Genius Youth

Land of Fire border.

Surrounded by mountains on all sides, in the center of the encirclement.

"So that's how it was. Lord Danzo's intelligence actually got the Third Raikage killed on the battlefield. Doesn't that leave Kumogakure leaderless?"

Goenji was deeply shaken as he listened to his companion explain the battlefield intelligence from recent days.

After returning, he had completed his mission, and with Orochimaru's intelligence, he had easily fooled Danzo and slipped past his scrutiny. Not only had he received no punishment, but Danzo had even acknowledged his abilities.

After a brief rest, he began asking about the situation on the battlefield.

What shocked him most, naturally, was Danzo's methods.

He had never expected the battle between the Third Raikage and Iwagakure's ten-thousand-man army to have been caused by Danzo. And it had been executed flawlessly. Kumogakure had paid the price of the Third Raikage, but reduced its overall losses.

As a result, Konoha's battlefield against Kumogakure had also been greatly relieved of pressure, finally allowing them some time to catch their breath.

At the very least, until Kumogakure recovered from the Third Raikage's death, Konoha would have a much easier time.

This was the sort of maneuver that had never appeared in the original anime.

At this stage, Danzo was actually doing practical work!

Iwagakure had also suffered grievous losses after fighting the Third Raikage for three days and three nights.

That had likewise eased Konoha's pressure.

"Heh, what does that amount to? It's only one part of Lord Danzo's achievements!

As for Kumogakure, I hear they've already selected the Fourth Raikage. All that remains is for him to familiarize himself with Kumogakure's affairs.

But he probably won't have much energy to fight Konoha for a while. Things should ease up for a short period."

Across from Goenji, a Konoha ninja with a foxtail grass stem in his mouth spoke with a smile.

There was a hint of relief on his face.

That was right. Such a major turning point on the battlefield—

had allowed Konoha to lessen its own burden despite being attacked from all four sides. Naturally, the pressure on ninjas like them, who carried out missions, had also eased accordingly.

Goenji could feel it too. The pressure really had diminished considerably.

Even Danzo's missions had become fewer.

"By the way, did you know? Konoha has produced quite a few more geniuses recently," the Konoha ninja continued with a grin.

Goenji asked, "What geniuses?"

"On the Kirigakure battlefield, the Uchiha have produced a Body Flicker Shisui. He's made the enemy flee at the mere sound of his name, and his Genjutsu has them trembling in fear. He's from your Uchiha clan too. He's incredible. It looks like he's even more talented than you. I heard he's only thirteen."

Well, well, Shisui Uchiha. So he was already starting to make a name for himself. As expected of an Uchiha genius.

And he was actually thirteen already? Back when Goenji watched the anime, Itachi had called him big brother, and he had looked so young. He never expected him to already be thirteen now.

It seemed some people simply looked young.

Or perhaps things differed from the countless theories Naruto fans had come up with. Shisui's age had always been fiercely debated among them.

In any case, Goenji treated reality as his standard and would not let the anime influence him too much.

After all, the original timeline was a complete mess. It was impossible for it to match reality exactly.

"The other one is White Fang's son, Kakashi Hatake. Just a few days ago, Lord Hokage promoted him to Konoha Jonin. He's only twelve now! So young. A genius really is a genius!"

Goenji had already been mentally prepared for this. Kakashi should have been promoted to Jonin around this time, so there was nothing surprising about it.

He could only marvel at how many geniuses Konoha truly had.

Of course, the other ninja villages had plenty as well.

For example, ninjas like Gari of Explosion Release and Darui were all geniuses.

They were among those who possessed Jonin-level strength at a very young age.

And every village had people like them.

"Another is Lord Hokage's eldest son, Lord Shinnosuke Sarutobi," the Konoha ninja continued, pride written across his face.

Goenji wore a curious expression when he heard the name. "Shinnosuke Sarutobi?"

It was a familiar yet unfamiliar name.

After a quick search through his memories, he finally found the key information.

Konohamaru Sarutobi's father—the man who had never appeared in the anime's story.

He was actually on the battlefield now, and from the sound of it, he seemed quite formidable.

When Goenji had watched the series before, all he had known was that this man was a Konoha Jonin and Konohamaru's father. He knew nothing more about him.

"That's right. Lord Shinnosuke is now a recognized master of Earth Release in the Shinobi World, stronger than most Iwagakure ninjas. Most recently, he used Earth Release to directly break apart a combined ninjutsu performed by an Iwagakure unit!

On the battlefield against Iwagakure, Lord Shinnosuke is currently one of the leaders, dealing with Iwagakure's combined forces and part of their Demolition Corps..."

The Konoha ninja continued speaking.

From his words, Goenji finally formed a new understanding of Shinnosuke.

Shinnosuke was currently sixteen years old.

That was right, only sixteen. Judging from Kakashi's current age, he should have been around four years older than Asuma, yet he was already one of the battlefield commanders.

And he was supposedly one of the Shinobi World's publicly recognized geniuses.

Publicly recognized, huh. Wasn't that the same level as Minato Namikaze, the Three Sannin, and White Fang?

Goenji suddenly became curious about how someone like that had died.

At any rate, he had never heard about it in the original story.

Goenji played along at the right moment. "That really is impressive. I wonder who's stronger, him or Senior Minato!"

"Senior Minato is obviously stronger. Lord Shinnosuke is still too young and has room to grow..."

The ninja with the foxtail grass stem continued.

In his view, Minato Namikaze was naturally the foremost genius of the present era, though Shinnosuke was no slouch. If not for the age gap, they should have been about equal.

Goenji doubted that.

If he had truly been that formidable, how had he died so obscurely in the original story?

"Are there any other geniuses?" Goenji continued asking.

There was nothing to do right now, so naturally he wanted to learn more battlefield intelligence.

"Yes. The Aburame clan's most outstanding insect-controlling genius, Shibi Aburame... the Nara clan's... the Akimichi clan's... the Sickle clan's... the Fuma clan's..."

It had to be said, the ninja with the foxtail grass stem had quite comprehensive intelligence, especially when it came to geniuses.

"Konoha's intelligence has revealed so many of them. What if someone targets them later?" The more Goenji listened, the more something felt off.

Ninjas were assassins!

Why were so many powerful ninjas publicly recognized throughout the Shinobi World? Were they afraid the enemy's intelligence networks were not thorough enough?

Then, after giving it some thought, he understood.

These were merely figures meant to increase Konoha's deterrence. There had to be many more geniuses hidden beneath the surface.

Mixing truth with falsehood was more beneficial to the battlefield.

No wonder Konoha could fight one against four. Geniuses truly emerged one after another.

They were not limited to the few geniuses who had appeared in the original story.

"New missions are being assigned. There are no more problems here for now. It's time to support the other battlefields...

Aburame Fuzei... Uchiha Goenji..."

As they chatted, Danzo appeared in the distance and began reassigning missions to all the ninjas present.

Naturally, they would not be returning to the village to rest so quickly.

Goenji had only spent around two months on the battlefield. He could only accept another mission and continue moving between battlefields.