I'm the Hokage!

Ito Hirofumi said nothing more. He simply repeated what he had just told the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

None of the students in class felt like studying anymore. After all, they had just experienced something so exciting!

Meanwhile, inside the Hokage Building...

In the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, smoke billowing around him and obscuring his expression.

Shimura Danzō was sitting across from him.

"Hiruzen, what do you think about what happened today?!"

"What do you mean, what do I think? I'm looking at it with my eyes, of course!"

Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Hiruzen, you should understand what I mean!"

At that, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an eyebrow...

"No! I don't understand what you mean!"

Clutching his cane tightly, Shimura Danzō spoke.

"Hiruzen... hand Ito Hirofumi over to me! I'll train him into an excellent ninja! I'll make him Konoha's Big Root!"

"Danzō, aren't you reaching a little too far? Besides, your Root Organization doesn't seem to be short on ninja. Every year, a large number of excellent ninja join Root. It's not as if you're missing Ito Hirofumi, is it?"

"Hiruzen! Everything I do is for Konoha!!!"

At that, Hiruzen Sarutobi took another deep puff from his pipe...

Everything he did was for Konoha?

Heh...

"Hiruzen! Why aren't you saying anything?!"

"Danzō, there's no need to bring this up again. I won't hand Ito Hirofumi over to you. I've already contacted Jiraiya and asked him to return to the village to teach Ito Hirofumi!"

Hearing this, Shimura Danzō knitted his brows tightly. It looked like Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead set on competing with him for the boy!

"Hiruzen! Don't you think you're too greedy?! You did the same thing with Uchiha Sasuke, and with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki! Now there's Ito Hirofumi, and it's the same story all over again!"

Shimura Danzō looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who wore the Hokage Hat, through his narrowed eye.

"Danzō!!! Watch your words! What do you mean, I'm too greedy?! I'm the Hokage of Konoha! Everything I do is for Konoha!!!"

Danzō was at a loss for words. Wasn't that supposed to be my line?!

"Hiruzen!!!!"

"Danzō! That's enough! Ito Hirofumi will not join the Root Organization. I advise you to put those thoughts out of your mind!"

"Hiruzen!!! You'll regret this!!!"

"Danzō!!! I'm the Hokage!!!"

"You!!!" Shimura Danzō was speechless.

You're so great!

So noble!

You're the lofty Hokage!

You're the towering tree with spreading branches!

And what am I...?

I'm just a root hidden in the depths of darkness!

"Danzō, is there anything else? If not, I need to get to work!"

"Hmph! Fine!!!"

With that, Shimura Danzō stood up and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, thinking over what Ito Hirofumi had said earlier. He didn't actually know that much about the Three Great Sage Regions.

Compared to him, his three students knew much more about the Three Great Sage Regions.

But Orochimaru had defected, Tsunade had left Konoha in despair, and Jiraiya was wandering around outside like a drifter.

Sigh...

Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh, then picked up some documents and started reading.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't worried about Ito Hirofumi. Nor did he suspect that Ito Hirofumi had been lying, because the Ito Clan was staunchly on the Hokage's side!

The previous head of the Ito Clan, Ito Taiga, had been a member of his Shadow Guard when he was young. After growing older, Ito Taiga had settled down at home to enjoy his retirement.

The current head, Ito Aoyama, was just as staunchly on the Hokage's side!

So, however you looked at it, Ito Hirofumi was a fine, upstanding young man!

Meanwhile, at the Ninja Academy...

After school, Ito Hirofumi walked home alone, thinking about everything that had happened earlier.

He hadn't expected today's events to attract not only the attention of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, but also Shimura Danzō!

The Third Hokage was one thing. In the original story, he was a character with a mixed reputation. In his youth, he had been known as the Shinobi Hero.

But in his later years... sigh...

He was incredibly weak toward outsiders, yet constantly resorted to underhanded tactics against those within the village.

He let his good friend Danzō run rampant and stir up trouble throughout Konoha!

Hatake Sakumo had died by suicide.

His weak diplomacy had led to Hizashi Hyuga's death.

Of his three students, one had defected, one had left, and one had wandered off.

He had even manipulated Uzumaki Naruto. He let everyone find out that Naruto was the Nine-Tails Fox, causing countless people to despise him, then went and tried to win Naruto's favor himself.

He claimed that keeping Naruto's identity secret was meant to protect him...

Damn it, even ordinary villagers knew Naruto was the Nine-Tails Fox. What difference did it make whether his identity was officially revealed or not?!

But even so...

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would never make a move against him.

He would even try to win him over.

Just like what had happened at the Ninja Academy today: Hiruzen Sarutobi had made it clear that he wanted Jiraiya to take him on as a student.

So he didn't need to worry about that old man using underhanded tactics against him.

Danzō was the real schemer!

That old schemer would do anything to achieve his goals. Judging from what had happened today, Danzō had probably set his sights on him!

Just then, Ito Hirofumi suddenly felt a stir in his Summoning Space...

"Brat!!!"

At that moment, Uchiha Madara looked furious.

Ito Hirofumi kept walking toward the clan compound, while forming a ball of chakra in the Summoning Space inside his body. He saw Uchiha Madara there.

After gaining Indra's Chakra, Ito Hirofumi hadn't noticed any obvious improvement in his strength, but he found that he seemed to have become much more adept at using chakra.

And the speed at which he extracted chakra from his body had improved beyond comparison!

It even seemed as if his body was undergoing changes he couldn't understand...

But that was a good thing.

After all, his body was growing stronger by the day!

Ito Hirofumi could sense that very clearly.