Danzo was dreaming big

"You've been training with Minato this whole time?"

After a moment of surprise, Hiruzen Sarutobi studied Kakashi Hatake before him and felt that he wasn't lying. Hiruzen Sarutobi made a gesture, and an ANBU instantly appeared beside him. Turning toward the operative, he said gravely, "Go ask Jonin Minato to come here."

"Yes, sir."

The ANBU vanished instantly.

A short while later, two ANBU appeared in the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze carefully checked the details, occasionally asking Kakashi to confirm them. In the end, they established that Kakashi had indeed spent the entire afternoon training with Minato Namikaze.

Once he confirmed that Kakashi hadn't killed the Mist Ninja scout, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked puzzled. If it wasn't Kakashi, he honestly couldn't think of anyone else in the village whose swordsmanship could kill a Chunin with a single slash.

"All right, Kakashi. You can go home now!"

"Yes, sir."

Watching Kakashi leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained baffled and instinctively began smoking.

He never considered that it might have been Chihane Hatake. After all, he had always kept an eye on Sakumo's orphaned sons. Chihane's reputation as Dead Last had spread so far and wide that everyone overlooked the three wooden swords he carried every day.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered who it could have been, the Hokage's adviser, Shimura Danzō, suddenly walked in. Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, he said, "Sarutobi, assign Kakashi to me. I'll train him into a ninja who surpasses Sakumo."

Clearly, Shimura Danzō had heard about that afternoon's events and also believed Kakashi had killed the Mist Ninja scout.

With his pipe between his teeth, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Shimura Danzō and said, "You want to turn Sakumo's child into an emotionless killing tool? I will never agree to that!"

"Don't tell me that's what you came here for. If it is, you can leave."

Danzo gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a long look and said, "No, it merely came to mind. I came to ask how you intend to deal with the Mist Ninja next. Are we preparing for war, or..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood, walked to the window, and gazed at the distant sky. He took a deep drag on his pipe and exhaled a ring of smoke. After several seconds of silence, he answered gravely, "It's time we gave them a warning. They've gone too far in certain matters. I'll leave this to you."

At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still the Shinobi Hero whose name resounded throughout the shinobi world, not the little old man he would become, forever talking about doing everything for Konoha while backing down at the first sign of trouble.

"Good!"

Danzo nodded and turned to leave, saying as he went, "Sarutobi, don't waste that child's talent!"

To Danzo, Chihane wasn't much of a concern among Hatake Sakumo's two sons, but with Kakashi's talent, he would become another Sakumo Hatake in the future. If Danzo couldn't bring him under his control, he would surely become another rival on his path to becoming Hokage.

He would kick aside every stumbling block on his path to becoming Hokage, one by one.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't respond. Only after Danzo left did he cast a long look in the direction of his departure.

Hatake Sakumo's death had affected Konoha far too greatly. He had originally only intended to put Sakumo in his place, then offer him a helping hand at his lowest point to bring him completely under his control. He hadn't expected Sakumo to be so unable to withstand the pressure that he would actually kill himself.

That had been completely beyond his expectations. Sakumo, where did your resolve as a strong man go?

Part of the reason the major ninja villages dared to probe Konoha so frequently was that it had lost the formidable fighting force known as Konoha's White Fang.

Of Sakumo's two sons, Kakashi had clearly inherited his talent perfectly, allowing Hiruzen Sarutobi to see the possibility of a new White Fang emerging in Konoha. He would make certain to protect Kakashi and wouldn't give Danzo an opening as he had with Sakumo.

Night.

The Hatake Clan residence.

"One thousand three hundred fifty-one, one thousand three hundred fifty-two."

"Three thousand three hundred fifty-one,

three thousand three hundred fifty-two." The evening breeze was cool, but Chihane's body burned hot, sweat flying with every swing of his sword.

The weights Chihane wore had increased from the original fifty kilograms to a hundred kilograms, yet even now, they didn't hinder his movements in the slightest.

Ding!

Congratulations, host, on completing this month's goal: ten thousand sword swings every day. Achievement unlocked: "I Am Superman." Reward: sword technique, Two-Sword Style: Iai: Rashomon.

"System, open my status panel."

Hearing which sword technique he had received, Chihane remained utterly calm. He now understood completely that no matter how powerful a sword technique was, it still depended on its wielder. A strong fighter could split mountains and cleave seas with a single casual swing, while a weak fighter couldn't harm a strong one in the slightest, even with fully mastered sword techniques.

Host: Chihane Hatake

Gender: male

Class: swordsman

Strength: Chunin (peak Jonin with the Eight Gates open)

Sword techniques: Swordless Style: True Sword: Catching a Blade Barehanded

One-Sword Style: Iai: Death Lion's Song

One Sword Style: 36-Pound Phoenix (locked)

Two-Sword Style: Iai: Rashomon

Three Sword Style: Oni Giri

Three-Sword Style: Tiger Hunt

Three-Sword Style: Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds

Taijutsu: Eight Gates of Death (third gate)

Items: Wado Ichimonji, Yubashiri, Zoro's Green Bandana, Zoro's Training Manual

You can barely protect yourself in the cruel shinobi world, but in the eyes of the strong, you are still an ant.

Chihane had long since grown accustomed to the system's sharp tongue. He was already prepared for the approaching Third Shinobi World War, and he believed the swords in his hands wouldn't let him down.

Creak!!

Hearing the front gate open, Chihane knew Kakashi had returned. After all, the two brothers had only each other in this home.

"Brother, you killed that Mist Ninja Chunin who died on the back mountain today, didn't you?"

Kakashi looked at Chihane, thinking of the wooden training posts that had been replaced one after another at home, and spoke with certainty.

"That's right. I killed him. So he really was a Mist Ninja."

Chihane answered calmly.

Seeing that Chihane wasn't at all surprised that the Mist Ninja had been a Chunin, and only seemed interested in confirming that the ninja hadn't been from Konoha, Kakashi found his older brother increasingly difficult to understand.

"Brother, just how strong are you now? That was a Mist Ninja Chunin. Even I'm not sure I could have killed him."

At Kakashi's serious expression, a faint smile unconsciously crept onto Chihane's face. Could a ninja that weak really count as a Chunin? Still, he answered with certainty, "If it were you, Kakashi, you definitely could have killed him too."

"As for my own strength, I'm not really sure. Swordsmanship is different from ninjutsu, after all. Anyone I land a slash on is sure to die. But if we're talking about a Chunin at his level, I'm definitely stronger."

Seeing Chihane confidently acknowledge that his strength was already above Chunin level, Kakashi felt both relieved and anxious. His greatest worry had always been that, with tensions running so high in the shinobi world, war could break out at any moment.

If Chihane couldn't protect himself when that happened, he would be in tremendous danger on the battlefield. But now that Kakashi saw how dramatically Chihane's strength had changed, a sense of urgency stirred in the young boy's heart. Chihane was improving so quickly that he might surpass him one day, or even leave him far behind in no time.