A ninja in an Anbu uniform and a cat mask suddenly appeared before Sarutobi Hiruzen and dropped to one knee.
"Lord Hokage!"
"Speak!"
"It's about the Uchiha Clan..."
Chapter 7
The Anbu Ninja's words made Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow furrow.
Asuma had been defeated by that blind Uchiha?
And seemingly with ease—Asuma hadn't stood a chance to fight back.
Asuma was certainly rebellious.
But no matter what, he had passed Hiruzen's assessment and become a Chunin.
As far as strength went, Asuma had met the minimum requirements to become a Chunin.
Sarutobi Hiruzen wouldn't give Asuma special treatment in that regard.
Becoming a Chunin sooner meant being sent to the front lines sooner.
That wasn't a good thing for Asuma.
As a Genin, even if he went to the battlefield, he'd only be doing menial work.
And yet Asuma had been beaten by Chiba in a single exchange.
There was only one explanation.
His opponent was far stronger than Asuma.
"I understand. You may go."
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved a hand.
The Anbu Ninja vanished at once.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had never paid any attention to Uchiha Chiba, the blind Uchiha.
A Uchiha without the Sharingan wasn't worth worrying about.
Besides, Chiba's birth had simply been a tool Sarutobi Hiruzen used to keep the Uchiha Clan in check.
The Senju Clan had fallen into decline.
The Uchiha Clan was Konoha's largest clan.
It was only right to put them in their place and warn them when necessary.
Chiba's birth had merely presented a convenient opportunity.
Making an example of a blind Uchiha had been an easy thing for Sarutobi Hiruzen to do.
But now, it seemed...
This blind Uchiha might not be so simple after all.
With that thought, Sarutobi Hiruzen lit his pipe and took a long, deep drag.
After hesitating for a moment, he pulled a sheet of paper from his desk.
He wrote down Uchiha Chiba's name, then added "Sharingan" beside it and put a question mark next to that.
"What do you think about this...?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly spoke, seemingly to himself.
But someone answered him.
"The Sharingan is everything to the Uchiha. Once it awakens, the Uchiha Clan's strength will increase by leaps and bounds. That much is certain."
The man who entered from the doorway had bandages wrapped around his right eye.
He was one of Konoha's High Command—and the darkness of Konoha—Shimura Danzō.
If the Anbu had received the news, there was no way his Root Division hadn't. Compared to the Anbu, Root kept an even closer watch on the Uchiha.
Danzō came to stand beside Sarutobi Hiruzen and spoke calmly.
"This Uchiha Chiba's growth is far too abnormal."
There had been precedents, like Kakashi, who became a Chunin at six.
But Kakashi had at least received training at the Ninja Academy.
More importantly, Uchiha Chiba was blind.
That alone meant he would need talent more than ten times greater than Kakashi's to achieve all this.
Such abnormal growth was already worth paying attention to.
Especially since he belonged to the Uchiha Clan.
Hearing Danzō's words, Sarutobi Hiruzen drew deeply on his pipe and slowly exhaled.
"Is it still because of...the Sharingan?"
Danzō nodded.
"Without a doubt."
"He's been blind since birth. There are two possibilities."
"First, it could be a congenital defect, a physical impairment. But given what we've seen, that seems unlikely."
"The second possibility is that his Sharingan awakened while he was still in his mother's womb. His tiny body couldn't withstand the powerful ocular force, and he lost his sight as a result."
"Whether the blindness is permanent or temporary, we can't know. The Sharingan still holds many mysteries."
"If that's the case, it would explain his abnormal rate of growth."
That was right—it was still because of the Sharingan.
Once the Sharingan awakened,
the Uchiha Clan gained far more than powerful visual perception.
Their speed, strength, chakra... everything would improve.
It was something every ninja dreamed of.
"I could look into researching him."
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved a hand.
"He's still just a child, a young and impressionable one."
"Even though he's a member of the Uchiha Clan, he can still be molded."
"He needs proper guidance."
Danzō said nothing in response.
Compared to Chiba, he preferred Itachi Uchiha.
Chiba had indeed displayed extraordinary talent, but...his shortcoming was also fatal.
Since he couldn't see, even the greatest talent only held half as much interest for Danzō.
Itachi Uchiha's talent and Sharingan, on the other hand, were plain to see.
More importantly, he was the Uchiha Clan Head's son.
If Danzō could get his hands on Itachi Uchiha, he might be able to get his hands on the future of the Uchiha Clan as well.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had his own thoughts about Danzō's intentions.
Though the two of them were both members of Konoha's High Command, they were hardly on the same side.
Sarutobi Hiruzen would make use of Danzō, but he would also keep an eye on him.
That was politics.
There were no eternal friends, and no eternal enemies.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen called over an Anbu.
"Lord Hokage, what are your orders?"
"Tell Asuma not to go looking for trouble with Uchiha Chiba... He lost to a child who hasn't even started school yet. What a disgrace!"
"Yes!"
After receiving the order, the Anbu quickly vanished from sight.
Danzō also slipped away without a sound.
Sarutobi Hiruzen tidied the documents on his desk, took a deep breath, and slowly stood up.
He put away his pipe and straightened his clothes.
When he opened the door and stepped out of the Hokage Office,
the stern look on his face vanished, replaced at once by a kind and gentle expression.
He looked completely different from the man who had been in the office moments earlier.
That was because he was about to face a group of children who knew nothing yet, as innocent as blank sheets of paper.
The entrance ceremony.
As Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen attended it every year without fail.
It was a necessary part of imparting the Will of Fire.
To prevent traitors from emerging in Konoha, this process of indoctrination was essential.
A prodigy had to be a Konoha prodigy.
Without exception.
Chapter 8
The Ninja Academy was sure to be bustling today.
Ever since the Second Hokage founded the Ninja Academy and it began producing good results,
the number of children enrolling each year had steadily increased.
That trend would continue.
War was a catalyst for the development of ninja, while peacetime was the perfect opportunity to build up their numbers.
Only after graduating from the Ninja Academy would someone be officially registered as a ninja of Konoha.
That was why, no matter how talented you were,
if you wanted to become a ninja, attending the Ninja Academy was a must.
However, since it was wartime,
the students' time at the Academy would be much shorter than it was during peacetime.
In this era, a six-year-old entering the Academy and graduating at twelve, like Naruto and Sasuke, was out of the question.
The training period was simply too long.
The supply of new ninja couldn't keep up with the toll of war.