Kido!?

After a night's rest.

Early the next morning, Sosuke woke up.

After washing up and having breakfast, Sosuke got dressed and prepared to head to Konoha Forest.

It was where he had secretly trained on his own for a long time.

He gripped the dark green Kyoka Suigetsu tightly and slanted it at his waist.

A hint of excitement appeared on Sosuke's face.

Yesterday, Kyoka Suigetsu had told him that today she would teach him some special "ninjutsu."

These unique "ninjutsu" might help him climb to greater heights all the faster!

Sosuke couldn't help getting excited. As an orphan who had lost his village, he hadn't had many chances to learn ninjutsu.

Even at the Ninja Academy, their group of soon-to-graduate Genin had hardly any opportunities to learn those astonishingly powerful techniques!

As Sosuke understood it,

the rise of the ninja had accompanied the decline of the samurai era.

And ninjutsu

was what set ninja apart from samurai—and even made them far superior.

Ninjutsu involved refining the chakra within one's body and putting it to use, or pushing the body to undergo terrifying changes beyond the limits of ordinary people.

Every ninja village had its own distinctive techniques, and they were among the village's most closely guarded secrets!

In Konoha, Fire Release Ninjutsu was naturally the most renowned.

As for students like them who hadn't yet graduated from the Ninja Academy, all they learned were the most basic Three Body Technique, a C-rank technique like Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, and a few other skills.

Most of their training, however, focused on throwing ninja tools and Taijutsu!

As for those A-rank and even S-rank techniques,

only ninja who had made tremendous contributions to their village or completed a sufficient number of missions could learn them.

Of course, there were exceptions: secret techniques passed down through clans!

The famous Hyuga Clan and Uchiha Clan of Konoha, for instance, allowed their members to learn powerful clan techniques at an early age. They might even look down on the village's ninjutsu that Sosuke yearned for but couldn't obtain.

With excitement in his heart, Sosuke arrived at Konoha Forest.

There stood a huge tree trunk that looked covered in scars. Its bark had long since fallen away, and its thick trunk was riddled with mottled wounds and bloodstains.

They were all marks of Sosuke's past hard work and training!

Sosuke raised a hand and gently adjusted his black glasses as he looked at these traces of history.

Seeing the blood and sweat of his past, he couldn't help but lose himself in thought.

Just then!

"No one succeeds overnight. Even the so-called strong are merely the products of time and effort. But in front of you, Sosuke, their strength will eventually become nothing more than a stepping stone to serve you."

Kyoka Suigetsu appeared beside him, though no one knew when she had arrived.

She leaned casually against a tree, her gaze fixed on Sosuke. Her vermilion lips parted as she spoke to him in a beguiling voice.

Sosuke, still young, only glanced at her. He didn't reply. Beneath the black frames of his glasses, his eyes narrowed slightly!

Bang!

A flash of silver-white blade light!

The great tree that had borne witness to Sosuke's past crashed to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust!

He slowly slid the blade back into its sheath at his waist.

White light flashed across his lenses, making it impossible to see what he was thinking.

"Let's begin, Kyoka Suigetsu. I'm very interested in the Kido you've been telling me about!"

Sosuke spoke softly, as gentle and courteous as ever.

Kyoka Suigetsu wasn't surprised by Sosuke's sudden move. She walked toward him slowly, as if nothing had happened.

Her beautiful floral-patterned kimono looked especially lovely beneath the dappled sunlight.

She gazed at Sosuke's faintly smiling face and spoke in her delicate voice.

"As you wish, Sosuke."

The smile at the corner of her mouth seemed to grow even wider!

Inside the Hokage Office.

For some reason, Suzuki-sensei had been summoned and was now giving a detailed report on the Ninja Academy's Taijutsu test from the day before!

Besides Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, three other major figures from the village were in the office!

Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and a one-eyed man with a cross-shaped scar on his chin—Shimura Danzō!

After Suzuki-sensei finished speaking, Lord Hokage dismissed him.

Inside the office, the Third Hokage sat with his hands clasped on the desk, staring intently at the other three as he asked,

"Well, what do you think of those three children?"

At the Third Hokage's question, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both nodded.

After thinking for a moment, Mitokado Homura looked at the Third Hokage and said,

"Hiruzen, Tsunade and Orochimaru are both good children. They're excellent in both talent and temperament. We have no objections to your taking them as disciples, but as for that Jiraiya..."

He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and continued.

"I don't think that child is level-headed enough! By contrast, Sosuke would be a good choice. Why not consider him?"

At his words, the Third Hokage furrowed his brow slightly as he looked over the files on the children on the desk, his thoughts unreadable.

After a while,

he raised his head and looked at Mitokado Homura and the others with a resolute gaze.

"I've met that boy named Jiraiya before. Though he's rather carefree, there's no doubt that he has a strong Will of Fire. I can see how much he loves the village in his eyes!"

"I also believe he'll become an excellent ninja!"

After speaking, he lightly tapped his fingers on the desk, his eyes seeming to drift into memory.

"As for Sosuke, he's an excellent child, but I still insist on choosing Jiraiya!"

In the end, he didn't tell them that when he had rushed to that house, the Sand shinobi had already been slaughtered, dead without a chance to fight back.

Only a small child, just a few years old, remained, lying in a pool of blood. That child was Sosuke!

Over the past few years, he had often kept an eye on the boy, but had found nothing unusual. He could see how much the child loved the village.

Even so, Hiruzen Sarutobi still had reservations about him, and ultimately hadn't chosen him as a disciple.

After he finished speaking, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu stopped objecting. They could only let Hiruzen Sarutobi choose Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya as his disciples!

Just then, Shimura Danzō, who had been sitting off to the side with his eyes closed, suddenly spoke.

A faint glimmer shone in his open eye.

"I want to take that child, Sosuke, as my disciple."

His words immediately astonished the other three!

Mitokado Homura looked at him sternly.

"Danzō, do you know what you're saying?"

"Your Root organization has already made the people in the village quite unhappy. If you take a civilian child as your disciple now, do you think they'll let you do as you please?"

Utatane Koharu also urged him,

"That's right, Danzō. The people in the village won't agree to Root being handed over to a civilian in the future. Are you sure you want to take him as your disciple?"

Their words didn't sway Shimura Danzō.

He simply remained composed and stood by his decision.

The Third Hokage looked at him sternly as well.

At last, he sighed.

"Danzō, treat that child well!"

Deep beneath Konoha, the newly established Root organization was still being completed.

Shimura Danzō walked through the dark corridors.

The clacking of his wooden sandals echoed continuously through the passageways.

He murmured softly,

"Sosuke, huh... Hiruzen... let's see whose disciple will be stronger..."