The Hokage Himself Arrives

Yue left in style, but Ryuga and Yoshitaka were left to suffer.

Because the Konoha Rookies redirected all their anger onto the two of them.

The first day had been fine, but by the second day, during targeted training such as throwing hidden weapons and physical conditioning in special environments using Chakra, the two of them were utterly crushed by Konoha's students. They were even injured in some of the events.

That was only because Minato Namikaze had deliberately held them back. Otherwise... Ryuga felt that Konoha's boys might have skinned the two of them alive and devoured them.

The two of them finally understood what Yue had meant when he said they could not underestimate Konoha's group.

They really were far stronger than them.

Even someone like Obito, who was at the bottom of the Ninja Academy, displayed considerable skill in certain specialized training events.

As for Kakashi and Might Guy, they were practically complete "monsters" in Ryuga's eyes.

So after returning to their residence that night, the two of them bitterly complained to Yue.

Ryuga's Kekkei Genkai could not be directly demonstrated in combat. Strictly speaking, he was a medical support-type ninja. In terms of basic ability alone, Yoshitaka was not even his equal, so the two youngsters had already been discouraged into losing confidence in the upcoming matches.

They were practically ready to give up.

The two of them then followed several Konoha teachers on some "simple" trial missions.

In the end, both their scores and their task completion standards were completely outclassed by the other side, leaving them dead last.

According to Ryuga, all the Konoha Rookies desperately needed an outlet for their anger now.

And that outlet was the upcoming match.

Yue stayed at the residence and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Ryuga and Yoshitaka did not have that luxury.

Originally, the two of them had gotten along fairly well with some of the girls. But ever since Yue had made that display in the classroom, their Konoha peers had deliberately kept their distance from them and become noticeably more distant. It was not that Konoha's students were angry at or disliked them. Rather, they had realized that they were opponents.

Besides, although they resented Yue a little, the three of them were still on the same side. Ryuga and Yoshitaka had made their stance clear when it came to supporting Yue.

Thus, over the following days, Ryuga spared no sarcasm for people like Obito, who could never keep his mouth shut.

He bluntly declared that no one in Konoha could possibly be Yue's opponent.

When it came to admiration—or rather, confidence in Yue—Ryuga refused to yield to anyone.

This further strengthened the Konoha brats' determination to "take down" Yue.

Yue did not spend all his time at the residence conserving his energy.

Every now and then, he would wander through Konoha alone.

Of course, he did not dare do anything out of line. For one thing, the Third Hokage himself was a "peeping tom." For another, although Yue could not detect the other party's position, he truly felt as though someone was watching him from the shadows.

He could be sure they were Anbu, not Root.

Konoha was currently extremely cautious toward anything foreign.

Fortunately, the Land of Grass bordered the Land of Fire and posed no real threat.

Otherwise, with Danzo's temperament... Yue would probably have been in danger.

Nor would Yue have made such a public spectacle of himself at Konoha's Ninja Academy.

That was no joke. Although Danzo had caused plenty of trouble for Konoha, he did genuinely want to protect it. Even if that desire was mixed with selfish ambition for power, and even if his methods were rather insidious and despicable. If Kusagakure had been a threat to Konoha, and someone as seemingly talented as Yue had emerged from it—

Yue did not doubt that Danzo would not have let him leave the Land of Fire alive.

After several days of wandering, what Yue observed matched his memories quite well.

He rarely saw members of the Uchiha Clan on the streets. Even when he did, he found that the people around them, including civilians, consciously or unconsciously kept their distance.

The looks they gave the Uchiha Clan were also complicated.

Some people showed obvious disgust.

Apart from the traceable "historical reasons" and the mess left behind by the older generation, Yue believed there was something more behind this phenomenon... an invisible hand manipulating the situation.

Isolating the Uchiha Clan.

The conflict between the Uchiha and the village had always existed. It was simply that by this point, their "grudges" had accumulated to a certain extent.

Even he, an outsider from another village, could clearly feel it.

Judging from the village map, the Uchiha Clan compound was also quite remote, and few people ever went there.

Naturally, Yue did not dare approach it rashly.

The root of the Uchiha Clan's coming calamity was that the Sharingan's reputation throughout the shinobi world was simply too great, and many powerful figures had emerged from the clan. This made the Uchiha extremely proud. Other than their own clansmen, they looked down on everyone else and could not endure even the slightest grievance... which eventually developed into ambition.

Naturally, Konoha's overly forceful methods of suppression were also somewhat inappropriate.

That was the Second Hokage Tobirama's fault.

From the Warring States era onward, from Madara's generation to the present, the Uchiha Clan's characteristics had actually been extremely obvious and consistent, with a strong sense of similarity.

In Yue's eyes, Uchiha Sasuke was simply a replica of Madara.

If Itachi had not interfered, Sasuke could never have been redeemed. Someone like him would only keep walking down a dark road to the very end.

Another thing was that, compared to the population base, there were relatively few active ninja within the village.

That indicated that most of the ninja had already been dispatched elsewhere.

After several days, Yue could only conclude that every family had its own troubles.

Kusagakure had Kusagakure's chaos, and Konoha had its own deep-seated problems.

At their core, they were all the same.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the day of the "friendly match" finally arrived.

That morning, Kusagakure brought the three of them to an arena in Konoha.

Their experiences in Konoha over the past few days had already made this jonin understand the enormous gap in strength between the two villages.

They could not possibly win.

When the jonin had served as a substitute teacher at the Ninja Academy, he had discovered that Konoha's children possessed astonishing shinobi qualities and talent.

It was mainly due to the village's environment and resources.

Although Yue was Kusagakure's genius, compared with these freakish Konoha brats, he probably...

This jonin also knew about Yue's "arrogant remarks," but it was not his place to say anything.

Yue had been personally invited by Konoha, and he was also from Grass Flower. Fuma Ryoma was still a squad captain in the village... so Yue could be said to have some backing.

Besides, Konoha had not said anything either.

He had only been temporarily assigned to escort Yue's three-person team, so he did not know much about Yue's strength. He only felt that while Yue had gained some fame in Kusagakure, this was Konoha after all... They were not on the same level.

"Yue... just do your best."

After thinking it over, the jonin said something to Yue before they entered the arena.

A loss was a loss. There was nothing shameful about losing to Konoha anyway.

"Yue, teach them a good lesson!"

Ryuga, on the other hand, fanned the flames.

The experiences of the past few days had stirred up his temper as well.

Neither he nor Yoshitaka could be relied upon, but they still had Yue, their trump card.

Yue absolutely had to avenge the suffering and humiliation he and Yoshitaka had endured, and vent their anger for them.

Even a clay figure had some temper, let alone the two of them.

"Hey, stop reading that lousy book... You can't understand it anyway."

Seeing Yue holding a book and reading it the entire time, even while walking down the corridor, as if he had not heard him, Ryuga urged him impatiently.

Yue ignored him.

They were about to fight for real, and Yue still had the leisure to read?

Ryuga was so angry that his teeth itched.

A short while later, the group of four entered the arena. Led by a Konoha ninja, they followed a corridor into the inner grounds.

"They're here."

The moment they stepped into the venue, they saw Minato, who had been waiting there for some time, smiling and waving at them.

"Hiss..."

Even the Kusagakure jonin sucked in a sharp breath at the scene inside.

He had thought it was merely a small event where a group of juniors would spar. Why had such a huge spectacle been arranged?

His gaze shifted, and his pupils instantly contracted.

He saw someone standing beside Minato.

That unmistakable Hokage robe revealed the person's identity.

The Hokage...

The Third Hokage?

Even the village's Kage had come?

For a moment, the jonin's heart churned wildly. This was completely different from what he had imagined.

Was this really necessary?

Wasn't this making far too much of it...

He swallowed, and the instant he saw the Third Hokage, his heart began pounding wildly.

The Kage of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages... he stood at the very pinnacle of the entire shinobi world.

He had not received any prior notice that the Hokage would appear to watch.