Leading Jonin

Mo shook his head. "I said I needed to discuss it with the clan first, so I turned it down for now."

"Good!" Fugaku suddenly grew excited. Then he stared directly into Mo's eyes and said, "Mo, lately, the clan members have become increasingly dissatisfied with the Uchiha Clan's current standing. I hope you can join the ANBU as an Uchiha. While attaining a higher position, you can also convey more of the Uchiha Clan's demands to the village."

At this point in time, the conservatives still held the upper hand within the Uchiha Clan, so Fugaku did not directly ask Mo to become a spy.

Mo frowned slightly. He did not particularly care whether he joined the ANBU, but the ANBU offered far too little freedom. Joining the ANBU at this point in time was clearly not a good choice for him.

The Third Shinobi World War was about to break out. Only by entering the battlefield with a freer identity could he maximize his gains.

"The ANBU... in the end, it's just the Hokage's one-man rule. Your identity can't be exposed, you can't build up any reputation, and even an Uchiha might not necessarily climb to a high position."

Hearing this, Fugaku frowned. After thinking it over carefully, he finally nodded.

"That's true. I was being too idealistic... Do you have any ideas, Mo?"

Uchiha Mo curled his lips slightly. "I heard the Third Hokage's youngest son graduates this year..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sharp glint flashed through Fugaku's eyes, and he instantly understood Mo's intentions.

"I understand. That is indeed a very good choice. I'll discuss it with the Third Hokage."

After the conversation ended, Mo left the clan head's residence with Shisui. While walking home, Shisui finally could not help turning around to ask, "Brother, what were you and the clan head talking about? Aren't we the village's largest clan? Why do we..."

Before Shisui could finish, he felt a warm, large hand settle on his head. Mo turned around, his unreadable black eyes meeting Shisui's gaze.

"Shisui, you are a person with your own will. No matter what it is, don't simply listen to what others say. Don't rely on other people's thoughts, not even mine. The Uchiha Clan... must use its own eyes to see..."

"But... isn't that too arrogant?" Shisui muttered, somewhat confused.

Mo lowered his hand and turned away without explaining.

The sun rose and the moon set, and a new day arrived.

A bright sun hung in the azure sky. It was clearly a beautiful day, but some students at the Ninja Academy were not in a beautiful mood.

Because the atmosphere in the shinobi world had recently become unsettled, the village had shortened the Ninja Academy's graduation cycle, hoping the new generation could mature quickly enough to handle the turmoil that might be coming.

This sudden change threw many students into disarray. Many had begun worrying whether they could pass the graduation exam after it had been moved up by two years.

However, the top students clearly did not share that concern.

"We're graduating soon. I wonder who'll end up in the same class as me..."

"Yeah, but compared to teammates, I hope we get a strong and responsible jonin instructor!"

"Huh? Asuma, your dad is the Hokage. You must already know how the classes will be divided, right?"

Asuma had a blade of grass between his teeth as he lazily leaned against the back of his chair. With both feet propped up on his desk, he said as if he did not care, "Who knows? But I'll talk to the old man. My jonin instructor will definitely be someone very powerful."

His gaze kept drifting toward the curly-haired little girl beside him.

"Huh? Who could it be? Could it be Lord Orochimaru?!"

"Isn't Asuma good at Wind Release and Fire Release? I think Lord Jiraiya is more likely!"

"Idiot! Lord Jiraiya isn't even in the village. How could it be him?!"

The people around them immediately began chattering noisily, but Asuma continued staring fixedly at the curly-haired little girl. Seeing her stare blankly out the window, Asuma called out anxiously, "Kurenai! Do you also want a strong jonin instructor? I can ask the old man to put the two of us in the same class."

"Huh?" Kurenai Yuhi belatedly turned around, blinking her ruby-like eyes.

"I don't really mind..."

Seeing how distracted she looked, Asuma was a little puzzled.

"Kurenai, what's wrong? You've looked out of it all day."

"Huh?" Kurenai Yuhi paused slightly. Her father had happened to be on duty with the Barrier Team yesterday, so he had brought home the news of that person's return.

Mo had never attended the Ninja Academy, so most people only knew him through rumors in the village. However, Kurenai Yuhi was an exception.

Because Mo had awakened his Sharingan early, there had been a period when he had been deeply obsessed with genjutsu. To learn about genjutsu beyond the Sharingan's system, he had interacted with Yuhi Shinku for some time.

It was during that time that Kurenai had briefly gotten to know Mo.

"It's nothing. Maybe I just didn't sleep well last night," Kurenai Yuhi explained casually.

The moment he heard that, Asuma immediately began fussing over Kurenai Yuhi with concerned questions, but her thoughts were clearly elsewhere.

The sun had only begun to set when the dismissal bell rang. Asuma immediately leaped out the window and sprinted toward the Hokage's office!

The Ninja Academy was not far from the Hokage Building, so Asuma reached the bottom of it without much effort.

Seeing who had arrived, the ninja on duty did not stop him, merely standing to the side as though accustomed to the sight. Asuma smoothly arrived outside the Hokage's office. Just as he was about to knock, a stern-faced man with a square mouth and straight nose happened to open the door. The man glanced at him, then turned and left.

Asuma stared at the man's retreating back for a moment in confusion.

"Is that... the head of the Uchiha Clan? What was he doing here to see the old man? Forget it! My business is more important!"

With that, Asuma shook his head and hurried into the office.

"Asuma? I told you the Hokage's office isn't somewhere you can just barge into, didn't I?"

Asuma turned a deaf ear. He merely shut the door, then ran up to Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk and scratched his head somewhat sheepishly.

"Dad, the class assignments are about to be made. Can you put Kurenai and me on the same team, then assign us a powerful jonin instructor?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe, intending to light it out of habit, but after glancing at Asuma in front of him, his hands paused and he put it away again. With a snort, he said:

"Hmph! Don't you usually go on and on about wanting to get away from this old man? Why are you coming to beg me today instead? Do you know the nature of what you're asking?"

Asuma waved a hand, completely unconcerned.

"Come on, old man, stop pretending. You hide in your office every day using that crystal ball—"

Before he could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly brought a knuckle down hard on Asuma's head, cutting off the rest of his words.

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand to his mouth and coughed twice before saying righteously:

"Cough, cough! That was this old man observing the Hidden Leaf's recent development. Don't spout nonsense."