually quite suitable for him. In any case, he was here to become the boss, not to live like the average miserable Root ninja and receive a Cursed Seal. He had great authority, little responsibility, and hardly any restrictions.

At most, he would have to take the blame a little more often in the future.

At Danzo's gesture, Sarutobi Toru stepped closer, pulled several documents from the wreckage of the desk, and began reading.

After skimming through the documents at a glance, Sarutobi Toru was startled as well.

They contained intelligence on the Uchiha Clan, and the document on top concerned Kagami Uchiha.

Kagami Uchiha had belonged to the same generation as Shimura Danzō and Sarutobi Hiruzen. He had also been one of the Uchiha closest to the Hokage faction within the village. However, Kagami Uchiha had died years ago, supposedly from illness.

But after reading the files, Sarutobi Toru knew perfectly well that rather than dying of illness, Kagami Uchiha had worked himself to death.

His death had been similar to Uchiha Itachi's. After awakening the Mangekyo, he had fought several consecutive major battles, exhausting both his Dojutsu power and body before dying after World War I ended.

Kagami Uchiha's orphan? Mangekyo Transplantation? Damn! Could it be that Teacher Danzo was so angry because someone had stolen his blame?

Naturally, that was only a joke. Danzo had clearly not become that deranged yet. He was probably just angered by what had happened to his old friend's orphan.

Still, how had Danzo turned into the person he would become in later generations? Time really was a butcher's knife!

Kagami Uchiha's orphan was only eleven or twelve years old. Transplanting a Mangekyo—one whose Dojutsu power had already been exhausted—could not possibly end well, even if the child was also an Uchiha and shared blood ties with the donor.

After all, not everyone was Hatake Kakashi!

Fortunately, the child was ultimately an Uchiha and managed to survive. However, his body's Chakra had been overdrawn, and he would never be able to become a ninja.

Furthermore, using a Mangekyo for human experimentation without filing a report—and conducting what had essentially been semi-forced human experimentation—raised an important question: what exactly was the Uchiha Clan trying to do?

No matter how he looked at it, it was nothing good.

"What do you think of the Uchiha?" Danzo had gradually calmed down and asked coldly.

What did he think? A clan made up of potential lunatics and active lunatics? The stronger they became, the crazier they got; the crazier they got, the stronger they became? Sarutobi Toru mocked inwardly.

"It's extremely troublesome. The Uchiha Clan's temperament is bad to begin with, and they have always refused to integrate into the village. Combined with their formidable strength, they are practically a village within the village!"