The Hokage Building, top-floor office.
Smoke filled the room.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, quietly listening to Matsumoto Ryūichi's excited, nearly incoherent report.
"...Lord Hokage! Every word I've said is true!
Uchiha Ryūha's jutsu was definitely B-rank, or even stronger! And he used it instantly, without hand seals!
His Chakra control was terrifyingly precise! He's a once-in-a-century—no, a once-in-a-millennium genius! Konoha must spare no effort to cultivate him. We can't let his talent go to waste..."
Hiruzen slowly exhaled a smoke ring, the smoke obscuring his expression.
"Matsumoto, calm down." His voice was even. "Do you have evidence to support all this?"
"I do! Of course I do!" Matsumoto Ryūichi hurriedly pulled a sealing scroll from his robes and respectfully offered it with both hands.
"These are soil samples from the Black Pine Forest battle site, along with the traces of Chakra left behind by the two rogue shinobi who escaped.
I recorded them all with a secret technique! You can examine them yourself!"
Hiruzen took the scroll but didn't open it right away. He merely tapped the desk lightly with his pipe.
"I understand." He looked at Matsumoto Ryūichi, his gaze deep. "Who else knows about this?"
"Only the other two members of Team Seven, besides me!" Matsumoto Ryūichi hastily assured him. "I've strictly ordered them not to tell anyone!"
"Good." Hiruzen nodded. "You did well.
The village will keep a close eye on Uchiha Ryūha. As for the mission rank and resource requests... there's no need to rush.
He's still young and needs time to grow. Too much attention isn't necessarily a good thing."
Matsumoto Ryūichi looked as if he wanted to say more, but when he met Hiruzen's eyes, which seemed to see through everything, he finally lowered his head. "...Yes, I understand."
"You may go." Hiruzen waved a hand. "Classify what happened today as B-rank confidential."
"Yes!"
Matsumoto Ryūichi bowed respectfully and left the office.
The door closed.
Hiruzen sat in silence, taking a few more puffs before slowly opening the sealing scroll.
He infused it with Chakra. The sealing formulae on the scroll glimmered, and a few charred clumps of soil and two faint Chakra traces appeared.
The Third Hokage's gaze settled on the traces and didn't move for a long while.
At last, he exhaled a long plume of smoke, his expression complicated.
"Fire Release without hand seals... fire-nature Chakra compressed to the extreme... spiritual power replacing hand seals..."
Every phrase weighed heavily.
As the Professor of Ninjutsu, he understood better than anyone what it meant.
Was this what one could expect from the Uchiha Clan?
They always produced geniuses beyond the norm.
"Uchiha... Ryūha..." Hiruzen murmured the name.
He recalled the report on the Ninja Academy graduation exam from a few days ago, and the unknown kekkei genkai called the "Eye of the Heart."
He also remembered the letter Uchiha Fugaku had secretly submitted, vouching for Uchiha Ryūha's "loyalty to the clan."
"Kagami, what do you think?" the Third Hokage suddenly asked.
A figure wearing a cat mask silently emerged from the shadows in the corner of the office.
"Dangerous." The Anbu Captain Kagami's voice was flat. "His talent is exceptional, his kekkei genkai is unknown, and he's an Uchiha.
If properly guided, he could become one of Konoha's pillars. If he gets out of control..."
He didn't finish.
But the Third Hokage understood.
The Uchiha Clan was already one of Konoha's most unstable elements.
And a young Uchiha with such talent and such unknown abilities...
He was both a hope and a liability.
"Have the Root operatives pull back," Hiruzen said slowly. "From today onward, you'll personally oversee the surveillance of Uchiha Ryūha.
S-rank priority, but don't interfere with his everyday life.
I want to know his every move, every increase in strength, and... everyone he comes into contact with."
"Yes." Kagami's figure melted into the shadows and disappeared.
Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and looked out at Konoha's nightscape, his eyes full of weariness and worry.
It had only been a few years since the peace, and tensions between the great shinobi villages were already nearing the breaking point.
The Third Shinobi World War couldn't be far off.
And at a time like this, a variable like him appeared...
Would it be a blessing or a disaster?
He didn't know.
He only knew that the great ship of Konoha was sailing toward stormy seas unlike any it had faced before.
Meanwhile, at the Root Base.
Danzo examined another, more detailed report in his hands—from the Root shinobi whom Ryūha had "glanced at."
The report recorded not only Matsumoto Ryūichi's account, but also Root's own analysis:
"Target Uchiha Ryūha appears to possess exceptional sensory abilities and can easily detect concealment on the level of a Special Jonin."
"Used Red Fire Cannon without hand seals. Its power is estimated at B+ to A- rank. Nature transformation precision is extremely high; he may have an innate affinity for fire."
"The effects of the Eye of the Heart kekkei genkai exceed expectations. It may have several unknown applications."
"Target is mature, adept at disguising himself. Threat level: S (pending observation)."
Danzo tapped the "S" rating with his finger.
An S-rank threat.
In Root's assessment system, that rating meant: must be controlled or must be eliminated.
"Hiruzen really did send Anbu to take over the surveillance..." Danzo sneered. "He wants to use the boy to placate the Uchiha? How naive."
He rose and walked over to the wall covered in Root's creed.
"Uchiha Ryūha..." His single eye glinted coldly. "Just let me find an opening!"
Uchiha Compound, rear mountain training ground.
Uchiha Ryūha sat cross-legged on a boulder, eyes closed in concentration.
The system panel opened in his mind:
[Current Side Quest: White Fang's Last Echo (Time Remaining: 85 days)]
There wasn't much time left.
He opened his eyes and looked toward the center of Konoha.
Through his Reiatsu perception, he noticed that the Root presence that had been following him on and off had quietly vanished that evening.
In its place was a more covert, more powerful, and gentler gaze keeping watch.
An Anbu operative directly under the Third Hokage.
It seemed Matsumoto Ryūichi's report had worked.
Konoha's High Command had put him on its watch list.
That was both good and bad.
The good thing was that he now had more "legitimate" attention, which would make his actions easier.
The bad thing was that the Third Hokage would be watching his every move.
But...
Ryūha pushed up his glasses, moonlight reflecting off the lenses.
He'd never intended to hide himself in the first place.
On the contrary, he needed to reveal just enough to secure certain things.
For example, a "legitimate reason" to approach Hatake Sakumo.
Over the past few days, he'd been deliberately gathering information about Hatake Sakumo.
A failed mission. Abandoning it to save his comrades. Criticism from the village. Blame from his comrades. His family's lack of understanding...
Everything was unfolding just as it had in the original story.
The hero of the Leaf was being pushed, little by little, into an abyss by the very people he had protected.
Ryūha stood and brushed the dust off his clothes.
He needed an opportunity.
One that would let him approach Hatake Sakumo naturally and reasonably, without arousing anyone's suspicion.
And that opportunity was now at the Third Training Ground.
The Third Training Ground was empty and silent beneath the night sky.
Moonlight fell on the training posts and targets, casting long shadows.
Several older academy students were surrounding a white-haired boy, shoving him around.
"Hey, Kakashi, I heard your dad failed a mission?"
"He didn't fail. He abandoned it to save his comrades! The village suffered huge losses because of him!"
"Haha, so much for the White Fang of the Leaf. Turns out he's a coward!"
"Exactly! He abandoned the mission to save a bunch of useless fools and disgraced Konoha!"
"Your dad's a coward! A loser!"
The white-haired boy in the middle—Kakashi Hatake—gritted his teeth.
His small fists clenched, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
He wore a mask, leaving only his lifeless eyes exposed.
They held both anger and humiliation.
But more than anything, they showed deep exhaustion and... confusion.
Had his father been wrong?
Was it wrong to abandon a mission to save his comrades?
Then why did everyone say so?
Why were even the comrades his father had saved blaming him?
"Don't... insult my father!" Kakashi forced out through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you're angry?" A tall student sneered. "Am I wrong? Your dad's a loser!
He made Konoha lose face in front of all the other shinobi villages! If you ask me, he should've committed seppuku!"
"You—!" Kakashi snapped his head up, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
But there were five of them, all lower-ranked student shinobi two or three years older than him.
No matter how talented he was, he was only six years old. One man's strength couldn't overcome four others.
"What, you want to fight?" The tall student took a sneering step forward.
"Come on, let's see if the son of the 'useless White Fang' inherited his father's uselessness!"
He reached out and shoved Kakashi's shoulder.
Kakashi tried to dodge, but the other two had already blocked his escape.
Just as the hand was about to touch him—
"Enough."
Before you continue