I'd Be Letting Myself Down If I Didn't Extort a Tiny Bit

Hokage Building, Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, gazing out at the bustling village of Konoha, but his thoughts had drifted to Miya.

"Nintaijutsu like the Raikage's, and a secret technique like the Eight Gates Released Formation."

"Where on earth did Miya learn them?"

"And Miya is still so young, yet he already has the strength of a Jonin."

"It's hard to imagine how far he'll grow in the future."

Muttering to himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't stop thinking about Miya.

"Send for Masaki Kuhara from the Ninja Academy."

To learn more about Miya, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to summon Masaki Kuhara and ask him some questions.

Time flew by, and two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Miya woke from his slumber in a hospital bed.

"Konoha Hospital!"

The moment he opened his eyes, Miya recognized where he was.

"This really hurts."

As he rolled over, the pain coursing through his body made Miya grimace and mutter.

Outside the window, a Konoha Anbu spotted Miya as soon as he woke. The Anbu promptly vanished to report the situation to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Miya seemed to sense something and looked out the window, thinking:

The old Third should be coming soon, right?

Sure enough, after the Jonin Hiromura learned that Miya had woken up, he examined him. No sooner had Hiromura left than Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed the door open and walked in.

"Miya, are you feeling better?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Miya and asked with a kindly smile.

Miya replied calmly:

"I'm fine. A few more meals and I'll be back to normal."

Looking at Miya's expressionless face, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled even more kindly.

"That's good, that's good..."

At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked more like a grandfather from next door than the high-ranking Third Hokage.

Under Miya's unwavering gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and said:

"Miya, have you ever thought about graduating early?"

Miya didn't answer. He simply looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in silence.

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no sign of awkwardness. Seeing that Miya wasn't answering, he said cheerfully:

"With your current strength, there isn't much left for the school to teach you."

"Once you're discharged, I'll make you a Genin. What do you say?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to be asking for Miya's opinion, but in truth, he had already made the choice for him.

Although Miya had considered graduating early, looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi's face now set his mind working. His voice remained perfectly calm as he said:

"No."

Hearing Miya's refusal, Hiruzen Sarutobi was visibly taken aback. Then he asked curiously:

"Why not? Don't you want to become a Genin?"

Miya shifted his gaze to the window and replied indifferently:

"I do, but not now!"

They said the eyes were the windows to the soul. To keep Hiruzen Sarutobi from seeing what he was thinking, Miya avoided meeting his eyes.

Now that Hiruzen Sarutobi had proposed making him a Genin, he'd be letting himself down if he didn't get something out of it.

The shrewd old Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to see right through Miya's thoughts. His smile never faltered as he coaxed:

"Don't you like to eat?"

"Once you become a Genin, you'll be able to buy whatever you want to eat, whenever you want, as long as you work hard and complete missions."

"Doesn't that tempt you?"

Miya grinned and replied:

"No!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eye twitched. Looking at Miya acting so brazenly, he had a vague but very bad feeling.

Then Miya told Hiruzen Sarutobi to leave.

"You're the village's Third Hokage, with countless affairs to attend to every day. You should get back to work."

"I should listen to the doctor and rest now, too."

"Take care. I won't see you out!"

With that, Miya closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, even letting out a soft snore.

The sight made Hiruzen Sarutobi's temper flare. He knew perfectly well that Miya was pretending to sleep, and he still had plenty to say to him. After giving it some thought, he smiled and said to the feigning Miya:

"Mm, we can't forget the doctor's instructions. Since you're going to sleep, get some good rest."

"I'll come see you again next time."

Only after Hiruzen Sarutobi had left and closed the door to the hospital room did Miya open his eyes, a teasing look appearing in them.

"Since you brought it up yourself, how could I not extort a tiny bit?"

With a pleased smile to himself, Miya closed his eyes again and immersed his mind in his body.

Hiruzen Sarutobi left the hospital room and walked slowly toward the Hokage Building. Only then did he remember what Minato Namikaze had asked of him.

"That little brat."

Shaking his head helplessly, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke to the ninja following him from the shadows:

"Keep watching him."

Although he heard no reply, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew an Anbu ninja had gone to carry out the order.