After two months of carrying out missions together, Sakumo judged that both Kakashi and I were qualified to become Chunin. Thus, at only eight years old, I once again stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Are these two children taking the Chunin Ninja Exams? But it seems they're still missing a teammate. That makes things rather difficult."
"Lord Third, though this may sound like self-praise, I must say that my son and this little brother who pulled me from the darkness both possess talents far beyond ordinary people. It would be too wasteful to keep them at the Genin rank. I believe they should be assigned more difficult missions, and more attention should be given to cultivating them."
Inside the Hokage's office, after listening to Sakumo, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood with his hands behind his back, facing the window and gazing at the sky.
Sakumo knelt on one knee before the desk, with Kakashi and me following behind him.
Perhaps because the old Third Hokage trusted Sakumo, I did not sense anyone else nearby.
"If Sakumo says so, then these two children truly are inheritors of the Will of Fire. But the nation has been unstable lately. Becoming Chunin does not merely mean being able to accept higher-ranked commissions. You understand what I mean, don't you, Sakumo?"
"I understand, Lord Third."
There were still two years until the beginning of the Third Shinobi World War. According to my memories, Hatake Sakumo's death, coupled with Sasori of the Red Sands assassinating the Third Kazekage and framing Konoha, had led to the outbreak of the war.
Judging from it, Sasori had probably been dissatisfied with the village's policies, so he had deliberately started the war and watched them fight like a snipe and clam?
But Sakumo had not died yet, and the information that he had temporarily withdrawn from the front lines had been sealed off by the Third Hokage. Only a handful of people knew.
Orochimaru was still stationed in the military, while Tsunade and Jiraiya might not be around, but the Third Hokage was still capable of fighting. Minato had yet to make a name for himself, but Konoha's ability to cultivate the next generation of talent was known to everyone.
Facing such a powerful nation, would Sunagakure still launch a surprise attack and declare war on Konoha like in the original story?
[Lord Qingyue, Sunagakure has no vegetation at all, and its financial situation has never been optimistic. Without funding from the country, Sunagakure's military has no economic support. The village will soon collapse.] [So Sunagakure has actually been looking for an opportunity to make a desperate gamble. The closest and easiest target to invade is the Land of Fire, the strongest nation. But that's not right. Iwagakure of the Land of Earth is also very close to Sunagakure. In terms of strength, attacking the Land of Earth should be the safest choice, shouldn't it?] [This is related to the Third Hokage's governing methods during his time in office. During the Second Shinobi World War, two of the Legendary Sannin left the village, Hokage candidate Dan Katō died, and so on.] [After losing so many outstanding ninja, the Third Hokage began to grow indecisive. When handling national affairs, he would retreat whenever possible. This was his way of protecting the village.] [Then there was the issue of hatred. After the Second Shinobi World War, the two villages had undoubtedly formed a blood feud. The couple Sakumo killed were Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, and Chiyo was one of Hidden Sand's upper ranks. And considering the consequences, taking a juicy chunk out of the resource-rich Land of Fire was certainly better than invading the relatively poor Land of Earth.]
So that was it. Based on Hill's analysis, the Third Shinobi World War had been unavoidable as well.
Once Sunagakure declared war on Konoha, the other great nations would not stand idly by, much less become our allies. It seemed we would have to fight one against four.
Fortunately, Amegakure did not seem to be participating this time. Otherwise, it would have been one against five...
"Since the Second Shinobi World War, Sunagakure and we have had frequent minor conflicts. Though I tried to negotiate peace, I never succeeded. The clashes have been growing worse lately, and the situation is far from optimistic. The reason is..."
"It was the couple I killed during the Second Shinobi World War. They were Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law. And Princess Tsunade also broke through Chiyo's poison. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to let go of such hatred either."
"So, Sakumo, under such circumstances, I do not wish for children to set foot on the battlefield. Even so, do you still wish to recommend these two for promotion to Chunin?"
The old Third Hokage was truly terrifying. Even I had nearly been fooled. Speaking like that certainly built up his noble and lofty image. No wonder everyone in the village revered the Third Hokage so much.
Still, there was probably some sincerity in those words, wasn't there?
After a moment of silence, Sakumo, who had been lowering his head, suddenly looked up.
"Lord Third, they can definitely do it. If anyone can inherit the name of Konoha's White Fang in the future, it will be my son, Kakashi Hatake. And if anyone can stand alongside the name White Fang, it will be this little brother Qingyue."
Hey, hey, Sakumo, don't go putting such a huge title on me by yourself! What if you get me shoved into the ANBU or Root later?!
"Such high praise? Very well. However, this year's two Chunin Ninja Exams have already passed. I will arrange a special Chunin exam to determine whether they are qualified to become Chunin."
"Understood!"
"Thank you, Lord Third Hokage!"
At Sakumo's signal, Kakashi and I thanked the old Third Hokage from behind him, then left the Hokage's office to await further notice.
"Say, Brother Sakumo, you praised me so highly. How am I supposed to get by in the future..."
Hatake Sakumo was currently a thorn in Danzo's side. It was already dangerous enough for him to be my jonin instructor, yet today he had praised me so extravagantly before the old Third Hokage.
An eight-year-old Chunin, soon to be exceptionally promoted to Jonin, on top of all that flattery.
I could already picture Danzo coming to recruit me.
"Huh? After today, Lord Third Hokage will definitely see you in a whole new light. He'll pay much more attention to you from now on. Maybe you'll be able to enter the ANBU very soon!"
I had nearly forgotten. To these ninja, earning the Hokage's recognition mattered more than anything else.
"Brother Sakumo, do you know why you would be condemned by everyone for choosing to save your companions during a single mission?"
To prevent something similar from happening in the future, I should enlighten this big brother whose head was filled with nothing but swordsmanship sooner rather than later.
Logically, with Sakumo's warm personality, he should have been socially adept as well. Otherwise, he would not have held such high prestige in the village.
But whenever it came to these matters, why did his brain just stop working?
"Why bring that up all of a sudden? Why would I be condemned by everyone... Surely because, in everyone's eyes, the mission was more important. Ninja should act that way too..."
"Wrong, wrong, my big brother. This has nothing to do with what you chose, and no one would even care about that."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Kakashi, can you see some of the problems here?"
I did not rush to tell Sakumo the truth. I wanted to take this opportunity to test Kakashi. If father and son had the same personality, I would have a hard time in the future.
"I also felt that something was strange. And Father, don't you think the news spread too quickly?"
Very good. Kakashi had at least noticed part of the problem, which meant he had been suspicious of the matter.
"The neighbors passed it around from person to person... Ah, now that you mention it, it is indeed a little strange."
"And Father, you are an important figure in Konoha. The missions you carry out should all be classified. Even if a mission failed, the upper ranks should not have allowed the residents to spread the news like this. It is clearly detrimental to unity. I'm afraid..."
As expected of a genius, Kakashi had already noticed the key issue.
Publicizing the failure of one's own ninja village's top ninja was completely detrimental to unity.
The normal approach would definitely have been to first see whether the news could be concealed to avoid causing panic among the villagers, then think of a way to minimize the losses.
Instead of letting the information fly everywhere and making everyone anxious.
"Ahem, Brother Sakumo, your prestige in the village is far from ordinary. The absolute MVP of the Second Shinobi World War... the most valuable ninja. The title of Konoha's White Fang that resounded throughout the Shinobi World, the Hokage's right-hand man, and the support of numerous Jonin. Such prestige naturally gave rise to rumors that you would become the next Hokage. There is much that can be done with that. Suppose there were other upper ranks whose ideals differed from the Third Hokage's. Do you think they might secretly pull some strings?"
After I explained it like that, Sakumo finally stopped looking completely lost. Kakashi, meanwhile, revealed a terrified expression. It seemed he had already guessed something.
"That's right. Someone was clearly pushing this matter from the shadows. They used it to suppress your prestige, thereby weakening and destabilizing Lord Third Hokage's authority, then let the Hokage candidate they supported seize the chance to earn military merit."
"Who would do something like that? Everyone respects Lord Third Hokage..."
Sakumo stopped halfway through his sentence. It seemed he already had someone in mind.
"Brother Sakumo, ninja should still keep a low profile."
Before you continue