Wood Release-Orochimaru's Covetousness

Roy glanced at Namikaze Minato but made no move.

"I'll listen to the teacher."

"Minato," Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

Namikaze Minato looked at this and that, then smiled and put away his Kunai: "Jin, the Hokage has summoned you, so go. A couple more days won't make a difference before you head to the battlefield; there's plenty of time later."

Moreover, the Sun-Earring Boy actually possesses astonishing talent in "Space-Time Ninjutsu"... Namikaze Minato's lake-blue eyes flickered, and he couldn't help but whisper in Kushina's ear, suggesting she visit Fugaku's house more often for a meal.

Seeing this, Roy put his hands in his pockets and followed Sarutobi Hiruzen expressionlessly, strolling towards the edge of the Southern Forest... It was close to noon, and the sun was shining brightly.

An old man and a young man, one in front One Queen, walked out of the forest, crossed the street, disappeared into the breeze, and went straight up the Hokage Rock. Neither of them spoke until Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped first, stood on top of his own portrait, turned around and looked back, saying, "Are you angry?"

Roy stopped, standing at the image of Hashirama Senju, headbanded and gazing at Konoha Senju Hashirama. He said calmly, "Anyone would find it hard to be happy about being spied on."

"It is my duty as the principal to pay attention to the growth of each Shinobu."

"Then, did the Hokage see it?"

"I saw it," Sarutobi Hiruzen, staring intently at Roy. "And I was quite startled."

As he spoke, the old man sat down cross-legged, patting the empty seat beside him, gesturing for Roy to come over.

Etan plopped down casually, his legs dangling off the rock face, swaying slightly. His bangs, which reached his eyes, swayed gently in the wind, exuding a unique and indescribable charm.

Sarutobi Hiruzen his head to look at him, his memories drifting back to his younger self. Compared to that Sun-Earring Boy self, he seemed inferior to the other man's "burnt" past.

"Explain,"

"Could you tell me, who... is your teacher?" Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his head, looking at the clear Konoha and Great Sun sun above Konoha with the Sun-Earring Boy, and said quietly, "Don't tell me it's Fugaku. You know he couldn't have taught such an outstanding child as you."

Swordsmanship capable of rivaling that of Sakumo- wielding master... effortless, unskilled ninjutsu... unparalleled spatial-temporal talent... coupled with [Yang Release] and that keen insight that instantly pierced through the [Clairvoyance Jutsu] upon their first meeting... the Sun-Earring Boy is like a mystery, casually revealing ninjutsu and Swordsmanship that many Jonin might not master in their entire lives.

Needless to say, it was Uchiha Fugaku. Sarutobi Hiruzen himself asked himself, even he, along with the First and Second Hokage, might not have been able to raise such a powerful child!

Otherwise, Asuma wouldn't still Chunin at this point...

If word got out, it would make him blush.

"Teacher?"

"There are many..."

Roy thought of Urokodaki Sakonji, the old woman Biscuit, his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and... Kim, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, and so on—men and women, young and old, who had imparted knowledge, given him a word of advice, or shared a passion for discussion... swordsmen, Hunter, even Soul Reaper... He finally concluded with one word:

"Dream."

The Sun-Earring Boy swung his legs and said Youyou, "I often learn from my teacher in my dreams."

"I am incredibly grateful that they didn't think I was stupid."

After speaking, the Sun-Earring Boy caught a wisp of breeze, his thoughts drifting, as if the days he spent practicing swordsmanship with his teacher, Urokodaki Sakonji him; he wondered if his fellow disciples, Seito, Shinko, and the others, were doing well in the Mount Sagiri...

The warm sunlight streamed down, illuminating the silent Hokage Rock.

Upon hearing this answer, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned to look at the Sun-Earring Boy. Although the answer was absurd and bizarre, his intuition told him that what Roy said was true.

"Hehehe..." The old man chuckled, suppressing a sound.

He took off the Hokage Hat, placed it beside his backside, stroked his half-black and half-white goatee, and said confidently, "To be your teachers, they must all be extraordinary figures."

"Yes," Roy loosened his grip, letting the breeze drift away, and then smiled slightly, "I think so too, so,"

The Sun-Earring Boy tilted his head to look at Sarutobi Hiruzen: "I've always felt that I'm very lucky."

Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, then said seriously, "They were lucky too."

"Having a student like you, I believe they must feel the same way."

Before departing for Mount Fujikasane to join the Demon Slayer Corps, Urokodaki Sakonji's gaze. His first time learning [the art of demon slaying], his great-grandfather's guidance. A dream reunion with his father's embrace. His grandfather's tall gesture in the weathered corridor and the gift of gold, Biscuit's insights, stemming from "gratitude," and his first encounter with Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni...

Scenes unfolded... Roy lay back, his back pressed against the not-so-smooth rock surface, silent, only looking up through his fingers at the Great Sun gradually rising to its highest point in the sky. After a moment, he said Youyou, "The Hokage summoned me here, not to chat idly with a kid like me who isn't even Ninja, is he?"

With his back to the reclining Roy, Hiruzen Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly surveyed the bustling scene of Konoha's commercial district ahead, seemingly unable to get enough of it, and said, "To correct you, I've already granted you early graduation, so strictly speaking, you're already a qualified genin."

I didn't agree.

"I don't need your permission." The old man tilted his head slyly, then said seriously, "I'm the principal, what I say goes."

Roy rolled his eyes and simply closed them, refusing to look at him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled, showing no sign of annoyance, and said leisurely, "Of course, this time, I've come to answer your question." Roy remained unmoved.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, "Last time at school, you asked me if Konoha's 'fire' included the Uchiha... Now..." Wearing a white Hokage Haori, Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed at the azure sky and said, word by word, "That depends on the Uchiha... how they think..." "Or rather, what do you think?"

"Me?" Roy, with his eyes closed and hands behind his head, said nonchalantly, "Did you ask the wrong person, Hokage?"

"I didn't ask the wrong person, it's you."

Roy slowly opened his eyes, meeting the old man's burning gaze. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you serious?"

You brat, you don't even want to call the Hokage "Hokage" anymore when the village and the Uchiha are mentioned?

Sarutobi Hiruzen replied solemnly, "Of course."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked intently at the Sun-Earring Boy and said, "You're different."

Roy fell silent. For a moment, he even doubted whether his secret of helping his clansmen awaken their Sharingan had been revealed. But then he thought, after the [Cursed Seal of Silence] planted by his father and Uchiha Setsuna was broken, it was impossible for them not to have sensed it... Roy immediately dismissed the thought, at least...

One thing is certain now... Sarutobi Hiruzen has his eye on me!

Roy's thoughts, fluctuating like the winding, meandering thoughts emanating from above, led him to feign sleep. Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored him, his wide sleeves billowing out, revealing his pipe, which he firmly grasped. Only after filling the bowl with tobacco from his pipe did he approach Roy, extending the pipe and asking, "May I borrow a light?"

"No." Roy rolled over, turning his back to Sarutobi Hiruzen, and said coldly, "Smoking is bad for your health; that's common sense, even a child knows that."

"But it can relieve fatigue," Roy refused to lend it to him, so Sarutobi Hiruzen simply lit one for himself, took a puff, and said, "The Hokage is very busy; I wish there were forty-eight hours in a day."

He inhaled a puff of smoke, then exhaled it through his mouth, Youyou it drift away in a smoke ring, spreading and disappearing with the wind.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, feeling more comfortable, leaned back slightly and said, "So, what do you think?"

The old man said quietly, "It's either the Uchiha or the village; we have to choose one."

Just like what you did to Shisui, to Itachi, and to all the Uchiha showed even a little talent... Do we really have to distinguish between you and me? Roy suddenly thought of a saying: those in power don't necessarily want talent. Even a pig, as long as it is loyal enough, will be entrusted with important tasks. An indescribable sense of sarcasm arose in his heart!

"What I think is unimportant. If you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, are incompetent and can't control the village, then please don't blame your incompetence on the Uchiha!" The Sun-Earring Boy's words were astonishing!

Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, holding his cigarette, then glanced at the Sun-Earring Boy who suddenly stood up, his feet planted on Senju Hashirama's enormous head, draped in Rosy Garment shimmering with countless rays of sunlight. The boy looked down at Hiruzen, saying without a trace of joy or sorrow, "Since the Hokage has asked, I will tell you."

"I can choose if I want, and I can choose not to. Are you satisfied now?"

quiet,

On this bright midday,

On the Hokage Rock, a symbol of Konoha's legacy, an old man and a young man, one sitting and one standing, one looking up and the other looking down, gazed at each other silently... The air seemed frozen, almost solidified!

"Puff..." The tobacco in the pipe burned slowly... smoke billowed... It took Sarutobi Hiruzen a while to come to his senses and realize that he seemed to have been... insulted!

The person who insulted him wasn't Danzo, Koharu, Mitokado Homura, or even his teacher Senju Tobirama, nor the First Hokage known as the "God of Shinobi" who single-handedly created Konoha. Instead, it was... a teenager!

The old man silently took another drag of his cigarette, using it to calm his turbulent emotions, and glanced sideways at Roy, saying, "Of course you can be willful, provided... you have the ability to do so."

Unlike his usual self, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the Sun-Earring Boy with a serious expression and said, "If you were as strong as the one standing beneath your feet, let alone the Uchiha, even if you asked for the Hokage position, I wouldn't even bat an eye; I would immediately hand it over to you!"

The key question is: Is it possible?

There is only one God of Shinobi, only Hashirama, and only Hashirama... willingly submit to him.

"Unfortunately..." Roy shook his head. "I am not him, and naturally I can never become him."

Sarutobi Hiruzen quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At least the child wasn't completely outrageous; there was still hope...

"Hmph, it's good that you know!"

Roy didn't refute. He simply extended a palm, opened the Aura Nodes in his palm, and separated a wisp of "thought" into [water] and [earth], which intertwined and merged, condensing from his palm into a wooden staff, which he then slammed into the ground.

The rising dust caused Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze to sharpen, and he slightly opened his mouth.

The Sun-Earring Boy rested his hands on the tip of his cane, observing that the cane he had conjured using [Wood Release] was less than Senju Hashirama Senju's. He said to Sarutobi Hiruzen with a hint of agreement, "I don't need you to remind me of that. I know perfectly well what my [Wood Release] is like, and how it compares to the First Hokage's." Sarutobi Hiruzen:...

His hand trembled, and he lost his grip on the pipe, which fell down the rock face with a "thud"... Soon after, a "crack" was heard as the pipe snapped in two. "You... know [Wood Release]?"

"I wouldn't say I know how; I've only recently mastered it and am still figuring it out..."

Roy raised his hand, and another wooden sword took shape in his palm. Itachi's birthday was fast approaching, and Roy planned to make him a [God Script Wooden Sword]. He thought Itachi would definitely like it when he saw it.

Itachi's youthful yet precocious face appeared before my eyes.

Roy's thoughts shifted, and when he came back to his senses, he felt a weight on his shoulders as a pair of large, calloused hands gripped him firmly!

Hiyori Sarutobi suddenly stood up, grabbed Roy's shoulders, leaned closer, and stared intently at him as if he were a rare treasure. He muttered to himself, "I should have known. Since you've mastered [Yang Release], it's not impossible for you to learn [Wood Release]... Good boy, you're right."

"It is my incompetence,"

"I almost let you go to the battlefield..."

Huh?! Roy:..."

A sense of foreboding suddenly arose in the Sun-Earring Boy's heart... He frowned and asked, "What does the Hokage mean by this?"

"Literal meaning." Sarutobi Hiruzen Roy, placed his palm on Roy's head, and said decisively, "Uchiha Jin, I hereby declare once again, from today onwards, you are grounded!"

"I need a reason." Roy's little face fell.

The duck that was already in his grasp was about to fly away. He could have been freely harvesting "Life Energy" on the battlefield... Roy thought resentfully, even Yamato back then, he didn't see Sarutobi Hiruzen restrict his footing.

but,

"That's an order!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen down, picked up the Hokage Hat from the ground, and put it on his head. The large fire character on it left Roy speechless. He immediately turned around and stormed off.

"Footsteps... steps..." Footsteps sounded.

Watching the Sun-Earring Boy leap several times and jump off the Hokage Rock, Sarutobi Hiruzen called out to Roy's retreating figure, "You know I can monitor you at any time." Suddenly, a flash of light appeared. Roy stopped jumping altogether, simply using his Light Release —a flash, a flash, and another flash—and disappeared completely from Sarutobi Hiruzen's sight...

"You brat..." On the massive Hokage Rock, the statues of the First Hokage, the Second Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed at it. Hiruzen chuckled Youyou cursed, finally remembering his pipe. He ran to the base of the rock, only to find it broken... A pang of heartache shot through his lips... Fortunately, losing his pipe granted him Wood Release. Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the broken pipe and hurried towards the Hokage Building. The old man and the young man, separated by the bustling Konoha commercial district, were like two parallel lines that would never intersect, darting off in opposite directions... Unbeknownst to them, a White Snake suddenly emerged from an inconspicuous tree nearby, its vertical pupils gleaming eerily. With a flick of its tongue, it followed Roy's departing direction, silently slithering towards the Southern Forest.