Master of the Staff: Dou Huan

The time is pushed back thirteen years, to the 20th year of Konoha.

Six years have passed since the death of the Second Hokage, and the Third Hokage has been in power for five years.

At this time, neither the outside of the village nor the inside can be considered peaceful.

The First Shinobi World War not only shattered the arrogance of the Five Great Nations but also allowed the smaller countries surrounding them to see an opportunity.

The Land of Fire, in particular, which occupies the most fertile territory in the shinobi world, has been fighting border skirmishes with hostile small nations every few days recently.

The Land of Hot Water and the Land of Grass, being the closest, seem to have no fear of the Land of Fire's strength, as they have brazenly set up forward camps right on the borders of the three nations.

This battlefield is not far from the Valley of the End; when the weather is clear, one can see from afar the stone statues of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, and the Asura of the Shinobi World, Uchiha Madara, standing in opposition.

However, these two hundred-meter-tall statues are merely relics of the past, and Konoha, with its dwindling supply of soldiers, is finding it difficult to cope with the tidal wave of attacks from these two small nations.

Consequently, the annual Chunin Exams were changed by the high-ranking officials of Konoha to be held twice a year: once in the spring-to-summer transition of April and May, and again in the autumn-to-winter transition of October and November.

Dou Huan, having just finished the Chunin Exams, walked out of the Forest of Death, dejected. He had failed the exams for three consecutive years, and he did not have much confidence in the second half of the year's attempt either.

It was not that he had any glaring weaknesses in ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu.

His taijutsu went without saying; his staff techniques were truly a unique school within Konoha. After graduating and performing so many D-rank and C-rank missions, he had refined his staff skills further, developing the "Martial Combat Style: Staff Form Six."

His ninjutsu was also decent. He was very proficient in the basic Three Body Techniques, and he had used his accumulated mission contributions to exchange for a C-rank "Fire Release: Flame Bullet." After three years of training, he could freely control the amount of chakra turned into oil, ensuring the precision of his firepower output.

His genjutsu had not lagged far behind either; a C-rank "Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique" focused on confusion and a C-rank "Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death" focused on restraint were more than enough for his needs.

Despite having no weaknesses, he repeatedly failed the Chunin Exams simply because he had a severe flaw in his personality.

Once Dou Huan entered a fight, he would easily lose his head. Whether it was a sparring match against classmates during his academy days or a combat mission after graduation, he had to decide a winner—either the opponent fell, or he did.

The current Chunin Exams were not the team-based format of later years; they tested a ninja's individual combat capability.

Once Dou Huan entered the Forest of Death, he would fight his opponent with total disregard for anything else. If he had simply been defeated by someone, it would be one thing, but for three consecutive times, he was disqualified solely because he exceeded the time limit for the exam.

Even his instructor was at a loss; his personality was simply too deeply ingrained to be forcibly corrected.

The dejected Dou Huan did not know how he had ended up near the school, but upon smelling the fragrance wafting from the Kan-Kuri-Kan confectionery shop, he walked in, unable to control himself.

This was the first meeting between Dou Huan and Takako. The sweetness of the chestnut cakes and Takako's fresh, bright smile made him suddenly forget about his latest failure in the Chunin Exams.

Come to think of it, Dou Huan, who came from an orphanage, was not actually lonely.

He had many companions at the orphanage, and after he was found to have the aptitude for being a ninja at a slightly older age, Dou Huan's enthusiastic personality won him many new friends at school.

These friends might not have all become ninjas after graduation, but Dou Huan did not neglect them during his downtime; in fact, their relationships became even closer than they were during their school days.

This was also the reason why Dou Huan was able to buy his current small house near the core commercial district of Konoha.

It was because he was well-liked and had enough people willing to vouch for him that the original owner was able to complete the transaction with him.

Like other young men, besides working hard to train with the goal of becoming Hokage, Dou Huan had an idol he imitated in his heart.

His idol was none other than the "Shinobi Hero" Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had recently displayed great power on the border battlefield, suppressing the Hot Water ninja forces with his "Five Elements: Great Combo Technique."

Dou Huan not only worshipped him himself but also promoted him to everyone he met, often telling people the heroic deeds of the Shinobi Hero that he had compiled based on the news of victory.

One must know that Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had only been in power for four years, actually had very little prestige in the village.

It was only because Lady Mito was there to suppress dissent that the major ninja clans dared not openly oppose this new Hokage, but there was certainly no shortage of gossip behind his back.

Things like appointing his own clansmen from the Sarutobi clan as the Hokage's guards, or agreeing to let Shimura Danzō establish an Anbu training department (the Root) on the outskirts of the village, all became reasons for the ninja clans to attack him.

The public opinion among the villagers was also guided by these major clans, and they had many complaints about the new Hokage.

At this time, the appearance of a different voice in the village was quite conspicuous.

Many major ninja clans set their sights directly on this unremarkable genin who specifically touted the Third Hokage.

At first, they thought he had been arranged by the four elders in the Hokage building, but after an investigation, they discovered that he was just an orphan genin with no background.

Therefore, the first thing these ninja clans thought to do was to shut Dou Huan's mouth and make him quiet down.

However, if the ninja clans could notice Dou Huan, so could Sarutobi Hiruzen. Before the clans could take action, he visited the participating clans one by one, disrupting their plans and forcing them to completely abandon their schemes.

In the eyes of the ninja clans, Dou Huan, who originally had no background, was now completely labeled as a Hokage supporter and could be counted as a ninja of the new Hokage's faction.

It was also Dou Huan's appearance that made Sarutobi Hiruzen realize how futile his original path of seeking support from the ninja clans was. Instead, facing the vast group of civilian ninjas, his status as Hokage still held some weight.

With this insight, Sarutobi Hiruzen took only two years to completely clear out the discordant voices in the village and secure his position as Hokage.

Of course, major clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga would certainly not be so obedient, but they would only limit their rhetoric to within their own clans and would not let it spread to the civilian population of the village.

As for Dou Huan, who had provided him with this brand-new line of thinking, Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally did not treat him poorly. Under his secret instruction, the mission center assigned Dou Huan only non-combat missions with extremely low danger levels.

According to Sarutobi Hiruzen's thinking, "You kid, don't you want to be promoted to Chunin? I'm assigning you safe missions. Once you reach the mission quota, you'll be able to be promoted to Chunin based on the number of missions alone!"

However, reality is often not as satisfactory as one might hope. After Dou Huan saved up enough money and married Takako, the little cook from the Kan-Kuri-Kan confectionery shop, he had not even enjoyed his newlywed life for many days before he encountered danger during an escort mission.

The upright Dou Huan stayed behind to cover the retreat and fought until the very last moment of his life against a bandit group led by several rogue ninjas.

Because of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen even visited Takako, who had received her late husband's body shortly after their marriage, several times out of guilt, and left behind a ninjutsu scroll for their posthumous child, Touma.

If Touma hadn't asked what kind of person his father was today, Takako would not have remembered the scroll hidden in the shrine.

Only when Touma untied the ribbon and saw the ninjutsu recorded in the scroll did he realize just how much Sarutobi Hiruzen had valued the little brother who had provided him with a way to survive a desperate situation!