Danzo Appears!

Qingyun hurried over at once.

"Are you feeling better, Yoshihime?" Qingyun asked with great concern. After all, the purple-haired woman before him was a character who didn't exist in the original story. As someone who had been transported to this world, it was only natural for him to take extra care of her.

After Qingyun explained the details of what had happened, Yoshihime nodded.

"It was a close call, but I'm fine now. Let's get back to Konoha!" Yoshihime said.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Minato asked.

"Don't worry. I'll look after her," Qingyun said.

White Fang nodded as well, then set off for Konoha with his team.

On the way back, Yoshihime spoke much less than before. She seemed afraid that everyone would blame her, and felt somewhat guilty.

Nothing went wrong on the journey home, and the four of them soon returned to Konoha.

"Good. Let's go turn in the mission together, and then I'll treat everyone to a meal. No refusing this time." White Fang rarely smiled, but he was in a good mood now. After all, they had completed the mission successfully, and he had seen how much his students had grown.

Everyone should have been in high spirits as they turned in the mission and headed off for a good meal. But when they went to report in, something unexpected happened.

As soon as they entered the Hokage's office, a masked man scolded them. "White Fang, why did this take so long? Don't you know how important missions are?"

"One of my students fainted. We stayed a few extra days to make sure she was all right," White Fang replied.

"That's exactly what happened, Danzo. White Fang did nothing wrong," said the Lord Third.

The man who had immediately started accusing them was none other than Danzo, the leader of Konoha's Root.

The man before them, with bandages wrapped around one eye and a cane in his hand, was Danzo, Konoha's antagonist.

He gave off an extremely sinister air. Even after the Lord Third had spoken, he showed no sign of letting the matter go.

"Sorry, but forgive my ignorance—you didn't go on the mission. To put it plainly, you're just a senile old man. What gives you the right to scold anyone?" Qingyun feared neither heaven nor earth, and immediately fired back at Danzo.

Danzo was visibly taken aback, and the Lord Third was stunned as well.

It had been years since anyone had talked back to Danzo. Only a child like Qingyun would dare speak to a Hokage Advisor like that.

"You little brat, don't you even know who I am? I'm Danzo, a Konoha Advisor and elder. How dare you speak to me like that?" Danzo was clearly furious.

"Lord Danzo, he's just a child. Why bother arguing with him?" White Fang said at once.

"Danzo, why don't we just let this go? One of his subordinates was injured, so they took a few extra days to recover. And don't forget what this girl represents—or what this team represents."

The Lord Third reminded Danzo that Yoshihime possessed Wood Release. Though her Wood Release was weak for now, she was the only one in the Shinobi World who had it.

As for Minato Namikaze and Qingyun, there was no need to say more. Minato was a genius of the Shinobi World, and in the original story he went on to become the Fourth Hokage.

Qingyun was even more astonishing. Though only four years old, he already possessed terrifying, freakish strength. It was inevitable that he would become a leading figure in the Shinobi World one day.

Danzo slowly walked up to Qingyun and said, "Kid, I know you're talented, but you haven't fully matured yet. You need a better environment to grow in, and I can provide that for you."

"All you have to do is become my student."

Danzo's words nearly made Qingyun laugh.

Would you have to be crazy to become Danzo's student? Besides, I've already taken the Lord Third and White Fang as my teachers. Becoming Danzo's student too would be downright insane. I'd need treatment.

Danzo thought Qingyun was still considering whether to accept, and pressed his advantage. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to train you well."

"Danzo, I'm not interested. You're nowhere near as good as Sarutobi or White Fang, my teachers."

Qingyun rejected Danzo again without the slightest hesitation. After being slapped in the face like that, Danzo naturally looked furious.

"Heh. Don't try to steal my student just because the kid's a genius, Danzo." The Lord Third smiled, then turned to ask, "What do you think?"

"猿飞 is right this time."

"Give them some freedom to choose. Not everyone is suited to working in Root, Danzo."

The people speaking had gone unnoticed until now. A man and a woman were also sitting in the Hokage's office.

"Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu." Qingyun recognized them at once. Like Danzo, they were elders of Konoha. Whenever Danzo wanted to speak ill of the Lord Third, he usually sought their support.

But it seemed they weren't quite so stubborn after all.

"You're both absolutely right. Seeing you reminds me of my grandparents." Qingyun was especially good with words. Hearing that, the two elders were naturally delighted, and even less willing to let Danzo take Qingyun away.

"Hmph! Let's see how things turn out with the Lord Third training him." Danzo flicked his hand and left the Hokage's office in a huff.

The Lord Third smiled at Qingyun and White Fang.

"Don't take it personally. That's just how Danzo is."

"Of course." Qingyun didn't take it to heart.

After they gave a detailed report on the mission, the Lord Third thought it over for a moment and said, "You did a good job on the mission. In that case, let's make a slight change to the rules."

"From now on, you can take not only D-Rank Missions for Genin, but also C-Rank Missions for Chunin. And if you're interested, I can assign you B-Rank Missions for Jonin as well."

The Lord Third's words thrilled Qingyun. Completing missions earned ninjas rewards, and defeating opponents earned points.

Qingyun could use those points to draw rewards and become stronger. The higher the rank of the mission, the faster he could grow stronger!

"Thank you, Lord Lord Third." The Lord Third nodded. "By the way, after White Fang and I took you on as a student, it seems we haven't taught you anything. Come see me tomorrow. I'd like to train you."

"White Fang, don't take any missions this week. Set aside some time to train Qingyun as well. I'll also tell Jiraiya to train Minato. As for you, Yoshihime, you can train with White Fang too."

Hearing the Lord Third's words, Qingyun was thrilled. Training under the Lord Third would naturally make him improve by leaps and bounds. Still, the main source of his strength was the Devil Fruit System.

Without using his Devil Fruit abilities and relying only on ninjutsu, Qingyun would never be able to beat the Lord Third.