The Pot King's Attention

"They weren't children from any major clan. That was exactly why I found it surprising. Can you believe it? Aside from Tsunade, the other four children were all civilian ninja."

At the words "civilian ninja," Danzo's eyes lit up uncontrollably. During the two years Mito had sent him to the front lines, Danzo had not come away empty-handed. At the very least, he had learned two things:

First, power tasted far more wonderful than he had imagined. Second, he had truly come to understand just how useful civilian ninja were.

As the saying went, when a general was in the field, he need not obey every order from above. Danzo's time at the front had been much the same. As the frontline commander, he had experienced for the first time the pleasure of commanding hundreds of ninja.

With a single command from him, those ninja obediently followed his arrangements. Even if it was a mission that meant certain death, they still had to grit their teeth and carry it out.

It was also during that period of issuing orders that he discovered the benefits of civilian ninja. Those clan ninja relied on the clans behind them and often paid lip service to his commands while defying them in practice, or shoved the work onto someone else.

Those brats from the Uchiha Clan were even more outrageous. Before Kagami Uchiha's death, those little punks would not even spare him a proper glance, and they treated every order he gave as if it had gone in one ear and out the other.

In contrast, the civilian ninja worked without complaint and were exceptionally easy to win over. The few people at Danzo's side were just like that.

Danzo had merely rewarded them with one or two ordinary ninjutsu after they completed missions, yet they were so moved that they would have gladly climbed mountains of blades and crossed seas of fire for him.

After several such exchanges, they had become his trusted subordinates, obeying his every command. Under Danzo's guidance, these people had all come to believe that Danzo was the one who truly had the people's support, while Hiruzen was nothing more than a despicable villain.

Having tasted that feeling, Danzo inevitably began entertaining the idea of using Konoha as a foundation to build up a core of loyal followers who belonged solely to him.

It was rather ironic. Mito had sent Danzo out of Konoha precisely to prevent him from being influenced by schemers in his jealousy and straying down the wrong path.

Yet those two years on the front lines had instead made Danzo's resentment and greed grow by the day. It was hard to say whether it was simply fate, or whether Danzo had been born to play the villain.

At this point, Danzo still did not know that Hoshi and the others had actually been discovered by Mito and deliberately reserved as Tsunade's future foundation.

Completely unaware of this, he was still dreaming of recruiting these civilian geniuses and using their strength to help himself ascend to the position of Hokage.

As long as he had these little geniuses backing him, once Mito died ten years later, there would be no need to worry about him failing to become Hokage.

The thought filled Danzo with excitement, and a smile appeared on his face as he asked, "What are those children called? Where did you assign them?"

Seeing how curious Danzo was, Hiruzen explained, "Of the five, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru are with me, and I'm personally teaching them. As for the remaining two, Hoshi and Sakumo, I asked Torifu to look after them. Why are you so interested?"

Danzo waved his hand. "I've never been a teacher before, so I want to experience what it feels like. You're the Hokage and so busy every day—you surely don't have much time to teach them. Why not transfer them to me? I guarantee I'll teach them everything I know."

Hiruzen hurriedly waved his hands at that. "That won't do. Just because you want to be a teacher, does that mean I don't? Besides, I've already confirmed my master-disciple relationship with them. What would it look like to transfer them to you now? Still, you used to rarely be this cheerful. It seems you really are interested in being a teacher. How about this? This year's graduating class will graduate in another month. When the time comes, I'll let you choose three children as your disciples. How does that sound?"

Naturally, Danzo nodded in agreement. How could he, Danzo, possibly refuse such a juicy offer delivered right to his door? Besides that, he could also make contact with the two geniuses under Torifu.

Who knew? He might really get a chance to poach them. He was not greedy—if he could just bring over one of them to become one of his future trusted subordinates, that would be enough.

Thinking of the Hoshi and Sakumo whom Hiruzen had praised, Danzo's heart burned with anticipation. On top of that, his earlier attempt to drive a wedge between them had failed, so there was no point in staying any longer. Danzo simply rose and took his leave.

After leaving the Hokage Building, he headed straight home. He needed to find a suitable gift to draw closer to Torifu's two disciples.

Early the next morning, Danzo paid a visit to Torifu Akimichi. Torifu was greatly surprised that this previously taciturn teammate had taken the initiative to visit. When he heard that Danzo wanted to meet his disciples, he did not hesitate and brought Danzo along to Training Ground 6.

The moment Danzo entered Training Ground 6, he came face-to-face with Hoshi. Torifu, who was behind him, promptly introduced Danzo to Hoshi.

The instant Hoshi saw Danzo, he inwardly cried out in alarm. However, Torifu was still there, so he could not show too much.

Torifu then introduced Danzo to Sakumo and Shinku one by one. Danzo was extremely warm toward them, speaking even more amiably than Torifu himself.

For a moment, Hoshi even wondered whether this guy really was Danzo. In his impression, shouldn't Danzo have worn a sour expression, summoned two Root members, and had them tell them, "Lord Danzo requests your presence"? Yet the Danzo before him did no such thing. After chatting with Hoshi and the others for a while, he smilingly handed over three Scrolls. "Torifu and I are both disciples of the Second Hokage, while you are Torifu's disciples. Strictly speaking, you should call me Senior Uncle as well. Consider these three ninjutsu a meeting gift from your Senior Uncle. If you encounter any problems with training or daily life in the future, you can come to me. I'll certainly tell you everything I know."

If it had been Mito, Homura, or Utatane Koharu offering the Scrolls today, Hoshi certainly would not have refused. But he truly did not dare accept a gift from Danzo.

He did not believe that someone who had committed every evil in the Original Story would be so kind-hearted, nor did he think he was handsome enough to make Danzo turn over a new leaf.

Besides, how could the Pot King's favors be easy to repay? If he accepted one of Danzo's Scrolls today, he might be dragged off to receive a Cursed Seal tomorrow.

With that in mind, Hoshi put on a flattered smile and said to Danzo, "There's no need, Lord Danzo. This is far too valuable. Besides, Teacher Torifu treats us so well. If we have any questions, we can simply ask him. As a disciple of the Second Hokage, Lord Danzo must be extremely busy every day. How could we possibly trouble you?"

Torifu was quite pleased to hear that. He patted Danzo on the shoulder and said, "See? I told you. My disciples already have a good teacher like me—they don't need an extra Senior Uncle like you."

Danzo's smile stiffened slightly. Hoshi's refusal displeased him somewhat, but it was not something he could openly react to.

"It's fine. There will always be times when Teacher Torifu cannot look after you. When that happens, you can come find me. And accept these Scrolls as well. They're only a small token of goodwill."

With that, he did not give Hoshi a chance to speak. He simply got up and left.