The Third Hokage's Considerations

Honestly, from the moment the Third Hokage first met Ueno Kei, he had considered taking him on as a student. Perhaps the look in Ueno Kei's eyes at that moment had reminded the Third Hokage of something from the past.

The Third Hokage had strongly felt that as long as Ueno Kei had the potential to become a ninja, he would take him on as a student and carefully train him, even if his talent was somewhat lacking.

Strictly speaking, this idea of the Third Hokage's was unrealistic—unworkable, even. The Fourth Hokage's death, the village's tangled internal affairs, and the endless entanglements among the Five Great Shinobi Villages...

There were also problems that needed to be handled between Konoha Ninja Village itself and the Land of Fire.

A whole host of matters had fallen to the Third Hokage, an old man already halfway into his grave.

Why had the Third Hokage returned to the position after the Fourth Hokage died? Wasn't it because there was no one suitable in the village to entrust with such a heavy responsibility?

The people with the ability and prestige were the Third Hokage's three former students. But Orochimaru had defected, Senju Tsunade was nowhere to be found, and Jiraiya had no desire to become Hokage.

Some could take the position of Hokage and were willing to shoulder its responsibilities, but their status made them unsuitable. Hyuga Hiashi, for example, was heavily constrained by his position as head of the Hyuga Clan.

If the head of the Hyuga Clan became Hokage, would Konoha be the village of the Land of Fire, or the village of the Hyuga Clan?

Others lacked a little in ability and prestige. Take one of the Fourth Hokage's subordinates, Hatake Kakashi. The Hatake were one of the ninja clans in Konoha, but the clan had fallen into decline.

Their last glory had been the father of Hatake Kakashi, the man once known as the White Fang of Konoha, whose strength had even surpassed that of the Sannin. After Hatake Sakumo's death, that glory had all but vanished.

But Hatake Kakashi's strength and prestige within the village held him back a little.

The Third Hokage did think Hatake Kakashi would make a good Hokage, but not yet. As for the other ninjas in the village, they were even less worth mentioning.

That was why the Third Hokage had been so busy when he took up the Hokage position again after the Fourth Hokage's death. So, at the time, the idea of taking Ueno Kei on as a student had been somewhat impractical.

After all, the Third Hokage had little time to teach a student.

Still, although this reason had made the Third Hokage hesitate for a moment, he had soon reaffirmed his decision. It hadn't made him give up on taking Ueno Kei on as a student.

The reason he hadn't taken Ueno Kei on earlier was that he wanted to observe the boy first—to understand him from every angle, including his personality and character.

Of course, this didn't mean sending someone to watch Ueno Kei. That would go against Konoha's rules, and it wasn't what the Third Hokage wanted, either.

So, for more than three years, whenever he had a free moment, the Third Hokage had used his own Crystal Ball to observe Ueno Kei.

Of course, because Ueno Kei had come into contact with Uzumaki Naruto, the Third Hokage had still ordered Anbu to keep an eye on him, just to be safe.

The scenes he observed through the Crystal Ball, together with the information reported by Anbu, gradually gave the Third Hokage a clear picture of Ueno Kei's general temperament and approach to things.

The Third Hokage had even happened to be observing Konoha with the Crystal Ball when Ueno Kei obtained the Lingyu Blade, and had witnessed the whole thing by chance.

Over those three years, the last trace of hesitation in the Third Hokage's heart had finally faded. Even without the Kurama Clan incident, he had planned to step forward and take Ueno Kei on as a student. After all, having observed him so often, the Third Hokage knew that although the boy was a little slow when it came to techniques...

He had built a very solid foundation, was diligent, and could endure hardship. He also often read books related to ninjas.

There was nothing left for the Ninja Academy to teach Ueno Kei.

Graduating early would be a good thing.

The Kurama Clan incident had simply been an unexpected turn of events. The Third Hokage had just taken the opportunity to step forward and take Ueno Kei on as a student.

Could Ueno Kei remain loyal to Konoha for his entire life and devote everything he had to the village? The Third Hokage couldn't be a hundred percent certain.

After all, there were plenty of rogue ninjas these days, and one of the Third Hokage's own students had become one.

Still, the Third Hokage could be quite certain that Ueno Kei was someone who repaid kindness. At heart, Ueno Kei was a good person. The Third Hokage, who had met countless people, was sure of that.

Even with his former student who had defected, Orochimaru—had he really defected just for his own selfish interests, hoping to overthrow Konoha?

There had to be deep reasons behind it. The Third Hokage's life experience made it impossible for him to have completely misjudged someone.

Even now, the Third Hokage trusted Ueno Kei this much. Just as his appearance suggested, the Third Hokage had grown very old. He was only holding on through the prestige and reputation he had earned in the past. But how much longer could that last? Three years? Or five?

His body was growing weaker by the day, and his strength was slowly declining. He could barely maintain Kage Level strength now, but he was no longer comparable to his prime.

Not only did the choice of the next Hokage need to be put on the agenda immediately...

The Third Hokage also wanted to do everything he could to cultivate promising young people of Ueno Kei's generation, so that after his death, they could become pillars of Konoha.

Like the White Fang, the Sannin, the Yellow Flash, and Ino-Shika-Cho during the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars—heroes who had struck fear into ninjas from other villages. There were many members of the new generation whom the Third Hokage had high hopes for.

But those people all had special family backgrounds or identities. The Third Hokage didn't need to worry about their futures. Even Uzumaki Naruto's future had long since been arranged.

The Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki and the Fourth Hokage's orphan! Such a person, with such a special identity, was of great importance in Konoha! To say nothing of the fact that Hatake Kakashi, currently in the village and regarded as the ninja most likely to succeed the Hokage, had been among the early graduates of the Ninja Academy.

His team leader had been Uzumaki Naruto's biological father, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato!

As one of the Fourth Hokage's subordinates, Hatake Kakashi would never leave Naruto to fend for himself, whether out of duty or affection. For the past few years, he simply hadn't been able to approach Naruto because of orders from the Konoha High Command.

Otherwise, Hatake Kakashi had even considered taking Uzumaki Naruto into his own home and raising him. Even so, not long ago the Third Hokage had decided that after graduating, Uzumaki Naruto would join Hatake Kakashi's team so Kakashi could look after him.

Of course, Ueno Kei knew none of this. All the young sprouts of Konoha whom the Third Hokage valued had been assigned instructors to teach them.

Ueno Kei was the sole exception.

You had to understand: after graduating from the Ninja Academy, ordinary ninjas usually joined teams led by Chunin. But Uzumaki Naruto and that Byakugan boy in the same class as Ueno Kei, Hyuga Neji, were different. As soon as they graduated, they would be led by Jonin.

And not just any Jonin, either. They were among the strongest Jonin, or had a particular specialty!

P.S. What if I told you I wrote this chapter yesterday after drinking too much and getting really excited? Would you believe me... Ahem. Anyway, considering Ye's hard work writing even during the New Year, please give me more recommendation tickets. It's already been a hundred thousand words, and I've gotten fewer than five hundred recommendations... I'm so miserable.