Surprise

"Lightning and Fire attributes?" Ueno Kei widened his eyes slightly, murmuring to himself with a hint of joy on his face. Although Ueno Kei did not understand the implications of possessing two chakra attributes as clearly as the Third Hokage did, he was well aware that most ninjas were born with only one.

Possessing two chakra attributes meant that, in a sense, his foundation was far stronger than that of other ninjas at his level. Chakra attributes could counter one another; even before he had entered the ninja profession, Ueno Kei had been very clear on this point.

Water beats Fire, Fire beats Wind, Wind beats Lightning, Lightning beats Earth, and Earth beats Water. In Ueno Kei's previous life, this was an obvious principle, and it did not hinder his understanding of the elemental counter-relationships between ninjutsu.

With his Lightning and Fire attributes, if he encountered a Water-style ninja, he could use Lightning-style ninjutsu to counter them. If he met a ninja with Wind-style chakra, he could use Fire to suppress them, thereby avoiding the disadvantage of being countered himself.

From this perspective, Ueno Kei held a significant advantage.

Of course, battles between ninjas were not such simple comparisons. After all, one had to consider taijutsu, genjutsu, personal experience, kekkei genkai, and many other factors. What was mentioned here was merely a relative comparison.

"Hmm." The Third Hokage nodded slightly, understanding Ueno Kei's excitement.

The Third Hokage looked at the excited Ueno Kei and pondered for a moment, as if considering something of great importance, before seemingly making up his mind.

He stood up, beckoned slightly to Ueno Kei, and said, "Kei, come with me!"

Ueno Kei immediately replied, "Yes, Sarutobi-sensei." Hearing the Third Hokage's call, Ueno Kei stood up at once, his expression returning to its previous calm.

The Third Hokage walked slowly through the quiet corridor with his hands clasped behind his back, his signature pipe clenched between his teeth.

Ueno Kei followed silently and unhurriedly behind the Third Hokage. He did not ask where they were going, as it was an unnecessary question.

The journey was not long.

After only a short distance, the Third Hokage led Ueno Kei to a room not far from his own.

Right there, Ueno Kei vaguely sensed several hidden auras. He knew these were the Anbu guarding the shadows.

It was only because his strength had increased over the past few years and he had survived the intense battle during the Kurama Clan incident that he could barely perceive these few presences.

But that was the extent of it. How could the Anbu guarding the Hokage's residence be so easily detected by someone with only the strength of a chunin like Ueno Kei?

Not to mention the even more elite members of the Hokage Guard Platoon.

Even the few Anbu that Ueno Kei could sense were only faintly aware that someone with decent strength was hiding nearby.

If the opponents did not make a move, Ueno Kei would never be able to pinpoint their exact locations.

In other words, these few Anbu could ambush Ueno Kei from the shadows at any time, which made him even more vigilant—though, of course, his vigilance was not directed at these Anbu.

Ueno Kei simply lamented that his strength was still far from enough; he had to maintain a sense of urgency.

The Third Hokage stood before the door, his hands moving quickly through a series of hand seals before pressing gently against the empty air. Ueno Kei noticed something like a ripple in the air, which fluctuated for a moment before returning to stillness.

A barrier! The word flashed through Ueno Kei's mind, immediately followed by a wave of confusion. To have a barrier protecting the room in addition to the Anbu in the shadows—what exactly was kept inside? It went without saying that it must be something of immense value, surely one of Konoha's most critical secrets.

The Third Hokage ignored Ueno Kei's puzzled expression. Once the fluctuations had completely ceased, he slowly pushed open the door and led Ueno Kei inside.

As Ueno Kei entered, the door behind him closed slowly. He curiously scanned the room's interior, and to his surprise, the furnishings were extremely simple. There were only a few bookshelves filled with scrolls.

Although the setup was simple, Ueno Kei immediately realized where he was. Those dazzling arrays of scrolls surely contained either ninjutsu or top-secret documents of Konoha Ninja Village.

Ueno Kei's breathing grew slightly rapid.

The chakra test paper, the room filled with scrolls of ninjutsu—the meaning behind the Third Hokage bringing him here was self-evident.

For Ueno Kei, this was a massive temptation. No, one could say that for any ninja, this was a massive temptation.

How many ninjutsu were recorded by a fully established ninja village? How many were recorded by the Five Great Ninja Villages? And how many of those were held by Konoha, the greatest of the five?

That was a number no one could even imagine.

In Ueno Kei's view, aside from a few special forbidden techniques or kekkei genkai, Konoha likely possessed copies of almost every other ninjutsu in existence.

Since the last battle, beyond reflecting on his heart and thoughts, Ueno Kei had also deeply reflected on his combat style.

It was too monotonous! Before, Ueno Kei had felt that he could fight alongside jonin and stand against monsters like Ido, believing his strength was at least decent among Konoha's chunin.

Later, in the quiet of the night, when Ueno Kei reflected on himself, he found that thought laughable.

His chakra levels were barely comparable to a chunin, and his combat experience was limited to that single, thin encounter. If he stripped away the Wind Wing Sword Technique, what did he have left?

Exactly. The answer was clear: nothing. He was just an ordinary kid from the Ninja Academy. Aside from being more mature than the other children, what else was there?

Once his classmates graduated, those from ninja clans would easily learn their family techniques and quickly leave him in the dust.

At the very least, that guy with the Byakugan would certainly leave Ueno Kei far behind.

In that battle, neither the head of the Kurama Clan nor Yuhi Kurenai had truly unleashed the strength of a jonin. Ido's strength hadn't been as high as imagined, and both Kurama Yeqiong and Yuhi Kurenai had been held back by their hesitation when facing Kurama Yakumo.

Having realized this, Ueno Kei understood clearly that his current situation was defined by a lack of combat experience and a lack of usable ninjutsu.

The Third Hokage had solved both for him: joining the Anbu, and bringing him here tonight.

I wonder how many ninjutsu Sarutobi-sensei will teach me, Ueno Kei mused to himself.

But then, the Third Hokage's next action made Ueno Kei gasp and widen his eyes in shock. The Third Hokage didn't touch any of the scrolls on the shelves.

Instead, he gently retrieved a massive scroll from a large cabinet in the room, upon which were written four large characters: Scroll of Sealing!