The Game Behind the Scenes

Hiruzen Sarutobi left.

As the Hokage, he was a man of many affairs and could not stay for long.

Before departing, Hiruzen observed the practical application of the Rasengan and once again showered Kizaru with praise for his wildly imaginative and genius-level ideas.

Without knowing the specific training method for the Rasengan, Hiruzen relied solely on his keen eye and experience to accurately classify it as an A-rank ninjutsu.

At the same time, Hiruzen offered Kizaru several suggestions regarding the further development of the Rasengan.

The core of his advice was to combine chakra nature transformation with the Rasengan to further enhance its lethality.

After listening to Hiruzen's suggestions, Kizaru couldn't help but sigh inwardly; his teacher truly lived up to the title of "Professor of Ninjutsu."

Having finished sharing his thoughts and advice, Hiruzen informed his student that the candidate for his graduation examination had been decided.

Uchiha Kensuke, 30 years old, promoted to Jonin three years ago, was an elite ninja of the Uchiha Clan who had awakened the Sharingan.

Skilled in swordsmanship and Fire Release, he was a ninja with impressive strength in both taijutsu and ninjutsu.

The selection of Uchiha Kensuke was the result of negotiations between Hiruzen and the leaders of the Uchiha Clan.

Of course, the two sides held very different motives.

Hiruzen chose this man because of his rational and calm temperament; even if defeated by Kizaru, he would not resort to any extreme actions.

As for the Uchiha Clan, their reason was simple: he was powerful and possessed restraint.

His outstanding strength would ensure that Kensuke could defeat Kizaru, preventing the Uchiha from losing face by falling to a six-year-old child.

His restraint would ensure that Kensuke wouldn't be too impulsive during the exam, avoiding any irreparable situations.

By now, Kizaru's challenge against an Uchiha Jonin was no longer a simple matter of a ninja academy student graduating early.

Behind this battle lay the power struggle between the Hokage's faction and the Uchiha Clan.

If Kizaru could defeat Uchiha Kensuke, he would not only solidify his reputation as a once-in-a-generation talent but also trample upon the pride of the Uchiha, reaping massive fame and laying a solid foundation for his future bid for the position of Hokage.

Conversely, if Uchiha Kensuke defeated Kizaru, the Uchiha Clan could use this victory to stabilize their status and reputation as the strongest clan in Konoha, while simultaneously diminishing the influence of Danzo and the Shimura Clan within the village.

Regarding this battle, the Uchiha Clan head and elders, who only knew of Kizaru's performance at the academy, were extremely confident.

How could an elite ninja—who was in his physical prime, possessed the Sharingan, had been a Jonin for three years, and had completed numerous missions with rich combat experience—possibly lose to a mere six-year-old child?

Even if Shimura Kizaru possessed astonishing talent and truly held the strength of a Jonin, he had no real combat experience. Facing a seasoned Uchiha elite Jonin, he had absolutely no chance of winning.

Unless Shimura Kizaru was the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths, or Uchiha Kensuke had been bought off by the Hokage's faction to throw the match.

Otherwise, the Uchiha Clan head and elders simply couldn't conceive of how they could lose this fight.

For a mere six-year-old child to defeat an elite Uchiha Jonin was nothing short of a fantasy!

On the other side, Hiruzen and Danzo, who were well aware of Kizaru's true strength, had no concerns about the outcome.

These two old foxes were already considering how to reap the greatest benefits once the examination concluded.

Kizaru sensed the maneuvering behind the scenes and roughly guessed the intentions of both sides.

However, Kizaru didn't care and had no desire to pay them any mind.

He challenged the Uchiha Jonin for only two reasons: first, to vent his frustration on behalf of his subordinate Zen-hiko, and second, to harvest fame and advance the progress of his Fusion Progress Bar.

With no ulterior motives and no complex thoughts, he simply followed his heart!

After meeting with Hiruzen, Kizaru's days continued as they always had.

Slacking off at school, training after hours, and when he had nothing to do, drinking tea and fishing—relaxed and leisurely!

Time slipped away quickly amidst Kizaru's laid-back lifestyle.

In the blink of an eye, several months had passed.

During this period, nothing major occurred, and the village remained very peaceful.

Outside the village, however, a powerful figure named Hanzo of the Salamander in the Land of Rain's Amegakure was stirring, looking to pull off something big.

Now the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo was at the peak of his physical condition and power.

His immense strength fueled his growing ambition—an ambition so great that he wanted to challenge the status of the Five Great Nations and their hidden villages to become the sixth Kage!

The Kage of the five great ninja villages were well aware of Hanzo's actions and intentions.

Naturally, they would not tolerate the emergence of such a challenger.

The "cake" of the Shinobi World was only so big, and five people were already eating their fill.

Now, some ambitious fellow had popped up, wanting a slice!

The attitude of the Five Kage toward this was clear: keep dreaming!

For Hanzo and Amegakure to be pawns at the table, eating the scraps left behind by the great powers, was already a generous enough position.

Yet, he was unsatisfied and actually dared to dream of becoming a player? He was simply tired of living!

Over these past few months, the two names Kizaru heard most often from his uncle Danzo were Hanzo of the Salamander and Namikaze Minato.

Hanzo was the ambitious man Danzo insisted must be controlled or eliminated, while Minato was the one Danzo coveted.

After speaking with Kizaru and receiving his reminder, Danzo had spent over a month carefully observing Namikaze Minato.

The more he observed, the more Danzo affirmed Namikaze Minato's talent and character; he made up his mind that he must take this boy as his foster son.

Having made his decision, the seasoned Danzo did not act directly, but instead took advantage of the opportunity when Namikaze Minato went to the clan's Training Ground every day to train with Zen-hiko and the others.

He specifically went to the Training Ground to watch the children train, then revealed himself to point out their problems and guide their practice.

In short, over these few months, Danzo successfully established the image of a stern yet kind mentor in front of Namikaze Minato.

Kizaru, who saw through Danzo's intentions, couldn't help but sigh that his uncle still had a sharp mind when he put it to use!

Kizaru did not expose Danzo's sinister plot to abduct the little boy; on the contrary, he supported it.

Having watched the anime, Kizaru was very clear about Namikaze Minato's talent and his future strength.

If Danzo could truly take Namikaze Minato as his foster son and have Minato join the Shimura clan, it would be an excellent thing for the family.

Not only would it greatly enhance the clan's strength in the future, but it could also prevent certain tragedies from occurring.