"Are you challenging me tonight?"
With his hands clasped behind his back, Danzo stood in the courtyard and frowned at Kizaru.
Three days! It had been only three days since Kizaru had proposed challenging a Jonin from the Uchiha Clan during the graduation exam, and Danzo had insisted he first pass Danzo's own test.
Danzo had given him a whole month to prepare, but he'd only taken three days.
The boy seemed to be getting a little carried away!
All the praise from the village and the weakness of his peers had gone to his head over the past month. He'd grown arrogant and could no longer see himself clearly.
Danzo was both annoyed and worried.
This couldn't go on. Pride and arrogance were a genius's greatest enemies, and Danzo had to make Kizaru understand that.
Looking at the nephew in whom he had placed so much hope and trust, Danzo decided he needed to teach him a lesson out of love—to knock the arrogance and conceit out of him.
"I absolutely won't hold back during this test! Think it over carefully, Kizaru!" Danzo said, his voice growing sterner.
"How scary, Uncle!" Kizaru replied with a broad smile, paying no heed to Danzo's warning.
Hmph!
Danzo snorted inwardly, but kept his expression calm. Staring directly at Kizaru, he continued, "Since you're so confident, I'll accept. Eight o'clock tonight, at the clan's Training Ground. I'll be waiting."
"Don't worry, Uncle. I'll be there on time," Kizaru replied with a smile.
"Let's hope you don't disappoint me," Danzo said seriously.
"Then you'd better be ready. Don't let me scare you."
"Very well. I'll look forward to it." Danzo nodded.
As the two were talking, a figure dropped from the sky and landed on one knee before Danzo.
"Lord Danzo, Lord Hokage has arrived."
At the subordinate's report, Danzo gave a slight nod and waved a hand. "I understand. You may go."
Watching the man leave with the Body Flicker Technique, Kizaru realized Danzo had business to attend to and spoke up. "Then I'll see you tonight, Uncle!"
After saying this, Kizaru waved at Danzo and turned to leave before Danzo could respond.
The nerve of him!
Looking at that wrinkled, size-38 face, Danzo wanted to pull off his size-40 shoe and smack him with it.
Disgusting! Shameless!
It was bad enough that he'd stolen the Hokage position from Danzo back then. Now he wanted to steal Danzo's nephew too? And the student of his own student, no less!
It was like pressing one cheek against the other—one side shameless, the other thick-skinned!
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi standing before him with a cheerful grin, looking ready to take whatever insults or blows came his way, Danzo was seething!
But no matter how angry he was, he had to admit, for his nephew's future, that having Hiruzen Sarutobi—the shameless old bastard—as Kizaru's teacher would bring greater benefits.
If Orochimaru taught Kizaru, the highest position he could realistically compete for in the future would be Fifth Hokage, since the Sannin generation stood ahead of him.
But if Hiruzen Sarutobi became Kizaru's teacher, Kizaru would be eligible to compete for Fourth Hokage. He might even become the youngest Hokage in Konoha's history at the age of twenty.
The difference in timing was enormous. Danzo had no choice but to grit his teeth and admit that having Hiruzen Sarutobi teach Kizaru would bring far greater benefits than having Orochimaru do so.
"Does Orochimaru have no objections?" Though he had already agreed in his heart, Danzo was still in a sour mood and didn't accept outright.
Still wearing his kindly smile, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and replied slowly, "They have no objections."
Danzo nodded and said coldly, "In that case, I can only follow Lord Hokage's arrangement."
To mock Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo put particular emphasis on the words "Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi caught the sarcasm but wasn't offended. If anything, his smile grew wider.
"Danzo, it's not that I want to take Orochimaru's student from him. I'm doing this for the sake of the village and Kizaru's future. Do you know what happened yesterday afternoon? Kizaru defeated Jiraiya and put him in the hospital."
What?
Danzo was stunned, but he managed to keep a calm expression, steady as ever.
"Jiraiya didn't use his signature techniques because he wanted to keep his identity hidden. Even so, defeating him so easily is beyond what an ordinary Jonin could manage." Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, then praised Kizaru. "That boy really is something."
"Why did Jiraiya attack Kizaru?" Danzo was amazed by Kizaru's strength, but this mattered more to him.
"That was my fault," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, taking responsibility. "I told Jiraiya that Orochimaru planned to take Kizaru as his student. That hothead acted rashly. When he heard about Kizaru's reputation as a genius, he became curious, disguised himself as a ninja from another village, and ambushed the boy to test his abilities."
An ambush?
Danzo was even angrier now.
"Attacking a fellow villager is the act of a rogue ninja. Jiraiya—"
"I've already reprimanded him. Kizaru badly injured him; he has multiple fractures and is still in the hospital," Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted, hurrying to explain.
"That was outrageous!" Danzo said angrily.
"Young people act too rashly. We old-timers have to keep at it and continue guiding them." Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a sigh, trying to change the subject.
Danzo took the bait and nodded in agreement. "That's right! For the sake of the village's younger generation, we have to keep going!"
Whenever the conversation turned to this kind of thing, the two old foxes found plenty to agree on.
One spoke, then the other. They began reminiscing about the contributions they'd made over the years, recalling the hardships of the past and appreciating how much better things were now.
They also took the opportunity to complain about how easy the younger generation had it and how, compared with their own youth, the young people of today had become lazy and undisciplined.
"The children these days need more training!"
"Indeed! Each generation is worse than the last!"
The two ended the subject with these conclusive remarks.
After reminiscing about the past, Danzo's anger had subsided. Hiruzen Sarutobi even looked more agreeable to him now.
"That boy Kizaru plans to challenge me tonight. Why don't you come and watch, Hiruzen? You can use it to assess your student."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was already curious about Kizaru and eager to see him in action, so he accepted without hesitation.
"Hahaha! Very well. I'll definitely be there tonight. I want to see just how strong that boy Kizaru really is."
"I'll be waiting for you at the clan's Training Ground at eight tonight."