Monkey, Don't Go Too Far!

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the few beard hairs that had been yanked from his hand.

Then he looked at the old friend before him, whose face was full of excitement.

His expression gradually turned contemptuous.

"You think that's possible? Huh?" Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at the crystal ball. "I've already chosen the Jonin instructor, and now you're telling me this?"

Speaking of the Jonin instructor, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to appreciate his own foresight.

Judging solely from the power of that ninjutsu just now, if they had sent a Chunin instead, he probably would have been done for...

"So what!?" Shimura Danzo shouted. "You saw their tactics too—disguises, deception, cunning... They're clearly born spies! Natural Root material!"

Shimura Danzo was somewhat agitated, as if he had discovered some priceless treasure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brows immediately furrowed. The last time Danzo had been this excited was when he heard that the Third Kazekage had vanished without explanation.

"Is that really necessary?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said unhappily, blowing his beard and glaring. "They're still so young. At worst, they're a little mischievous. How does that make them deceptive and cunning? That's called excellence!"

Weren't they excellent, after all?

Hiruzen Sarutobi considered the tactics secondary. From the perspective of a Professor of Ninjutsu, what he valued most was the combined ninjutsu the three children had used at the end.

He did not know its exact power, but from the images transmitted through the crystal ball, it definitely was not weak.

How old were the three of them?

How refined could their chakra control be? How pure could their chakra be? How much chakra could they even have when combined?

Most importantly, it was not a Bloodline Limit. Minato had mentioned that before, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had been disappointed for a brief moment.

The conclusion was this: the three children's combined ninjutsu had a low threshold and great power. If it could be popularized among Konoha's shinobi, Konoha's combat strength would surely rise to another level in the future!

Those would all be achievements under his rule!

"Hiruzen, you..."

Shimura Danzo froze at those words.

From that tone and that attitude, it seemed this matter would not be easy to settle today.

But the word surrender had never existed in Shimura Danzo's dictionary. He had even intended to contend for the position of Hokage. His single eye turned cold as his aura gradually rose.

"After the First Shinobi World War, you succeeded as Hokage, and I established Root. At first, there were only seventeen people."

"Before the Second Shinobi World War, Root had already grown to more than five hundred members, and the talents it sent to ANBU numbered nearly two thousand. Yet after the Second Shinobi World War, Root had fewer than two hundred people left."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed. Was he going to play the tragic card? That didn't seem like your style, Danzo!

"They have no names, no surnames. Even after death, they cannot have gravestones. They only have codenames..." Shimura Danzo continued. "Now, I have fewer than ten Jonin under my command!"

The more Shimura Danzo spoke, the colder his voice became, and the more his aura rose.

"Hiruzen... I'm not asking for much. I don't want your funding or your authority. I only want a few children. I'll train them myself, yet you won't even agree to that!?"

Shimura Danzo slammed his hand on the table. "Do you truly intend to burn the bridge after crossing it and destroy the Root I built with my own hands!?"

"Uh..." The scene Hiruzen Sarutobi had imagined never came. Instead, he was rather startled.

It seemed Danzo really thought highly of those three little ones?

"Who isn't short on people after the Second Shinobi World War..." Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his temples and casually deflected Danzo's offensive.

But his old friend had already played his trump card, so he had to show some goodwill.

"How about this... Giving you all three is obviously impossible. Pick one... Don't get any ideas about White Fang's son. You know I could never agree to that."

Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed him a sweetener, while also warning Danzo over the matter of White Fang.

But Danzo may have misunderstood him, thinking he was being urged to speed things up. He snorted coldly. "Then I want two. No fewer."

"One, or there's nothing to discuss... And you can't force the children. I will be present throughout the recruitment process."

"Monkey, don't go too far!" Shimura Danzo glared furiously with his single eye!

"I am the Third Hokage! This is an order!" Hiruzen Sarutobi refused to yield.

"You...!" Shimura Danzo trembled with rage, but Hiruzen Sarutobi remained unmoved, puffing on his pipe now and then as he kept him firmly in check.

"Humph!"

Ying Shu and the other two ultimately passed the assessment and received their forehead protectors.

However, they would have to wait another couple of days to collect their shinobi registration and shinobi IDs at the Hokage Building.

"Look, Ying Shu! Do you think I should wear it on my forehead or around my neck? It's so hard to choose. This forehead protector looks so cool... What should I do!"

Obito was beyond excited. So what if he had ranked at the bottom of the class? He was still among the first to graduate!

From now on, he was a real shinobi, one step closer to becoming Hokage.

Most importantly, he would soon be able to take missions and earn rewards. He was about to achieve ramen freedom!

"Um... I have something to do, so I'll be going now. See you." Kakashi did not linger. After offering an apologetic farewell, he vanished in a flash.

Ying Shu raised a brow at that. Hopefully, Kakashi graduating early would make White Fang reconsider things.

"Congratulations, children." At that moment, Minato walked over and smiled at the two who had already put on their forehead protectors.

"Hehe..." Obito scratched his head and grinned foolishly.

Ying Shu, meanwhile, noticed that although many people in the spectator stands had gradually left, quite a few were now walking toward them.

He had never met any of them, but he could still identify them from their figures and appearances.

For example, the Ino–Shika–Cho trio were easy to recognize from their hairstyles and builds.

There was also a pair of twins in wooden sandals, stiff in manner and stern in expression. They did not look very old, yet they gave off the feeling of being seventy or eighty.

They had to be the Hyuga brothers.

Besides them, there was a couple. The woman had a large pregnant belly, while the husband wore the emblem of the Konoha Police Force on his arm.

"Obito, your clan head is here." Ying Shu recognized Fugaku and Itachi at once and hurriedly reminded Obito.

The words "clan head" seemed to possess magical power. Obito, who had been excited beyond measure just moments ago, immediately became much more obedient.

Seeing this, Ying Shu sighed inwardly... Obito really was nothing like an Uchiha clansman.

None of the Uchiha's aloofness and arrogance could be seen in Obito.

He even feared the Uchiha clansmen a little, just like Konoha's other villagers did...

But perhaps that was exactly why Madara had set his sights on Obito?

At that thought, the corners of Ying Shu's lips curled up unconsciously.

Kakashi had graduated much earlier than in the original story, and Obito had benefited from it as well.

The combined technique, Hydrogen Release, was clearly quite effective. After some time spent coordinating, along with his further development, its prospects would be limitless.

By the time the three of them stepped onto the battlefield, it would be difficult for Madara to remotely set up another slaughtering trap...

Ying Shu smiled faintly.

It seemed the identities of prey and hunter were about to reverse, didn't they?