Preparing to graduate

Tsunade froze when she heard Qingyun's words. Someone would envy Hatake Sakumo? Who was Qingyun talking about?

Tsunade frowned deeply as she studied Qingyun's languid expression. Her instincts told her he knew a great deal, but his expression made it clear that he had no intention of saying more.

At present, Konoha had yet to descend into the overt and covert infighting that would follow the end of the Second Shinobi World War, before Minato Namikaze took office.

Although Konoha's F4 each had their own agendas, they still presented a united front against the undercurrents sweeping through the shinobi world. Even that rat in the gutter was busy working for Konoha outside the village and had no time for petty schemes.

So Tsunade had no idea who Qingyun meant.

"Are you saying our teacher would envy Sakumo, then worry that Sakumo threatened his position and plot against him?

"Impossible. Our teacher isn't that kind of person. Brat, stop making wild guesses. Konoha isn't as filthy as you think."

Tsunade muttered to herself at first, then shook her head sharply, banishing that ridiculous thought. She sternly warned Qingyun not to let his imagination run wild.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had plenty of faults and was a lecherous old man, but she still respected him deeply. She refused to believe he would do something like that.

Hearing Tsunade's wild speculation, Qingyun shook his head with a helpless smile. "As the village's highest leader, Lord Hokage naturally wouldn't envy Sakumo's half-sleeve title.

"But when Sakumo accepted the Hokage half-sleeve, did Lord Hokage know about it?

"As Hokage, the highest leader of Konoha, how would you feel if your subordinate went over your head to accept an appointment from the Land of Fire's Daimyo?"

After a pause, Qingyun continued, "Although Konoha is a shinobi village within the Land of Fire, the two merely support each other. The village nominally answers to the Daimyo, but in reality, they remain two separate powers.

"The Land of Fire supplies Konoha with all kinds of war materiel and missions.

"In return, Konoha protects the Land of Fire's territory, repels foreign invasions, and completes various missions for the Daimyo and others.

"Konoha has always controlled its own internal affairs. The Daimyo has no say in them. Apart from symbolically consulting him whenever a Hokage is selected, do Konoha and the Daimyo have any other dealings?"

"I believe Lord Hokage wouldn't personally act against Sakumo, but what about other people?

"Human desire is the most terrifying thing in this world. Sakumo has gone from an elite jonin of Konoha to the village's foremost figure beneath Lord Hokage. What would other people think?

"And with the Daimyo making a move like this, couldn't it mean he wants to control Konoha through Sakumo and fully absorb it into the Land of Fire?"

"Even if Sakumo has no such intentions, that won't stop others from assuming the worst. His position would make them jealous, and they'd also want to prevent the Daimyo from using him to interfere in Konoha's internal affairs. With all those factors at play, wouldn't they be tempted to frame him?"

"Teacher, this isn't malicious speculation on my part. It's something that could very well happen."

At this point, Qingyun's expression grew serious.

Qingyun had chosen to say all this today because, although he was not yet invincible in Konoha, he at least had some ability to protect himself.

He wanted to try changing the tragedies of the original story, especially those involving Minato Namikaze and Kushina, the two people who mattered most to him. He didn't want anything to happen to them.

Over the past few years, events from the original story had unfolded before his eyes, one after another. Even with a butterfly like him constantly flapping its wings, those events continued relentlessly along their original course.

All of this left Qingyun somewhat afraid—afraid that every tragedy in the original story was destined to happen.

If anything happened to Minato Namikaze and Kushina, Qingyun didn't know what he might do.

This was the first attempt he was making.

If Qingyun remembered correctly, Hatake Sakumo's downfall had come after the Sannin fought the demigod Hanzo of the Salamander, Hanzo retreated into Amegakure, and the Second Shinobi World War finally ended.

With external pressure gone, Danzo began doing whatever he pleased, plotting to eliminate Hatake Sakumo, whom he considered the greatest threat to his chances of claiming the Hokage position.

There was still some time before the war ended. Qingyun wanted to see whether he could save Hatake Sakumo and prove to himself that the original story's course wasn't immutable—that his own efforts could still change it.

If the outcome ultimately failed to go as he hoped, Qingyun would leave Konoha far behind and keep triggering missions until he obtained that kind of martial art or the legendary dragon essence or phoenix essence.

After listening to Qingyun, Tsunade sank into thought. Only after a long while did she look up into his clear eyes, finding herself believing what he had said.

"And what about you? What's your goal?"

Tsunade fixed her beautiful eyes on the boy who had been remarkably mature since childhood.

"My answer hasn't changed: to keep myself and my friends alive and safe. And of course, that includes you, Teacher."

A bright smile spread across Qingyun's face at her question.

Hearing his words and seeing his bright smile, Tsunade felt a flicker of emotion in her eyes. She pinched his cheek and said, "All right. I'll pass your words on to Sakumo. As for whether he'll personally lead your team after you graduate, I can't say.

"But with your abilities, even if Sakumo doesn't take you, our teacher will find a powerful shinobi to lead you temporarily. Once I can make the time, I'll have you transferred to my command."

"Thank you, Teacher. If there's nothing else, I'll get back to training."

Reassured by Tsunade's words, Qingyun promptly urged her to leave so she wouldn't interrupt his training.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, utterly speechless at this training fanatic. Every day, he was either training or on his way to train.

Even when he joined them for a picnic, he would occasionally drift off, mentally working through applications of ninjutsu and taijutsu.

That was precisely why Tsunade had never needed to worry about Qingyun after taking him as her disciple. He was so self-disciplined that she never had to push him.

After Tsunade left, Qingyun resumed pondering how to use Chidori.

Chidori Stream was the application he thought he could incorporate into his Sword Technique.

But he currently had no idea how to develop Chidori Stream. Even after thinking for a long time, he couldn't work out where to begin, so he set the idea aside for now and turned to researching how to combine Lingbo Micro-Step with the Body Flicker Technique.

It wasn't until evening that Qingyun returned to his home in the Forest of Death.

Minato Namikaze had already prepared dinner and was waiting for him.

Qingyun washed his hands, then grabbed the wine flask and took a swig, briefly dispelling the fatigue of a full day's training.

"Minato, I'm planning to graduate this year. What do you think?"

Minato Namikaze's chopsticks paused. He looked up, and when he saw that Qingyun wasn't joking, delight immediately lit his face. "Big brother, have you finally decided?"

He had wanted to graduate for a long time. There was nothing left for him to learn at the Ninja Academy. As far as he was concerned, staying there now was simply a waste of his time.

But Qingyun's earlier teachings remained fresh in his memory. He didn't want to go against Qingyun's wishes, so he had kept enduring it.

"Yes. Our strength has reached a bottleneck. If we want to improve further, we need to experience life-and-death combat."

Qingyun smiled at the delighted Minato Namikaze. He had known all along that Minato wanted to graduate; the only reason he hadn't was that Qingyun had held him back.

Minato Namikaze could now hold his own against seasoned chunin, especially since mastering Wind Nature transformation recently had given his strength another major boost.

Graduating now would naturally be no problem.

"Great! Tomorrow I'll go to school and submit an early graduation application to Iruka Umino!"

Minato Namikaze abandoned his meal and bounced around Qingyun in delight.

Watching Minato Namikaze act like a child, Qingyun shook his head helplessly. It was hard to imagine that the boy before him would become the Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash, who would one day leave his opponents dazzled and utterly powerless to fight back.

The night passed. For once, Qingyun didn't continue training. Instead, he lay in bed and slept until he woke naturally.