Building Momentum

It was still evening. Ye Yuexin had fallen asleep.

The meeting was still underway in Konoha's conference room. "All right, then we have no choice but to do it this way."

"We're short on manpower right now, so the plan will be delayed by three days. Make sure every border patrol squad in the Land of Fire is informed and ready to respond to a crisis at any moment."

"Fortunately, Minato Namikaze's team will be back from its mission in three days. We'll assign him the task of eliminating the Rock Ninja strike squad." After some discussion, the Third Hokage announced the final decision.

The Anbu member concealed in the shadows immediately accepted the order and went to carry it out.

Just as the meeting was about to end, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

The conference room was an important place, especially during a meeting.

If someone knocked at a time like this, then either the matter was urgent or they had received an order in advance.

The Third Hokage said, "Come in." A masked figure dressed in a black shinobi uniform entered. It was an Anbu member.

He came in, knelt on one knee, and held out a scroll. "Lord Third Hokage, the autopsy report is ready."

The Anbu's words reminded the Third Hokage of what he had said earlier. "Bring it here. I'll take a look."

The Anbu handed the report to the Third Hokage.

As the Third Hokage slowly read through it, his eyes widened without him even realizing it. It was rare to see such astonishment on his face.

The autopsy report clearly detailed the shinobi's abilities, based on an examination of his wounds. That was precisely why the Third Hokage was so shocked.

In Ye Yuexin's verbal report to him, Lin Mu had been described as a Chunin.

And Ye Yuexin had only managed to defeat him with Itachi Uchiha's help.

Itachi Uchiha had drawn the enemy's attention while Ye Yuexin hid and struck a fatal blow.

That was the story Ye Yuexin had worked out with Itachi beforehand.

After Ye Yuexin explained how telling the truth could put him in danger, Itachi Uchiha had agreed.

After all, what he had done was almost unbelievable. He had killed an elite Jonin right after graduating from the Ninja Academy.

He had shown far too much of his hand. Besides, Ye Yuexin knew he wasn't yet strong enough to be a Jonin.

There had been many reasons for his victory in that battle. Most of all, Lin Mu had been impatient and then let his guard down.

Under normal circumstances, an elite Jonin could easily have worn Ye Yuexin down until he collapsed from exhaustion.

A tree that stood above the forest would be battered by the wind. Ye Yuexin didn't want to attract special attention before he had grown strong enough.

But he would never have guessed that Konoha's Anbu were so skilled they could even measure the amount of chakra stored in a corpse.

"It seems Konoha has produced a genius," the Third Hokage remarked after a long look at the report.

The first to notice that something was up with the Third Hokage was his old teammate, Danzo. As soon as the Third Hokage said that, Danzo asked, "What happened?"

"Have a look yourselves." The Third Hokage placed the report scroll on the table. The three elders read it together.

For a moment, not a sound could be heard.

After a while, Danzo spoke first. "So the Rock Ninja named Lin Mu was actually an elite Jonin?"

"And according to the report and the information from the rescue team, he was defeated by a Genin who had only just graduated from the Ninja Academy!" His words turned into a question at the end. Even Danzo, who had seen his share of storms, couldn't help losing his composure.

Once he had calmed down, he said seriously, "If this is true, his talent may already be approaching Minato Namikaze's."

Minato Namikaze's reputation was now approaching its peak, thanks to the battle against the Sand Ninja. The enemy had already begun calling him Konoha's Yellow Flash.

According to reports from the front, the fighting on the Sand Ninja battlefield had ended under the leadership of Tsunade and Minato Namikaze.

Hearing Danzo's assessment, the other two elders nodded in agreement.

Then Danzo changed tack. "Hiruzen, hand him over to me. Minato Namikaze is already a suitable successor. Root still doesn't have a worthy genius to train as an heir. Ye Yuexin will surely become the Hokage's finest aide."

Looking at the report on the table, all sorts of plans began taking shape in Danzo's mind.

But before Danzo could finish imagining them, the Third Hokage rejected him. "Impossible, Danzo. Ye Yuexin is a civilian, and his background is completely clean. Given the current situation, we need to train him in the open. The Third Shinobi World War has brought civilians too much pain. What they need now is a rising star who can give them hope of starting anew—a symbol that Konoha's flames will burn on, and that a new spark has already begun to glow."

"Among this class of new graduates, I intend to focus on training Ye Yuexin."

"I agree."

After hearing the Third Hokage, the two elders besides Danzo considered it for a moment, then voiced their support.

"Sarutobi! You can't just—" Seeing Danzo glare furiously with his one eye, the Third Hokage immediately raised a hand to stop him.

This wasn't the first time. Danzo always complained like this.

But it was true that Danzo had done a lot of things that the Hokage couldn't handle himself. Those shadowy deeds hadn't happened without someone lending a hand.

"Danzo, as compensation, I agree to your previous proposal to have Shisui Uchiha join Root," the Third Hokage said calmly.

The Third Hokage could still treat the Uchiha fairly, but when it came to Shisui Uchiha and Ye Yuexin, he chose Ye Yuexin without hesitation.

Only then did Danzo's expression improve a little.

"Hmph."

He still let out an unhappy snort.

The Third Hokage then turned to the Anbu member who had brought the report. "Pass the news of Genin Ye Yuexin's accomplishments on to the civilians. Then send a copy of the intelligence to the shinobi on the front lines."

"Yes, Lord Third Hokage." The Third Hokage was clearly building up Ye Yuexin's reputation.

A genius needed exceptional talent and constant hard work to grow. But a hero needed more than that.

Above all, a hero needed a reputation—prestige.

The Third Hokage had originally planned to train Kakashi Hatake, thanks to his guilt over the White Fang of Konoha and Kakashi's own outstanding talent.

But after Kakashi Hatake joined the Anbu and went through their training, his personality changed drastically. It was as if he had gone astray.

Until he changed, Kakashi Hatake was no longer suited to being promoted in the public eye.

A hero beloved by the people needed more than talent and strength. Most importantly, he had to be approachable.

So, after Minato Namikaze, the Third Hokage decided that Kakashi Hatake and Ye Yuexin would be the focus of training as the next pillars of Konoha.

As Hokage, he had to think far ahead. He absolutely had to prevent a gap in leadership.

Of course, the reason he could make this decision so easily was that both of them had clean backgrounds. Other potential sources of instability would still need to be investigated.

But for now, he could afford to give them a little more support.

[New book just released... Please consider bookmarking it and letting it build up before reading. Your support means a lot... Thank you, everyone.] It was two in the morning, and I've been working night shifts lately. I hope you all sleep well.