From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 371 Bonds, Nothing Matters More Than My Son

Jiraiya stared in shock at Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face had turned pale with anger and whose lips were trembling, unable to utter a word. He simply couldn't believe that his teacher, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, had fallen so completely, and by the hands of his own son. Yet, he still thought Asuma's words made a lot of sense!

"I am the son of the Hokage. What does it mean if I graduate early? Will others think that this is a signal being sent by the Konoha leadership? What if other students from ninja clans follow suit?"
What kind of scene is it when all the genin, who are not even ten years old, go on missions?
The war only ended a few years ago, and you're already doing this? What will others think of Konoha?
Have you forgotten what the First Hokage's original intention was in establishing Konoha? In your current state, what kind of Hokage are you? Go back to sleep!

Hiruzen Sarutobi, a Hokage of his stature, was rendered speechless by his son's scathing remarks in his own Hokage office.

"That's not what the teacher meant. He just praised you as a genius. He just felt that with your level of talent, it would be a waste of time for you to stay in the ninja school."

"Why are you wasting time? I can make a lot of friends at the Ninja Academy. They are all the future pillars of Konoha. I want to build good relationships with them and establish bonds. Wasn't that your original idea? Why has it changed here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and stared intently at Asuma. "Building bonds? Do you even have any friends at school? Besides Kurenai Yuhi, who else have you ever been friends with? You either sleep or skip class, and now you're even collecting protection money. You still have the nerve to say that..."

"Protection fee? What protection fee? They were bullied and hired me to protect them. That's a commission. You're the Hokage, the leader of the ninja clan. Don't you even understand this?"

"I'll kill you, you bastard!!!"

A thunderous roar exploded in the Hokage's office, startling the two Anbu members outside the door, who nearly rushed in.

Inside the office, Jiraiya looked somewhat helplessly at Asuma, who was dodging and weaving in the limited space, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was chasing after him with a fruit knife.

"He's playing a trick on the teacher!!"

Jiraiya, who was engrossed in watching, suddenly narrowed his eyes, as if he had realized something.

Neither of them used any ninjutsu; it was purely a contest of taijutsu and body flickering techniques. In this office of less than 100 square meters, the Hokage had already pushed his body flickering technique to its limit, but Asuma, like a monkey with oil on its skin, always managed to escape Hiruzen Sarutobi's pursuit at the most crucial moment. No, he wasn't running away; he was toying with him...

Asuma's speed didn't seem very fast, but he seemed to be able to predict his teacher's movements, dodging a split second in advance. Moreover, he deliberately dodged just as his teacher was about to catch him, always causing his teacher to fail at the last minute. His teacher seemed to have noticed this and intentionally changed his rhythm, wanting him to play with fire and get burned. But unfortunately, the effect was not only minimal, but he was also made toyed with even more thoroughly.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered what Hiruzen Sarutobi had told him before.

“If he weren’t my son, and if I hadn’t witnessed all of this over the past few years, I wouldn’t believe it myself.”

Now he saw it with his own eyes. Although he couldn't see anything else, his physical skills were truly amazing!
He could even tell that this was not an ordinary taijutsu, nor was it the Body Flicker Technique, but a ninjutsu similar to the White Fang Sword Technique. The difference was that the White Fang incorporated lightning chakra into his taijutsu, while Asuma incorporated wind chakra into his taijutsu. Although the essence was different, they were similar in their approach.

A six-year-old boy, with his ninjutsu, completely overwhelmed Hiruzen Sarutobi, the strongest Hokage in history. No, he was utterly defeated. Even if he was lacking in other areas, his ninjutsu alone was enough to allow him to survive on the battlefield.

"Hey, old man, that's enough! You're so old, and you get all angry just because I said a few words to you. You have no composure at all. How can you be Hokage!"

Asuma moved like the wind, dodging and shouting, "Anyway, I'm not graduating early, and don't try to use your Hokage authority to pressure me. That's it!"

At this point, his speed suddenly doubled, and before the two people in the office could react, he passed through the window and disappeared without a trace.

"You...you..." Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed tremblingly at the empty window with one hand, while clutching his chest with the other, completely distraught.

Seeing this, Jiraiya was afraid that he would faint on the spot, so he quickly stepped forward to support him and gently helped him to a chair.

"Teacher, please don't get agitated. Actually, Asma has some truth to what he said. He is your son, and if he really graduates early, no matter what the reason is, some people will definitely overthink it."

"Sigh, you know I didn't mean anything by it." Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair, breathing heavily, whether from exhaustion or anger, it was hard to tell. "You saw it yourself, this kid created his own ninjutsu and taijutsu, even I can't catch him. He really isn't learning anything at school. If he doesn't graduate, am I supposed to let him collect protection money at school every day? If this continues, I'll lose all face." Jiraiya was also quite helpless. "Asuma could indeed graduate early, and could even participate in the Chunin Exams, but he doesn't want to. Judging from his personality, he's not someone you can force. Let's think of another way."

"Think of a way? What other way can we think of?" Hiruzen Sarutobi said helplessly. "Jiraiya, do you know what I'm most worried about?"

Jiraiya shook his head.

“What I’m most worried about is his thinking. His thoughts are different from other children. Tell me, which child is so young that he can think about the impact of graduating early? Even I haven’t considered this point. How could he have thought of it?”

"It's good that Asuma can think of this at such a young age!"

"A good thing? He's too young. He shouldn't be thinking so much at such a young age. Even if he's a genius, even if he has some strength now, he still can't control this kind of thing..."

"Are you worried about..."

“I’m worried that he’ll cause trouble by acting on his own!” Hiruzen Sarutobi finally recovered, leaned back in his chair and thought for a while, then suddenly said, “Sakumo went out on a mission, you know that, right?”

"I know, but S-class missions are classified, so I don't know the specifics."

"I'm worried this mission might go wrong, go and help him!"

"What?!" Jiraiya was slightly stunned, looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi in surprise. "This, this isn't the rule, is it?"

"As you know, Sakumo's reputation is growing; he's a hero in the village, and there are even rumors that he's the most suitable candidate to succeed the Fourth Hokage. But some people don't want to see this..."

Are you guys the ones being referred to?

Jiraiya secretly complained.

“Danzo’s Root organization has been making some small moves lately, seemingly targeting Sakumo. I’m worried they might use this opportunity to cause trouble for Sakumo. Go there. No matter what, make sure Sakumo’s mission is completed. Don’t give those people an excuse.” He then looked up and added, “This is an S-rank mission, do you understand?”

"Yes!"

After learning a little about Sakumo's mission, Jiraiya's face flashed with a strange expression. He turned and left, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi alone in the office, sighing in despair.

He was well aware of Danzo's subtle actions and his motives. He had been hesitant about intervening, but now...

Don't say he saw long ago that Sakumo wasn't interested in the Hokage position. Even if he had taken over the Fourth Hokage's position, what would have happened? Wouldn't he have passed it on to his son later?

Therefore, from his perspective, there is no longer any reason to deal with Sakumo. On the contrary, if he were to take action against Sakumo now, who knows what kind of trouble that rebellious son would cause?

Since that's the case, we might as well do a favor. On one hand, we can win over Sakumo, and on the other hand, we can keep Asuma quiet. As for what Danzo and the others think...

Come on, he's just a partner, how can he be more important than my son?

(End of this chapter)